The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) AAPG Student Chapter in Dehradun, India was pleased to organise the first Distinguished Lecturer Program featuring Bruce Fouke from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In his lecture, “State-of-the-Art Oil Field Geobiology: Implications of Exploration and Production,” Fouke started with defining geobiology, the study that combines geoscience with biological information on microorganisms contained in rock. He also emphasized how geobiology is different from palaeontology and how it can be applied for oil and gas exploration. He focused his lecture on “microbes” and stated that planet Earth comprises of approximately 65 percent bacteria, of which 75 percent dwell in pore spaces in rocks. He also added that the human body is a bus that carries millions of microbes from one place to another.
Fouke shared his recent research on Yellowstone National Park that is famous for its wildlife and geothermal features. He began by presenting a short BBC documentary movie that gave an insight into the world of geobiology. He continued by explaining how Illinois Basin is a perfect dwelling place for a type of proteobacterium microbe, Halomonas sulfidaeris, which is responsible for oil degradation. Metageonomic analysis performed on downholes provided some evidences that this microbe does not originate from drilling mud contamination.
Fouke concluded the lecture with a quote: “Excellence should be established in an area before stepping into another.”
His research in the world of microbes and the reckoned accounts of the world geobiology left the audience shockingly aware of the facts they were bereft of.
The lecture was followed by a lively and engaging Q&A session with the curious audiences. The event ended with the launch of UPES AAPG Student Chapter newsletter second volume titled “GEOCACHE-Hunt for geology” featuring Fouke.
UPES AAPG Student Chapter thanks Fouke for his outstanding and thought provoking lecture. We feel honoured to have had such an opportunity and we wish him the best of luck.