All courses are located in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center unless otherwise noted.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Basic Tools for Shale Exploration
Date: Saturday, 18 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Room 334
Instructor: Lindell Bridges (Pure Earth Resources, Sharpsville, Pennsylvania)
Fee: AAPG Members $695 (increases to $795 after 19 April),
Nonmembers $895 (increases to $995 after 19 April),
AAPG Student Members $115 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 50 people
Content: 0.75 CEU
This course starts by defining what a “shale” play is and ends up with a brief overview of a few existing shale plays in North America. During the course we will review the type of existing data one needs to evaluate when moving into a new play area. Mapping techniques using petrophysical, geochemical and sequence stratigraphy will be introduced. The different phases of shale exploration and development will be presented outlining some pitfalls that may be encountered along the way.
This course will expose participants to the basics of evaluating new and existing shale plays. Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to accomplish the following:
- Perform basic log analysis on existing well logs of various vintages
- Recognize which petrophysical parameters are important for identifying potentially production shale intervals, including characteristics of gas, gas and condensate, and oil reservoirs in shale
- Recognize important geochemical data needed for evaluating hale plays, both existing data and data from new drilling
- Recognize important thermal maturity data needed for evaluating shale plays, both existing data and data from new drilling
- Apply sequence stratigraphy to shale plays for mapping prospective trends
- Apply stress regime analysis to determine horizontal well azimuth
- Understand natural fracturing in shale and how they assist in increasing the productivity of shale reservoirs in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing
Division of Professional Affairs (DPA)
Black Belt Ethics
Date: Saturday, 18 May
Time: 11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Location: Somerset East/West, Westin Hotel
Instructor: Robert Shoup (Clastic Reservoir Systems, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Fee: DPA Members $80, DPA Nonmembers $95, Students $45 (limited)
Includes: Lunch
Limit: 50 people
Content: 1 PDH
Practitioners of many of the eastern martial arts such as tae kwon do and karate adhere to a code of honor. An integral part of martial arts training includes learning the tenets of that code of honor. Black Belt Ethics examines the various tenets that define the martial arts code of honor. The course reviews each of these tenets and discusses how they can be applied in our personal and professional lives. During the course, participants will examine the tenets of respect, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage and community. Mastery of each tenet allows the participant to advance toward their own black belt in ethics.
Individuals and corporations that adhere to these tenets are not only highly respected, they are generally quite successful. So if you are interested in learning how to live by the highest standards of professionalism and improve your chances of being successful, you should consider earning your Black Belt in Ethics.
The Black Belt Ethics class lasts approximately one hour and meets the requirements of most professional registration and licensure requirements for ethics training.
Division of Professional Affairs (DPA) and Pittsburgh Association of Petroleum Geologists (PAPG)
Quality Control for Subsurface Maps (QLTs)
Date: Saturday, 18 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Room 317/318
Instructor: Daniel “Dan” Tearpock and Bob Shoup (Subsurface Consultants & Associates LLC, Houston, Texas)
Fee: DPA Members $165, DPA Nonmembers $205, Students $100 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 50 people
This course is appropriate for prospect generators, exploration and development geoscientists, property and prospect evaluators, supervisors, managers, bankers, investors and anyone involved in preparing, reviewing or evaluating subsurface interpretations, prospects, fields and reserves or resources.
Don’t be too quick to drill that next dry hole. Success is not the result of serendipity, but is based on solid scientific work. This course addresses the need for a systematic approach for quickly screening interpretations, maps, prospects, potential resources or reserves, identifying fundamental interpretation, mapping, and estimating errors. The reverse application of methods and techniques as presented in our courses such as Applied Subsurface Geological Mapping and Advances Structural Geology is the core of this course. The most common errors found on subsurface interpretations and maps are illustrated with numerous examples from around the world.
The course begins with a review of examples of interpretation and mapping errors that led to poorly located wells that are uneconomic or dry, as well as inaccurate reserves or resources estimates. Methods used to address the risk factors that can cause dry holes are reviewed. The participants are then challenged with a series of real exploration and development prospects. After the participants’ evaluation, the projects are reviewed and the QC techniques that are applicable to evaluate each project are discussed.
Course outcomes:
- Develop an understanding of how to evaluate a variety of subsurface maps including fault, structure and isochore maps
- Understand the types of questions to ask when eviewing interpretations, maps and prospects
- Evaluate the 3-D viability of an interpretation, map or prospect
- Evaluate whether the resources or reserves attributed to a completed interpretation or map are under or over estimated
- Determine whether an interpreter has applied sound, industry accepted, geoscience principles and methods to generate an interpretation, map or prospect
Energy Minerals Division (EMD)
Hydraulic Fracturing of Shale Reservoirs
Date: Saturday, 18 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Room 329
Instructor: Randy LaFollette (BJ Services Company, Tomball, Texas)
Fee: Professionals $200, Students $100 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 50 people
Attendees will be taught the fundamentals of hydraulic fracturing in shale reservoirs. The class will begin with the goals of hydraulic fracturing in shales and will then progress to typical shale well architecture followed by a description of the hydraulic fracturing process. Basic fracturing calculations will be addressed and will include injection and fracturing pressure, rate, and hydraulic horsepower calculations. The propagation of hydraulic fractures in shales will be discussed in the context of rock mechanical properties description. Fracturing fluid, proppant and chemical additive materials and selection appropriate to shales will be covered. The evolution of hydraulic fracturing treatments in shales will be highlighted in a series of case studies of different shale reservoirs. The class will conclude with a brief discussion of how geologists can help the fracturing engineer to be more successful in stimulating shale wells.
Pre-Convention Short Course 5 SOLD OUT
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
Sequence-Stratigraphic Analysis of Shales: Key to Paleoclimate Archives, Subsurface Fluid Flow, and Hydrocarbon Source
Date: Saturday, 18 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Conference Center B, Omni Hotel
Instructor: Kevin M. Bohacs, Ovidiu Remus Lazar and Joe MacQuaker (ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Houston, Texas) and Juergen Schieber (Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana)
Fee: Professionals $225, Students $50 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 60 people
This course is designed for geologists who interpret fine-grained rocks, explore for, or develop conventional hydrocarbons, shale gas, tight liquids, or oil shale. Mudstones contain the most detailed records of earth history and are sources, reservoirs and seals of hydrocarbons, as well as serving as key elements in reservoir and aquifer models as baffles and barriers. Sequence stratigraphy provides an excellent framework within which to integrate the many scales of observations of physical, chemical and biological attributes necessary to understand these rocks across the spectrum of depositional settings.
This workshop combines interactive lectures and exercises addressing the expression of depositional sequences in mudstones on seismic, well-log, core and outcrop data. Examples include the Marcellus Shale, New Albany Shale, Barnett Shale, Shublik Formation, Kimmeridge Formation, Kingak Formation, Hue Shale, Mowry Shale and Monterey Formation.
Participants will practice recognition and correlation of significant stratigraphic packages through seismic stratigraphy, stacking pattern analysis of well-log, core and outcrop data, shale sedimentology, thinsection and geochemical data.
Although flooding surfaces and depositional-sequence boundaries may be subtly expressed in mudstones, they can be recognized through distinct changes observed in commonly available physical, chemical and biological data. Beyond the chronostratigraphic utility of correlative conformity, abundant paleoenvironmental information is recorded in fine-grained strata-depositional sequences do not just fade away into obscurity in distal reaches, but have objective attributes that allow extension of stratigraphic frameworks and play-element predictions over very large areas. Interactions of sediment supply and accommodation with pre-existing topography control the expression of depositional sequences. Marine environments tend to be most localized and abruptly changing. Lacustrine sequences vary according to lake-basin type, and range from very similar to shallow-marine siliciclastic sequences to very dissimilar.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Integrating Data Obtained on Source-Rock and Reservoir Fluid Samples to Evaluate Shale Resources across the E&P Lifecycle
Dates: Saturday, 18 May–Sunday, 19 May
Times: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Room 333
Instructors: Alan S. Kornacki (Weatherford Labs, Houston, Texas) and Christopher D. Laughrey (Weatherford Labs, Golden, Colorado)
Fee: AAPG Members $995 (increases to $1,095 after 19 April), Nonmembers $1,195 (increases to $1,295 after 19 April), AAPG Student Members $115 limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 25 people
Content: 1.5 CEU
This course is appropriate for geologists and petroleum engineers responsible for assessing oil and gas shale resources in petroleum basins; drilling and evaluating oil and gas shale exploration and appraisal wells; or developing and managing oil and gas shale reservoirs. Participants should be familiar with principles of source rock deposition and interpreting geochemical data obtained on source rock, oil and gas samples.
This course includes lectures and several exercises that incorporate geochemical data measured on rock and fluid samples obtained from oil and gas shale exploration, appraisal and production wells to illustrate the value of integrating those data with other types of subsurface information to screen, evaluate and manage shale reservoirs. The training course material is presented in the same sequence that geologists and petroleum engineers typically access the same kind of information and data. The course includes multidisciplinary case studies describing the evaluation of a marine source rock inferred to have generated the gas produced from overlying tight gas sands and the use of gas fingerprinting to refute an allegation that an E&P company contaminated a shallow aquifer by drilling horizontal gas wells.
Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to accomplish the following:
- Integrate legacy data from E&P wells and interpret new data obtained on rock and fluid samples to evaluate the resource potential of shale formations in proven petroleum basins
- Apply sequence stratigraphic principles, source rock characterization methods, and HC charge modeling results to reduce uncertainty about the scope of new oil and gas shale plays
- Interpret geochemical data obtained on well cuttings, conventional cores, desorption canister and mud gas samples, and produced oil and gas samples to identify shale reservoir intervals with good commercial potential Use geochemical data obtained on produced oil and gas samples to support well and reservoir management and surveillance programs
- Understand how to use HC fingerprinting technology to evaluate horizontal wells completed in shale reservoirs and to allocate commingled oil and gas production
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
Sequence Stratigraphy for Graduate Students
Dates: Saturday, 18 May–Sunday, 19 May
Times: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Conference Center A, Omni Hotel
Instructors: Vitor Abreu, David Cleveland and Jack Neal (ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Houston, Texas)
Fee: Professionals $300, Graduate Students $50
Includes: Course notes (SEPM CSP #9), refreshments, lunch on Sunday and SEPM membership for students
Limit: 50 people
This course is designed to teach graduate students the principles, concepts and methods of sequence stratigraphy. Sequence stratigraphy is an informal chronostratigraphic methodology that uses stratal surfaces to subdivide the stratigraphic record. This methodology allows the identification of coeval facies, documents the time-transgressive nature of classic lithostratigraphic units and provides geoscientists with an additional way to analyze and subdivide the stratigraphic record. Using exercises that utilize outcrop, core, well log and seismic data, the course provides a hands-on experience to learning sequence stratigraphy. The exercises include classic case studies from which many sequence stratigraphic concepts were originally developed.
The main objectives of the course are to review:
- Basic concepts and terminology of sequence stratigraphy
- The stratigraphic building blocks of depositional sequences
Recognition criteria for the identification of depositional sequences and their components in outcrops, cores, well logs and seismic - The application of sequence stratigraphy in non-marine, shallow marine and submarine depositional settings
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Faults in the Northern Appalachian Basin and their Effects on Black Shale
Date: Sunday, 19 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Room 334
Instructor: Robert Jacobi (University at Buffalo and EQT, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Fee: AAPG Members $695 (increases to $795 after 19 April), Nonmembers $895 (increases to $995 after 19 April), AAPG Student Members $115 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 50 people
Content: 0.75 CEU
The target audience for this course is oil and gas exploration geologists working in black shales and other units in the northern Appalachian Basin where the character and orientation of faults and affected fractures are critical components for a successful drilling program. Others should attend who are interested in the tectonics of the northern Appalachian Basin, the evidence for fault controlled development of the northern Appalachian Basin, and the effects of fault development on the sedimentary record.
The course will examine the characteristics of the four predominant fault systems in the northern Appalachian Basin of New York (NY) and Pennsylvania (PA). These fault systems, defined by their orientations, include northerly-striking faults, NW-striking faults, arcuate (in map view) faults, and westerly-striking faults (in NY). Additionally, crossstrike- discontinuities (CSDs), which have variable trends across NY and PA, will also be addressed (in western PA, CSDs strike NW and are synonymous with the NW-striking fault set). These fault systems have long-lived histories — each fault system has faults that have been (re) activated in each of the Phanerozoic orogenies.
The regional plate tectonic context will be addressed first by reviewing the relationships of the 4 major fault systems to plate tectonic evolution models of the Appalachian Orogen and Basin. Each fault system will then be examined in terms of motion history, fault type, and detailed fault character. The fault descriptions will be especially focused on the Ordovician Utica black shale and the Upper Devonian black shales. Sources will be primarily:
- Proprietary 3-D and 2-D seismic reflection data
- Well log data, including FMI images
- Outcrop data — the Mohawk Valley section in eastern NY for the Utica, and the Appalachian Basin outcrops across NY for the Devonian black shales.
A short review of the standard regional fracture systems is necessary in order to understand the local anomalous fractures that developed as a result of the fault activity. The anomalous fracture studies are based on outcrop and FMI data. The effects of faulting on depositional tracts in the Ordovician and the Devonian will be determined from seismic reflection data, outcrop data, and well logs.
The attendee will gain knowledge of:
- The faulting history in the northern Appalachian Basin and relation to plate tectonics
- Typical characteristics of faults in the Ordovician Utica black shale and the Upper Devonian Marcellus and Geneseo black shales
- How fracture sets in the black shales are influenced by faulting
- The influence of faulting on deposition, including black shale
This knowledge base is important for black shale gas exploration and development, since fractures and faults (and the orientation of lateral well bores with respect to those faults and fractures) have a significant influence on gas production. Although such knowledge is of prime importance for those involved in the Appalachian Basin, the concepts of fracture development and faulted basin development are transportable to other basins.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists-Eastern Section (AAPG-ES), Energy Minerals Division (EMD) and Pittsburgh Association of Petroleum Geologists (PAPG)
Black Shale Core Workshop
Date: Sunday, 19 May
Time: 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: Hall D
Instructors: Patrick Rush (Core Lab, Houston, Texas) and Ashley Douds (EQT, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Fee: Professionals $250, Students $125 (limited)
Includes: Course notes, continental breakfast and refreshments
Limit: 100 people
Black Shale resource plays are a major focus for hydrocarbon exploration and production in North America and globally. The economic impact of oil and gas shale reservoirs has been enormous. These unconventional shale reservoirs have proven to be challenging in terms of sedimentology, petrology and reservoir characterization due to the fine grained nature of these rocks and the heterogeneous character of mineralogy, organic matter distribution, lithologies and facies in these reservoirs. A thorough understanding of the lithofacies encountered in black shale is necessary in order to optimize fracture stimulation techniques and maximize ultimate hydrocarbon recovery.
This Black Shale Core Workshop will examine conventional cores from numerous shale resource plays, emphasizing the importance of integrating geological, geochemical, petrophysical and engineering data to effectively characterize these reservoirs. This event will also highlight the significance of various rock characteristics common to black shale reservoirs; including natural fractures, stratification, biogenic fabrics, concretions, authigenic constituents and thermal maturity.
The workshop will be organized into a concise series of oral presentations to highlight important characteristics of each core followed by time to examine each of the cores and interact with the presenters. A poster will accompany each core. The cores represent a wide range of black shale reservoirs from North America representing numerous depositional environments, facies and reservoir characteristics.
Pre-Convention Short Course 10
Division of Professional Affairs (DPA) and Pittsburgh Association of Petroleum Geologists (PAPG)
The Three Ps of Geosteering: Principles, Practice and Pitfalls
Date: Sunday, 19 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: Room 317/318
Instructors: Josh Dill (Empirica, Houston, Texas), Mark Gallagher (Encana, Tyler, Texas) and Raymond Woodward (BHL, Plano, Texas)
Fee: Professionals $200, Students $100
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 50 people
With horizontal drilling, geosteering has emerged as a powerful interpretation tool. This course is designed to introduce participants to geosteering principals, interpretation practices, and to recognize potential pitfalls.
Part 1: Geosteering Fundamentals: Mechanics and Interpretation How does one successfully geosteer and geolocate a horizontal well? The mechanics of well set up, design, data transmission, steering and gamma correlation will be discussed, as well as the more subtle details of wellbore stratigraphic placement. Case studies of wells that encountered faults and non-conformities will be reviewed. We will also discuss the most ideal conveyance of interpreted information.
Part 2: Practical Geosteering: Misconceptions, Pitfalls and Remedies Geosteering pitfalls fall into three categories:
- Over simplification of pre-drill subsurface geologic uncertainty and over confidence in pre-drill geologic model
- Over-confidence in the accuracy and completeness of data from MWD-LWD, both as to log curves and directional surveys and overconfidence in depth-specificity of mudlog data
- Errors by the geosteering decision-maker, e.g. failure to account for well path positional uncertainty, over-steering, imprecise communications with drillers
Remedies are not fool proof, but operational costs and in-target percentages can be improved by applying work flows which do not fall victim to misconceptions and which recognize unavoidable uncertainties. Case studies will be reviewed.
Pre-Convention Short Course 11
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
Seismic Geomorphology and Seismic Stratigraphy: Extracting Geologic Insights from 3-D Seismic Data
Date: Sunday, 19 May
Time: 7:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Location: Conference Center B, Omni Hotel
Instructor: Henry Posamentier (Chevron, Houston, Texas)
Fee: Professionals $200, Students $50 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 60 people
This course is designed to enhance interpretation skill sets with regard to geologic interpretation of seismic data. The overall objective is to present methods for reducing risk with regard to prediction of lithology, reservoir compartmentalization and stratigraphic trapping potential in exploration and production.
Specifically, the participant will be shown:
- Workflows designed to facilitate extraction of stratigraphic insights from 3-D seismic data
- Techniques for 3-D seismic geomorphologic/stratigraphic analyses
- Numerous examples of various depositional systems in arious depositional settings
The application of seismic geomorphology and seismic stratigraphy to exploration and field development is a natural consequence of the advent of high quality and increasingly more affordable and widespread 3-D seismic data currently available. Integrating analyses of plan view (geomorphologic) and section view (stratigraphic) images can significantly enhance predictions of the spatial and temporal distribution of subsurface lithology (reservoir, source and seal), compartmentalization, and stratigraphic trapping capabilities, as well as enhanced understanding of process sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy.
Participants in the course will be exposed to seismic geomorphologic/stratigraphic workflows which involve:
- Initial reconnaissance through 3-D volumes using various slicing techniques using a variety of different seismic attribute volumes including full stack reflection amplitudes, near and far stacked amplitude volumes, and coherence volumes, as well as opacity rendering
- Focus on features of geologic interest and further investigate through a combination of detailed slicing, interval attributes, horizon picking and amplitude extraction, horizon illumination, etc.
- Comprehensive integration of seismic geomorphologic analyses with seismic stratigraphic analyses, whereby the plan view is integrated with the section view to ensure a consistent interpretation
Course lectures will involve both PowerPoint presentations as well as interactive demonstrations of 3-D seismic data interpretation. A wide variety of depositional settings will be shown, ranging from non-marine to marginal marine, shelf and deep water, and will include both clastic as well as carbonate depositional environments. Concepts as well as applications pertaining to seismic-based analyses of depositional systems will be covered in detail.
Pre-Convention Short Course 12
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
Analogs for Carbonate Deposition in Early Rift Settings
Date: Sunday, 19 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: Monongahala Room, Omni Hotel
Instructor: Paul “Mitch” Harris (Chevron Energy Technology Co., San Ramon, California), James Ellis (Ellis GeoSpatial, Walnut Creek, California), and Sam Purkis (National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, Florida)
Fee: Professionals $200, Students $50
Includes: Course notes, SEPM SC55, GIS Software, refreshments
Limit: 60 people
Processed satellite images, Digital Elevation Models and interpretation maps for select lacustrine and marginal marine depositional settings are organized into a GIS to show a spectrum of styles of deposition for the types of carbonates to be expected in early rift settings (emphasis on microbialites and tufa). Present and past lake/basin margins are delineated based on published lake level elevations and for some examples the shorelines representing different lake levels can be compared to evaluate how changes in size, shape and lake configuration might have impacted carbonate development.
East African rift lakes show a range of characteristics to be expected in lacustrine settings during the earliest stages of rifting, whereas the Red Sea shows well advanced rifting with marine incursion and reef and associated carbonate development. Collectively, the lacustrine examples show a wide range of sizes with several of them being large enough that they could produce carbonate deposits of potential economic interest. Three of the areas are exceedingly complex in that they illustrate a large degree of potential depositional facies heterogeneity due to their size, irregular pattern and connectivity of sub-basins within the overall lake outline.
Objectives of the short course:
- Overview of the geological setting of each study area (analog)
- Review remote sensing and the workflow for building the GIS
- Discuss results of analyzing the analogs
- Introduce morphometrics — a field concerned with the characterization of geologically relevant forms and patterns in ways that allow their quantitative handling
- Using the Red Sea as an example to thoroughly introduce quantitative approaches to compare and contrast the range of reef and associated sedimentary styles and assess the geometry of facies belts in a rift setting
Bring your laptops to load the SEPM digital publication, GeoPDFs, GoogleEarth files and animations. Sixty-day evaluation DVDs of ESRI ArcGIS software will be available to load onto your laptop so you can interactively work with the GIS database during the workshop and afterward. We will show a diversity of geostatistical tools that can be developed using computational GIS and how they are applicable for the characterization and modeling of petroleum reservoirs.
Notes: Students are asked to bring personal laptops.
Post-Convention Short Course 13
American Association of Petroleum Geology (AAPG)
Course Application of Organic Petrology (Maturation and Organic Facies), Geochemistry, and Petroleum System Modeling for Shale Gas/Shale Oil Resource Evaluation
Date: Thursday, 23 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Pennsylvania West, Westin Hotel
Instructors: Prasanta “Muki” Mukhopadhyay (Global Geoenergy Research Limited, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) and Thomas Hantschel (IES Integrated Exploration Systems GmbH, A Schlumberger Company, Aachen, Germany)
Fee: AAPG Members $695 (increases to $795 after 19 April), Nonmembers $895 (increases to $995 after 19 April), AAPG Student Members $115 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 50 people
Content: 0.75 CEU
This course is valuable for geoscientists, geophysicists, engineers, students, economists and others who are actively involved or interested in applying maturation/organic facies, geochemistry and petroleum system modeling to the evaluation of shale gas and/or shale oil resources. The participants for this comprehensive one day short course will gain practical knowledge of the unconventional resource shale plays from various mature and frontier basins.
This short course will evaluate the following aspects of shale oil and shale gas evaluation:
Maturation/Organic Facies and Geochemistry by Dr. Prasanta Mukhopadhyay (Muki)
- Implication of anoxia and source rock facies variability
- Implications of heat flow in basin analysis and maturation parameters for shale oil and shale gas evaluation
- Correlation of petrological and geochemical organic facies and kerogen type and their changes during advanced maturity
- A short geochemical appraisal of shale oil and shale gas evaluation including an application of kinetic parameters for various source rocks, their expulsion efficiency, and mass balance of hydrocarbons in mature and over-mature source rocks
Petroleum Systems Modelling by Thomas Hantschel
- Theoretical/practical aspects of heat flow, pore pressure and basis for geochemical kinetics
- One dimensional Basin Modeling exercises with risk analysis for unconventional plays
- Theoretical aspects of multi-component PVT, adsorption/free gases and migration
- A 2-D/3-D Petroleum Systems Modeling for shale gas and shale oil plays: e.g. Haynesville play etc.
Post-Convention Short Course 14
AAPG Professional Women in Earth Sciences (PROWESS) and Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG)
Unconventional Workforce Assets – Developing New Leaders in the Energy Industry
Date: Thursday, 23 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Somerset East/West, Westin Hotel
Moderators: Jessica Moore (Chevron, Bakersfield, California) and Anna Cruse (Samson Resources, Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Fee: Professionals $150, Students $50 (limited)
Includes: Continental breakfast, lunch, refreshments, networking social and slides
Limit: 60 people
Attend the AAPG PROWESS/AWG short course and engage with some of the industry’s most recognized professionals, in both management and lead technical positions. The day will begin with a keynote speech by Henna Inam entitled, “How to Ask Powerfully for What You Want”.
In this session, participants will learn a five-step model to prepare for and feel more confident in asking for what one wants (i.e., promotion, raise, additional projects) along with five distinct influencing styles and how to apply them in different situations. Participants will then create an action plan for a specific work situation to practice what is learned.
The remainder of the course is taught in a round-table format to facilitate interactive and personal discussions on career advice. Roundtable discussion leaders represent the diversity of energy industry employers, from majors to small independent, government, and academia. Participants engage in discussions with these experienced professionals and learn how to attain technical or managerial leadership positions that match their skill set and career goals.
Whether you are preparing for your first job, considering a mid-career move, or starting your second career; attend this short course to steer your career in the right direction for maximum payout. Immediately following the short course, career-altering discussions continue and relationships are solidified during the networking social.
Post-Convention Short Course 15 Canceled
Division of Environmental Geosciences (DEG)
Hands-On Groundwater Flow Modeling with AnAqSim (Analytic Aquifer Simulator)
Dates: Thursday, May 23–Friday, 24 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Westin Hotel
Instructor: Charles R. Fitts, Ph.D. (University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine) and Charles F. McLane III, Ph.D. (McLane Environmental, LLC, Princetown, New Jersey)
Fee: Professionals $650, Students $325 (limited)
Includes: Course notes and refreshments
Limit: 25 people
Groundwater modeling is often perceived to be complicated and time consuming, which sometimes precludes its use on projects that could greatly benefit from modeling analyses. AnAqSim, because it is based on the analytic element method, makes modeling easier and less costly for a broad range of hydrogeologic projects and analyses. AnAqSim is a Windows application that allows simulation of steady and transient flow including heterogeneity, anisotropy, multilayer systems (3-D) and fresh/salt interface flow. It is quicker and easier to set up than numerical models such as MODFLOW, and is well-suited for problems that range from simple to moderately complex.
This course begins with a review of the principles of groundwater flow and various approaches for computer modeling of flow, including analytic elements and finite differences. The remainder of the course will focus on how to approach a groundwater modeling task including How to set up, calibrate and interpret groundwater flow models under a variety conditions. The instructor’s groundwater modeling software AnAqSim will be used by the students as a hands-on tool to demonstrate and reinforce the concepts, approaches and methods presented. The students will be able to apply these modeling concepts to other commercially available groundwater software at the completion of the course.
During the course, attendees will run a free trial license of AnAqSim on their own laptops for hands-on work with several modeling problems. The course will explore models of well fields, dewatering systems, remediation designs, leaching fields, groundwater/surface water interaction, or other situations depending on attendee interest. Attendees who complete the course will be eligible for a $130 discount on a full AnAqSim license.
Note: Students should bring laptop computer to class.
Post-Convention Short Course 16
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
3-D Seismic Attributes for Prospect Identification and Reservoir Characterization
Dates: Thursday, 23 May–Friday, 24 May
Time: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Location: Butler East/West, Westin Hotel
Instructor: Kurt Marfurt (University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
Fee: SEG Members $995 (increases to $1,095 after 23 April),
Nonmembers $1,095 (increases to $1,195 after 23 April),
Students $300 (increases to $400 after 23 April)
Includes: Course materials, refreshments and lunch
Limit: 25 people
Content: 1.5 CEU
Each participant will gain an intuitive understanding of the kinds of seismic features that can be identified by 3-D seismic attributes, the sensitivity of seismic attributes to seismic acquisition and processing, and how ‘independent’ seismic attributes are coupled through geology.
Course outcomes:
- Use time slices, phantom horizon slices, and stratal slices through attribute volumes to illuminate stratigraphic features of geologic interest
- Apply single and multi-attribute color display techniques to effectively communicate attribute images features to others
- Identify geological features highlighted by spectral decomposition and wavelet transforms in terms of thin bed tuning
- Evaluate the impact of spatial and temporal analysis window size on the resolution of geologic features
- Use folds and faults imaged by curvature attributes to predict paleo fractures
- Predict which attributes can be used to image the lateral extent of features that fall below vertical seismic resolution
- Couple mathematically independent attributes to map different components of the same geologic feature (e.g. bright spots and structural high, differential compaction seen incurvature and edges seen in coherence)
- Recognize acquisition footprint on seismic attribute time and horizon slices
- Apply attributes to azimuth-limited impedance volumes to identify fracture trends
- Identify the limits of attribute analysis on data that have been poorly imaged
- Differentiate and choose between relative, band-limited, modeldriven, and geostatistical inversion algorithms
- Choose an appropriate clustering algorithm to combine independent attributes to better delineate geologic features
- Use visualization and cross-plotting to validate attribute predictions using image logs, microseismic event maps and well logs
To register or for detailed information, contact SEG:
http://seg.org/ce
ce@seg.org
Registration ends 9 May
U.S. $50 cancellation fee before 23 April
No refunds after 23 April
SEG Continuing Education
8801 S. Yale Ave., Ste 500
Tulsa, OK 74137
