January/February Reservoir 2020

In This Issue...

Hydrogeology – a Primer Core To Characterization Wrap-Up 2019 Award Winners

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: CSPG – 150, 540 – 5th Ave SW Calgary, AB, T2P 0M2

$7.00 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 VOLUME 47, ISSUE 1 Canadian Publication Mail Contract – 40070050

This year we celebrate the integration of geology across Canada, an opportunity we only get once a decade!

The theme for the 2020 CSPG Core Conference is “Igniting Geoscience Across Canada”, where we look to bring together all disciplines of geology. The committee is looking forward to expanding the breadth of content for the 2020 Core Conference, where we will include examples from all facets of geoscience, whether it is sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic. We encourage those who may be working in mineral exploration, academic research and reservoirs old and new to present their ideas in a more casual environment at this coming years conference, and to showcase the understanding of the rocks that established the resources that provide for us throughout Canada.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN General Delegate Registration:

$200.00

*Core Meltdown ticket included

Group Registration Group of 3 Registrations

$570.00

Group of 5 Registrations

$850.00

Group of 10 Registrations

$1300.00

*Core Meltdown ticket included

*Core Meltdown ticket included

*Core Meltdown ticket included

Register online today! www.cspg.org/coreconference

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2020 CSPG OFFICE #150, 540 - 5th Ave SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 0M2 Tel: 403-264-5610 Web: www.cspg.org Please visit our website for all tickets sales and event/course registrations Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:00pm The CSPG Office is Closed the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month.

OFFICE CONTACTS

Membership Inquiries Tel: 403-264-5610 Email: membership@cspg.org Advertising Inquiries: Emma MacPherson Tel: 403-513-1230 Email: emma.macpherson@cspg.org Sponsorship Opportunities: Lis Bjeld Tel: 403-513-1235, Email: lis.bjeld@cspg.org Conference Inquiries: Saundra Diardichuk Tel: 403-513-1238 Email: saundra.diardichuk@cspg.org Accounting Inquiries: Kasandra Amaro Tel: 403-513-1232 Email: kasandra.amaro@cspg.org Education Inquiries: Kristy Casebeer Tel: 403-513-1233 Email: kristy.casebeer@cspg.org Executive Director: Lis Bjeld Tel: 403-513-1235, Email: lis.bjeld@cspg.org

EDITORS/AUTHORS

Please submit RESERVOIR articles to the CSPG office.

Submission deadline is the 23rd day of the month, two months prior to issue date. (e.g. January 23 for the March/April issue) To publish an article, the CSPG requires digital copies of the document. Text should be in Microsoft Word format and illustrations should be in TIFF format at 300 dpi., at final size.

CSPG COORDINATING EDITOR

Emma MacPherson, Communications Coordinator, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Tel: 403-513-1230, emma.macpherson@cspg.org

The RESERVOIR is published 6 times per year by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. The purpose of the RESERVOIR is to publicize the Society’s many activities and to promote the geosciences. We look for both technical and non-technical material to publish.

The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in full without the consent of the publisher. Additional copies of the RESERVOIR are available at the CSPG office.

No official endorsement or sponsorship by the CSPG is implied for any advertisement, insert, or article that appears in the Reservoir unless otherwise noted. All submitted materials are reviewed by the editor. We reserve the right to edit all submissions, including letters to the Editor. Submissions must include your name, address, and membership number (if applicable).The material contained in this publication is intended for informational use only.

While reasonable care has been taken, authors and the CSPG make no guarantees that any of the equations, schematics, or devices discussed will perform as expected or that they will give the desired results. Some information contained herein may be inaccurate or may vary from standard measurements. The CSPG expressly disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user of information contained in this publication. Under no circumstances shall the CSPG and its officers, directors, employees, and agents be liable for any injury, loss, damage, or expense arising in any manner whatsoever from the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user.

PRESIDENT Jen Russel-Houston

PRESIDENT ELECT Neil Watson

Osum Oil Sands Corp. president@cspg.org

Enlighten Geoscience Ltd. presidentelect@cspg.org

PAST PRESIDENT Marty Hewitt

FINANCE DIRECTOR Kelty Latos

pastpresident@cspg.org

ConocoPhillips Canada Ltd. directorfinance@cspg.org

FINANCE DIRECTOR ELECT Jason Frank

DIRECTOR Kurt Armbruster technicaldivisions@cspg.org

Athabasca Oil Corp. directorfinanceelect@cspg.org DIRECTOR Mona Enachescu

DIRECTOR Amy Fox

Cavalier Energy Inc. outreach@cspg.org

Enlighten Geoscience Ltd.. education@cspg.org

DIRECTOR Chad Glemser

DIRECTOR Kiersten Mohr

Paramount Resources conferences@cspg.org

publications@cspg.org

DIRECTOR Genga Nadaraju

DIRECTOR Mark Mallamo

membershipdirector@cspg.org

Acquisition Oil Corp. fieldtrips@cspg.org

Printed by CBN Commercial Services, Calgary, Alberta.

RESERVOIR ISSUE 1 • JAN/FEB 2020

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THANK-YOU TO ALL OF OUR SPONSORS SAMARIUM SPONSORS

PLATINUM SPONSOR

TITANIUM SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS MJ Systems Rockwell Consulting Ember Resources Birchcliff Energy Ltd. Earth Signal Processing Ltd. Enercapita Geomodeling Technology Corp.

Husky Energy Inc. IEC Holden Inc. Isotopes Canada Pason Systems

Ridgeback Resources Ltd. Rocking Horse Energy Services Inc. Waterline Resources AAPG - Canada region Katalyst Data Management Sigma Explorations Keitech Consulting ARC Financial Corporation Athabasca Oil Corporation Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. CAPL

*As of November 30th Continental Laboratories (1985) Ltd. Geo-Steering Solutions Gran Tierra Energy Inc. InPlay Oil Corp.

RBC Capital Saguaro Resources Signature Seismic Processing Inc. Dynacore Solutions Ltd. Emerson Explor Government of Greenland, Ministry

of Industry, Energy and Research Parks Canada ConocoPhillips Canada Limited United Oil and Gas Ltd Altura Energy Inc. Newsco Drilling Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd. GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 – VOLUME 47, ISSUE 1

MONTHLY SPONSORS ..............................................................................................4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR ...................................................................................6 MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD ................................................................................7 TECHNICAL ARTICLE Hydrogeology – a Primer..........................................................................................9

UPCOMING EVENTS Technical Luncheon ...............................................................................................11

FRONT COVER Castle Mountain, Alberta.

Castle Mountain (as viewed looking south from above Rockbound Lake) records a series of depositional cycles of Cambrian sea level change. Recessive shallow marine shales, clastics and carbonates of the Mount Whyte Formation lie in the trees at the base of the mountain. The shallow marine carbonate platform of the cliff-forming Cathedral Formation forms the first cliff band and is overlain by the recessive marine shales of the Stephen Formation that reflect a relative sea level rise and deepening. A subsequent sea level fall resulted in the deposition of the cliff-forming, relatively shallow water carbonate platform of the Eldon Formation that forms the upper cliff band. Finally, the Pika Formation occurs as a thin veneer on top of the peaks.

Photo by: Naomi Wiebe

Division Talks ..........................................................................................................13

SOCIETY NEWS Sweat the Subsurface Run ..........................................................................................25 Core To Characterization Wrap-Up.............................................................................27 The William C. Gussow Conference, 15-17 October, 2019 – An Unconventional Success Story........................................................................................28 2020 CSPG Geological Calendar Wrap-up ..........................................................................30 Core Conference Welcome Letter ........................................................................................31 2019 Award Winners..............................................................................................................32 Thank You to our 2019 Volunteers........................................................................................33 CSPG Fiscal Year Finances Review ......................................................................................34

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

G Tom Sneddon Professional Geologist (Alberta), Professional Geoscientist (B.C.) retired recently as Director of Geoscience and Outreach for APEGA, has been a member of the CSPG for over 40 years, and has pursued a career in geoscience since his university days. He has two degrees – both from Alberta: initially from the University of Calgary in 1969 (B.A. Geography), and from the University of Alberta (M.Sc. in Water Resources, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1981). His initial industry experience was with Amoco Canada in 1967-69 as a “Geophysical Professional Assistant” for seismic data management, processing, and seismic section preparations.

eneral January and Marshal February are duking it out one more time. They saved Russia from Napoleon and Canadians are forced to button up the top loop of their snow suits.

On the cheery side, CSPG and the CSPG Foundation are busy keeping us all active and excited during the Dark Months. A full list of social and athletic activities is posted on the web site, for your attention and full participation. Also, on the cheery side, I hope you all enjoyed the December reception as much as I did. I got a lot of good advice and encouragement from Members that I hope you will find in these pages later in the year.

For your reading pleasure, while enjoying your favourite vintage, we have several new and engaging articles in this month’s edition of the Reservoir (and the current Bulletin). The feature article is Hydrogeology – A Primer, together

with notices for the Division noonhour brown baggers and upcoming technical luncheons in January and February. We also present outcomes from the ever-popular technical conferences held after the November/ December edition went to press.

Starting in 2020, the Reservoir will begin a series of re-prints of great field trips published in days of yore as the ASPG Field Conferences. Send us your suggestions for field guide articles that may have encouraged you to pursue a career in petroleum geology. One perk that comes from being editor is that I get to pick my favourite first! It will appear in the summer edition.

That’s all for now. I’m looking forward to the Spring Skiing edition of the Reservoir and to your manuscripts, suggestions and ideas for making it better.

Tom has taken his broad geoscience experience – over 30 years of earth sciences experience, including experimental watershed research, hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, oil and gas prospect development, drilling programs, and extensive field work in minerals exploration and development – in both government and industry, and applied it to the promotion of professionalism within the geosciences, through his role at APEGA.

Readers of The RECORDER,The Source, the CSPG Reservoir, and The PEG have seen Tom’s numerous articles on the role of the professional geoscientist.

Book Cliffs Utah

World class outcrop analogue for shoreface-deltaic, fluvial, and tidal-estuarine sandstone reservoirs.

Now booking company-specific, applied geological field trips.

Contact: Dr. Simon A.J. Pattison pattison@bookcliffsgeology.com www.bookcliffsgeology.com

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T.I.H. Consulting Ltd. Geologic Well-Site Supervision

1602 – 5th St N.E. Calgary, AB. T2E 7W3 Phone: 403-233-7729 www.tihconsulting.com e-mail: tih@shaw.ca

RESERVOIR ISSUE 1 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD By: Jen Russel-Houston Letter from the President Sailing is one of my greatest joys.

I have a small sailboat that is about as old as I am, and every year, I pull it down from storage, dust out the cobwebs and nests, rig up the sheets, and hoist the sail. The lake I sail on in the Canadian Shield is small, surrounded by steep hills that make the winds unpredictable. I have spent many enjoyable hours on my boat, reading the winds, picking my tack, adjusting my sail so that I can take full advantage of the wind gusts when they blow. When the wind fills my sail, I hike out over the gunwale to balance the boat, and I soar. It is exhilarating.

During my year as President Elect I have rigged up the boat, and made my preparations to sail. I have shadowed current President Marty Hewitt, surveyed our members, and listened to the staff.

There are five staff members at the CSPG, and about two hundred and fifty volunteers that are passionately committed to the mission of our society. There are 2381 members that benefit from the technical program and networking opportunities within the CSPG. Our membership numbers have stabilized over the last two years after declining from 3296 in 2014.

Through these tough years the staff and volunteers focused on cost reductions and revenue generation to make our society sustainable with fewer members. In 2019 we were able to generate a small profit. The boat is in good shape and the crew is ready to sail.

I have also spent the year reading the wind, trying to understand which direction we should tack to take us where we want to go.

I met with Past CSPG Presidents, Financial Analysts, and the CSPG Board. I voraciously read reports that made predictions about the future of our energy industry. I listened to geologists working in the industry today, and those who are still looking for work.

The wind is hard to predict, but I see two major changes over the last decade that

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have impacted our industry in Canada and the role of geoscientists.

The first major change is the advent of big resource plays; tight light oil and shale gas unconventional production, and oil sands development. Most of the exploration & production (E&P) companies are now just “P” – production companies. These giant resources have provided us with what feels like endless supply and have reduced our appetite for exploration risk. The resource is often well defined, and the geoscientist’s role is to work collaboratively with engineers to optimize the development.

Geoscientists have had to adapt quickly to survive - learning new skills to be a part of the resource play revolution. We work with big datasets to build complex models and geosteer the wells to the producing zone. A smart and capable geoscientist now does the job of what was previously a team of people.

In addition to the traditional petroleum geology skill set, we have become experts in topics once considered the domain of engineers, such as; geomechanics, pore pressure prediction, and fluid behaviour.

Our education programs and conferences must keep pace with this change and at the same time we need to retain the historical knowledge and exploration skill set we risk losing. We must train for the future and connect with the past.

The second major change has been the implementation of policies and plans for a low-carbon energy future. Energy demand is increasing as population and GDP increase (IEA 2019). Governments around the world, including our own are implementing policies to reduce CO2 emissions, but still energy demand is predicted to increase at a rate of 1% a year with energy from solar and natural gas accommodating most of that increase (IEA 2019, Stated Policies Scenario).

Implementing these policies slows the rise of global CO2 emissions, but to meet the Paris Agreement target of holding rise in global temperatures to less than 2oC, a rapid transition across the energy system is required (IEA, 2019; Sustainable

Development Scenario - SDS). Overall oil demand is predicted to drop in the SDS by 2% a year between 2018 and 2050; while gas demand increases to 2030 and then decreases beyond. In the Rapid Transition Scenario of the BP Energy Outlook 2019 which assumes emission reductions similar to SDS, oil and gas provide half of the global energy in 2040, with oil demand decreasing and gas demand increasing in conjunction with growing use of carbon capture, utilization and storage. Although the pace of change is uncertain, all the scenarios predict that humans will consume petroleum products for decades to come.

Canada is well positioned to provide that energy in a safe and responsible way. It is important that our student members hear that message and know there is a future for them in the Canadian petroleum industry.

We are in a state of transition and many of our members are leading the way to the low-carbon energy future. Many of us are proudly involved in the improvements to our petroleum development process to reduce emissions and increase efficiency.

Some of our members are involved in developing new technologies that will have a dramatic impact on how we provide energy for the world. Our members are involved in the carbon neutral EOR development at Clive that uses CO2 from the new trunk line. Our members have drilled the multilateral closed-loop wells for the geothermal energy pilot near Sylvan Lake and will monitor the pilot as it begins.

Our members are exploring for lithiumenriched brines in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin as a source for lithium batteries. All of these geoscientists have presented their work at CSPG-hosted events this year.

It is a new world with new problems to solve, and energy geoscientists have the skills to contribute to the solutions.

The role of our Society is to support the community of geoscientists in this time of (Continued on page 8...)

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(Continued from page 7...) transition and to advance the profession of energy geoscientists. In 2020, this will mean enhanced training opportunities for geoscientists developing resource plays; the revitalization of CSPG field trips that allow for the transference of knowledge between generations; and the expansion of our divisions to include new energy sources such as geothermal.

IEA, 2019. https://www.iea.org/weo2019

We cannot control the wind, but our boat is solid, our crew is ready, and we can adjust our sails to get to shore. Come join me on this adventure.

BP, 2019 https://www.bp.com/content/ d a m / b p / b u s i n e s s -s i t e s / e n / g l o b a l / c o r p o rat e / p d f s / e n e rg y - e c o n o m i c s / energy-outlook/bp-energy-outlook-2019. pdf

Call For Abstracts!

The committee is looking to all geologists to submit an abstract or idea that would complement the overall theme of 'Igniting Geoscience Across Canada'

Short abstracts are due January 17th, 2020.

• • •

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1-2 Paragraphs outlining subject matter Indication of core location (AB, SK, NWT etc.)

Names of all authors who will be presenting

SUBMIT ABSTRACTS TO coreconference@cspg.org

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE

HYDROGEOLOGY – A PRIMER By:Tom Sneddon A slight change in my LinkedIn profile recently produced a startling result: hydrogeologists seem to be in demand across Canada and elsewhere in the world.

Since making the profile change, 1 to 10 notices have appeared in my email in-box daily. Like all licenced geoscientists, I’ve kept up on the science and technology of my primary geoscience passion despite the apparent lack of interest in it by potential clients or employers.

transport; hydrocarbon spill plume tracing; solid waste leachate containment appraisal at both the design and monitoring data stages and a raft of other things. The overlap between geoscience and engineering practice is apparent from this list and the need for close coordination between a civil engineering hydrologist and professional hydrogeologist is obvious, especially when the depth of investigation exceeds 3 metres.

A good grasp of hydrodynamics is essential.

Clearly, my specialty has much higher demand now than when I abandoned it for gold and diamond mining 25 years ago!

Discussing this situation with colleagues in other fields suggested most of them had little current knowledge of what practical hydrogeology is all about. This brief article is the result from those ruminations to expose a little more light on the specialty.

In any given hydrogeology project, like any geology project, the first act is to obtain and map the basement to daylight geology, preferably in 3 dimensions. The structural geology of the site provides clues to fracture permeability as well as potential traps, aquicludes and aquifers affecting the site investigation.

This information allows establish the framework required for any follow-up dynamic modeling, if that is included in the workflow.

Everyone active in the professional practice of geology has learned the basics of hydrogeology as an academic discipline.

Some of us even took courses in it as undergraduates! The subject’s importance to applied geology is usually limited to an understanding of the flow of fluids through porous media and its associated petrophysical data interpretation.

The quantity and quality of pore fluid geochemistry usually ends with gas/oil/ water estimates and maybe a Stiff diagram of saltwater for disposal purposes.

For those practitioners of the Environmental Geoscience persuasion, hydrogeology as a scope of practice just begins there.

Hydrogeology covers the entire water cycle, from hydrometeorology (both snow and rain) through engineering hydrology for water supply and quality purposes; river mechanics; erosion and sedimentation; land use impacts on water chemistry; public health; agronomic soils and their development; deep/intermediate/shallow flow regimes and mass balance; slope stability assessment and monitoring; dissolved gas evaluation to identify explosive components and contaminant

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Surficial geology is clearly important for identifying recharge and discharge areas for runoff modeling. A good set of relationships with the surficial geology group for the provincial geological surveys is essential to understanding site nuances. Foresters are also close allies in wildland areas, but also in urban areas with significant tree cover. Evapotranspiration is the key element in that relationship, along with wetland management. Agronomists can be a big help in understanding soils, water flow and water quality relationships in agricultural lands.

In the near surface domain, field work needs to include the local well drilling community and their clientele. They all know where good and not-so-good water supply volumes and quality can be found.

Confirmation with the environment department groundwater branch data bases and access to fellow hydrogeologists is also essential. They can also supply knowledge of industrial uses (and abuses) of the aquifers that are commonly in use in the project area. This includes discussion with any First Nations staff in the vicinity

of the area to be developed. They are also a wealth of local knowledge of water supplies, potential archaeological sites and their importance to the community.

It may also be necessary to acquire preproject baseline data and design a postproject monitoring program as part of the site investigation. A sound knowledge of meteorological instrumentation, groundwater and surface water instrumentation is required for larger projects, or a field campaign to supplement available water resources data.

A good grasp of data science is also essential. There is never enough data and the project site is always at the extremes of what is available. The data period of record, of course, is always too short. It is always tempting to make a little data go a long way. A data quality assessment is an essential part of the job and data quality control and assurance is a hydrogeologist’s preoccupation to guarantee the data set isn’t pushed too far.

And then there is geophysics, of course.

Much can be learned from borehole logging (usually just an inductance log and an SP log are adequate). For shallow groundwater prospecting, refraction seismic will always tell you where the current water table is in 3 dimensions and an EM31 (near surface electromagnetic profiler) survey will give you a pretty good idea about the salinity of the water down to about 10 metres or so.

Combine that with the downhole EM log and tracking a contaminant plume can be performed with reasonable precision, at a lower cost and in a shorter time frame than a closely spaced drilling program.

The seismic survey will usually reveal what the bedrock surface looks like and if you are good at that kind of interpretation, what the lithology of multiple layers might be.

Knowing a good geophysicist is essential for planning the survey and data interpretation if there is any degree of complexity in the interpretation.

(Continued on page 10...)

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE (Continued from page 9...)

Given the breadth and depth of the discipline, teamwork with other specialists in geoscience and engineering is essential. The need for a high level of professionalism in its practice is essential as well. Hydrogeology is pretty much the same as other disciplines in having a need for understanding the accuracy and precision limits of the available data set and the information derived from it, then communicating that understanding to the client in language that person or company comprehends. A hydrogeologist is employed primarily to reduce risk through a process of risk assessment before the project begins and limiting the client’s exposure to liability during and after the project ends.

Authentication of a geoscience report to a client, be it a hydrogeology, petroleum geology or mineral property assessment requires a full understanding of the risk involved with a project and a full disclosure of that risk to the best of the author’s capability. That is the limit to our advice.

SAVE THE DATE August 15-19, 2021 | Banff Centre | Banff, AB, Canada

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TECHNICAL LUNCHEON

Seismic Geomorphology: From the Earth’s Ocean Depths to the Distal Planets, a revolution in reconstructing landscape form and processes SPEAKER Lesli J. Wood | Colorado School of Mines

Time: 11:30 am doors open Date: January 21, 2020 Location: Hyatt Hotel, Imperial Ballroom 5/7/9, 700 Centre Street SE, Calgary AB T2G 5P6 CSPG member ticket price: $46.50+gst Non-member ticket price: $55+gst Please note: The cut-off for ticket sales is 4:00pm, January 14, 2020

ABSTRACT When we are asked to account revolutionary concepts from the past 50 years of sedimentology and stratigraphy, we are often at a loss to move much beyond “the turbidite”? Some of us can list “sequence stratigraphy”, although Larry Slosswouldarguethattheseideashadbeen around but were simply popularized in the past 40 years. However, the development of Seismic Geomorphology and even further, our ability to quantify the earth’s historical nature through Quantitative Seismic Geomorphology has truly been an eye-opening revolution in the way

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we see the historic Earth. The canon fire driving this revolution’s forward advance is three-dimensional seismic data, and this advance rides upon the shoulders of the science of geomorphology. In recent years, the development of Digital Geomorphology, has further advanced our recognition of processes that have formed our sister planets. This talk will document, in amazing detail the advances in planet surface process imagery through seismic geomorphologic and other technologies and detail the revolution that this ability to see into ancient landscapes, has spawned in our understanding of the earth’s process history and the formation of our sister planets.

BIOGRAPHY Dr. Wood joined the faculty at Colorado School of Mines in 2015 as the Robert J.Weimer Distinguished Chair and Professor in Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology, where she is Professor and Director of the Sedimentary Analogs Database and Research Program (SAnD).

Prior to joining CSM, Dr. Wood held positions at the University of Texas at Austin, Amoco Production Company and Arco. Dr. Wood specializes in quantitative

seismic geomorphology of clastic basins, tectonics and sedimentary system interactions, submarine and sublacustrine mass failures, petroleum geology, shales tectonics and geomorphology of Mars.

She has served as SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology national SecretaryTreasurer, the GCSSEPM President and is active in AAPG. Dr. Wood has published widely on the nature of modern and ancient deep- to shallow-water systems around the world and, she and her students have won numerous best paper and poster awards.

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TECHNICAL LUNCHEON

Data Analytics with Human Intelligence: Outlier Analysis for Decoding Unconventional Plays SPEAKER Ben Stephenson | Shell Canada Limited

Time: 11:30 am doors open Date: February 12, 2020 Location: Hyatt Hotel, Imperial Ballroom 5/7/9 | 700 Centre Street SE, Calgary AB T2G 5P6 CSPG member ticket price: $46.50+gst Non-member ticket price: $55+gst Please note: The cut-off for ticket sales is 4:00pm, February 4, 2020

ABSTRACT Thousands of wells are drilled and stimulated every year, and much data is generated in the process. How can we use this wealth of information to develop our oil and gas fields most effectively?

And will analytics and machine learning preclude the need for traditional scientific inquiry and modeling? A fundamental conundrum is how to understand the relative contribution of the subsurface versus the drilling and completion practices to well performance. Data analytics can help, but not by itself; human thinking is still required.

winners will be those that supplement it with human intelligence, based on sound physical principles and logical thinking.

BIOGRAPHY Ben Stephenson is a Geoscience Advisor in the Completions Effectiveness Team for Unconventionals at Shell. He holds a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD from Oxford University on Himalayan tectonics and metamorphism. In his 20-year career with Shell, he has worked on conventional carbonate and geothermal fields around the world as a subject matter expert for fractured reservoirs. He now specializes in the interaction between hydraulic stimulation and the subsurface for field development decisions. He has authored over 30 external publications on a broad range of topics and is a regular speaker at conferences. He is currently a Distinguished Lecturer with the SPE.

Two case studies are presented: the Montney play in Canada with 450 wells, and the Marcellus play in the US with 230 wells. In both plays, statistical analysis of large datasets did not suffice, forcing the creation of a novel technique called ‘Outlier Analysis’, in which specific hypotheses are systematically scrutinized against the production data. Emphasis is placed on understanding the very best and very worst wells within the range. The outcome was a step-change improvement in well performance in both plays, which provided confidence for a major investment decision for Canada.

This methodology is rooted in the teachings of some of the great philosophers in history: Locke, Popper, and Kant, reminding us that scientific enquiry still has a role to play. With the evolution of data analytics and digitalization, the economic

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DIVISION TALKS

BASS TECHNICAL DIVISION TALK Temperature Limit of the Deep Biosphere: Deciphering factors that constrain the extent of the deep biosphere in a subduction zone.

SPEAKER Dr. Verena Heuer

Time: 12:00 pm Date: January 14, 2020 Location: ConocoPhillips Auditorium, Gulf Canada Square, 401-9th Ave. S.W. Calgary, AB ABSTRACT Determining factors that limit the biomass, diversity, and activity of subseafloor microbial communities is one of the major scientific goals to be addressed by scientific ocean drilling. The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) T-Limit Project drilled and cored at new boreholes in the immediate vicinity of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 1173, 1174, and 808 off Cape Muroto, Japan, in the central Nankai Trough, where anomalously high heat flow regimes result in temperatures of 110° to 140°C at the sediment/basement interface at 1210 mbsf. Because of their location in the trench (Site 1173) and landward protothrust zone of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism (Sites 808 and 1174), the sites have different geotectonic and thermal histories that have resulted in contrasting (bio)geochemical modes of hydrocarbon gas production and consumption. Although the upper temperature limit for life appears well constrained at just above 120°C at relatively energy-rich hydrothermal vent systems, it is unknown in energy-starved sedimentary subseafloor settings. The temperature limit for life in sedimentary systems is generally presumed to be lower than 120°C and thus covered by this drilling campaign, which aims to: (1) comprehensively study the factors that control biomass, activity, and diversity of microbial communities in a subseafloor environment where temperatures increase from ~30° to ~130°C and thus likely encompasses the biotic–abiotic transition zone; and (2) determine geochemical, geophysical,

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and hydrogeological characteristics in sediment and the underlying basaltic basement and elucidate if the supply of fluids containing thermogenic and/or geogenic nutrient and energy substrates may support subseafloor microbial communities in the Nankai accretionary complex.

BIOGRAPHY Verena Heuer has a broad background in Earth Sciences and Geochemistry. She holds a diploma in Geoecology from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, a BSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Bremen in Germany. Since 2004 Dr. Heuer has worked in the Organic Geochemistry Group in Bremen led by Kai Hinrichs as a postdoctoral scholar and tenured research scientist. In this role, she has investigated geosphere-biosphere interactions fueling microbial life and carbon flow in the deep biosphere. Her investigations build on microbial growth-based methods that exploit information encoded in the stable isotopic composition of microbial substrates, products and metabolites found in sediments. This included contributing to the discovery of intact microbial cells and biogenic methane in coal-bearing sediments down to ~2.5 km depth. Dr. Heuer has participated in more than a dozen sea-going research cruises, including many scientific ocean drilling expeditions. She was co-chief scientist for IODP Expedition 370, the topic of this presentation.

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DIVISION TALKS

BASS TECHNICAL DIVISION TALK The Mannville of East-Central Alberta (Twp. 35-45 Rge. 1W4-20W4) SPEAKER Godfried Wasser and Shpetim Cobaj, Eucalyptus Consulting Inc.

Time: 12:00 pm Date: January 23, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Room (2nd Floor), Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies are well beyond unconventional reservoirs.

Viewing reservoirs in terms of hydrocarbon column height and increased awareness of the complexity of porosity led us to see reservoir geology in a new light.

We enumerate core observations and thin section examination as input for petrophysical analysis. We work from the ‘rock to the log’.

In this context several regional reservoir geological projects were executed in formations like the Montney in the Deep Basin and now the Mannville in EastCentral Alberta. In the latter, Southern Plains stratigraphic nomenclature merges with that of the NE Eastern Plains. This poses interesting issues and opportunities.

AccuMap provides basic well information and PETRA is for in depth petrophysical and geological analysis. The evaluation’s database of 1000 wells drilled post 1995 ensures good wireline log quality. Applying log curve availability and quality criteria, 886 wells were used for petrophysical analysis. Using a grid of many cross sections, we correlated stratigraphic units like the Dina, Cummings, GP, Sparky, and Waseca throughout the mapping area encompassing major geological features such as the Edmonton Channel and Hackett High.

evolution in feldspar from the GP to the Sparky and Waseca. Combined with other lithologic changes (e.g. grain size) this led to algorithms such as porositypermeability and VSH-GR algorithms for various formations that were applied in the petrophysical analysis.

Subsequent mapping highlights hydrocarbon accumulations in the Mannville formations. It also shows changes in drainage patterns over time.

Mapping, covering individual and grouped formations, ranges from simple structure to OOIP maps and permeability distribution maps.

BIOGRAPHY Godfried Wasser (founder) and Shpetim Cobaj resurrected Eucalyptus Consulting in May 2016. Both have decades of industry experience. With a staff of four, the company offers detailed geological evaluations, petrophysical, petrographical, geophysical and operational services.

Subscribing clients receive a PETRA Project containing our results on hard disk ready to plug into their corporate system.

This creates an instant regional database that clients can use to evaluate their holdings, compare acquisition targets and plan for operational opportunities.

Petrographic analysis recognized the transition of a Canadian Shield to Rocky Mountain sediment source and an

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DIVISION TALKS

BASS TECHNICAL DIVISION TALK Determination of Mineralogy and Reservoir Properties from XRF Elemental Data in the Duvernay Formation SPEAKER Ron Spencer, PhD | XRF Solutions Ltd.

Time: 12:00 pm Date: February 5, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Room (2nd Floor), Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT The Alberta Geological Survey estimates the Duvernay Formation to contain more than 400 TCF of natural gas as well as significant NGLs and oil. Cost effective means for acquiring reservoir properties, especially in horizontal production wells, are essential In order to exploit this resource to its full potential. Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) instruments allow a large amount of data to be obtained rapidly, with minimal sample preparation or drilling impact, and at low cost. Rock powders, cuttings, slabs or core faces can be analysed directly using this non-destructive technique. XRF analyses provide highly precise, and if calibrated properly, accurate data on bulk chemistry.

XRF analysis can be conducted over an entire vertical well in order to determine a chemical stratigraphy and locate potential areas of interest. Elemental abundances provide a wealth of data that can be used to distinguish various chemical stratigraphic units. Each unit can be distinguished with relative ease using basic elemental abundance suites. The major rock forming elements along with trace elements acquired through XRF methods are excellent for identifying rock formations and sub-units in the subsurface which can be correlated from well to well. XRF analysis of elements. related to gamma can be used to create a spectral gamma suite along with a combined XRF generated gamma signature. Depth shifting can be applied by relating the XRF gamma back to

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wireline or core gamma. Trace elements related to TOC are used to locate zones with a high source rock potential, even though carbon itself is too light to detect using XRF. Proprietary normative mineral algorithms are applied in order to convert the elemental chemical data to mineralogy.

Mineral abundances determined from the XRF analyses are compared to those obtained by X-Ray Diffraction, thin section point counting and SEM analyses. Lab bias versus mineralogy differences in the Duvernay will be discussed further in the talk. Mineralogy and trace element data are used to determine reservoir properties through a set of semi-empirical equations.

Porosity, permeability and mechanical properties, including Poisson’s ratio and Young’s modulus, determined by XRF algorithms correlate well with values obtained from wireline logs and lab analyses in vertical wells. A reservoir quality log suite from core is shown in Figure 1. Formation specific algorithms developed from vertical wells are applied to cuttings analysed from horizontal production wells, where conventional log analyses are impractical or too expensive. Data obtained using portable X-Ray Fluorescence instruments provide a cost-effective means for acquiring data necessary for the optimization of both completions and production from horizontal wells.

BIOGRAPHY Ron Spencer has over 40 years of geological experience in education and research. He began working with X-ray florescence in 2009 on several research and consulting projects. Ron is the co-founder and Vice President of research and development at XRF Solutions. He ensures data quality and develops sound methods and procedures for X-Ray Fluorescence methodology. Ron began his geology education in Colorado

Figure 1: XRF Reservoir Quality Logs From Core.

Continuous colored curves show XRF determined data for mineral groups, permeability, porosity, mechanical properties and TOC. Lab measured porosity and permeability are displayed as coloured boxes. Wirleine log GR is also displayed along with XRF TOC. obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Geology in 1973. He continued with a Master of Science in Geochemistry at the University of Nevada in 1977 and completed his PhD at John Hopkins University in 1981. Ron has been with the University of Calgary since 1981, retiring from teaching in 2009.

He continues to hold a Faculty Professor position there engaging in academic research and student supervision.

DIVISION PROFILE The Division's mandate is to provide a CSPG forum for members who are interested in seeing the "wood" when they are looking at the "trees". Most of us deal with small areas in our daily work. A good understanding of the big geologic picture in which our areas are located will facilitate better geological interpretations and predictions, which will translate into higher drilling success rates.

The aim of the Basin Analysis and Sequence Stratigraphy Division is to be innovative, inspiring and practical. We will try to introduce new concepts and methodologies of basin analysis and sequence stratigraphy to our group. We would also like to share inspiring interpretations of historical Canadian data. In particular, we encourage speakers to offer learnings that we can take home and apply in our daily work. The Division is also interested in running field trips or joint talks with other Divisions in the future.

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DIVISION TALKS

GEOTHERMAL DIVISION TALK Kickstarting an Industry – Geothermal in Canada SPEAKER Catherine Hickson, PhD, P. Geo (Alberta and BC)

Time: 12:00 noon Date: January 14, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Classroom, 540-5 ave SW, +15 level, Calgary AB ABSTRACT Canadahassignificantuntappedgeothermal resources. These resources have been long overshadowed by Canada’s abundance of hydro power, gas and coal. Despite interest in geothermal in the mid 1970s and again in the mid to late 2000’s no power projects have been successfully completed. Canada does have an enviable record of installation of heat pump technology (geoexchange systems), but falls far short in terms of utilization of its subsurface heat resources. The availability of cheap hydro, gas and coal fired electricity has put geothermal on the back burner, but now, with growing emphasis on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability, the focus is shifting. If Canada wishes to reduce its GHG’s the most important change it can make is to switch to geothermal energy for space heating and industrial processes (drying, agriculture, pre-heating, etc.). Because of Canada’s cold climate over 55% of our energy budget goes to space heating. In jurisdictions still heavily dependent on coal generation, replacement of heating with a geothermal resource can both increase sustainability as well as reduce GHG’s. Where hydrocarbons are being used, we should be thinking about ensuring they are treated as a precious resource that should be reserved for petrochemicals, high energy density fuels and foreign trade, rather than low efficiency space heating.

A challenge for geothermal explorers and developers is the low quality of the most of the Canadian resources. Power generation is only possible in limited areas, even with advancement in low temperature generation technologies. For example, to generate 8MWe gross power with 120°C,

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requires moving 300lt/s of water. Even in the oil patch this is a lot of water and challenges conventional practices. Also, geothermal resources are dynamically pumped where as PNG extraction is more passive in terms of reservoir management.

The good thing is that the resources are deep in the basin where there is little oil and gas; geothermal extraction should have no impact on existing PNG extraction.

Additionally, these low temperature resources are excellent for space heating applications. With a significant Delta T advantage (due to our cold climate), lower flow rates and lower temperatures constitute a valuable resource where there is a close-to-source load.

knowledge sharing from integrated geoscientific disciplines with the goal of highlighting the highly relevant skills of hydrogeologists, petroleum geologists, mining geologists, geophysicists and geomechanics specialists. Special focus will be given to emerging Canadian Projects.

The federal government has recently funded two geothermal power projects.

One in Saskatchewan and Alberta #1 south of Grand Prairie. We hope that these projects will be just the beginning of a burgeoning sector supplying heat and power to Canadians.

1) Geothermal 101 – focus on play types (including igneous), the global production of geothermal energy and the uses of geothermal energy.

2) An overview of the nascent Canadian Geothermal Industry – focus on research and development and emerging plays 3) Characterization of geothermal resources – focus on key parameters for defining resources/reserves and how to determine them.

4) Mapping hydrothermal reservoirs or hot sedimentary aquifers – a workflow for getting started.

Highlighting the relevant skill sets of hydrogeologists and petroleum geologists (Part 1).

5) Spotlight on new technologies – drilling, surface facilities or subsurface and the implications for development.

6) Geo-Modelling of geothermal reservoirs 7) Case Studies of existing geothermal plays

BIOGRAPHY Dr. Catherine Hickson, a geothermal consultant and President of Geothermal Canada, is based in Vancouver. She has been working in geothermal since 1981; not quite as long as Geothermal Canada has been around. It was founded in 1974 to support the growing geothermal community based in Canada. As a student she logged temperature gradient wells with the GSC, then spent 25 years as a research scientist before segueing into private sector geothermal development with Magma Energy Corp (now owned by Innergex).

With projects globally, she is also Chief Geologist with the Alberta start-up, Terrapin Geothermics. Terrapin recently secured $25.4M in project development funds from NRCan’s Emerging Renewable Energy Program, for its Alberta #1 project south of Grand Prairie.

DIVISION INFORMATION Vision: to educate CSPG Members about the Global Geothermal Industry through

The Division will hold a series of brown bag lunches annually.

Lunch talks will start with a “snapshot of a producing geothermal project” alternating between igneous and sedimentary plays.

Preliminary ideas for talks in 2019-2020:

Division success is dependant on Member interest and enthusiastic volunteers with a passion for knowledge sharing. If you have an idea for a talk please contact Jeanine Vany at jeanine.vany@eavor.com.

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DIVISION TALKS

OPERATIONS DIVISION TALK Remote Geosteering – Applications in Conventional and Unconventional Plays in Canada SPEAKER Mustafa Pasha | McLeay Geological

Time: 12:00 pm Date: January 15th, 2020 Location: geoLOGIC Room (2nd Floor), Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary ABSTRACT The successful horizontal well placement has been always a big challenge for the Oil & Gas Operators around the world and it becomes very critical as structural geological variations coupled with lateral facies changes and reservoir fluid changes occur.

However, the recent technological advancements in MWD/LWD tools for Geosteering the horizontal wells, have substantially eliminated these issues and we can now place the lateral legs in the optimal well path with a great level of confidence.

For instance, the revolution of the bed boundary mappers have increased the depth of investigation to +30metres all around the well bore facilitating visualization across multiple layers.

Consequently, various geosteering applications for conventional and unconventional resource plays have been and are very effectively used anywhere in the world and we are very happy to see that they become more of interest to our domestic industry as well.

As the key in Remote Geosteering is to utilize the best methodology as required for every specific reservoir, in order to minimize drilling costs and payout time and maximize reservoir contact and production returns, we would like to discuss the application of the Remote Geosteering in most of the present and

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future formations of interest in Canada.

BIOGRAPHY Mustafa Pasha is a Petroleum Geologist with a MS in Petroleum Geology and an MBA received in Pakistan. After 18 years with the Geological Survey of Pakistan and USGS on different exploration projects, Mustafa moved to Canada in 2000 and started working extensively in the Oil & Gas Industry in a multitude of conventional and unconventional programs for various operators.

His versatile and diversified work experience led him to work in the international market as well.

Although remained associated with McLeay Geological, Mustafa worked as a geosteering specialist and a Geosteering Manager for Saudi Aramco for almost ten years until his recent retirement from Aramco.

Back in Canada, he established a Geosteering Operation Centre within our company, heading a team of geosteering geologists with extensive domestic and international geosteering experience in multiple conventional and unconventional plays.

Mr. Mustafa Pasha is specialized in Geosteering in all types of clastic/ carbonate conventional or unconventional reservoirs being also an expert in the using and interpretation of every Geosteering MWD/LWD tool as well as in using any simple or advanced Geosteering software like SES, Starsteer, Stratworks, DSG, Petrel, etc.

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DIVISION TALKS

JOINT PANEL: INTERNATIONAL DIVISION AND OPERATIONS GEOLOGY DIVISION Overseas Operations: Opportunities and Challenges. A Moderated Panel Discussion SPEAKERS Calin Dragoie, Tom Feuchtwanger, Geoff Say, Roger D. Whittaker

MODERATOR Jen Russel-Houston

Time: 12:00 Noon | Doors open at 11:30 am Date: February 19, 2020 Location: +15 level- 540-5th avenue SW, Calgary AB T2P 0M2 geoLOGIC Classroom, Aquitaine Tower ABSTRACT Operating internationally comes with its own characteristic opportunities and challenges. Differences in regulatory bodies, market settings, and attitudes towards safety can vary drastically from market to market. The key question is: which Canadian expertise can be relied on to navigate the challenges in overseas operations.

The above panel contains a wide array of experience from wellsite supervision to operations.

BIOGRAPHIES Calin Dragoie, Chinook Consulting Services Calin holds a M.Sc. in Geology from the University of Bucharest, Romania, and a P. Geol. Certification from APEGA and APEGS; he is a Petroleum Geologist with 20+ years of operations and wellsite geology experience, with work done in Western Canada and international projects in Cuba, Algeria and Libya. Over the past decade Calin worked mostly as an operations geologist and project manager, coordinating a growing team of geoscientists, organizing geological

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services on a large variety of projects: unconventional shale exploration programs, year-round heavy oil development projects, multi-personnel coring seasonal projects, remote geosteering operations and overseas projects.

Currently VP Geoscience at Chinook Consulting Services.

Tom Feuchtwanger, XploreNow Inc, CanAfrica Resource Consultants Thomas Feuchtwanger graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1973. He began his exploration career as a mineral exploration geologist in Southern Africa. In 1979 Thomas immigrated to Canada where he worked for 12 years at Gulf Canada Resources Inc. Here he earned positions of increasing responsibility including Chief Geologist, Exploration Manager for Western Canada, and Business Unit manager for Gulf’s non-operated tertiary EOR production. In 1992, Thomas was appointed VP Expl. at CS Resources, a Western Canadian junior heavy oil producer. CS Resources pioneered the applications of many technical innovations and reservoir development technologies such as horizontal drilling and SAGD. Subsequent to CS being acquired in 1997, Thomas worked in senior executive positions in several junior international and Canadian companies including; President, CEO, Director Largo Petroleum Inc., VP Expl. Encounter Energy Inc., Business Manager and New Ventures IFPT Canada Inc., President, COO, Director Vecta Energy Inc. and President, CEO, Director PetroMaroc Corporation Plc. Thomas remains actively involved in the international upstream sector through his consulting practice XploreNow Inc and CanAfrica Resource Consultants.

Jen Russel-Houston, Osum Oil Sands Corp.

Prior to joining Osum in 2008, Dr. Jen Russel-Houston worked for Shell on both onshore and offshore projects where she developed expertise in reservoir evaluations, thermal production geology, and leading technical teams. As Vice President, Geoscience and Land she oversees Osum’s geoscience evaluations as they relate to current assets and guides the assessment of future potential opportunities of interest to Osum. Dr. Russel-Houston is an active member of APEGA and is the President of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.

Jen is most content exploring the mountains with her husband and her two boys, who accommodate her frequent stops to hunt fossils and look at outcrops.

Geoff Say, RPS Group Geoff graduated from Sheffield University with a joint honours degree in Geology and Zoology in 1978. He started his career as a mud logger in Western Canada with EXLOG and then moved on to work as a wellsite geologist until 1982. He then worked out of Halifax on multiple projects offshore East Coast of Canada until 1988.

After that Geoff moved back to Calgary and worked with Decollement Consulting on domestic and international projects including Vietnam, Spain, Cuba, and Pakistan. Then in 1995 he moved into the office and helped setup and develop their international group. Decollement was later acquired by ECL group out of the UK and later by RPS where he now works.

Roger D. Whittaker Mr. Whittaker has more than 40 years of senior-level technical and management experience, with a focus on project risk analysis, prospect portfolio design and economic valuations of oil and gas assets. Skills include subsurface

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DIVISION TALKS

PALAEONTOLOGICAL DIVISION TALK analysis of geological and geophysical data, economic modelling of assets, and strategic planning. Mr. Whittaker has extensive experience in working with multi-disciplinary teams in designing and executing exploration, appraisal and full-field development plans within in a variety of fiscal regimes and countries. Mr. Whittaker has also had experience working in a variety of geological basins, inclusive of conventional and unconventional (tight reservoirs) resources, ranging from oil, gas and retro-grade gas condensates.

Roger is a P.Geol., P.Geoph. (APEGA), CPG (Certified Petroleum Geologist, AAPG and is a Geological Fellow as designated by Geological Society of London.

In addition to the main presentation by Kristina Barclay, Dr. Leslie Eliuk will provide a brief presentation.

Museum of the Rockies (MOR), Bozeman Montana – A Paleobiological Dinosaur Emporium.

SPEAKER Dr. Leslie Eliuk, Semi-retired Exploration Geologist and APS Member

Time: 7:30pm Date: January 17, 2020 Location: Mount Royal University, Room B108 ABSTRACT MOR in the university city of Bozeman Montana was visited in the Spring of 2019 and greatly enjoyed for a wizard display of meat-eating Tyrannosaurus rex and planteating triceratops sp. of the Late Cretaceous ranging from egg to oldster, or at least BIG. Reportedly it contains the greatest number of dinosaur specimens in one archive mainly from the areas badlands and supposedly the world’s largest T.rex (maybe just surpassed by the new Saskatchewan recovery just put on display in Regina).

There are also sections on local culture especially Plains natives & pioneers and a planetarium (google the Museum for a very

well-illustrated website). But what will be discussed and illustrated are the displays on dinosaurs that made use of a fascinating technique of half life-size display of the bones of the beasts on one side and on the other side the display an interpretation of the flesh and colourful feathers (or not) in its habitat. The history and ecology of many ages and types of dinosaurs are there to be enjoyed. This was the muse-um where the legendary Jack Horner (model for vertebrate paleontologist hero of Jurassic Park movies) hailed from and where he encouraged Dr. Mary Schweitzer to search for dinosaurian blood DNA.

Biography A reporter-visitor, Dr. Leslie Eliuk is a GeoTours Consultant and semi-retired former Shell Canada exploration geologist, 1969-1999. After nearly a decade at Dalhousie University, he graduated with a PhD in 2016 on the Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonate platform by the major Sable Delta.

2019 Membership Renewal Make sure your membership is paid and up to date to ensure discounts at upcoming CSPG events and Conferences!

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DIVISION TALKS

PALAEONTOLOGICAL DIVISION TALK Exploring the past, present, and future of predator-prey interactions between crabs and their gastropod prey SPEAKER Kristina M. Barclay, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta

Time: 7:30pm Date: January 17, 2020 Location: Mount Royal University, Room B108 ABSTRACT Interactions between predators and prey play an important role in structuring their communities and shaping evolution.

However, human-induced climate change has the potential to influence both predators and prey and disrupt their interactions. The fossil record provides an enormous resource to investigate how both past and current climate change has affected organisms, their interactions, and ecosystems. In particular, scars left on prey by failed predatory attacks provide an excellent record, and often the only evidence, of predator-prey interactions in both modern and fossil ecosystems.

However, as these wounds, known as repair scars, are records of failed rather than successful attacks, with successful attacks resulting in the destruction of the prey, it can be difficult to interpret whether repair scars signal overall attack rates, or the success/failure rate of the predator.

Furthermore, the appearance of a repair scar can be affected by the struc-tural integrity of the prey’s defenses, such as a gastropod shell, as well as prey selection by the predator. Here, shell-crushing crabs and their gastropod prey were used as a model system for exploring potential relationships between prey defenses, prey selection, and repair scars in the past, present, and possible future. Specifically, the goals were to use modern experiments to understand how prey defenses are affected by ocean acidification, a major by-product of carbon dioxide emissions, and to test patterns of prey selection by crabs, and then examine

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how pat-terns of repair scars in gastropods manifest through both space and time.

First, I tested how gastropod shells by both ocean acidification and predation cues in gastro-pods Tegula funebralis and Nucella ostrina. After exposure to decreased seawater pH and/or predation cues for six months, in low pH treatments, both shell growth and strength in T. fune-bralis was drastically reduced. However only shell strength, and not growth of N. ostrina was impacted by low pH, and not as severely as T. funebralis. Examination of shell composition and microstructure of both species using microCT scans, XRD analysis, and SEM imaging indicated that the loss of shell strength was from dissolution of the outermost shell layer in both species, with the microstructural arrangement in T. funebralis likely causing more severe dissolution than observed in N. ostrina.

Patternsofcrabpreyselectionbetweenthree species of the gastropod Nucella were then examined to understand how crabs attack and select prey. The experiment revealed that crabs are most likely to attack the first gastropod they detect, with a preference for the larger species most likely driven by their inability to always recognize smaller prey. I then explored patterns of repair scars in T. funebralis both geographically along the modern west coast of Canada and the U.S., as well as temporally between the Late Pleistocene and modern of southern California. By measuring the size at which repair scars occur, we are better able to distinguish between the number of attacks and potential differences in failure rates of crabs. Crab predation in the modern also showed strong regional variation along the west coast, with the lowest number of attacks in southern California.

Furthermore, comparisons of modern and fossil repair scars in southern California indicated that there are fewer crab attacks today, suggesting that crab populations may already be affected by human activity. By studying how prey defenses, prey selection,

and repair scar systems manifest, we can explore how predator-prey relationships have changed both in the past and present, and how they may continue to change due to our current climate crisis.

BIOGRAPHY Kristina Barclay grew up in Saskatchewan, completing both her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in paleontology at the University of Alberta studying the functional morphology and palaeoecology of Devonian brachiopods and their encrusting organisms. She is currently finishing her Ph.D. studying preda-tor-prey relationships between crabs and gastropods at the University of Alberta under Dr. Lindsey Leighton, and will be defending her dissertation in early January, 2020. She also held a Vanier Canadian Graduate Scholarship that allowed her to spend a year working with Dr. Brian Gaylord (UC Davis) at Bodega Marine Laboratory in California studying ocean acidification and biomechanics in modern marine invertebrates. In addition to her research interests in marine invertebrates, palaeoecology, predation, and ocean acidification, Kristina is a strong advocate for science outreach and education, and has spent several years working in museums and science centres in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

INFORMATION: This event is presented jointly by the Alberta Palaeontological Society, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount Royal University, and the Palaeontology Division of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. For details or to present a talk in the future, please contact CSPG Palaeontology Division Chair Jon Noad at jonnoad@hotmail.com or APS Coordinator Harold Whittaker at 403-2860349 or contact programs1@albertapaleo. org. Visit the APS website for confirmation of event times and upcoming speakers: http://www.albertapaleo.org/.

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DIVISION TALKS

PALAEONTOLOGICAL DIVISION TALK Northern Arizona:The World's Greatest Science Field Trip In addition to the main presentation by Amber Whitebone, Cory Gross will provide a brief presentation.

SPEAKER Cory Gross, APS President and Glenbow Museum Educator

Time: 7:30 pm Date: February 21, 2020 Location: Mount Royal University, Room B108

ABSTRACT

BIOGRAPHY

Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater Volcano, the Grand Canyon, and more... Perhaps no other region on Earth has so rich a concentration of geological, palaeontological, archaeological, and astronomical sites as Northern Arizona.

APS President Cory Gross takes you on a virtual tour of his trip through the area in the summer of 2019, including a hike through the depths of the Grand Canyon itself!

An Alberta native, Cory Gross obtained his BA in Museum in Heritage Studies from the University of Calgary and a graduate degree in theology from Lutheran Theological Seminary - Saskatoon. He currently works as a full-time educator at the Glenbow Museum, part time interpreter at the Calgary Zoo, and does Earth Science-based tours, programs, and consulting through his own company Sandstone Prehistoric Safaris. Cory also serves as the President and Public Outreach coordinator of the Alberta Palaeontological Society

Main Presentation: Puzzling the Past Together: Microfossils and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction SPEAKER S. Amber Whitebone, University of Calgary

MSc

Student,

ABSTRACT Microsites are locations where fossils from small organisms or smaller elements from larger organisms are concentrated.

These types of fossil localities typically form in one of two ways; either by the slow accumulation of sediment over a long period of time in a floodplain environment, or more commonly in deposits of sediment that have been secondarily reworked by fluvial systems. A newly described microfossil locality from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of southern Alberta (Felber Toodontid Site 2 or FTS-2) is interpreted as an example of a floodplain deposit and yields fossils from over ten taxa including troodontid, tyrannosaurid, and various Ornithopod material. FTS-2 is characterized by its unusual abundance of Anuran material, rare elements from juvenile (potentially fetal) hadrosaurids, and the first reported dinosaur eggshell from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.

Due to the heterogenous nature of

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microsites they provide a unique opportunity to evaluate prehistoric floral and faunal communities. Given that FTS-2 is a floodplain deposit and does not appear to have been secondarily reworked, we can infer that the flora and fauna found here represent true biological association.

This allows for the interpretation of potential paleoecological interactions between organisms. It is interpreted that FTS-2 represents a troodontid nesting site where frogs and small hadrosaurids were potentially preferentially preyed upon.

BIOGRAPHY Amber Whitebone grew up all over Canada; as the daughter of a Canadian Armed Forces veteran she had the distinct privilege to have seen and lived in nearly every province of the country. She first completed an arts diploma from Red Deer College then moved to the University of Alberta to earn her BSc with a specialization in paleontology (Distinction, First Class). During her time at the University of Alberta, Amber worked with Dr. Alison Murray, Dr. Phil Currie, Dr. Corwin Sullivan, as well as Dr. Greg Funston for multiple honours theses focusing on

paleoecology of late Cretaceous southern Alberta, lungfish diversity of Morocco and Egypt, and feeding biomechanics of placoderm fish. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Calgary with Dr. Jason Anderson studying the microstructure morphology of entheses (soft tissue attachment to bone) as a means of informing muscular reconstructions for fossil organisms.

INFORMATION: This event is presented jointly by the Alberta Palaeontological Society, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount Royal University, and the Palaeontology Division of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. For details or to present a talk in the future, please contact CSPG Palaeontology Division Chair Jon Noad at jonnoad@hotmail.com or APS Coordinator Harold Whittaker at 403-2860349 or contact programs1@albertapaleo. org. Visit the APS website for confirmation of event times and upcoming speakers: http://www.albertapaleo.org/.

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DIVISION TALKS

PALEO 2020 Mount Royal University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate, SW, Calgary, Alberta Presented in conjunction with the CSPG Palaeontological Division and Mount Royal University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Lectures and poster displays– Saturday March 21, 2020, 9:00am-4:30pm Workshop— Sunday, March 22, 2020, 9:00am to 12:00 noon or 1:00pm-4:00pm

Saturday events are free to the public Fossil displays and activities of interest to a wide audience including families Sunday workshop requires pre-registration and a fee SPEAKER SCHEDULE

WORKSHOP

All talks to be held in Jenkins Theatre, lower level Mount Royal University

Mount Royal University, Lab B213

Saturday, March 21

9:00 am Opening statements by APS President Cory Gross and Symposium instructions by APS Program Coordinator Harold Whittaker 9:15 am History of waste and how it has changed the world over the past 3.5 billion years Dr. Stan Stancliffe is a Keynote speaker. He has spent 25 years as a researcher and an oil and gas geoscientist.

Sunday, March 22

9:00am to 12:00 noon OR 1:00 pm– 4:00 pm

Curation of Fossil Collections In this workshop, participants will be immersed in the basics of curating a fossil collection.

Participants will be introduced to: Part 1: Collecting and Recording Locality Data Part 2: Curation Topics including: 10:30 am Adapting to life in the soup: the fauna of the Cretaceous Up- Accession Numbers/Numbering and Applying Numbers per Chalk to Specimens Jon Noad, Gran Tierra Energy - Display and Storage Labels - Cataloguing Specimens 11:00 am Using new fossil data to solve old stratigraphic problems around the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, Mackenzie Moun- Specimen Storage tains, NWT Part 3: Cataloguing Your Fossil Collection by Computer 10:15 am Coffee Break

Robert MacNaughton, Geological Survey of Canada 11:30 am Upper Cretaceous Wapiti Formation of Northern Alberta, Canada as a unique window into the continental vertebrate fauna of boreal Laramidia during Bearpaw times Dr. Corwin Sullivan, University of Alberta 12:00 Noon Lunch Break and Poster Display 1:00 pm Histopathology of a pachycephalosaur frontoparietal dome Aaron Dyer, University of Alberta 1:30 pm Late Pleistocene vertebrate faunas along ever-changing ice fronts on the Canadian plains: mixed messages about the past Dr. Michael C. Wilson, Douglas College & Simon Fraser University

2:00 pm Poster Session *Poster presenters are requested to be with their posters.

3:00 pm Relocation of 1913-1914 American Museum of Natural History ankylosaur quarry and retrieval of new bones found therein This talk will tie in closely with the workshop session– Curation of Fossil Collections Darren Tanke, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology

The workshop will be relevant to Darren Tanke’s presentation at 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 21.

Presenter: Wayne Braunberger is the Past President of the Alberta Palaeontological Society and a retired oil and gas geologist.

Cost: $10 per person REGISTRATION Please register by emailing hgwhittaker@shaw.ca. or by registering at one of the monthly meetings.

Specify morning, afternoon or either session.

Registration deadline is March 15, 2020

3:30 pm Integrated paleoecological and paleoenvironmental records from a new exceptional fossil deposit in Alberta: the Early Jurassic Ya Ha Tinda Lagerstätte Dr. Rowan C. Martindale, University of Texas at Austin 4:30pm Closing Remarks Harold Whittaker, APS Program Coordinator

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DIVISION TALKS

STRUCTURAL DIVISION TALK Quantifying Natural Fractures systems (How do I get the Engineers to understand?)

SPEAKER Paul A MacKay – Shale Petroleum Ltd

Time: 12.00 pm Date: January 9, 2020 Location: Schlumberger Canada, Province Conference Rooms 2nd floor Palliser One Building, 200, 125 9th Avenue SE ABSTRACT With the advent of resource plays the role of natural fractures systems are becoming more obvious in the migration of fluids.

Fractures are an integral part of the petroleum system. Nature uses the natural fractures system to drive fluids through the Crust. The problem is in quantifying the natural fracture system. The early literature would use the qualifying words such as highly fracture to low fracture intensity but that does not help when trying exploit a fractured reservoir or to predict the connection within the reservoir.

Seismic data had the similar problem in the early days of its use in the oil industry.

They had to relate the logs data to the seismic data. They got around the problem by converting the log data into a comb function (a series of on/off values) and then convolved it with a zero-phase wavelet that has the same frequencies as the seismic data, in this way they could calibrate their seismic data.

Measuring the fractures along a scan line results in a comb function. Then by running a smoothing operator over the comb function a wave function is constructed which can be analyzed for the dominant spatial frequencies. In this way the strain from the fractures can be compared well to well and fracture energy (fracture strain).

dominate frequency of the fracture network, which should help to the completion of horizontal wells.

This presentation is a “How to” calculate fracture intensity and why it is important.

Bring your pet engineer.

BIOGRAPHY Paul MacKay is President of Shale Petroleum Ltd. (2011-present) and has over 25 years’ experience in the petroleum industry – began his career with Amoco in 1980 working both domestic and international plays. Joined Morrison Petroleum in 1993 where he was responsible for their Foothills division. From 1996 to 1998 he worked as Exploration Manager at Northstar Energy (Devon Energy) where he was responsible for both their Foothills exploration program as well as a successful effort in onshore England.

In 1998, Dr. MacKay began an international consulting firm where he had clients with exploration efforts across North America, Europe and the Middle East. Dr. MacKay was a key consultant to Rally Energy as well as an early consultant to Zodiac Exploration, Sunshine Oil Sands and Western Zagros.

In 2010, Dr. MacKay became President of Shale Exploration Ltd., a successful oil resource play company and sold to TORC Oil & Gas Ltd. In 2011.

He is an adjunct professor, teaching industry courses in Structural Geology, Resource Plays, and Fracture Development and publishes widely on the Petroleum Geology of thrust belts and Natural Fracture system. He holds a BSc (Honours, Geol.Sci) from Queen’s University and a PhD from the University of Calgary.

This approach gives a numeric value to fracture strain and allows the user to compare fracture energy well to well.

Another benefitted of the approach gives a

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DIVISION TALKS

STRUCTURAL DIVISION TALK 3D Seismic Estimates of the Anisotropic Stresses in the Athabasca oil Sands Reservoirs for Caprock Integrity SPEAKER Carmen C. Dumitrescu, Terra-IQ Ltd.

Time: 12:00 pm Date: February 6, 2020 Location: Schlumberger Canada, Province Conference Rooms 2nd floor Palliser One Building, 200, 125 9th Avenue SE ABSTRACT Everyone is aware that caprock integrity is a safety issue in thermal production of the oil-sand reservoirs. In the Athabasca Oil Sands basin, the Lower Cretaceous McMurray Formation reservoir is overlain by the Clearwater Formation. The formation shales form the reservoir caprock and have the role of blocking the vertical migration of the steam by confining the stresses and the deformations induced during the thermal oil recovery process. Accurate knowledge of the stress distribution in the subsurface is necessary and most of the time this is obtained from mini-frac tests who provide localized information.

A new method to integrate all our data from cores, piezometers, dipole sonic wells and multicomponent seismic surveys to deliver accurate and thorough three-dimensional estimates of the anisotropic stresses in the overburden will be presented along with workflow and results. Estimates of the total and effective stresses are available because the formation pore pressure is considered.

frac values. This good agreement shows that, for the case study, this new method successfully aids in a deeper understanding of the in-situ anisotropic stress field, which is critically important for the assessment of caprock integrity.

BIOGRAPHY Dr. Carmen Dumitrescu is the owner and founder of Terra-IQ Ltd., an independent consulting company specialized in providing oil companies with expertise in leading-edge geophysical technologies for reservoir characterization and seismic data interpretation (www.terra-iq.com).

Carmen was involved in a variety of projects to estimate reservoir properties of 2D and 3D seismic data in clastic, carbonate, and heavy oil, using conventional, multicomponent and time-lapse seismic data. She has presented and published numerous papers at the CSEG, EAGE and SEG Annual Meetings. Carmen has a degree in Geology, Geophysics and Engineering from University of Bucharest, Romania and has a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Calgary, Canada. She is an active member of CSEG, SEG, EAGE, SPE and APEGA and the Chair of the SEG Meeting Review and Planning Committee.

The formation pore pressure is modelled from local pressure measurements which show values below the normal hydrostatic regime in the Clearwater Formation. The predicted magnitudes of the three principal stresses (vertical, minimum and maximum horizontal) indicate correctly that the Clearwater Formation is under a normal stress regime. There is excellent consistency between the minimum horizontal stress calculated with this method and mini-

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SOCIETY NEWS

SWEAT THE SUBSURFACE RUN September 19, 2019

By Road Race Chair, Jocelyn Frankow September 19, 2019 marked the 31st Anniversary of the CSPG CSEG CAPL Road Race “Sweat the Subsurface.”

Since it began in 1989 this race has helped to promote fellowship amongst the earth scientists working in the Energy industry. In the second year the Geophysicists (CSEG) were welcomed to the competition and in 2004 the Landmen (CAPL) joined the challenge. In 2008 the 5 km fun run was added to include more runners and has consistently gained in popularity.

The date and location of the run has

changed over the years, and so too has the venue for the after party. This was the third year we were back at the “The Garage” in Eau Claire, the networking and friendly competition amongst peers and disciplines remains constant.

increased as well over 2018 which allowed for more prizes for the 5km event.

We would like to thank all the following sponsors for their support: Platinum – Velvet Energy Ltd

One large trophy cup is presented to each female and male 1st place finisher in each of the CSPG, CSEG and CAPL categories.

Gold – Ember Resources, Prairie Sky Royalty Ltd., Ridgeback Resources

We had 73 runners for the 10km event and 53 runners for the 5km event, a 12% increase from 2018. Sponsorship

Silver – Athabasca Oil Corporation, Belloy Petroleum Consulting Ltd., Birchcliff Energy, Canadian Natural, (Continued on page 26...)

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SOCIETY NEWS (Continued from page 25...)

Earth Signal Processing Ltd., InPLay Oil, McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd., Signature Seismic Processing Bronze - Altura Energy, Chinook Consulting Services, ConcoPhillips Canada, CORDAX, Dynacore solutions, Enersoft, Explor, Katalyst data Management, Newsco, ProGeo Consultants, Typhoon Energy Ltd., RigSat Communications, Seisware, Smart4D In-Kind Supporters - Blue Mountain Lodge, Gray Family Eau Claire YMCA, Gord’s Running Store, Little Rock Printing and Komarevich Originals Ltd. Many of the sponsors are returning companies who have sponsored the event year over year. We had several new sponsors for 2019. We sincerely appreciate the sponsorship from the companies which allows us to set up this fun, premier event.

Sponsorship dollars combined with entry fees provides a t-shirt, 2 drink tickets along with a burger bar dinner, draw prizes, award prizes and a sock toss. Thanks to Typhoon Energy Ltd.’s sponsorship, the return of the sock toss was a popular event with people leaping

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to catch socks in mid-air. Also, the venue of the Garage has been a great location for the event due to its proximity to the end of the race and the atmosphere that it provides. Next year the city starts the revamping of the Eau Claire Plaza so once again the committee will have to come up with new solutions for the start and finish of the event. This year we went with a new timing company Startline Timing which alleviated some logistical issues and the change was positive as their system allows us to get the results quickly so that we can move the nights program along quickly.

5km • 1st place Female Shirley Fleming 24:30

2019 Road Race Results:

All runners can find the final results by Society and age group on the web site https://www.startlinetiming.com/en/ races/2019/cspg/event/10K/page

10km • CSPG & Overall 1st place Female Jennifer Tremblay 45:28 • CSPG 1st place Male David Willms 41:00 • CSEG - 1st place Female Sara Dobek 51:07 • CSEG & Overall 1st place Male Ryan Grieco 34:44

• 1st place Male Darren Tallas 22:00 Looking at past results, the overall winners have always been dominated by the CSPG, this year the CSEG dominated as both overall winners in the 5km are CSEG members. That is a challenge to all CSPG members reading this to come out to challenge the CSEG next year!!

Thanks to the Road Race planning committee Alexandra Nagy, Darren Hinks, Holly Ratzlaff, Justin Kangarloo, Liese Mclaren, Rob Pinckston, Sean McLeod, Shawna Christensen and Shirley Fleming. Thanks to all the event sponsors, runners, race volunteers and CSPG office coordinator, Kristy Casebeer, for making it a competitive as well as a fun event.

• CAPL – 1st place Male Justin Kangaloo 40:15

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SOCIETY NEWS

CORE TO CHARACTERIZATION WRAP-UP

I

n today’s challenging energy industry, it can be difficult to find enthusiasm and excitement. One way we continue to invigorate ourselves as professionals, is by sharing ideas and techniques through annual conferences and workshops. We all know collaboration is a key ingredient to success. It is only when we work together that we can overcome the technical challenges we continue to face on a day to day basis.

This year, the CSPG and SPE represented this type of collaboration when they hosted the inaugural Core to Characterization Workshop as a post-event for the SPE’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). In a world of expanding technology and data analytics, it can be easy to forget one of the most important factors in the oil and gas industry: the rock. The goal of this workshop was to highlight that to effectively exploit our natural resources, we must have a deep understanding of the geology and how it relates to the engineering world.

In designing this workshop, the committee members were all very clear about how they envisioned the day: a format that cycled participants through various presentations at each core in an organized fashion, allowing for more learning, more engagement, and more takeaways.

This idea was a stark contrast to the Core Conference, where participants come and

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go from the core tables and posters as they please and gather in one, larger space for the formal presentations.

This event saw 110 delegates from around the globe descend onto Calgary’s world class Core Research Centre to participate in a one-of-a-kind event. The workshop showcased four main themes: Oil Sands, Tight Sands, Montney and Organic-Rich Mudstones. These themes included topics and core from across North and South America, and even digital core!

structured format focused on the core and posters. Everyone seemed to appreciate the small group sizes, finding they allowed for more conversation and better connection building.

The CSPG and the Core to Characterization Workshop committee are extremely proud of the unique event they were able to bring to Calgary alongside the SPE’s ATCE. A big thank you to all presenters and attendees for their patience and openness to a new concept, and of course to our sponsors who made the event possible.

Delegates were given the opportunity to explore two themes in depth: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Within each theme, delegates were split into smaller groups as they circulated the various presentations in a structured format. As presenters took the delegates through their main topics, the smaller groups allowed for higher engagement and a deeper level of questioning from the participants. The presenters came from various backgrounds within industry and academia, including petrophysicists, engineers, geologists and geo-modellers.

Fortunately, the weather held out for us, and presenters and attendees enjoyed a cool (but not snowing) outdoor food truck lunch between sessions. As the day ended, the feedback to the committee was tremendously positive. Delegates and presenters thoroughly enjoyed the

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SOCIETY NEWS

THE WILLIAM C. GUSSOW CONFERENCE, 15-17 OCTOBER, 2019 – AN UNCONVENTIONAL SUCCESS STORY

By Tristan Euzen, Jim Wood and Joe Macquaker, and Technical Co-Chairs- William C. Gussow Geoscience Conference 2019

I

t is well known from geologists that a stressed environment does not favor (bio)diversity. In our challenged and highly competitive industry, it is vital to preserve and cultivate diversity by encouraging ideas and knowledge sharing.

That is what the William C. Gussow conference is all about. Traditionally held in the heart of the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Banff, this conference offers an immersive experience in an intimate setting (no more than 120 attendees), where technical specialists can share ideas in a casual and relaxed, yet highly focused environment. The theme of the Gussow conference this year was New Directions in Geoscience for Unconventional Resources, and it gathered well-recognized expert in their field from various parts of the world, including Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia.

As technical co-chairs, our first task was to identify what fields of geoscience were in our opinion, key moving forward to help improve our understanding of highly complex and heterogenous unconventional plays. Interestingly, it did

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not take us long to agree on those topics, that would become the five technical sessions of the conference. The next step was to identify and attract session chairs who were responsible for inviting speakers and designing the sessions, which ultimately drove the quality of the technical program.

The first session, co-chaired by Joe Macquaker (ExxonMobil) and Kitty Milliken (Bureau of Economic Geology), focused on diagenesis, acknowledging that the high sensitivity of fine-grained rocks to post-depositional physicochemical changes, strongly influences their presentday petrophysical and geomechanical properties.

This session notably emphasized the role of organic matter decomposition and large volumes of pore water on the early, pre-compaction diagenesis of mudstones and its impacts on porosity.

The second session co-chaired by Wayne Camp (Occidental Petroleum) and Hamed Sanei (Aarhus University), was devoted to the origin and impact of organic matter

in unconventional reservoirs. It is now well recognized that amorphous organic matter and solid bitumen are ubiquitous components of many unconventional plays and this session demonstrated that integrating high-resolution organic petrography with geochemistry is key to improve our understanding of the origin and impact of this organic matter.

The third session, co-chaired by Julia Gale (Bureau of Economic Geology) and Jim Wood (Calaber1 Resources), dealt with the major influence of structure on unconventional plays. This was illustrated

by North American examples from the basin to the core scale, encompassing tectonic regimes and regional stress mapping, induced seismicity, microseismic interpretation, as well as natural and hydraulic fractures from core observations.

The fourth session, co-chaired by John Curtis (GeoMark Research) and Tristan Euzen (IFP Canada), investigated the geological controls of fluid distribution in resource plays and their impact on

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SOCIETY NEWS

hydrocarbon fluid recovery. This session illustrated the key role of geochemistry in understanding multi-scale fluid heterogeneity due to regional thermal maturity trends, hydrocarbon migration as well as fractionation processes, both at geological and production time scales.

loved the organization/order”

Finally, the last session, co-chaired by Stephen Sonnenberg (Colorado School of Mines) and Ruben Domingez (Shell Canada) aimed at putting in perspective the concepts and methods discussed in the previous sessions, within a practical framework bridging geoscience with engineering and economics. The myriads of geological and engineering parameters that influence the productivity of multi-fractured horizontal wells, put multidisciplinary integration at the forefront of appraisal and development strategies for unconventional plays.

We are deeply grateful to all the session chairs, speakers and poster presenters, who made the technical program of the Gussow conference 2019 such an amazing success. We would also like to acknowledge the sponsors of this conference, for their support of the event and their investment into knowledge despite the challenging economic environment faced by the industry.

To top up this technical program, six posters were also presented during the coffee breaks, covering a variety case studies that related to the session topics.

A novelty of the Gussow conference 2019 was to include a 30-minute panel discussion at the end of each session, to allow for the speakers and the audience to interact more freely and share ideas. it turned out to be such a success that moderators had to remind people that it was time for lunch or the coffee break!

Another innovation this year was to require an extended abstract to maximize the benefit of the information and knowledge shared in this conference not only for the attendees, but also for all CSPG members.

“Wonderful off-line discussions. We presenters tend to be serious and focused scientists and this relaxed venue fostered relaxed professional interactions and respectful lively discussions”

This wrap-up article would not be complete without expressing our gratitude to Kristy Casebeer and Emma MacPherson for their tremendous work behind the scene, their efficient responses to the many, many requests that came their way and their positive attitude that, as expressed in the survey, “set a great tone from the first contact at the registration table”.

And lastly, many thanks to the CSPG Conference Director Alex MacNeil, for giving us the opportunity to contribute to such a great project!

The feedback we had from the participants was overwhelmingly positive, as illustrated by some of the comments from the CSPG survey reproduced here below: “Great conference - sessions were organized in a logical way building in ideas and concepts” “At this meeting I was exposed to much more information which is why I think that this conference is a nice and important contrast to a larger meeting such as SEG or AAPG annual meetings” “The quality of technical program was absolutely fantastic. Very stimulating and

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SOCIETY NEWS

2020 CSPG GEOLOGICAL CALENDAR WRAP-UP

By Markus Ebner

I

t is clear as mud, or should I say 20/20.

That being, that the new 2020 CSPG Geo Calendar is out now. I’ve been at this for ten years now, and you know, it’s hard to keep coming up with these cheesy intro paragraphs [insert random emoji here].

One thing for sure, is that the quality of the images we get keeps on getting better and better -- and it is all due to our members taking the time to submit their amazing images.

The 2020 Calendar is a varied and stunning mix of textures and lithologies from around globe. A total of 88 entries were submitted this year. Statistically, that is 20 percent less than we received last year.

I contemplated if this was a function of the current situation in our profession, or a retiring of some of the ‘old guard’. Every year only a small number of photos trickle in to start and then finally a wave at the end, and truly this year I did not know if we were going to have enough to judge until the last minute.

The 2020 Calendar has a very strong showing of Canadian content this year, at 58 percent. We always try to have Canadian content as we are a Canadian organization, but sometimes it is difficult if we do not receive any entries that are not voted in the top 12.

The cover photo by Naomi Wiebe (voted Best Photo), is just one of those photos, highlighting a jewel of the Canadian Rockies, Castle Mountain. It shows an unusual and less photographed perspective of the mountain from the ‘back side’ viewing to the southeast and of Eisenhower Peak. The subcategory (Best Holocene Photo) award this year went to Jenn Martin for her photograph the Sandur at Skeiðarársandur, Iceland. Again, in another unusual perspective, from the air we really get a sense and scale of the intricate and beautiful geometries of these channel outwash systems.

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Geo Calendar – Best Photo The 2020 Calendar also highlights beautiful structural images from Phil Benham capturing tightly folded and faulted radiolarianites from Oman, and broader structures closer to home from the Mt. Allan Syncline that Peter Sutherland shows us. Modern volcanic deposition is beautifully captured in Bob Leonhardt’s photo of Pahoehoe Lava Flows from the Galapagos Islands. Taking it deep into the subsurface, looking at the ancient, John Dunham captures a striking contrast between the Precambrian granitic basement and the overlying Slave Point carbonates in his core photograph.

It is always amazing to have such a varied array of photos to really show us what the magnificent Earth is capable of producing – never a dull moment.

I would like to thank Dr. Clint Tippett for his time spent on the judging committee with the selection of this year’s winners and his continuous and valuable role in the editing of geological descriptions.

I would also like to extend thanks and

gratitude to our Publications Coordinator, Emma MacPherson. This year in addition to orchestrating this project and finding our generous sponsors, she was solely responsible for the entire calendar design – another way the CSPG has been able to save money, rather than farming out the project.

The Committee and the CSPG would like to thank all the members that took the time to contribute their photos to the 2020 contest. This project would not be possible without all the members taking the time to submit their photos and descriptions. Stay tuned for some interesting conceptual and etheral ideas for next year’s Subcategory photo!

Enjoy the 2020 CSPG Calendar and keep the bit spinning in the year ahead!

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SOCIETY NEWS

CORE CONFERENCE WELCOME LETTER

A

s we think of our accomplishments of the year, the 2020 Core Conference committee has begun planning for next year's event. We are now only 6 months away from the 2020 CSPG Core Conference and this year we celebrate the integration of geology across Canada, an opportunity we only get once a decade! Considering this, we are making a significant change to the timing of the conference, which we believe will benefit our conference attendees considerably.

The 2020 CSPG Core Conference will now take place on May 7-8th, prior to the start of Geo Convention. The committee is looking forward to kicking off Geo Convention 2020 and moving our ever-popular Core Meltdown to Friday evening.

The planning committee is excited to participate in celebrating geology across Canada and look forward to igniting the disciplines within the geoscience community. This coming May, Core Conference will bring together all disciplines of geology to Calgary and the committee is looking forward to expanding the breadth of content for the 2020 Core Conference. We are looking to include examples from all facets of geoscience, whether it is sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic.

Short abstract submissions are now being accepted until January 17th, and we look forward to seeing content from all geoscientists who wish to present their unique ideas and perspectives. If you wish to submit an abstract, the committee asks that you provide a small paragraph or two

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explaining the subject matter of your talk, some indication of the location of your core (Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, NWT etc.), as well as the names of the author(s).

As always, we ask that all submissions have a focus on an accompanying well core, strat test, or mining core.

The committee is looking to all geologists to submit an abstract or idea that would complement the overall theme of 'Igniting Geoscience across Canada'. We encourage those who have may be working in mineral exploration, academic research and reservoirs old and new to present their ideas in a more casual environment.

The conference focus will showcase the understanding of the rocks, reflect the multiple disciplines of geology that established the resources we that provide for us throughout Canada.

Wondering what your core display could showcase? Find a list of ideas below: •

• • • • •

Geology – Igneous or Metamorphic rock associations, stratigraphy, sedimentology, diagenesis, fracturing, petrography Geophysics – seismic prospecting, structural analysis, microseismic Petrophysics – log analysis, rock properties Geochemistry – source rocks, maturity, exploration Geomechanics – rock characteristics, fracability Drilling & Completions – mining exploration & development, frac design, horizontal drilling

• •

Reservoir Engineering – flow analysis, reserve analysis Laboratory Methods – porosity, permeability, special analyses

If this conference appeals to you, please submit your initial abstract to CoreConference@cspg.org.

You will be notified of acceptance the week of February 15th, following which time you will be asked to submit a more detailed extended abstract. Accepted presenters must also be prepared to display a section of core over 1 or 2 tables (~50-60m), posters (four 4’ by 8’ boards are provided for each display), and give a 15-20 minute PowerPoint.

We are very excited for the upcoming conference on May 7th and 8th, 2020 where we look forward to bringing together geologists from across the country, through a shared love of rocks.

We hope to see you there.

Your 2020 Core Conference Committee

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SOCIETY NEWS

2019 AWARD WINNERS CAREER AWARDS Stanley Slipper Gold Medal

Honorary Membership

for outstanding Career Contributions to Oil & Gas Exploration in Canada

for Distinguished Service to the Society

David Morrow Marty Hewitt

Jim Gray

TECHNICAL AWARDS R.J.W Douglas Medal

Medal of Merit

for Outstanding Contributions to the Understanding of Sedimentary Geology in Canada

for Best Paper Related to Canadian Petroleum Geology

Carol Evenchick

Peter Proverbs, Kerrie Bann, Chris Fratton, Colin Frostad and Andrea Juska “Facies architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Lower Triassic Montney Formation, NE British Columbia: Fundamental controls on the distribution of ‘sweet spots’ in a world-class unconventional reservoir ” Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, Vol. 66, No. 1, p. 237-258 (March 2018)

VOLUNTEER AWARDS H.M. Hunter Award

President’s Award

Tracks Award

for Distinguished Service to the Society

for Outstanding Service by a CSPG Member

for Members Who have Set New Standards of Excellence

Tom Sneddon

Tom Plumridge Christa Williams

Mark Caplan Michael Webb

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SOCIETY NEWS

THANK YOU to our 2019 Volunteers!

Lindsey Abbott Nawras Akkad Daniel Alonso-Torres Dragan Andjelkovic Solange Angulo George Ardies Kurt Armbruster Astrid Arts Peter Aukes Ryan Axani Syeda Areeba Ayaz Olena Babak Valentina Baranova Jim Barclay Scott Barlund Peter Bauman Nadine Beaudoin Phil Benham Barry Bennett Jennifer Benyon Jeff Boissonneault Mary Luz Borrero Mathieu Boudreau Sonia Brar Laurie Brazzoni David Brooke Carson Brown Chuck Buckley Gary Bugden Daniel Calvo Gonzalez Mark Caplan Guoxiang Chi Andre Chow David Christensen Shawna Christensen Magda Ciulavu David Clyde Jennifer Connolly Mark Cooper Hilary Corlett Tom Cox Bryn Davies Tim De Freitas Jeff Deere Foon Der Cynthia DevereBennett

Steve Donaldson Tina Donkers Lisa Doyle Dragos Dristaru James Duggan Lindsay Dunn Markus Ebner Lauren Eggie Leslie Eliuk Nanna Eliuk Ashton Embry Mona Enachescu Samantha Etherington Colin Etienne Tristan Euzen Richard Evoy Carmen Ferrebus Duncan Findlay Shirley Fleming Pat Fothergill Amy Fox Andrew Fox Jason Frank Jocelyn Frankow Lloyd Freeman Jennifer Galloway David Garner Ray Geuder Sasan Ghanbari Amin Ghanizadeh Mitchell Gillrie Chad Glemser Darcie Greggs Nicole Greiner Omid Haeri-Ardakani Torrey Hallan Alex Haluszka Eric Hanson Dale Hardcastle Tim Hartel Michelle Hawke Brad Hayes Simon Haynes Nash Hayward Brian Hester Marty Hewitt Darren Hinks

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Darren Hiscott Travis Hobbs John Hogg Norman Hopkins Oliver Horner Kristy Howe Stephen Hubbard Vanessa Huey Nicole Hunter Sarah Hyslop Wim Jalink Bruce James Marjel Janssen Justin Kangarloo David Keighley Don Keith Jocelyn Keith-Asante Jennifer Kingsbury Dave Kisilevsky Dirk Knaust Doug Kozak Jürgen Kraus Rick Kroeker Ross Kukulski Brent Kuntz Marcelina Labaj Larry Lane Kelty Latos Jason Lavigne Clara Laws Rachel Lea Dale Leckie Sid Leggett Shelley Leggitt Paul Levesque David Lipinski Per Lofgren Irene Lopez Rodriguez Greg Lynch Samantha Mackie Maureen Mackinnon Alex MacNeil Joe Macquaker Mark Mallamo Fanny Malpica Jennifer Martin Ryan Martin

Michael McDonough Ian McIlreath Ben McKenzie Liese McLaren Sean Mcleod Jaelei Meyer David Middleton Ashley Millette Steve Minions Dorel Mogosanu Kiersten Mohr Ben Montgomery Kevin Morrison Abtin Motamedi Genga Nadaraju Alexandra Nagy Cole Narfason Eric Niven Jon Noad Scott Norlin Laura Normore Rob North Natalia Noskova Darcy Novak Carlos Olivares Navarro Lauren Ostridge Kevin Parks Rob Paul Brenda Pearson Kelsea Pedersen Chad Pennell Ian Perry Russ Phillips Guy Plint Thomas Plumridge Frank Pogubila Sharlene Pollock Brad Powell Brian Pratt Holly Ratzlaff Melanie Regehr Weishan Ren Carson Renaud Claude Ribordy Katey Roberts Katie Romansky

Jen Russel-Houston Corinne Saruk Emily Schellenberg Doug Schmaltz Jason Shtand Hayley Silberg Athyna Slack Garth Sloan Tom Sneddon Gord Stabb Tony Stadnyk Vern Stasiuk Maureen Stonehouse Lisa Stright Steve Sturrock Natalie Sweet Martin Teitz Scott Thain Damien Thenin Colin Thiessen Michelle Thoms Clint Tippett Elizabeth Turner Valentina Vallega Jeanine Vany John Waldron Michael Wamsteeker Neil Watson Michael Webb Jeff Webber Ken Wedemire Gerald Wendland Christa Williams Jay Williams Mandy Williams Melissa Williams Andrew Willis Jamie Wills Richard Wong Jim Wood Raphael Wust Cindy Xu Keith Yaxley Reza Zandkarimi

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SOCIETY NEWS

CSPG FISCAL YEAR FINANCES REVIEW Fiscal Year: Sept 1, 2018 – Aug 31, 2019 By: Ray Geuder, Finance Director, 2019, Kelty Latos, Finance Director-Elect, 2019 (on behalf of the CSPG Finance Committee).

Building on Last Year’s Success!

As the title implies, through all of its operations the society’s 2019 finances had a good year. In his January 2019 message from the board, 2019 CSPG President Marty Hewitt outlined six key guiding questions that the executive and board would be mindful of when making any and all decisions. These questions helped build on the successes of 2018.

After a number of years of losses and last years ray of hope, the 2019 board and CSPG staff built upon last year’s break-even year.

After three tough years, we were able to continue our recent recovery trend, as can be seen from the Back in the Black chart.

Prior to this recovery, the society used $728,862 of our reserves to weather our industry’s economic downturn.

Operations: For the fiscal year 2019 ending on August 31, we had budgeted a loss of $3,486. Due to the efforts of the CSPG staff, the board of directors and our incredible volunteer base, better than anticipated revenues were received from membership, event sponsorship, GeoConvention, education programs and e-communications.

Compared with previous years, office staff efforts were almost entirely focused on revenue generation projects that helped

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with the bottom line, instead of focusing on cost reductions as in past years.

The audited financials show an operating surplus of $44,386 before the unrealized gain of $8,122 on investments. This unrealized gain entry is required by accounting standards to show the reader the value of investments on August 31, 2019 as though they were sold on that date.

Therefore, the audited financial statements show a total overall profit of $52,508. The unrealized “gain” is on paper only as those investments have not been sold. Also, of note is that the finance committee decided that we would take an inventory writedown of $17,768 at this time. This is entirely due to the number of past publications the office has stored on-site and are deemed no longer sellable. The audited statements as prepared by Kenway Mack Slusarchuk Stewart LLP are available on the cspg.org website.

The CSPG has investment portfolios that are conservatively to very conservatively invested, depending on their mandate when initially set up. What is referred to as the “Unrestricted fund” is conservatively invested with an overall asset mix of approximately 80% fixed income and up

to 20% equities. The value of this fund was $826K as of August 31, 2019, compared to a value of $795K on August 31, 2018. The other fund type is “Restricted”, meaning the losses due to market risks are not allowed and therefore are completely invested in GICs or cash instruments. At the time of our fiscal year end, this “Restricted Fund” was valued at $874K versus a value of $844K on August 31, 2018.

All assets totalled $2,425K (vs. $2,400K at fiscal year-end 2018). Membership is a key component to the society; due to the in-transition membership program being discontinued, we saw the total number of members decrease (2,381 in August 2019 vs.

2,637 in September 2018). Recent efforts of Membership Director Laurie Brazzoni and Executive Director Lis Bjeld in attracting new members is beginning to take traction and we should be seeing our membership number increasing in the coming year.

Being a not-for-profit society, we are not measured by maximizing profits but are however, focused on remaining a going concern. This means that we need to generate profits during good times in order to draw upon the savings during the more difficult times, as was shown in the CSPG

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SOCIETY NEWS

Profit History chart. The CSPG’s mandate is to maximize services for its membership with the income received. The CSPG is a technical society and our focus has been and will always be, to advance the professions of the energy geosciences. The finance committee as well as the board of directors believe that we have done an excellent job adhering to our mandate while managing some challenging years.

board of directors and sponsors that continue to give us the success of CSPG’s many activities. Kelty and I would like to thank Lis Bjeld and the entire staff in the CSPG office – this has been a hard-working year, focusing on maintaining and building upon the large portfolio of CSPG activities.

Thank you!!

Some highlights of activities from fiscal 2018-2019 include: • 8 Technical Luncheons plus 1 GeoConvention Luncheon • 51 Technical Division events • 6 Fall, 4 Spring and 4 General Education Courses • 50th Annual CSPG Core Conference • Rock Analysis Workshop • Honorary Address • 2018 Gussow Conference: Advances in Applied Geomodeling for Hydrocarbon Reservoirs which drew 91 delegates • Go Take a Hike publication • 6 themed issues of the Reservoir • GeoConvention 2019 • 3 sporting events: Road Race and Fun Run, Mixed Golf Tournament, Classic Golf Tournament In 2020, Kelty Latos will be assuming the role of Finance Director and Jason Frank will be the Finance Director-Elect. Their past volunteer experiences with the CSPG will be of great benefit to the society.

It is the work of our office staff, volunteers,

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37th Annual CSPG Squash Tournament

March 5-7, 2020 | Bow Valley Club

REGISTRATION OPEN! Join us for the 37th Annual CSPG Squash Tournament. All playing levels welcome and no previous squash playing experience required. This tournament is a great opportunity to network and participate in friendly competition.

Sign up to play today!

Thursday March 5– 4:00pm-10:00pm - Registration, Tournament and Social Friday March 6– 12:00noon-10:00pm—Tournament, Costume Competition & Social Saturday March 7– 8:30am-6:00pm - Tournament; 6:00pm- Dinner and Dance

Registration closes: February 27, 2020 @ 4:00pm

For registration rates and more information please visit:

www.cspg.org/squash