October, 2000
HGS Meetings

HGS Dinner Meeting

"The Color of Oil: The History, the Money and the Politics of the World's Biggest Business"

Abstract:

(The Color of Oil is a new book prominently featured nationally in many book stores. Signed copies will be for sale at the meeting. )

Oil is not just black… it affects all shades of life and industry. In fact it colors everything.

The first color of oil is green. The greenback, both literally and figuratively, has defined the value of oil. Today the petroleum industry is the world's biggest business, and hydrocarbons (including coal) account for over 90 percent of all energy needs. The Energy Wealth and Poverty of Nations is the prevailing indicator at the turn of the millennium. Oil is black, and this, in contrast to the crystalline transparency of water, contributes to the great mystery often associated with finding and producing oil.

Oil is red, white and blue with roots in northwest Pennsylvania and with the giant ghost and modern manifestations of John D. Rockefeller, no industry better exemplifies certain traits that define the American character. Red is also the color of oil—as red as the blood of the millions who died in two great world wars and many other conflicts in this century. Central to the causes and prosecution of the wars was access to oil.

The primary colors of oil today are money (lots of it), technology (basic but demanding) and people (special ones). The colors of the rainbow can be seen in the 100+ oil producing countries. There are a dozen large petroleum producing and exporting countries. Yet most have little in their history that links them to wealth, technology and management. Corruption among the elite and governments, mismanagement and the squandering of the petroleum wealth are endemic. Culture is everything, and no other human endeavor makes this as pointedly obvious as the world of petroleum.

Government, willingly, by default or unwittingly, can turn oil from some of its more constructive colors to a tawdry yellow. Governments have infringed by regulation, neglected critical research needs and failed to take strategic and enabling actions. Environmentalism and the new green, couched in difficult-to-combat superficial imagery has taken a sinister turn, highly politicized and with gross disregard for the impact that the energy industry has on the world economy. Using moralistic yet blatantly dishonest slogans and pseudo-science, the environmental movement has digressed dangerously and has replaced some of the most radical movements for social experimentation of the century. One of the most fundamental truths rarely surfaces among the movement: there is no credible alternative to hydrocarbons in both the near and far foreseeable futures.

The petroleum industry is here to stay and prosper in the third millennium. Energy demand will increase, and the use of petroleum will be emphasized and expanded. This is the color purple.

Biographical Sketch:

MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES is University Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Houston. Until the summer of 1998, he was the Samuel R. Noble Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M Universityand served as Chief Scientist of the Global Petroleum Research Institute (GPRI).

Prior to joining the faculty at Texas A&M University, Professor Economides was the Director of the Institute of Drilling and Production at the Leoben Mining Institute in Austria (1989-1993).

From 1984 to 1989, Dr. Economides worked in a variety of senior technical and managerial positions with the Schlumberger companies. Publications include authoring or co-authoring of 7 textbooks and more than 150 journal papers and articles. Economides does a wide range of industrial consulting, including major retainers by the Halliburton Companies, PDVSA (Venezuela) and PDO (Oman). He is the founder and a major shareholder in OTEK (Australia), a petroleum service and consulting firm with offices in five Australian cities. He is also a partner in Eclipse Resources, a Canadian independent producer of oil and gas. He writes regularly for the Houston Chronicle and he is a columnist for the Dallas Business Journal.

Environmental / Engineering Dinner Meeting

"Case History of the Use of Cross-Hole Tomography in the Delineation of a Subsurface Hydrocarbon Release"

Abstract:

This presentation will summarize the technique of tomography and its application in characterizing a contaminant plume in the shallow subsurface. Hydrocarbons from an undetermined source migrated into a storm water sewer and leaked into a sensitive environment. Emergency measures were implemented to contain the spill on the water and included cementing a liner within the sewer to seal off the hydrocarbon seepage. Efforts to identify the source of the release were conducted concurrently. A soil boring program was performed to delineate a suspected hydrocarbon plume that potentially originated from an off-site source. The drilling disproved the presence of a contaminant plume and indicated that the hydrocarbons were possibly migrating along unidentified conduits within a massive subsurface concrete and stabilized sand structure. A field decision was made to place capped PVC riser pipe within the borings for utilization in a cross-hole tomography survey. The tomography survey was conducted between the boreholes to delineate the hydrocarbon source without extensive excavation.

Hydrophones were placed within three of the PVC pipes while an air gun was used as a signal source in the fourth well (centrally located). All hydrophone and air gun leads were wired to a geophysical recording truck, which was used to record and pre-process the field data. The receivers and air gun were alternately placed within all the PVC pipes which resulted in complete three-dimensional coverage of the suspected leak area.

The field data was commercially processed and interpreted. The printed data revealed two velocity anomalies that represented potential accumulations of hydrocarbons. This data was used to direct excavation activities, which later confirmed the presence of the subsurface hydrocarbons and the conduit through which the contaminants were migrating.

Biographical Sketch:

Arlin C. Howles, Jr. is the vice president and operations manager for Tidewater Environmental Services, Inc. He graduated from Edinboro State University with a BS degree in geology and environmental geology. He entered the University of South Carolina focusing on geological and geophysical evaluation of areas within Indonesia and graduated with an MS degree in geology. He began his geological career with Aminoil in 1984. He joined Groundwater Technology in 1986 where he was a project manager/hydrogeologist. After ten years of employment with consulting companies in the Houston area, he helped to incorporate Tidewater Environmental in 1995. He is currently responsible for marketing and technical management of day-to-day operations. He was past HGS Environmental Committee Chairman ('86–'88) and editor of the Environmental Geology Field Trip of West Harris County.

International Dinner Meeting

"Deepwater Nigeria OPL-213: An Exploration Risk Reduction Approach Using Integrated Geoscience Technologies"

Abstract:

Introduction

The Texaco Nigeria Outer Shelf Ltd. deepwater Nigeria OPL-213 (100% WI) Odoguma and Aparo prospects (Figure 1) represent new play types in the deepwater. The technical evaluation identified main petroleum system risk elements and potential technical barriers to establishing high impact, commercially viable projects. Principal risks were identified as reservoir continuity and thickness, hydrocarbon phase and volumes, and lateral seal. An integrated, inter-disciplinary technology process was developed to focus on these critical elements.

Prospect Overview

Odoguma and Aparo prospects are each in the range of 200 to 500 MMBO recoverable reserve potential. Odoguma Prospect is a structural trap formed during the Early Oligocene-Recent through gravity-driven contractional duplexing of underlying Akata Formation shales. Multiple stacked Class III AVO anomalies correspond to L. Miocene-U. Oligocene channel-levee and slope fan reservoir objectives. Aparo Prospect is a stratigraphic trap formed by syntectonic deposition of M.-L. Miocene reservoir targets. Each of the Aparo targets exhibits a low impedance and Class II AVO response.

Risk Reduction Technologies

Reservoir risk reduction was initiated through regional sequence stratigraphic studies designed to target sand-prone and laterally continuous reservoir facies. Reservoir geometries were mapped using StratiMagic software, Visualization technology for volume rendering, and Texaco's internal post-stack 'Sweetness' (post-stack instantaneous amplitude/frequency ratio) cubes. Acoustic and far-angle elastic impedance data from balanced seismic volumes and synthetic logs built from key offset wells formed the basis for sand thickness estimates. Exemplar forward numerical compaction modeling was used for calculating pre-drill reservoir properties.

Hydrocarbon phase was addressed first through use of surface piston core data with comparison to our regional reservoired oils database. AVA Triad Cluster Analysis in combination with fluid substitution and quantitative amplitude anomaly comparisons provided the basis for reservoired product phase and lateral distribution. Subregional 2D and 2½D basin modeling combined with 'critical moment' restored sections and fault seal studies addressed volume of available hydrocarbons and migration pathways.

Lateral seal risk reduction was addressed through mapping of onlap surfaces of potential reservoir units and through use of the fault application program 'FAPS' to measure the sealing capacity of key trapping faults. These analysis were combined with 2D pressure profiles and regional capillary pressure measurements to constrain hydrocarbon column heights.

Conclusions

Integration of geoscience technologies and application to specific risk elements resulted in substantial prospect risk reduction. Similarly, the range of uncertainty in potential prospect reserve sizes has been reduced, and strongly indicates we are focusing on prospects with high impact, commercial potential. The first measure of the success of the risk reduction process will be in 2001 with the drilling of the Odoguma #1 well.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge a list of technical peers and senior management contributors from Texaco Exploration and Texaco Upstream Technology too numerous to name individually, but without whom the Company's recent successes in Nigeria would not have been possible. We wish to acknowledge NNPC for technical contribution and authorization to publish, and Mabon Geosciences Ltd. for permission to publish selected 2D seismic examples.

Biographical Sketch:

R.K. Sawyer received an MSc in geology from University of Florida in 1982. He has held a variety of exploration assignments since joining Texaco in 1982. Mr. Sawyer has authored or co-authored 15 sedimentology and structural articles covering the Florida Everglades Basin, West Timor Indonesia, the western Sichuan Longmenshan mountains, southcentral Italy, and deepwater Niger Delta. He is presently assigned to Texaco’s Deepwater Nigeria Team.

David L. Connolly received an BSc in Geology from Washington and Lee University in 1973. He started his career with Schlumberger and joined Getty/Texaco in 1981 and was assigned to the Gulf of Mexico Division. David has been part of Texaco's Deepwater Nigeria Exploration Team since 1993.

Arnaud G. Pichon received an MSc in geological/mining engineering from E.N.S. Geologie in Nancy, France in 1980, and worked with Elf-Aquitaine from1980 to 1997. His work experience includes exploration assignments in Nigeria, Norway, France and the U.S.A. and has been working with Texaco's Deepwater Nigeria Exploration Team since 1997.

Raymond J. Fontenot received a BSc degree from University of Southwest Louisiana in 1981. Until 1999 when he joined Texaco's Deepwater Nigeria Exploration Team, his exploration experience was focused on onshore/offshore Texas and Louisiana, and deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

POSTERS:

Poster #1

Niger Delta - Pleistocene Leveed-Channel Fans - Models for Offshore Reservoirs by Robert Mitchum

Poster #2

Structural styles of the deepwater Niger Delta by Frank Bilotti, John Shaw, Rob Sawyer, Chris Connors

Poster #3

Debris flow outrunner blocks, glide tracks, and pressure ridges identified on the Nigerian continental slope using 3-D seismic coherency by Susan Nissen, Norman Haskell, Craig Steiner and Katrina Coterill  

Poster #4

The hydrocarbon potential of offshore Guinea Bissau by Ray Bate, Nick Cameron and Andrew Carr

VENDORS:

 

GSH Near Surface SIG Meeting

"Geophysical Methods for Engineering and Environmental Site Characterization"

Abstract:

The primary factor affecting the accuracy of any site characterization effort is the limited number sample borings, resulting in insufficient spatial sampling to adequately characterize the site. This is the primary reason for the application of surface geophysical methods.

There are a number of geophysical methods that are commonly applied to detailed shallow depth investigations. These methods are described as follow: electrical, electromagnetic, magnetic, gravity, seismic reflection and refraction, borehole logging, ground penetrating radar. Each geophysical method is useful for measuring the vertical and/or lateral distribution of subsurface bodies having differing geophysical properties.

The success of any surface geophysical survey is dependent upon many factors. One of most important is the competency of the person(s) responsible for carrying out the survey and interprets the data. An understanding of the theory, field procedures and methods for interpretation of data along with an understanding of the site geology is necessary to successfully complete a geophysical survey. Properly planned, conducted, interpreted and reported, a geophysical survey can provide a wealth of subsurface information that could not be obtained otherwise.

The other most important issue is the client-geophysicist relationship. The client should provide all the information related to site conditions and geological data prior to the geophysical survey. Both sides should identify the problem clearly, and know the expectations from the geophysical survey. The success of the geophysical survey is strongly dependent upon the two-way communications of the client and the geophysicist.

This presentation is a review of the capabilities and limitations of basic geophysical methods currently being employed in the engineering and environmental industries. In this presentation, several case studies from refineries, gas stations, old oil and gas platforms, and shopping centers will be included. The presentation will cover magnetic, gravity, conductivity, time-domain sounding, resistivity, borehole logging, and ground penetrating radar, seismic reflection methods.

Biographical Sketch:

Mustafa Saribudak is a Principal in Environmental Geophysics Associates (EGA), which is located at 9406 Palm Shores Drive, Spring, TX 77379. He received a Master's degree in geology and a Doctorate in Geophysics from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. He came to the University of Houston in 1989 to work on a project funded by the National Science Foundation. He worked for Tierra Environmental between 1990 and 1993, where he pioneered application of geophysical methods to environmental problems. He founded EGA in 1994 to provide near-surface geophysical services for engineering, environmental, and oil and gas industries, and real estate developers. During the last six he has conducted geophysical surveys at more than 100 sites in the U.S. and Central America. He has published numerous papers and short notes in geophysical and environmental journals.

SPWLA Lunch Meeting

"Recognition and the Importance of Injected/Remobilised Sandstone in Turbidite Reservoirs"

Abstract:

Recent work on a range of North Sea turbidite reservoirs has revealed that the processes of sand remobilisation and injection may be far more common than originally thought. Injection features may not only be more common but occur as decameter-scale units that form substantial reservoir volumes which are drilling targets and may create vertical/subvertical connectivity between otherwise isolated sand bodies.

The most obvious characteristic of all injected features is that they cross-cut stratigraphy. Consequently, any biostratigraphic data in a reservoir where sand injection is significant must be carried out with caution. Where large-scale injection has occurred, top reservoir is often difficult to pick because of mounding, slumping and penetration of overlying strata by dykes, sills and other injected features. Because injection is accompanied by fluidisation of sand the primary packing of grains is disrupted. Consequently, injected sandstone often has distinctly different physical characteristics than adjacent sedimented sandstones. Examples of injected features from the subsurface will be used to illustrate their physical characteristics and geometry.

Injection may occur whenever the pore pressure in a sand body exceeds the confining pressure of the overlying strata and, when the sand is sufficiently unconsolidated to become entrained in the upward flow of escaping fluids. Thus, formation of injected features may occur over a wide range of burial depths. Here, I focus on features that have probably formed within the first 200 m or so of burial. Although the exact mechanism of their formation is poorly understood, development of overpressure is a key factor in causing subsurface fluidisation and triggering injection.

Borehole, seismic and outcrop data are used to illustrate the geometry and physical characteristics of injected and remobilised sand bodies. Typical characteristics of injected sands on seismic data will be used to provide alternative interpretations of features in turbidites, some that are commonly interpreted as channels or channel margins.

Biographical Sketch:

Andrew Hurst

Following award of a PhD in clastic diagenesis from the University of Reading in 1980 I worked in the international oil industry until 1992, first with Statoil then Unocal. In Statoil I worked with reservoir characterisation including integration of geological models and data with engineering and petrophysical data. With Unocal I worked as an Advisor in Exploration. In 1992 I was appointed to the Shell Chair in Production Geoscience at the University of Aberdeen. I currently hold the Chair of Production Geoscience. I am the founding Chief Editor of the journal Petroleum Geoscience. I have published more than 90 scientific papers and edited Geological Applications of Wireline Logs I and II.

My current research has two main areas of activity, turbidite reservoir characterisation (including sand injection features) and mineral-chemical stratigraphy. In Aberdeen we have substantial activity that addresses fundamental issues related to the prediction of the presence and quality of turbidite reservoirs. Our work uses analogue data from outcrop and modern environments to enhance subsurface interpretation. Work on mineral-chemical stratigraphy has its origins in strata that lack biostratigraphic control. Subsequently the work has been extended to examine a broad range of depositional environments including turbidites. Other on-going research activity includes work on uncertainty management in exploration and appraisal and, the influence of clay minerals on reservoir characteristics.

North American Exploration Dinner Meeting

"Discovery of Ring Faults Associated with Salt Withdrawl Basins of Early Cretaceous Age in the East Texas Basin"

Abstract:

The Jurassic Louann salt in the East Texas Basin has played a dominant role in influencing the structural and depositional history of the basin, particularly during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Salt tectonics is closely associated with sandstone distribution, depositional facies, and reef growth, and consequently, with petroleum traps in the basin. Salt withdrawal basins, developed during the Early Cretaceous in response to salt movement and dissolution processes, are characterized by the presence of an expanded section of Lower Cretaceous marine and deltaic sedimentary rocks. Recognition of fault sets associated with the evolution of these salt-withdrawal basins has gone undetected until the recent Coherence CubeÔ processing of a non-proprietary 3-D seismic survey conducted by Schlumberger in the La Rue dome - Fairway field area, Henderson County, Texas.

Images from Coherence Cube processing aptly exhibit extraordinary sets of concentric ring faults that comprise the periphery of two salt withdrawal basins. The Fairway oil field is located at the junction of these two sets of ring faults. The structural style of these high-angle ring faults creates a multitude of possible fault traps in a previously unattractive structural setting. Early Cretaceous age of the ring faults establishes that these faults are a significant element in evaluating petroleum migration patterns and traps in the basin. The discovery of Early Cretaceous ring faults in the East Texas Basin by Coherence Cube processing brings new perspectives to development and exploration drilling in this mature petroleum province.

Biographical Sketch:

Steven J. Maione, senior geophysicist for Scott Pickford, A Core Laboratories Company, received degrees in Geological Engineering and Masters in Geology from the Colorado School of Mines. He joined Union Oil Company of California (now Unocal Corp.) as a geologist in Casper, Wyoming. In 1974 he was recruited to join Unocal's Geothermal Division and participated in geothermal exploration projects in North America, Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. In 1992 he transferred to Unocal's Sugar Land, Texas, Worldwide Exploration Division office and joined teams assessing new venture opportunities in North America and eastern China. In 1997, Steve became an Associate of Valenti Engineering Services of Kingwood, Texas, where he specialized in 3-D seismic interpretation, participating in projects in eastern China and Venezuela. In 1998 he joined Coherence Technology Company (CTC) in Houston as Senior Geophysicist in the seismic interpretation services group. At CTC, and later with Scott Pickford, following acquisition of CTC by Core Laboratories Company, he has had an opportunity to interpret numerous 3-D surveys, including offshore Nigeria, eastern Saudi Arabia, Anadarko Basin, East Texas Basin, Texas Gulf Coast, and Mexico. His position has also permitted him to assist numerous corporate exploration staffs in utilizing Coherence Cube™ processing in achieving successful 3-D interpretations.

Steve is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Houston Geological and Geophysical Societies, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the Geological Society of America, Sigma Xi, and the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. Steve is a member of a small select group of exploration geologists who have participated in and contributed directly to success in three different fields of exploration: geothermal, minerals, and petroleum.

Posters: Salt Vector Analysis: A Reconstruction Tool Applied to an Amalgamated Salt Sill in Eugene Island South Addition, Gulf of Mexico. 
by HART, WILLIAM H., JAMINSKI, JACEK M., BP Exploration, Houston