HGS General Dinner Deepwater Wolfcamp Fm

Monday, May 20
ROOM • Norris Conference Center • 816 Town and Country Blvd #210
Site Map • Floor Plan
Social Hour 5:30–6:30 pm
Dinner 6:30–7:30 pm, Presentation 7:30- 8:30 pm
Member/Emeritus/ Honorary Life- $65.00 Non-Member- $75.00 Student- $65.00
WALKUPS: $75.00
To guarantee a seat, you must pre-register on the HGS website and pay with a credit card.  You may walk up and pay at the door if extra seats are available.  Please cancel by phone or email within 24 hours before the event for a refund.  Online & pre-registration closes Monday, May 20 at 5:00 a.m.

The Importance of Stratigraphy and Cores in Unconventional Plays, Deepwater Facies of the Wolfcamp, Delaware Basin (West Texas)

Speaker: Daniel Minisini, ExxonMobil

This talk is based on the main conclusions of Minisini and Desjardins (published recently in the AAPG Bulletin, Vol 108 no.1, January, 2024). This research presents a workflow that highlights the importance of stratigraphy in unconventional plays, even when they are in harvest mode.

The essence of the contribution is based on a rich core and sample-based dataset covering the deep-water sector of the Wolfcamp Formation, in the Delaware Basin (NW Texas). The authors created a sequence stratigraphic framework that allows for the prediction of rock types and reservoir quality within specific sequences and improves the mapping of common-risk segments, the development options, and the landing zones in the most productive area of this Super Basin.

The analyses are displayed as maps incorporating seismic data and wells at basin scale (9300 km2 [35,900 mi2]). We describing twenty-nine cores, integrating eleven lithofacies and fifteen petrofacies.  Sample work included core analyses (gamma ray, x-ray diffraction, total organic carbon, water saturation, porosity, permeability, Young's Modulus, Poisson's Ratio, compressional wave/shear wave), calibrating well log signatures to cores (gamma ray, density, neutron, resistivity), and assigning geological significance to log signatures (electrofacies).  Interpretation included determining timelines, correlating wells based on core analyses and calibrated log signatures, and propagating correlations to wells without cores.  The study’s results demonstrate how geologists can create a simplified electrofacies model that can identify the four main rock types of the basin.

The stratigraphic framework, which evolved from the integration and reconciliation of multiple subsurface data sets.

(1) serves as a common starting point for new subsurface projects,

(2) identifies the black siliceous mudstones as the best reservoir quality lithofacies and the lean dolomitic mudstone as the worst, and

(3) classifies the stratigraphic "Beta unit" as the most appropriate candidate for the development of unconventional resources.

This research is published in the AAPG Bulletin, Vol 108, no 1, January 2024.

About the Speaker

Daniel Minisini works at ExxonMobil, Spring, Texas and was previously at Shell Technology Center, Houston.  Dr. Minisini is an adjunct professor at Rice University, and the producer of miniGeology.com.  He earned a Ph.D. in marine geology (University di Bologna). He has held positions as a geophysicist at Eni (Milan, Italy) and sedimentologist-stratigrapher at Shell (Houston, Texas).

Minisini’s goal is to investigate the foundations of reservoirs and source rocks and applied them to exploration and development through the integration of seismic data, outcrops, modern analogs, and laboratory experiments. He has published 56 articles and edited AAPG Memoir 121.

Daniel was the keynote luncheon speaker at GeoGulf23 in Houston Texas, inspiring the audience with stories about his interviews with famous and important geologists. Dr. Minisini's contact emails are daniel.minisini@exxonmobil.com or daniel.minisini@gmail.com.

Instructions to Norris Conf. Center:

The Norris Conference Center is on the Second (2nd) Floor, and cannot be seen from the street. From Town and Country Blvd, turn west at Plaza Way and go past "Kendra Scott" store to STOP sign.  Turn right = North and go to Level 3 of the parking structure.The parking structure can also be reached from the northbound Beltway 8 frontage road. Turn into the driveway that is 0.33 mi. north of Kimberley Ln., just before the Amegy Bank sign.