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The integrated event for unconventional resource teams

Sponsoring Organizations:

Society of Petroleum Engineers American Association of Petroleum Geologists Society of Exploration Geophysicists

Supporting Organizations:

Association for Iron and Steel Technology Association for Iron and Steel Technology American Rock Mechanics Association American Society of Mechanical Engineers American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society
Technical Program   >   Short Courses

Short Courses

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Artificial Lift for Shale Plays

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 1

Saturday, 21 July 2018

Who Should Attend

This course is for Production Engineers, Petroleum Engineers, Artificial Lift Engineers, Artificial Lift Advisors.

Course Content

Introduce the artificial lift methods of Gas Lift, Plunger Lift, HEAL System and ESP, dissect their strengths and weaknesses, conduct basic design exercises, conduct lifecycle analyses of horizontal shale wells and how each method applies, and close with case studies

Objectives

To provide attendees the fundamental knowledge of artificial lift and its application in shale oil and gas fields, by providing basic design exercises, lifecycle analyses of horizontal shale wells and how each method applies, and case studies. The artificial lift methods covered are Gas Lift, Plunger Lift and ESP, etc.

Date Saturday, 21 July
Time 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Instructors Kyle Richter (ASME), Stuart Scott (ASME), and Jean-Francois Saint-Marcoux (ASME)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $855 | Students: $150
Includes Digital copies of the material, light breakfast, lunch, power connection, wifi, projector, and podium
CEU/PDH N/A
Limit 30 People

Kyle Richter (ASME)

Mystery Man

Stuart Scott (ASME)

Mystery Man

Jean-Francois Saint-Marcoux (ASME)

Mystery Man

Toward Understanding Unconventional Reservoir Characterization

American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 2

Saturday, 21 July 2018

Who Should Attend

This course is for Geologists, Petrophysicists, Geophysicists, Earth Modelers, Drilling Engineers, Reservoir Engineers, Completion Engineers, and Production Engineers.

Course Content

Unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, particularly shale-oil and shale-gas, are the future of the oil industry. It took the oil industry about 160 years, since the first oil well in the USA was drilled in 1859, to master oil production from conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. Even with that we still face some challenges in deep water drilling, completion, and production as well as enhanced oil recovery from heavy oil carbonates, tar sands, and tight gas sands.

On the other hand exploration, production and development of unconventional shale-gas and shale-oil reservoirs started only about thirteen years ago, when George P. Mitchell asked his engineers to extract natural gas from shale-gas reservoirs. It was not until about 2008 when the interest in shale-gas and shale-oil became apparent.

Although shale makes about two thirds of the stratigraphic column, more than siliciclastics and carbonates combined, have been the least studied sedimentary rocks until very recent. Shale was always regarded as a cap-rock “Seal” in the petroleum system. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s many studies on the evaluation of shale as a source rock were published. Only as late as 2008 that we saw noticeable interest in organic-rich shales, both shale-oil and shale-gas, as viable hydrocarbon reservoirs. Since late 2008 literally thousands of research papers and articles were published on different aspects of shale-oil and shale-gas asset development techniques. All that is done to understand unconventional shale reservoirs and increase drilling, completion, stimulation, and production efficiency of hydrocarbon from unconventional reservoirs.

Shales are in many ways having been neglected and misunderstood for a long time. Many of the misconceptions about shale reservoirs persist through out the oil community. Oil industries and governments around the globe are investing in unconventional oil resource plays. The first part of the class is designed to give attendees better understanding of unconventional “shale” hydrocarbon reservoirs, based on the geology, detailed mineralogy, organic-richness, and hydrocarbon content.

Petrophysics is an integral part of the detail unconventional reservoir characterization. It also serves as the core for integration and collaboration of many disciplines such as geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and earth modeling as well as drilling, completion, reservoir stimulation and production engineering. The attendees will be exposed to the data requirements, recent lab analysis techniques, and the proper procedures to achieve detailed petrophysical unconventional reservoir characterization.

Finally, the class will address with examples various ways for collaboration between petrophysicists and other disciplines to achieve efficient unconventional asset development through better understanding and proper dealing with the reservoir under investigation.

Objectives

  • Comparison between conventional and unconventional petroleum systems
  • Understand main drivers making unconventional reservoir rocks
  • Develop an appreciation for unconventional reservoir heterogeneity
  • Evaluate the geochemistry and hydrocarbon potential of unconventional reservoirs
  • Learn special core analysis techniques for unconventional reservoir characterization
  • Know wireline and mud logging evaluation of unconventional reservoirs
  • Address the importance of dynamic rock mechanics and rock physics of unconventional reservoirs
  • Present examples of successful multidisciplinary collaboration in unconventional reservoir development
  • Introduce new technology into unconventional reservoir characterization
Date Saturday, 21 July
Time 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Instructor Dr. Mamdouh A. Shebl (Chevron, Katy, Texas)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $795 | Students: $150
Includes Course notes and refreshments
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.6 / PDH: 16
Limit 30 Professionals and 10 Students

Dr. Mamdouh A. Shebl

Dr. Mamdouh A. Shebl

Dr. Shebl has over 34 years of expertise in unconventional reservoir development, sedimentary rocks and sedimentation, petroleum geology and reservoir characterization as well as petrophysics in the exploration of hydrocarbon and the enhancement of conventional and unconventional petroleum reservoir management.

His career highlights include Research Professor–Petrophysicist at the Department of Geology & Geophysics, Berg-Hughes Center for Petroleum and Sedimentary Systems at Texas A&M University; Senior Petrophysicist and Unconventional Reservoir Petrophysical SME & Advisor for the MCBU at Chevron; Chief Advisor “Petrophysicist” for Global Technical Services, C&P Digital Solutions at Halliburton; Advisory Geoscientist at Weatherford; Senior Petrophysicist at Object Reservoir; Project Geoscientist/Petrophysicist at Fugro-Jason; Director at the UAE Ministry of Education; and Assistant Professor of Petroleum Geology at the UAE University. He conducted research for the University of Wyoming; and Indiana University as well as the UAE University and worked as an Exploration Geologist at Conoco-Egypt and the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company “GUPCO”.

Dr. Shebl earned his Ph.D. in Petroleum Geology/Geochemistry from the University of Wyoming; M. Sc. in Petroleum Geology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and Bachelor degree in Geology from Cairo University in Egypt.

DFIT – The Unconventional Well Test: Theory, Design, and Interpretation

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 3

Saturday, 21–Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for petroleum, production, completion, and reservoir engineers, geologists and field operation staff who are familiar with the fracturing process and interested in measuring reservoir properties, hydraulic fracturing design, treatment and interpretation, and production data analysis.

Course Content

Unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, particularly shale-oil and shale-gas, are the future of the oil industry. It took the oil industry about 160 years, since the first oil well in the USA was drilled in 1859, to master oil production from conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. Even with that we still face some challenges in deep water drilling, completion, and production as well as enhanced oil recovery from heavy oil carbonates, tar sands, and tight gas sands.

On the other hand exploration, production and development of unconventional shale-gas and shale-oil reservoirs started only about thirteen years ago, when George P. Mitchell asked his engineers to extract natural gas from shale-gas reservoirs. It was not until about 2008 when the interest in shale-gas and shale-oil became apparent.

Although shale makes about two thirds of the stratigraphic column, more than siliciclastics and carbonates combined, have been the least studied sedimentary rocks until very recent. Shale was always regarded as a cap-rock “Seal” in the petroleum system. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s many studies on the evaluation of shale as a source rock were published. Only as late as 2008 that we saw noticeable interest in organic-rich shales, both shale-oil and shale-gas, as viable hydrocarbon reservoirs. Since late 2008 literally thousands of research papers and articles were published on different aspects of shale-oil and shale-gas asset development techniques. All that is done to understand unconventional shale reservoirs and increase drilling, completion, stimulation, and production efficiency of hydrocarbon from unconventional reservoirs.

Shales are in many ways having been neglected and misunderstood for a long time. Many of the misconceptions about shale reservoirs persist through out the oil community. Oil industries and governments around the globe are investing in unconventional oil resource plays. The first part of the class is designed to give attendees better understanding of unconventional “shale” hydrocarbon reservoirs, based on the geology, detailed mineralogy, organic-richness, and hydrocarbon content.

Petrophysics is an integral part of the detail unconventional reservoir characterization. It also serves as the core for integration and collaboration of many disciplines such as geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and earth modeling as well as drilling, completion, reservoir stimulation and production engineering. The attendees will be exposed to the data requirements, recent lab analysis techniques, and the proper procedures to achieve detailed petrophysical unconventional reservoir characterization.

Finally, the class will address with examples various ways for collaboration between petrophysicists and other disciplines to achieve efficient unconventional asset development through better understanding and proper dealing with the reservoir under investigation.

Objectives

Attendees will learn the basic theoretical foundation of diagnostic fracture-injection/falloff test implementation and analysis along with obtaining guidelines for implementing DFIT in field operations. At course end, and attendee should be comfortable with the following:

  • Designing a DFIT
  • Implementing a DFIT design in the field
  • Interpreting DFIT data using commercially-available software packages
  • Using DFIT interpretations in the analysis of production data

Special Requirements

A basic understanding of hydraulic fracturing operations in vertical and horizontal wells is necessary along with a basic understanding of the role of permeability in flow from oil and gas reservoirs.

Starts Saturday, 21 July – 8:00 a.m.
Ends Sunday, 22 July – 5:00 p.m.
Instructor David P. Craig, PhD, PE (Reservoir Development Consulting, Denver, Colorado)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Members: $1400 | Nonmembers: $1800 | Students: $500
Includes 18 hours of technical content presented in an interactive classroom setting with Calculations, Computer simulation, Discussion, In-class exercises, Lecture, Presentation, light morning, and afternoon refreshments. Class notes provided by SPE.
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.6 / PDH: N/A
Limit 50 People

David P. Craig, PhD, PE

Mystery Man

David P. Craig, PhD, PE, has presented 18 technical papers at SPE meetings. He has taught in-house courses for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Cimarex Energy, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Shell Canada, and others. He taught DFIT – The Unconventional Well Test as a short course for East Texas and Denver sections of SPE. He has presented at countless SPE Workshops on topics ranging from hydraulic fracturing theory to production data analysis.

Forecasting Well Production Data in Unconventional Resources

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 4

Saturday, 21–Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for technologists, engineers, and managers involved in evaluating well performance (time-rate-pressure) data for optimizing production, understanding completion efficiency, and estimating reserves and ultimate recoveries.

Course Content

This course provides a comprehensive methodology for the diagnosis, analysis, and forecasting of well production data in unconventional resources. An extensive evaluation of the diagnostic tools for assessing data viability, checking data correlation along with flow regime identification is presented. The principal focus is to diagnose the characteristic flow regimes associated with well production and apply methodologies to estimate performance parameters and forecast production. These methodologies include simple analytical tools, decline curves, and more complex techniques such as nonlinear numerical simulation. Examples from tight gas sands, gas shales, and liquids-rich shale systems will illustrate the theoretical considerations and practical aspects.

Topics Include:

  • Collect, analyze, and interpret critical data for well performance analysis
  • Identify well performance characteristics and flow regimes using diagnostic plots
  • Estimate key reservoir and completion parameters
  • Forecast future performance for various production/completion and field development scenarios
  • Establish the optimal workflow to help quantify well performance uncertainty and non-uniqueness

Objectives

Production analysis and forecasting in unconventional resources are challenging tasks due to the high degree of uncertainty and non-uniqueness associated with evaluating well completion and understanding reservoir properties. This course provides guidelines on the interpretation of data behavior and a consistent approach to analyze and forecast production in unconventional resources.

Starts Saturday, 21 July – 8:00 a.m.
Ends Sunday, 22 July – 5:00 p.m.
Instructor Dilhan Ilk (DeGolyer and MacNaughton, Dallas, Texas)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Members: $1400 | Nonmembers: $1800 | Students: $500
Includes 18 hours of technical content presented in an interactive classroom setting, light morning, and afternoon refreshments. Class notes provided by SPE.
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.6 / PDH: N/A
Limit 50 People

Dilhan Ilk

Dilhan Ilk

Dilhan Ilk is a reservoir engineer at DeGolyer and MacNaughton in Dallas, Texas. Ilk’s interests include analysis of well test and production data, reservoir engineering, and inverse problems. In particular, he focuses on well performance analysis in unconventional reservoirs and has extensive field experience in well performance assessment of unconventional reservoirs. He has made several contributions to petroleum engineering literature, and to date, has prepared more than 30 articles in well test analysis, analysis/interpretation of production data, and general reservoir engineering. Ilk holds a BS from Istanbul Technical University, and MS and PhD degrees from Texas A&M University—all in petroleum engineering.

Production Forecasts and Reserves Estimates in Unconventional Resources

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 5

Saturday, 21–Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for engineers and geoscientists who are interested in learning how to evaluate unconventional reservoirs.

Course Content

This course teaches the skills and understanding needed to forecast production and estimate reserves in unconventional (ultra-low permeability) oil and gas reservoirs. The course emphasizes “simple” production decline models appropriate for routine forecasting for hundreds of wells in short periods of time. Both tight oil and gas reservoirs, such as shales resources, are discussed.

Special Requirements

Attendees must bring a laptop to class.

Objectives

There are various ways to forecast production and estimate the size of unconventional gas reservoirs. You’ll learn the strengths and weaknesses of each decline model and how to develop reliable forecasts in this course.

Starts Saturday, 21 July – 8:00 a.m.
Ends Sunday, 22 July – 5:00 p.m.
Instructor John Lee (Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Members: $1400 | Nonmembers: $1800 | Students: $500
Includes 18 hours of technical content presented in an interactive classroom setting, light morning, and afternoon refreshments. Class notes provided by SPE.
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.6 / PDH: N/A
Limit 50 People

W. John Lee

John Lee

W. John Lee is Professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University. He previously held the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Chair at the University of Houston’s petroleum engineering program. Prior to this, Lee held the L.F. Peterson Chair and was Regent’s Professor of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University. He was the former executive vice president of S.A. Holditch & Associates, where he specialized in reservoir engineering for unconventional gas reservoirs. He served as an Academic Engineering Fellow with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington during 2007–2008, and was a principal architect of the new SEC rules for reporting oil and gas reserves.

Prior to beginning his career in academia, Lee managed Exxon’s Major Fields Study Group. He has written many technical papers and co-authored four SPE textbooks: Well Testing, Gas Reservoir Engineering, Pressure Transient Testing, and Applied Well Test Interpretation. He is also co-author of SPEE Monograph 4, Estimating Ultimate Recovery of Developed Wells in Low Permeability Reservoirs. Lee is an Honorary Member of SPE and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering. He received his BChE, MS, and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Using Project Resource Analysis to Manage Your Business

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 6

Saturday, 21–Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for engineers (reservoir, production, drilling, completions, facilities), geoscientists, managers, finance professionals, and executives.

Course Content

This course focuses on modeling a series of staged investments in an oil and gas project. The purpose of the staging (exploration, deliverability, demonstration, development) and stage gates are to responsibly expose incremental capital and make good decisions about whether to continue with the project or exit. Monte Carlo software is used to conduct rapid simulations that explore a wide range of possible scenarios based on project inputs and, most importantly, how much value the average well is expected to generate. Topics include 1) stage design, 2)aggregation, 3) volumetrics, 4) production forecasting, 5) simulation, and 6) forecast validation.

Value of this Training Course

This course provides a probabilistic framework for assessing oil and gas projects regardless of their maturity. The focus is on capturing the key project components and their variability in an intuitive workflow and generating resource and economic metrics. This facilitates a more rigorous comparison of opportunities and better decisions about where to drill the next wells. This also increases portfolio value and helps ensure you don't squander capital on projects that are likely to be commercial failures.

Special Requirements

Participants will need to bring their laptop to class. They will also need to download software prior to attending the course in order to conduct Monte Carlo simulations, view the results, and discuss the implications. This will be software they can use for an additional 30 days before the license expires.

Objectives

Participants will learn how to conduct a fast, comprehensive, probabilistic assessment of their project regardless of the stage of maturity. The key benefits include 1) quantifying the size of the prize volumetrically and economically, 2) determining the uncertainties and risks that control the variance in production and profitability, and 3) comparing projects using a set of standard metrics to determine which are most worthy of continued investment.

Starts Saturday, 21 July – 8:00 a.m.
Ends Sunday, 22 July – 5:00 p.m.
Instructors Creties Jenkins (Rose and Associates, Santa Barbara, California) and Mark A. McLane (Rose and Associates, Santa Barbara, California)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Members: $1400 | Nonmembers: $1800 | Students: $500
Includes 18 hours of technical content presented in an interactive classroom setting, light morning, and afternoon refreshments. Class notes provided by SPE.
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.6 / PDH: N/A
Limit 50 People

Creties Jenkins

Creties Jenkins

Creties Jenkins (P.E., P.G.) is a Partner with Rose and Associates where he specializes in the characterization of unconventional reservoirs. Creties has carried out integrated studies, peer reviews, training, and resource assessment work for 50+ companies and has conducted 100+ industry courses and workshops focused on tight oil and gas reservoirs. Creties has served as a technical editor, distinguished lecturer, and distinguished author for SPE and is a past president of the Energy Minerals Division of AAPG. He is also a co-author of SPEE Monograph 4: Estimating Ultimate Recovery of Developed Wells in Low-Permeability Reservoirs. Creties has previously worked for Tenneco, ARCO, and DeGolyer & MacNaughton in his 30+ year career. He holds a BSc in Geological Engineering and a MSc in Geology from the South Dakota School of Mines.

Mark A. McLane

Mark A. McLane

Mark A. McLane is a Partner with Rose and Associates. He has a diverse technical, operations and business background spanning more than 35 years in the petroleum industry. He joined Rose & Associates in January 2000 after three years with Pioneer Natural Resources and 17 years with Exxon Company, USA. He has coauthored several technical papers and served on the Professional Ethics/Registration Panel at the 2003 SPE ATCE in Denver, Colorado. He is an SPE Distinguished Lecturer on the topic of "Reserve Overbooking—An Issue of Professional Ethics" and has taught courses for the SPE, AAPG, EAGE and Houston Geological Society. He has also served as a Guest Lecturer for graduate petroleum engineering programs at Texas A&M University and The University of Houston. Mark holds a BS with honors in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Applied Concepts in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs

American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 7

Saturday, 21–Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

Geologists who need to characterize and understand fracture systems and their effects on reservoir permeability from core and outcrops, who need to be able to differentiate between natural and induced fractures in cores, and who would like to be able to predict the effects of lithology on fracturing.

Engineers who want to understand fracture permeability in relationship to the in situ stress system, the interaction of natural fractures with hydraulic stimulation fractures, and the important differences between extension and shear fractures in controlling individual fracture permeability and fracture network interconnectedness.

Petrophysicists who want an understanding of the significance of different fracture characteristics on image logs and the reliability of image logs in capturing the characteristics of fractures.

Seismologists who want a better understanding of subsurface fracture systems and their potential effects on seismic signals.

Managers who want an understanding of the technologies and methodologies required to adequately characterize a fractured reservoir.

Course Content

This is a hands-on class anchored with a 50-piece plus teaching collection of natural and induced fractures in core that students will work with during class exercises. The class provides insights into fracture mechanics and the origins of fractures, and uses those concepts in a very applied sense to instill an understanding of natural fractures and their potential effects on reservoirs.

Discussions and lectures include differentiating fractures by type and the effects of different fracture types on reservoir permeability, and the fracture types expected in different structural domains and reservoirs. Course modules also include how to differentiate natural from induced fractures in cores and the use of image logs and their calibration with core. We will also discuss the interactions between natural fractures, in situ stresses, and stimulation fractures.

Students will come away from the class with an appreciation of the wide range of structures that fall under the basket term “fracture”, and an understanding that different fracture types do not have the same effect on hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Objectives

  1. Understanding Fractures: Learn to differentiate natural fractures from induced fractures in core, and to classify different fracture types and their potential effects on fluid flow in reservoirs.
  2. Evaluating Fractures: Learn to evaluate both drilling-induced and natural fractures in order to orient fracture sets relative to the in situ stress field, and evaluate the potential fracture contribution to a permeability system.
  3. Effects of Fractures: Gain an understanding of the factors that govern the interactions between hydraulic stimulation fractures, the in-situ stresses, and the stress-sensitive natural-fracture fabric of the reservoir.
Starts Saturday, 21 July – 8:00 a.m.
Ends Sunday, 22 July – 5:00 p.m.
Instructors John C. Lorenz and Scott P. Cooper (both from FractureStudies LLC, Edgewood, New Mexico)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $1395 | Students: $500
Includes Course materials, morning, mid-morning, and afternoon refreshments.
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.6 / PDH: 16
Limit 26 Professionals and 4 Students

John Lorenz

John Lorenz

John earned an undergraduate B.A., with a double major in geology and in anthropology from Oberlin College in 1972. After serving in the Peace Corps, Morocco, he earned on his M.S., with a thesis on a Moroccan Triassic rift basin, at the University of South Carolina (1975), and Ph.D., studying the Nubian Sandstone in Libya and Cretaceous strata in Montana, at Princeton University (1981). John has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey in Louisiana and New Mexico, and for Sandia National Laboratories where he was the geologist for the tight-gas Multiwell Experiment in the Piceance basin. John has been a consultant since 2007, partnering with Scott Cooper in 2008 to form FractureStudies LLC which specializes in fractured reservoir characterization and effects. FractureStudies has counted over 50 companies as clients, working on fractured reservoir projects around the world.

John served as the Elected Editor (2001-2004) and President (2009-2010) of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. As president he supported the advancement of the geosciences and their applications to hydrocarbon-related problems. His published papers and presentations on natural and induced fractures in reservoirs range geographically from the Lisburne Limestone in Alaska to the Spraberry Formation in Texas to the carbonates of northern Iraq. These papers and presentations have been awarded the AAPG Levorsen (twice) and Jules Braunstein awards. In 2018 he and Scott Cooper authored the “Atlas of Natural and Induced Fractures in Core.” He has worked closely with the oil and gas industry on problems involving reservoir dimensions and in situ permeability, gaining extensive hands-on experience with core analysis and fieldwork. He has led field trips, presented core workshops, and taught short courses for the industry-oriented geological community in numerous places around the world.

Scott Cooper

Scott Cooper

Scott Cooper is a partner with Dr. John Lorenz at FractureStudies LLC, working on naturally fractured reservoir characterization issues in sandstones, carbonates and shales around the world from Alaska throughout the continental USA to Brazil, North Africa and Iraq. In 2018 Scott and John co-authored the “Atlas of Natural and Induced Fractures in Core”. Earlier in his career as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories (a U.S. Department of Energy facility) Scott worked on numerous government and industry-supported energy-related research projects.

Scott received a B.S. in geology from the South Dakota School of Mines and a M.S. in geology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. His thesis work involved characterization and modeling of natural fractures in strata at Teapot Dome, a basement-cored anticline in central Wyoming, the database developed from that work continues to be used as a teaching tool in various industry fracture-modeling programs. Detailed descriptions and links to projects, published papers, open-file reports, short courses, core workshops, fieldtrips, webinars and the new Atlas are available at www.fracturestudies.com.

Basic Seismic Interpretation

Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 8

Saturday, 21–Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

Entry Level. This course is intended for new hires, experienced geologists, and geoscience technicians who work with seismic data and wish to learn and develop basic seismic interpretation skills.

Course Content

This course provides entry-level training in seismic interpretation and serves as a foundation for intermediate and advanced geophysics/seismic courses.

The course consists of lectures on fundamental topics including basics of petroleum geology, seismic response, velocity, resolution, seismic migration, seismic correlation and mapping techniques, and quantified interpretation. Lectures are supported by hands-on exercises, and the second day of the course includes two practical correlation and mapping projects. Each participant receives a copy of SEG Geophysical Monograph Series #16, First Steps in Seismic Interpretation, by Donald A. Herron.

Course Outline

Day One

  • Introduction to Petroleum Geology
  • What is Seismic Exploration
  • Introduction to Seismic Interpretation
  • Seismic response
  • Velocity
  • Resolution
  • Seismic migration

Day Two

  • Fault interpretation
  • Horizon interpretation
  • Correlation and mapping exercise (3D seismic grid)
  • Quantified interpretation
  • Bright Spot Interpretation
  • Course summary

Learner Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, participants will:

  • Know basic concepts and practices of seismic interpretation.
  • Be able to interpret horizons and faults on seismic data.
  • Be able to identify interpretation problems and pitfalls.
  • Recognize the importance of seismic interpretation in a business context.
Starts Saturday, 21 July – 8:00 a.m.
Ends Sunday, 22 July – 5:00 p.m.
Instructors Don Herron (Independent Geophysical Consultant, Sugar Land, Texas) and Bob Wegner (Independent Geophysical Consultant, Houston, Texas)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $1145 | Students: $300
Includes
  • SEG Geophysical Monograph Series #16, First Steps in Seismic Interpretation, by Donald A. Herron
  • Downloadable PDF course notes
CEU/PDH CEU: 1.5 (IACET) / PDH: N/A
Limit 30 People

Don Herron

Mystery Man

Don Herron received a Bachelor of Science degree (with honors) in geological sciences from Brown University in 1971 and a Master of Science degree in geological sciences from the California Institute of Technology in 1973. He enjoyed a career as a seismic interpreter at Texaco from 1973-1977, Gulf from 1977-1984, and most recently Sohio/BP from 1984-2008. Following retirement from BP he was a geoscience consultant for Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) from 2008-2017 and also worked with several major oil companies as a seismic interpretation instructor. He was co-instructor for the SEG Continuing Education course “Seismic Interpretation in the Exploration Domain” from 1995-2007. He was a member of the Editorial Board of The Leading Edge from 2002–2007 (chairman in 2006-2007), and currently is an Assistant Editor for the joint SEG-AAPG journal Interpretation. He writes the bi-monthly “Interpreter Sam” column in The Leading Edge, and also is the author of SEG Geophysical Monograph Series #15, The Misadventures of Interpreter Sam, Geophysical Monograph Series #16, First Steps in Seismic Interpretation, and Geophysical Monograph Series #20, Interpreter Sam Carries On. He is currently an independent geophysical consultant and an active member of SEG, AAPG, GSH and Sigma Xi.

Bob Wegner

Bob Wegner

Bob Wegner received a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Queens College, NYC in 1967, a Master of Science degree in geophysics from Lehigh University in 1972, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in geophysics from Rice University in 1978. He retired from ExxonMobil as an Advisor after 32 years of research into quantitative analysis of seismic data for characterizing reservoir lithology and fluid content. Following retirement, he served in various capacities at the Geophysical Society of Houston, including President in 2010. He was a lecturer and Adjunct Professor at Rice University from 2006-2016, and is a lecturer at the University of Texas from 2006-present. He was a co-instructor for the AAPG Continuing Education course "Basic Seismic Interpretation" from 2014-2015, and has served as editor for special sections in the SEG-AAPG Journal Interpretation on Well Ties to Seismic Data and currently Pitfalls in Seismic Interpretation. He serves on the board of the National Science Foundation as a standing committee member with the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. He is currently an independent geophysical consultant and an active member of the SEG, GSH, SIPES and Sigma Xi.

Applications of Organic Petrography in the North American Shale Petroleum Systems

Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 9

Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

Geologists, geochemists and other upstream specialists working in the unconventional shale plays of North America

Course Content

This full-day course will present a comprehensive examination of organic petrography applications in the North American shale plays, discussing reflectance analysis, fluorescence microscopy, SEM and other micro-spectrometry approaches to characterization of organic matter in shale reservoirs. Petrographic applications will be integrated with observations from programmed pyrolysis to interpret thermal maturity, present-day and original organic matter type, and development of organic porosity. Pros and cons of organic petrographic approaches to shale reservoir characterization will be reviewed in the tight oil plays including the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Niobrara, and shale gas and condensate plays such as the Barnett, Duvernay, Haynesville-Bossier, Marcellus, Utica, and Woodford.

Objectives

Describe and evaluate applications of organic petrography in shale petroleum systems.

Date Sunday, 22 July
Time 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Instructors Paul Hackley (U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia) and Brian Cardott (Oklahoma Geological Survey, Norman, Oklahoma)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $795 | Students: $150
Includes Course notes and refreshments
CEU/PDH CEU: 0.8 / PDH: 8
Limit 37 Professionals and 3 Students

Paul Hackley

Paul Hackley

Education: B.A. Geoenvironmental Studies, Shippensburg State University (1995), M.S. Geology, George Washington University (1999), Ph.D. Chemistry & Biochemistry, George Mason University (2017)

Thesis: Using hydrous pyrolysis, organic petrography and micro-spectrometry to understand solid bitumen and kerogen evolution in the early oil window

Work Experience: 2002-present: Research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. His primary research involves the application of organic petrology to reducing uncertainty in assessment of fossil fuel resources. Paul’s experience includes international work on coal deposits and source rocks, and Gulf Coast basin energy resource studies including coalbed methane, coal resources, conventional oil and gas, and shale petroleum systems. He manages the USGS Organic Petrology Laboratory.

Publications and Society Memberships: Paul has contributed to 40+ indexed journal articles and 100+ technical presentation abstracts, primarily on the topics of organic petrology and thermal maturity.

He is Chair of ASTM subcommittee D05.28 for the petrography of coal and coke, Chair of ICCP Commission II Geological Applications of Organic Petrology, previous TSOP Secretary (2006) and current TSOP Vice-President Elect, and holds memberships in the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (Vice-President, Energy Minerals Division 2015-2016), Geological Society of America, and the Society for Sedimentary Geology.

Paul received TSOP’s Distinguished Service Award in 2013 and was a co-recipient of the TSOP Ralph Gray Award in the same year.

Brian Cardott

Brian Cardott

Education: B.S. Geology, University of Illinois-Urbana (1977), M.S. Geology (Coal Petrology), Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (1981)

Thesis: A comparative study on the occurrence and distribution of fluorescent macerals in coals from three major coal basins of the United States (Appalachian, Illinois, and San Juan Basins)

Work Experience: 1977-1978 Coal chemist, Illinois State Geological Survey: Proximate analysis (moisture, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon by difference); partial Ultimate analysis (carbon, hydrogen, total sulfur); sulfur forms (Eschka method); free swelling index; Gieseler plastometer.

1978-1981 Assistant manager of Coal Characterization Laboratory (Southern Illinois University-Carbondale) with Jack Crelling.

1981-present: Organic petrologist/coal geologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey. His primary research involves coalbed methane, gas shales, tight oil, and the petrologic characterization of coals, hydrocarbon source rocks, and solid hydrocarbons of Oklahoma.

Publications and Society Memberships: Brian has written more than 60 articles and books on coal, coalbed methane, gas shales, tight oil, unconventional energy resources, hydrocarbon source rocks, solid hydrocarbons, organic weathering, graptolite reflectance, and SEM of shale/coal.

Brian is a member of The Society for Organic Petrology (serving as President, 1995-1996), International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (Full Member), American Association of Petroleum Geologists (serving as President of the Energy Minerals Division, 2004-2005), Geological Society of America, Oklahoma City Geological Society, and Tulsa Geological Society.

Business Fundamentals for Petroleum Geophysicists

Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 10

Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

Intermediate Level (BS/MS in geosciences and/or experience in petroleum subsurface operations)

Course Outline

  1. Exploration – evaluating prospect risk and value of information
  2. Delineation – geophysical attributes and reserves estimation
  3. Development – advanced geophysics, reservoir models and working with partners
  4. Production – reservoir monitoring
  5. Unconventionals – value of geophysical techniques
  6. Geophysical Management – contracts, knowledge management, international business

Lerner Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, the participant will be able to:

  1. Calculate a value of information (VOI) for geophysical use in exploration, development and production
  2. Construct an amplitude variation with offset (AVO) scorecard for risk analysis
  3. Determine subsurface petroleum reserves for a given example
  4. Construct a seismic program proposal for subsurface evaluation
Date Sunday, 22 July
Time 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Instructor Bill Abrel (Chevron, San Ramon, California)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $685 | Students: $150
Includes Downloadable PDF course notes
CEU/PDH CEU: 0.8 / PDH: 8
Limit 30 People

William L. Abriel

Mystery Man

Internal Geophysical Consultant at Chevron Petroleum Technology Company, San Ramon, California, began his work in the industry with Chevron in New Orleans in 1978. His technical interests are mainly in application of new technology to active projects, including acquisition, processing, interpretation, and integration. He has been the geophysical lead for Chevron projects in many oil and gas basins around the world, concentrating on North America, China, Australia, South America, and Eurasia. He has produced publications and has given presentations explaining and advancing geophysical technology.

Abriel has participated in technical committees for many SEG meetings on international, national, research, and multidisciplinary scales. He has published in most industry journals annually and has been a member of the editorial board of The Leading Edge and an associate editor of Geophysics. He also has served on numerous SEG committees, including Development, Membership, Research, Global Affairs, and Distinguished Lecture. He was the SEG Spring Distinguished Lecturer in 2004 and is a founding board member of the SEG Advanced Modeling Corporation (SEAM). Abriel was named a life member of SEG in 2007, and is a past president of SEG.

He received a BS in geosciences and an MS in geophysics, both from Pennsylvania State University, where he was a founding member of the SEG student section and earned four varsity letters in lacrosse. He still keeps a hand in coaching a high school lacrosse team. He and his wife, Vangie, an attorney who teaches at Santa Clara University School of Law in California, have two children.

Shale Play Production Facilities

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Details
  • Instructors

Short Course 11

Sunday, 22 July 2018

Who Should Attend

Facility Engineers, Petroleum Engineers, Development Managers, Project Managers

Course Content

Introduce the basic concepts of a production facility, explore different operational challenges with production facilities, discuss the various vessels and tanks with design exercises (including heater treaters, coolers, compressors, 2 and 3 phase separators, gun barrels, VRUs and VCUs), delve into process design, and close with case studies in shale production facilities.

Objectivs

To provide attendees the basic concepts of a production facility, and different operational challenges with various production facilities, including vessels and tanks with design exercises, process design, and case studies in shale production facilities.

Date Sunday, 22 July
Time 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Instructors Kyle Richter (ASME), Stuart Scott (ASME) and Jean-Francois Saint-Marcoux (ASME)
Location George R. Brown Convention Center
Fees Professionals: $855 | Students: $150
Includes Digital copies of the material, light breakfast, lunch, power connection, wifi, projector, and podium.
CEU/PDH N/A
Limit 30 People

Kyle Richter (ASME)

Mystery Man

Stuart Scott (ASME)

Mystery Man

Jean-Francois Saint-Marcoux (ASME)

Mystery Man

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Meeting Planner
Theresa Curry
Theresa Curry
+1 918 560 2683