May/June Reservoir 2019

GeoConvention & Core Conference

In This Issue...

GeoConvention Session Spotlights Core Conference Abstract Highlights Core Conference Technical Program and Schedule Go Take a Hike

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

$7.00 MAY/JUNE 2019 VOLUME 46, ISSUE 3 Canadian Publication Mail Contract – 40070050

May 27th - May 30th, 2019

Subsurface Data Analysis, Geomodeling & Geostatistics Instructor: David Garner | TerraMod Consulting

CSPG Classroom | CPD Credits: 26 May 30th, 2019

Understanding Naturally Fractured Rocks Instructors: Marian Warren | Jenner GeoConsulting Inc. Mark Cooper | Sherwood GeoConsulting Inc.

geoLOGIC Classroom | CPD Credits: 8 April 30th - May 1st, 2019

Basics of Geomodeling - An Overview Instructor: David Garner | TerraMod Consulting

CSPG Classroom | CPD Credits: 16

VIEW SPRING EDUCATION INFORMATION ONLINE AT WWW.CSPG.ORG

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2019 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: Candace Jones Tel: 403-513-1238 Email: candace.jones@cspg.org Sponsorship Opportunities: Candace Jones Tel: 403-513-1238 Email: candace.jones@cspg.org Conference Inquiries: Candace Jones Tel: 403-513-1238 Email: candace.jones@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.

PRESIDENT Marty Hewitt

PRESIDENT ELECT Jen Russel-Houston

president@cspg.org

Osum Oil Sands Corp. presidentelect@cspg.org

PAST PRESIDENT Clinton Tippett

FINANCE DIRECTOR Ray Geuder

pastpresident@cspg.org

directorfinance@cspg.org

FINANCE DIRECTOR ELECT Kelty Latos

DIRECTOR Laurie Brazzoni membershipdirector@cspg.org

ConocoPhillips Canada Ltd. directorfinanceelect@cspg.org DIRECTOR Colin Etienne

DIRECTOR Amy Fox

Canbriam Energy outreach@cspg.org

Enlighten Geoscience Ltd.. education@cspg.org

DIRECTOR Travis Hobbs

DIRECTOR Alex MacNeil

Encana Corporation publications@cspg.org

Osum Oil Sands Corp. conferences@cspg.org

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.

Printed by CBN Commercial Services, Calgary, Alberta.

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

3

THANK-YOU TO ALL OF OUR SPONSORS SAMARIUM SPONSORS

PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

TITANIUM SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS Cabra Consulting Ltd. Canadian Discovery Ltd. Nexen ULC Repsol Oil and Gas Canada Inc. RIGSAT Commuincations Roke Technologies Ltd. Sentinel Wellsite Services Ltd. RIGSAT Communications PERM Inc. Canacol Energy Ltd. Ember Resources Earth Signal Processing Ltd. Cossack Land Services Ltd. Geovariances

Pason Systems Tangle Creek Energy Rockwell Consulting ALT - Advanced Logic Technology Baytex Energy Ltd. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Cordax Evaluation Technologies Enercapita Freehold Royalities Partnership RBC Securities Schlumberger Waterline Resources AAPG - Canada region Trican Laboratories

*As of April 1st Sigma Explorations Rocking Horse Energy Services Athabasca Oil Corporation Geo-Steering Solutions Inc. SeisWare Typhoon Energy Ltd. Continental Laboratories Ltd. CAPL Geo-Steertng Solutions Graham Davies Geological Consultants Ikon Science Ltd. Iron Horse Energy Services McDaniel & Associates Consultants

NuVista Energy Ltd. RECON PetroTechnologies RECOPetro Saguaro Resources Schlumberger Canada Limited Steeptech Exploration Ltd. Western Geco CoreSearch Keitech Consulting Midwest Surveys Opus Energy Consultants Inc. Petrocraft Products Ltd. Stoked Oats

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MAY/JUNE 2019 – VOLUME 46, ISSUE 3

MONTHLY SPONSORS...............................................................................................4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR....................................................................................6 MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD ................................................................................7 TECHNICAL ARTICLE GeoConvention Session Spotlight............................................................................9 Core Conference......................................................................................................11 FRONT COVER Coastal cliffs near Antofagasta, Chile.

Shelly, shallow marine sands and conglomerates of the Miocene-Pliocene La Portada Formation rest unconformably on Jurassic volcanics of La Negra Formation in Antofagasta in northern Chile. This stratigraphic relationship represents a Tertiary transgression onto the remnant of a Jurassic Andean volcanic arc.

The arc itself hosts important copper deposits across northern Chile.

Photo: Francois Tremblay

Revisiting the Mississippian Alida Beds in the Williston Basin of Southeastern Saskatchewan...............................................................................13 Correlating Clearwater Sandstones Within the MartenHills and Nipisi Regions of North-Central Alberta................................................................16 Core Conference Technical Program & Schedule.................................................18 Go Take a Hike.........................................................................................................20

UPCOMING EVENTS Technical Luncheon................................................................................................22 Division Talks...........................................................................................................23

GEOCOMMUNITY TALKS GeoWomen Luncheon Talk....................................................................................28

SOCIETY NEWS 2019 Honorary Address – An Evening With Dr. Scott Tinker...............................28 West Coast Lecture Tour Wrap-up.........................................................................33 Rock Analysis Workshop.........................................................................................34 Stanley Slipper Award Citation For 2018................................................................35 R.J.W. Douglas Medal..............................................................................................38

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

5

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to May/June!

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.

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.

6

Ask any golfer about season change and they will speak lovingly about green greens, fair fairways and tall tees. Or maybe, the transition from white winter to green winter. This is Canada, after all.

For petroleum geoscientists, however, spring and summer means The Classic.

The Mixed. The Wave and the Doodlebug, if they are of the geophysics persuasion.

The boys and girls of summer are on the links! So Go Take a Hike or a Road Race or a Fun Run. Geo’s are an outdoors lot, be the event a sports festival or a geological field trip, we can be counted on to do our thing despite the weather.

This month, the Reservoir salutes GeoConvention 2019 our biggest show of the year. After the golf tournaments, of course. All the traditional stuff is there: the trade show, the Old Tymers, the tech talks and lollygagging on the mall in the sun between presentations. The annual Core Conference rounds out the week, including the unforgettable Core Meltdown.

• Highlights from GeoConvention Sessions •C ore Conference Technical Program and selected talks are highlighted •R JW and Stanley Slipper Award Citations • W rap-up article from Colin Etienne’s Lecture Tour

The weekly version of the Reservoir, the e-newsletter continues the evolution of communications for and with the geoscience community throughout the year. Keep those suggestions coming – we want to keep our communications system tuned to your needs. Kudos to Emma, Candace, Kristy, Kasandra and Lis for the innovations they have supported and to the volunteers who keep the Society show on the road.

The Reservoir itself will continue to roll out those articles and features you want and need for inspiration and to further your personal professional development plan. This edition features an attendee’s eye view of the 2019 Honourary Address and notes on the Rock Analysis Workshop held in March.

CSPG is all about continuing education, innovation and connecting the applied and academic geoscience world. Since attending all the Division brown-bag talks is a tall order, your editorial staff will attempt to tempt the presenters to expand their abstracts to a Reservoir-length feature in future editions. There will be more Bulletin information published as well.

That rounds out this edition and the 2018/2019 Society Season as well.

Have a great summer and return to the petroleum geoscience fold refreshed and ready for a busy and autumn as well.

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD By: Alex MacNeil

S

OLD OUT! That’s the news for the CSPG Rock Analysis Workshop that took place in mid-March at the University of Calgary. Congrats and thank-you to the presenters, sponsors, and technical chairs (Stan Stancliffe, Amin Ghanizadeh, David Robertson, and Ken Glover). The workshop focused on different methods and recent developments for both tight-rock and oil sand reservoir characterization. I highlight this workshop as an example of the technical excellence and career development opportunities that exist because of the CSPG and its membership.

This year has a number of exciting opportunities for attending CSPG conferences, regardless of any specific subdiscipline of petroleum geology you may follow. This year’s GeoConvention (May 13-15th) is responding to changing demographics and play types by including a series of solicited case-studies that highlight unconventional (Montney, Duvernay, Spirit River, heavy oil, and oil sands) reservoirs – from opportunity generation to reservoir characterization with a focus on driving profitability. A new feature at this year’s meeting will be a series of solicited “fundamental skills” talks in a mini short-course format that are geared towards younger geoscientists hoping to further their skills. On Wednesday, May 15th, there will also be an afternoon panel session on the Value of Geosciences. Moderated by Danielle Smith, former leader of the Wildrose Party and talk show host on News Talk 770, panelists include Wayne Foo (President and CEO, Parex Resources), Rob Morgan (President and CEO, Cona Resources), Kevin Angus (Strategic Advisor, Point Loma Resources), Gary Bunio (Director New Technology, Suncor), Pat Ward (President and CEO, Painted Pony), and Jen RusselHouston (Vice President Geosciences, Osum Oil Sands and CSPG President-

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

Elect). And perhaps the icing on the cake will be the CSPG Core Conference (May 16-17th) – why? Because it’s the 50th year for the core conference and the committee has prepared a fantastic technical program that focuses on reservoirs both old and new. Attention will be paid to some of western Canada’s most famous reservoirs – the ones that built the industry over past decades, but also new reservoir types that will probably prove to be the future of our industry (think unconventionals).

The technical program is too extensive to review here but highlights include core presentations on East Shale Basin Duvernay, the Montney, Clearwater and McMurray Formation case studies, and examples of unconventional reservoirs from the United States including examples from the Permian and Cretaceous of Texas (Wolfcamp, Eagleford, Austin Chalk).

This year’s GeoConvention and Core Conference should not be missed, and thank you to the society members (Shelley Leggitt, Lindsay Dunn, John Hogg, Tom Plumridge, Christa Williams, Carson Renaud, Liese Mclaren, Brent Kuntz, and Kelsea Pedersen) who have worked hard to plan these important meetings!

to advances in unconventional reservoirs.

Invited speakers will soon be announced and registration opens May 1st. As the meeting is capped at 120 registrants we expect that the meeting will be sold-out, so please register early if you hope to attend! Overall, 2019 is an exciting year for conferences hosted by the CSPG and in partnerships with other societies, so as the Director of Conferences I hope that you will be able to attend at least some of these events, and find them to be a valuable part of your career development.

But the opportunities for technical development and networking continue in the fall. On Oct. 3rd, following the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, the CSPG and SPE will co-host a core workshop focused on reservoir characterization. This will be an excellent opportunity for CSPG members to view and discuss cores from different reservoir types with reservoir engineers from around the world. More information will be available soon on the CSPG website. Lastly, if you work on tight rock unconventional reservoirs, you will want to attend this year’s Gussow Conference (Oct. 15-17th) in Banff. The technical chairs (Tristan Euzen, Jim Wood, and James Macquaker) have prepared five technical sessions related

7

www.geoconvention.com

GEOCONVENTION 2019

GEOCONVENTION SESSION SPOTLIGHT Skill Fundamentals 101 and Case Studies: Parts 1 and 2 Monday May 13, 2019.

G

eoconvention 2019 (May 13-17, 2019) will be hosting several topical sessions around the theme of “Building Strong Foundations Technical Fundamentals and Applications”. A key session will be: Skill Fundamentals 101 and Case Studies: Parts 1 (morning) and 2 (afternoon) to be held Monday May 13, 2019.

This session is an introduction to a variety of geological and technical concepts and applications. It is intended for both new and experienced explorationists and development geoscientists. The session will include concepts and applications in Sequence Stratigraphy, Ichnology, Core - Wireline Log Correlation, Geochemistry, Hydrodynamics, and Geomechanics, presented by experts in their respective fields. This session will be delivered in a “bootcamp” style, with an over-arching theme of “going back to the basics.” CSPG members have indicated a critical need for new graduates and recent-hires to be exposed to the basic integrated concepts that are utilized in day to day work.

Topics to be covered and presenters include: Concept:

Sequence stratigraphy using well logs and cores, a systematic approach: Dr. J. Battacharya

Application: Integrating Ichnology with Sedimentology to Solve Sequence Stratigraphic Problems: Case Study of a Forced Regressive Asymmetric Delta, Viking Formation, Kaybob-Fox Creek, AB: Dr. J. MacEachern Concept: Fundamental Skills in Core to Log Correlations in Unconventional Resource Plays: Examples from the Montney Formation: Dr. T. Moslow Application: Core to log correlation of Montney members and stratigraphic surfaces: Dr. J.P. Zonnefeld Concept:

Tight Oil Geochemistry: Dr. D. Jarvie

Application: In situ versus produced hydrocarbons in unconventional reservoirs: insight from produced and mud gas geochemistry (Montney resource play, Western Canada): Dr. T. Euzen Concept:

Petroleum Hydrodynamics Fundamentals: Dr. P. Esslinger

Application: What’s hydrodynamics done for me lately? Select case studies from the Conventional and Unconventional Montney Formation: Dr. K. Rahkit Concept: The Importance of Hydrodynamics in the Geomechanical Understanding of Oil and Gas Plays: Upper Mannville Case Study: Dr. A. Fox Please join us for the session named: Skill Fundamentals 101 and Case Studies: Parts 1 and 2 to be held Monday May 13, 2019 at Geoconvention 2019.

Sincerely, Session Chairs Brian Zaitlin and Shelley Leggitt Brian A. Zaitlin, Ph.D., P. Geol., C.P.G. Shelley Leggitt, MSc., P. Geol.

Zaitlin Geoconsulting Ltd. NAL Resources e-mail: zaitlin@earthlink.net e-mail: sleggitt@nal.ca 403-701-7313 403-294-3600

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

9

GEOCONVENTION 2019

GEOCONVENTION SESSION SPOTLIGHT Big Data and Artificial/Augmented Intelligence Applications to Geoscience Chair(s): Farrukh Akram & Edward Little

C

anada’s lands contains abundant natural resources that form the foundation of our Canadian economy. For the energy sector, this means petabytes of data collected each and every day, with only a small fraction of that data being used to make our decisions! As we move along this pathway of ever-increasing speed and volume of data accumulation, capture, storage and synthesis, it is quite apparent that we will need to change how we interact with big data. When big data is combined with new machine learning savvy skills sets of our employees, improved computer power and algorithm development, and cloud-based interfaces, the realm of machine leaning and artificial/augmented intelligences is here now and is transforming how we all do business.

This session will explore the applications of Machine Learning and Artificial/Augmented Intelligence to BIG Data in the fields of geology and geophysics. In these sessions, our colleagues will be presenting on topics that range from Quantum Computation Applications in Exploration Geophysics, through to Automatic Velocity Analysis, Unsupervised Facies Classifications, Nano-scale Rock Characteristics in Tight Formations and Machine Learning Methods to Predict Well Productivity—just to name a few!

Presentation Information An Organic Porosity Evolution Model through Machine Learning, Example from Upper Devonian Duvernay Formation, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Zhuoheng Chen, Jon Liu, Edward Little, Jijin Yang, Yu Zhou & Dennis Jiang Machine Learning Strategies to

Marcelo Guarido

Facies Classification

Unsupervised machine learning applications for seismic facies classification Satinder Chopra, Ritesh Kumar Sharma and James Keay Use of theory-guided neural networks to perform seismic inversion Jonathan E. Downton and Daniel P. Hampson A comparison of Machine Learning methods for seismic inversion to estimate velocity and density Yexin Liu Data Driven Models Using Machine Learning Methods to Predict Well Productivity in Montney Formations Shengnan Chen and Shuhua Wang An active role for quantum computation in exploration seismology Shahpoor Moradi, Daniel Trad, and Kristopher A. Innanen Convolutional Neural Network with Transfer Learning for Automatic Velocity Analysis Min Jun Park and Mauricio D. Sacchi Probabalistic Clustering of a Discrete Fracture Network from Microseismic Data Scott H. McKean, Jeffrey A. Priest, Jan Dettmer, David W. Eaton Application of Independent Component Analysis and Gaussian Mixture Models in micro-seismic signal detection Amir Shamsa and Mehdi Paydayesh A deep learning perspective of the forward and inverse problems in exploration geophysics Jian Sun, Zhan Niu, Kristopher Innanen, Junxiao Li, Daniel Trad Deep learning approach to automatically detect faults and fractures from magnetic data using convolutional neural network (CNN) Hassan H. Hassan and Serguei Goussev

10

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

CORE CONFERENCE

O

ver the last 50 years, the geoscientist has been witness to the many challenges that have shaped the oil and gas industry. We have seen the price of oil fluctuate from $3.32 (1969) to $127.77 (July 2008) per barrel and from less than $0/GJ up to $8/GJ in the natural gas market.

The role the geoscientist plays is crucial in understanding how we extract the vast crude oil and natural gas resources and the impact they have on our economy. It is with this mantle of responsibility, that our understanding has evolved and continues to guide our success, as we exploit the resources found within the unique reservoirs we work with everyday.

The increased implementation of extended reach horizontal wells and multistage fracturing in tight sand and shale resource plays, have allowed our industry to extract hydrocarbons from geological horizons that were traditionally considered impermeable seals for the conventional.

Important emerging liquid rich plays, like the Montney and the Duvernay continue to yield good results and attract global investment. Our advance in drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques continues to see success in some of the more mature Canadian reservoirs, such as the Cardium in west-central Alberta and the Viking in east-central Alberta. Furthermore, we see activity and novel exploitation techniques in our foundation of Clastic and Carbonate reservoirs and the renewed application of technology and core geotechnical research within our Oil Sands and Heavy Oil plays.

On May 16-17th, 2019, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inaugural core conference in 1969. We will see the span of reservoirs both old and new, as well

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

as conventional and unconventional.

Delegates can expect to learn how through various analyses, technology and applications, the geoscience community helps our industry adapt and overcome the issues and demands of the future. This year the geoscience community will celebrate the successes and failures of years past, and the knowledge, learnings and refinements we have all been able to share as a result.

The conference will showcase over 25 core presentations from across the Canadian provinces as well as the Permian and Austin Chalk/Eagle Ford basins in the United States. Following the overall historical theme, we look forward to the many insights this year’s presentations will bring and the contributions that will be gained for years to come.

Heavy Oil/Oil Sands The Heavy Oil and Oil Sands presentations will feature new technology its impact on Mannville Heavy Oil in South Central Alberta, where several exciting new pool discoveries have been made in the Edmonton-Leduc region. Presenters will discuss the opportunities around low resistivity bitumen plays, as well as cap rock integrity and the characterization of discontinuities. We can also look forward to a few presentations which challenge conventional thought in what are established reservoirs. This includes the redefinition of pay in the McMurray In-Situ regions of Athabasca, and the stratigraphy of the Lower Mannville -Clearwater Sandstone, located at Marten Hills and Nipisi.

Tight/Conventional Our Tight and Conventional talks cover a multitude of different topics from the Facies productivity variation within the Rock

Creek in Central Alberta, to the Variability from Micro to Macro scale in the Montney, and how that influences productivity and sweet spot delineation. As well, we have a few fascinating talks that range from the Coaeval deposition of the Viking in Central AB, the Ichnology, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Cambrian Sands in the North West Territories, and the Dinosaur Park – Bearspaw FM Transition in West Central Alberta.

Historical In recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the inaugural core conference, we will feature several talks and core, which encompass the learnings we as scientists, have gained over the years. Jon Noad will speak to the evolution of the Upper Cretaceous and reservoir development using the Belly River as an example. In addition, we will see John Lake, speaking to the changing ideas on sedimentology, stratigraphy and diagenesis, and how that has shaped the exploitation of the Alida Beds in SE Saskatchewan over the decades. Lastly, there will be a special presentation by the Core Conference Committee, looking at some interesting trends in the conference itself over the last 50 years, and a tribute to those who have made this conference what it is today.

Carbonates The lineup of Carbonates talks for this years Core Conference is very robust, with presentations covering classic reservoirs and new insights in some poorly understood horizons. You can expect to find discussions on the Sequence Stratigraphy of the Swan Hills in its relation to the Beaverhill Lake (Continued on page 12...)

11

TECHNICAL CORE CONFERENCE ARTICLE (Continued from page 11...)

Group and a wholesome, outcrop, cutting and core evaluation of the Mississippian reservoirs, Banff, Exshaw and Pekisko.

Furthermore, we are excited to showcase talks highlighting the Middle Triassic Sunset Prairie Fm. of BC, which looks at the clues Ichnology provides regarding the Permian Mass Extinction event, and the Sedimentology and Petroleum Evaluation of the Devonian Duperow Fm. in SW Manitoba, which has been notoriously underdeveloped despite its potential upside for hydrocarbon production.

Unconventional The unconventional talks lined up for this year’s Core Conference are focused on some of the hottest shale plays in North America. We are excited to bring to our attendees the opportunity to compare both the Kaybob and East Shale Basin Duvernay with prominent US shale plays. We will have core from both the West Texas Permian Spraberry and

12

Wolfcamp, as well as the Texas Gulf Coast shales, Eagleford and Austin Chalk. Our Duvernay discussions will feature topics like completions techniques like soaking and the impact it has on productivity, parasequence expression in the organic rich mudstones of the Duvernay at Kaybob, and the evidence we have highlighting the productive potential of the East Shale Basin Duvernay in the Ghost Pine and Twining areas. We can then contrast these to the depositional and sedimentological traits that exist in the Wolfcamp-Spraberry and Eagleford-Austin Chalk, that allow them to support such a high density of horizontal development wells.

This year’s CSPG Core Conference will not be one to miss. It is once again held at the world class AER Core research facility, and with core examples from various play types across the continent, this is sure to be an excellent 2-day event. The presentations will showcase the success we have seen

as an industry and look back to where we came from and shed some light on what we can look forward to for our science and industry. We hope that all participants will learn from the varying ideas presented regarding interpretation, analysis, stratigraphy, exploitation techniques, reservoir characterization and exploration.

Delegates are sure to come away from the conference with a refreshed perspective and some new ideas to use in their day-today work.

We are excited for the presentations this year and look forward to seeing you in May! 2019 CSPG Core Conference Committee Tom Plumridge – Co-Chair Christa Williams – Co-Chair Liese Mclaren Carson Renaud Kelsea Pedersen Brent Kuntz

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

TECHNICAL CORE CONFERENCE ARTICLE

REVISITING THE MISSISSIPPIAN ALIDA BEDS IN THE WILLISTON BASIN OF SOUTHEASTERN SASKATCHEWAN John H. Lake, Lake Geological Services Inc., and Arden Marsh, Saskatchewan Geological Survey Summary The Alida Beds have been exploited for oil and gas since the 1950’s. This paper reviews how our ideas on sedimentation, stratigraphy and diagenesis have changed since initial discovery. We also look at the upside potential of the Alida for further development and exploration.

Introduction Our ideas of carbonate sedimentation in Epeiric Seas have changed over the decades. The models of deposition, porosity preservation, hydrocarbon trapping, marine regressions and contemporaneous tectonic activity have all changed. The ramp model of carbonate deposition was popular with a concept of shallowing and brining upwards sedimentation.

Marine transgressions were not part of carbonate sedimentation models back in the day. The prevailing models suggested that the hydrocarbons were trapped by evaporites capping porous carbonates in a regressive regime for each strata in the Mississippian. The “Carbonate Fear Factor” model (Lake, 2015) suggested an alternate hypothesis involving marine transgressions infilling incised valleys with the evaporites being buried by open marine carbonate sedimentation. Satellite images of restricted circulation in Hamelin Basin, Shark Bay, Western Australia, followed by open tidally-influenced circulation in Sabkha Faishakh, west coast of Qatar were the modern analogues. Oil is trapped within the confines of the incised valley as well as in older sediments adjacent to evaporitefilled incised valleys. A Transgressive Surface of Erosion (TSE) at the base of the Alida Beds in Handsworth pool traps 10.486MMm3/65.96MMbbls OOIP (Lake and Seifert, 2003). The pebble lag at the TSE is reminiscent of the Viking Formation pebble lag within the Cretaceous.

We have learned that Epeiric Seas were tidally influenced and some of our best quality reservoirs are related to drainage channels winnowing fines

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

Figure 1: Stratigraphic cross section across Alida Unit. Note: location of 101/03-01-006-33W1/00 core on display. There are three cycles of sedimentation up to the Highstand Systems Tract (HST). Erosion occurred on the TSE to create a stratigraphic trap in the Algal Zone. Datum is top of Tilston Beds (MC-2). during movement of water off the tidal flat, as the tide went out. We end up with a calcareous algae grainstone often preserving primary interparticle porosity preserved within a low energy regime. The reflux model of dolomitization has lost favour as we recognized that magnesium came out of normal seawater rather than from evaporites. In addition, the tidal movement of normal salinity seawater was responsible for dolomitization of the inner tidal flat environment. Vuggy porosity and anhydrite plugging was originally thought to occur within the deep burial realm but we now know that it occurs as a result of exposure and dissolution; anhydrite infill of pores occurs below the water table in the marine phreatic environment. All of these changes came about as we gained access to the third dimension through horizontal drilling. Water depths of the basin were in the order of 5 metres and deeper facies are only encountered on the western margin of the continent in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana.

Original exploration for the Alida pools used isopach thins of the overlying Lower Watrous/Red Beds to identify the parallel north-north-east-trending ridges for drilling targets. The Rosebank, Nottingham and Alida pools were all discovered using this technique. A few “dusters” off-trend confirmed the geomorphology of the pools.

St. Onge and Strachan, (2003) emphasized

Figure 2: Core Description and photo of 101/0301-006-33W1/00 Alida Beds core on display.

Core represents the entire Alida Beds section at the Alida pool. Note: TSE, Flood and HST. The HST is represented by a porous microcrystalline dolomite. Each interval represents a separate hydrodynamic system with separate oil/water contacts and should be treated as such when exploiting this reservoir. The section above the HST has” Attic Oil” trapped by the “Caprock”.

There are two more exposure surfaces in this interval, but they cannot be correlated for any distance because erosion on the flanks of the pool.

(Continued on page 14...)

13

TECHNICAL CORE CONFERENCE ARTICLE (Continued from page 13...) the importance of preserving the Alida Beds section in structural lows at the East Gainsborough pool. Gainsborough is north of the parallel Alida pool ridges and is younger in age according to the transgressive nature of sedimentation.

Early workers thought that the continental location of the Williston Basin made it exempt from the stress associated with mountain building. Subsequent work has outlined a basin and range extensional tectonic regime with lateral offsets and extension similar to Miocene movement in Nevada, U.S.A. Blocks have both a dextral and vertical sense of movement along the faults contemporaneous with sedimentation.

The individual blocks record a horst and graben geometry similar to Nevada. This, together with an eastwest-trending breached anticline west of the Weyburn pool is part of the Late Mississippian Antler Orogeny. The sense of movement would suggest that the Williston Basin was influenced by the Ellsemerian Orogeny in the Canadian Arctic during the Mississippian.

Figure 3: Model of marine transgressions showing the effect of vertical permeability barriers on oil and water distribution.

Figure 6: Core photo of calcareous algal grainstone channel fill marking the TSE on top of the Algal Zone. 101/03-01-006-33W1/00 at 1143.9m; 3x magnification.

Figure 4: Core photo of micromoldic and intercrystalline porosity within the HST dolomite.

101/03-01-006-33W1/00 at 1130.0m; 3x magnification.

Theory and/or Method

Figure 7: Core photo of pelletal-fenestral tidal flat mudstone of the Algal Zone marking the initial flooding event above the MC-2/Tilston Beds.

Note: vuggy porosity development. This reservoir was exposed to erosion and disappears updip in the next section, which is in response to the TSE. This is an excellent example of exposures and transgressions creating stratigraphic and hydrodynamic traps in carbonates. 101/03-01006-33W1/00 at 1145.2m; 3x magnification.

Four cores from Alida Unit were logged in detail and stratigraphically correlated to gain a sense of lateral facies changes and trapping.

Conclusions The Alida Beds form a deepening upwards succession in response to marine transgression within Alida Unit pool.

Sedimentation is periodically broken by hiatuses of varying duration. Each stacked package should be interpreted as a separate dynamic fluid system with separate oil/water contacts. Because these rocks are transgressive in nature, the lower beds may have higher oil saturations than the beds above. We can see the effects of subtle structural movements as we move up section. The sequence of beds above the maximum flooding surface have repeated erosional events which mimic the morphology of the preserved buried high on the Mississippian unconformity.

This was not accidental, but rather was a function of subtle crustal flexures.

The “Caprock” effect of Triassic-sourced Lower Watrous/Red Bed sulphates and magnesium-rich fluids escaping

14

Figure 5: Core photo of crinoid bivalve wackestone in quiet lagoonal facies, typical of the regional facies blanketing the TSE. The rock has been partly dolomitized. 101/03-01-006-33W1/00 at 1138.3m; 3x magnification. downwards upon compaction has created an “attic oil” situation which has trapped oil structurally above the maximum flooding surface. This phenomenon occurs along the Paleozoic subcrop edge and is responsible for trapping hydrocarbons elsewhere as well. The Alida Beds flooded and deepened upwards from the Tilston Beds exposure (MC2). Sedimentation was disrupted twice before finally reaching the highstand surface. The first disruption in sedimentation included erosion.

Porosity within the “Algal Zone” thins to zero to create a stratigraphic trap for

hydrocarbons. The next hiatus marks the reversal from deepening to shallowing event. The uppermost hiatus marks tidal flat sedimentation overriding offshore sediments in the highstand environment.

The 101/03-01-006-33W1/00 core contains a dolomitized mudstone reservoir and shows evidence of accommodation space corresponding to stacked channels at the underlying hiatus surfaces. This dolomite contains intercrystalline porosity and is similar to the Midale Marly in terms of reservoir quality.

The Alida Beds reservoirs have undergone partial dolomitization, which enhances porosity and accounts for their prolific production histories. This likely results from restricted circulation.

Anhydrite

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

CORE CONFERENCE

pseudomorphs of crinoid ossicles are common throughout the section and are reminiscent of dolomitization within the tidal flat diagenetic environment. The core on display is used to indicate how quickly lateral facies change in these stratigraphic traps. The idea that we are not accessing all of the oil with our horizontal wells attests to the upside potential for revisiting this reservoir (Shtand, 2018).

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the early workers in the Williston Basin to whom laid the foundation for our present understanding for what is going on. Drs. J.G.C.M. Fuller, J.W. Porter, Ralph Edie, Don Kent, Michael Hendricks and Tom Heck were pioneers in stratigraphy and basin modelling. Thanks to Robert Norris for

permission to use his StraTerra Log Manager software to describe the core. Thanks also to Dr. Murray Gingras for showing us the ichnological evidence for tidal influence in the Mississippian of the Willsiton Basin.

References Lake, J.H., 1989, Mississippian Transgressive Cycles, Nottingham Unit, Southeast Saskatchewan; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Core Conference, September 21 and 22, 1989, p5-1 to 5-22.

Lake, J.H., 2015, Carbonate Fear Factor, 23rd Williston Basin Petroleum Conference Core Workshop Volume, Saskatchewan Geological Society Special Publication 23, April 23, 2015 p21-42.

Well Potential of the Lower Alida Beds at Handsworth Pool, Southeast Saskatchewan; 11th International Williston Basin Horizontal Well and Petroleum Conference Core Workshop Volume, Saskatchewan Geological |Society Special Publication No. 16.

St. Onge, A., and Strachan, E., 2003, East Gainsborough, Saskatchewan: a Prairie Evaporite salt dissolution and Mississippian erosional trap, Canadian Society of Petroleum Conference, June, 2003.

Shtand, J.E., 2018, Don’t call it a comeback - Delivering the Goods in the Alida Unit, SE Saskatchewan, CSPG GeoConvention 2018.

Lake, J.H., and Seifert, S., 2003, Horizontal

Our mission is: To advance the professions of the energy geosciences - as it applies to geology; foster the scientific, technical learning and professional development of its members; and promote the awareness of the profession to industry and the public.

CSPG is a not-for-profit corporation registered under the NFP Act. Directors hold office for two years; commencing December 2019.

Nominations for Directors close September 13th, 2019.

CSPG is seeking nominations for:

President Elect – who will continue to serve as President in the 2nd year and Past President in the 3rd year Finance Director Elect – who will continue to serve as Finance Director in the 2nd year Two Directors At Large – who will serve a 2 year term on the Board of Directors

Please note that only FULL Members of CSPG can be nominated The Nomination Process: Nomination forms are available on www.cspg.org/Society/Governance

*There are two methods to make a nomination: 1. Submit the Nomination Form for consideration to the CSPG Nominations Committee (shorter process whereby your nomination is considered).

2. Complete the Nomination Form requiring 25 Voting Member signatures. Your candidate will stand for election.

Deadline for submission September 13th, 2019 to Lis.Bjeld@cspg.org RE: CSPG Board Nomination

Please direct any questions to Lis Bjeld, CSPG Executive Director at 403-513-1235

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

15

CORE CONFERENCE

CORRELATING CLEARWATER SANDSTONES WITHIN THE MARTENHILLS AND NIPISI REGIONS OF NORTH-CENTRAL ALBERTA Cole L. Ross, Murray K. Gingras, Scott W. Hadley, Michael J. Ranger University of Alberta Summary The primary aim of this discussion is to compare and contrast 2 cores within the study region (Twp 71-78, Rge 21W4-8W5).

The 2 cores studied (102-16-11-75-25W4 and 1336-76-7W5) were selected based on facies variability, regional coverage, and complete cored intervals of the Clearwater sandstone units. Through an extensive core evaluation of over 50 Clearwater core, 10 recurrent facies have been described based on sedimentological and ichnological characteristics. The presented cores demonstrate the variability observed between stratigraphic units of the Clearwater Formation within the Marten Hills and Nipisi regions of north-central Alberta. In addition, this comparison provides evidence that multiple stratigraphic intervals offer significant exploration potential. A stratigraphic framework displays interpreted unit thicknesses along strike vs. dip, and correlates sub-units of the Clearwater Formation.

Introduction The Lower Cretaceous Clearwater Formation within north-central Alberta has recently experienced a rapid increase in exploration efforts. Extensive horizontal drilling programs within the Marten Hills and Nipisi regions (Twp 71-78, Rge 21W48W5) are aimed at exploiting the medium to lighter oil reserves within Clearwater sandstones. Although production efforts have yielded significant recoveries, the region is devoid of scientific literature aside from regional generalizations (Jackson 1984, Smith et al 1984), and literature focused on the Wabiskaw member (e.g.

Bradley and Pemberton 1992). Throughout the Marten Hills and Nipisi regions, the Clearwater Formation contains thick, laterally continuous sandstone intervals.

The sedimentary environments associated with the deposition of these sand bodies are

16

Figure 2 Figure 1

contested. A lack of scientific literature and discrepancy in interpreted depositional systems accentuates the need for a detailed analysis of the sedimentology, stratigraphy, ichnology and reservoir distribution throughout the study region.

Methodology 50 cored Clearwater wells within the study region were described at the AER Core Research Center using the software AppleCore which takes geologic features of the core and indexes them to specific depths for each well. Sedimentologic observations focused predominantly on characteristics such as physical sedimenatry structures, variations of grain size, sorting, bed thickness, contacts, and penecontemporaneous deformation structures. Ichnological attributes were also recorded which focused primarily

on trace features which can be described further based on; ichnogenera, overall abundance, ichnofossil size, crosscutting relationsips, overprinting, diversity, and intensity of bioturbation. The core was then divided into facies and facies association where 10 recurrent facies were interpretted based on grainsize, physical structures, ichnology, and bioturbation intensity.

These facies were then used to construct 3 facies associations which provided insight into potential depositional settings present within the study region.

Within the Marten Hills and Nipisi regions of north-central Alberta, over 5500 vertical and deviated wells penetrate the Clearwater Formation. Gamma ray, spontaneous potential, neutron/density, photoelectric, sonic, and resistivity logs were all used in the interpretation of lithologies and reservoir attributes.

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

TECHNICAL CORE CONFERENCE ARTICLE

region display sedimentologic variability, which can be attributed to multiple reservoir-quality stratigraphic intervals.

Figure 3

Results Ten recurrent lithofacies are defined for this study. The lithofacies occur in repeating vertical successions (i.e. Facies Associations) and represent a range of sedimentary environments from offshore, to shoreface and delta. Preliminary stratigraphic interpretations subdivide the Clearwater Formation above the Wabiskaw Member into 7 main stratigraphic units.

Based on the current stratigraphic framework, production in Marten Hills is focused within the Clearwater “C” sandstones. These sandstone intervals range from <5m to >25m in thickness and extend laterally along depositional strike throughout much of the region.

In Nipisi, a combination of Clearwater “C” and underlying Clearwater “B” both contain reservoir-quality sandstones.

Cored intervals predominantly target the Clearwater “C”, and the analyses of sedimentology and ichnology provide significant detail in the interpretation of depositional settings. Structural highs and laterally extensive stratigraphic seals both actively play a role in the reservoir distribution of these sandstone units and aid in the overall interpretation of reservoir sand development in Marten Hills and Nipisi. Two cored intervals within the study

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

Core 1 (102-16-11-75-25W4) is taken from the Marten Hills region and displays a 33m interval that contains the primary productive Clearwater “C” sandstone. This core is interpreted to represent a transition from marine mudstones and siltstones into the reservoir sandstone unit of the Clearwater “C”, and includes the uppermost transition back into a marine setting. Core 2 (13-36-76-7W5) is from the Nipisi region.

This core contains two separate 9m-cored intervals, both of which contain oil stained sandstones. Stratigraphic correlations show that these sandstones are representative of two separate intervals within the Clearwater Formation (Clearwater “C” and “B”), although both contain reservoir quality sandstones. Sedimentological and ichnological characteristics vary dramatically between the 2 Nipisi cored intervals with the lowermost unit containing a significantly higher degree of bioturbation. This contrast between 2cored intervals in separate stratigraphic units appears to be linked with varying reservoir quality.

The cored intervals listed above provide a brief insight into the variability observed within the Clearwater sedimentology throughout the study region. Applying all accessible cores within the region is essential in obtaining a detailed interpretation regarding depositional systems. In addition, tying well log signatures to observable core features will drastically improve interpretations where core control is less abundant.

Figure 1 and 2. Figures show lithologs taken from wells 102-16-11-75-25W4 and 13-36- 76-7W5 representing the Marten Hills and Nipisi regions, respectively.

AppleCORE software was utilized to log the cored intervals, including physical sedimentary structures, lithologic accessories, and ichnology. Bioturbation intensity was also included. In addition to the lithologs, wireline gamma ray and resistivity logs are also displayed to show how core observations relate to wireline log signatures.

Conclusions The establishment of a stratigraphic framework within this region of interest is essential to accurately evaluate reservoir distribution, especially when multiple reservoirs are present. Variability within reservoir characteristics for different stratigraphic intervals may result in varying production quality and as such should be incorporated into exploration models. By first establishing a stratigraphic framework, and correlating the proposed stratigraphy with core characteristics, a more detailed evaluation of reservoir sandstones is permitted. The heterogeneity observed between sedimentology observed within Marten Hills and Nipisi as well as the stratigraphic variability observed on wireline logs, leads to strong evidence that multiple reservoir sandstones exist within the study region. This opens the possibility to future exploration on a regional scale where potential additional sandstones may have developed along depositional strike of the current known production fairway.

17

TECHNICAL CORE CONFERENCE ARTICLE

CORE CONFERENCE TECHNICAL PROGRAM & SCHEDULE MAY 16TH, 2019 - DAY 1 SCHEDULE Time

Speaker

8:15 8:25

Colleen Flynn & Matthew Caddell Devon Canada, BP Canada Energy Group ULC

8:50

Sean Horner & Yanh Peng University of Calgary

9:15

Ed Mathison Alethia Geologica

9:40

Sean Kostenuk, Dino Zelantini, et al., Blackspur Oil Corp.

10:05 10:30

10:55

11:20

1:25 1:50

Theme

Low Resistivity Bitumen Pay, Pike Field, Athabasca Oil Sands

Oil Sands

Application of a Revised Stratigraphic Framework for the Mc Murray Formation, Southeastern Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta Anatomy of a Fluvial to Estuarine Valley Fill, North Cactus Lake McLaren Reservoir Upper Mannville Formations in Leduc-Woodbend Area of Alberta Unconventional Oil within Conventional Rock Developed with Unconventional Techniques

Oil Sands Oil Sands

BREAK Correlating Clearwater sandstones within the Marten Hills and Nipisi regions of north-central Alberta

Oil Sands

Faults and Natural Fractures in Clearwater and Wabiskaw Caprocks in an Athabasca Oilsands SAGD Project

Oil Sands

Dave Herbers, Doug Stewart, et al.

Husky Energy

Facies Architecture and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Triassic Montney Formation, Alberta Deep Basin: Fundamental Controls on the Distribution of Liquids-Rich Sweet Spots

Tight/Conventional

Peter Aukes, Gerry Reinson, et al.

Westbrick Energy Ltd.

The Jurassic Rock Creek Member in West-Central Alberta – a Conundrum of Sequence Stratigraphic Complexity, Depositional Facies Variability, Reservoir Predictability and Productivity Coeval deposition of regressive and transgressive stratal packages: An example from a structurally controlled area of the Viking Formation in east-central Alberta

LUNCH

Sarah K. Schultz, James A. MacEachern, et al.

Simon Fraser University Chad Glemser, Alison Essery, et al.

Tangle Creek Energy Ltd.

2:15

The Montney at Waskahigan – Understanding Reservoir Quality of a Prolific Tight Oil Field in West Central Alberta, Canada

Conventional

Conventional Tight/Conventional

BREAK

2:35

Matthew J. Sommers, Murray K. Gingras, et al.

University of Alberta

Subsurface Sedimentology, Ichnology and Sequence Stratigraphy of Cambrian Mount Clark and Mount Cap Formations Beneath the Colville Hills, Northwest Territories

Conventional

2:55

Meagan M. Gilbert University of Saskatchewan

The Dinosaur Park - Bearpaw Formation Transition in the Cypress Hills Region of Southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada

Conventional

3:15

Brad W. Barrie Sinopec Canada Energy Ltd.

Hybrid Event Beds in the Lower Triassic Montney Formation Unconventional Play of the Elmworth Area, Western Alberta

Conventional

3:40

Jon Noad Gran Tierra Energy

Evolving landscapes of the Upper Cretaceous, and potential reservoir development

Historical

4:05

Closing Remarks

4:30 7:00

AGAT Core Meltdown

18

Oil Sands

Cole L. Ross, Murray K. Gingras, et al.

University of Alberta Kevin Gillen & Patrick McLellan Vox Terrae and McLellan Energy Advisors Inc.

11:45 1:00

Presentation Title

Welcome & Introductions

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

TECHNICAL CORE CONFERENCE ARTICLE

MAY 17TH, 2019 - DAY 2 SCHEDULE Time

Speaker

8:45

9:10

9:35

Jean-Yves Chatellier, Amjed Cheema, et al.

Tecto Sedi Integrated Inc., Pro-Geo Labs Peter Bauman , Chris Barton, et al.

Chinook Petroleum Services, Shadow Energy Inc Nancy Chow, Kerry B. Bates, et al.

University of Manitoba, Red River Energy Consultants Ltd.

The use of cores, cuttings and outcrops to complement and refine our geological and structural understanding of the Banff, Exshaw and Pekisko formations

Carbonates

Mineralogic Analysis of a Carbonate Oil field, Central Alberta, Canada

Carbonates

Sedimentology and Petroleum Evaluation of the Upper Devonian Duperow Formation, Southwestern Manitoba

Carbonates

Carolyn M. Furlong, Murray K. Gingras, et al., Ichnology Research Group, University of Alberta

Integration of Ichnology and Geochemistry: Evidence for Oxygen Fluctuation During the Deposition of the Middle Triassic Sunset Prairie Formation, British Columbia, Canada

Carbonates

Joel F. Collins & Pak K. Wong

Sequences and Cycles in the Carson Creek North Buildup (Swan Hills Formation) and their Relationship to Regional Beaverhill Lake Group Stratigraphy, Western Canada Basin

Carbonates

Revisiting the Mississippian Alida Beds in the Williston Basin of Southeastern Saskatchewan

Historical

Extended Shut-in/‘Soaking’ – Will it help the Lagging Duvernay in Willesden Green?

Unconventional

Duvernay East Shale Basin

Unconventional

BREAK

9:55 10:10

John H. Lake & Arden Marsh 10:35 Lake Geological Services Inc., Saskatchewan Geological Survey 11:00

Carolyn Currie Core Laboratories

11:25

Raphael Wust & Corey Twemlow AGAT Laboratories

11:45 1:00 1:25 1:50

2:15

Steve Alm, Travis Hobbs, et al., Encana Rachel E. Lea Core Laboratories

3:25

LUNCH Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk: Resilience and Revival

Unconventional

The East Shale Duvernay – An Overview of the Ghost Pine Embayment Duvernay - East Shale Basin/Ghost Pine Embayment Guy C. Grierson, Blair S. Rosquist, et al., Mature and excellent rock quality at the eastern edge of the Ghost Outlier Resources Ltd. Pine Embayment Parasequence Expression in Organic-Rich Ryan Macauley, Ryan Wilson, et al., Mudstones: Examples from Duvernay Formation Core in the Kaybob Chevron Energy Area

2:40 3:00

Theme

Welcome & Introductions

8:15 8:20

Presentation Title

David Katz, Nicole Allen, et al., Encana Christa Williams & Tom Plumridge

Unconventional Unconventional

Unconventional

BREAK A Tale of Two Cores: Wolfcamp and Lower Spraberry

Unconventional

50 Years of Core Conference- A look back on the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Core Conference in 1969

Historical

Closing Remarks/Awards Presentation

3:55

Arman Ghanbari, Steven M. Werner, et al., University of Calgary

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

POSTER ( in Lobby Area) Characterization and Evaluation of Deltaic Sandstone Reservoirs of the Dunvegan Formation, Kaybob South

Student Poster Presentation

19

TECHNICAL ARTICLE

GO TAKE A HIKE Rockport - Cape Maringouin, New Brunswick Dave Keighley Trailhead: Route 106 runs between Moncton and Sackville, New Brunswick. Route 935 forms a coastal loop south of 106 between Dorchester and West Sackville. From the West Sackville end, take 935 south for ~18 km (last ~ 7 km unpaved). Where 935 turns 90 degrees west, continue south along a dead-end road a further 3.9 km to Wilbur Cove. The coast to the east is accessed via a short hike over the marsh. The hike can be done in the opposite direction by continuing along the dead-end dirt road (not maintained - high clearance 4WD only) to Slack's Cove. Recently, local hikers have proclaimed a "Maringouin Trail" through woods starting at Slack's Cove and continuing west.

Distance: 4.8 km, one way (plus 2.8 km return along the dirt road).

The Bay of Fundy is home to the world's highest tides and as well as being the location of several impressive coastal geo-hikes. In New Brunswick, the coastline around Rockport was settled in 1763 by the first Baptist immigrants from Massachusetts, with quarrying of sandstone and gypsum the main industry. A short hike from the trailhead around Ward's Point reveals a ruined lighthouse (built 1890) atop a sea-stack and adjacent to an abandoned wharf.

Above: Sea-stack of Boss Point Formation fluvial sandstone topped by a now ruined lighthouse, Rockport, New Brunswick

Elevation change & difficulty: All coastal. Mostly boulder-covered wave-cut platform with numerous ledges to climb and sloping (40o dip) bedding surfaces to traverse.

Moderate to difficult hike.

Taking in the entire, near-5 km, hike encompasses crossing over 400 m-thickness of strata, all of which are assigned to the Boss Point Formation. At this eastern end of the Maringouin Peninsula the sandstone of the Boss Point Formation is medium to coarse grained and commonly planar bedded, which made it a useful export for miller's grindstones and flagstones as well as the building of sea-walls. Top and bottom surfaces of flaggy sandstone often display an impressive variety of ripple marks or parting lamination interpreted as fluvial in origin. On the cliffs of the sea-stack, and all along the coastline, the sandstones also contain large 'cannonball' concretions and thick lags of fossilized plant stems (ancient river log jams), some up to 30cm diameter and 3 m long, dated to the Early Pennsylvanian.

Closer to Slack's Cove, Browne and Plint (1984) have logged the presence of a tree fossil entombed in life position within a grey mudstone. On a clear day, looking along strike east across Cumberland Bay (an arm of the Bay of Fundy), the ~ 1 km thick type section of the Boss Point Fm. is visible and overlain to the south by the strata forming the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

20

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Above: On the sea stack and adjacent cliffs large cannonball concretions are embedded in the sandstone. 15-cm yellow ruler for scale.

Below, left: Regularly oriented hollows on top surfaces of rectangular sandstone blocks are the product of prior shaping and fitting of bricks in a now abandoned sea wall - modern anthropogenic traces. 15-cm yellow ruler for scale.

Below, right: Coalified plant fossils interpreted to have been deposited in a fluvial log-jam. 15-cm yellow ruler for scale.

Safety: Be mindful of the tide schedule so that you do not become trapped on the beach. High tides around promontories can cut off access and exit. Commence any hike on a falling tide. A hike should be completed at least 3 hours prior to high tide.

Many areas of the coast are covered in very slippery seaweed and, or, mud, including large wobble-prone boulders. Wear appropriate footwear. Thick mud stuck to footwear reduces traction. Beware falling rocks.

Federal government tide data: tides.gc.ca/eng/station?sid=190.

Reference: Browne, G.H. & Plint, A.G. (1994), Alternating braidplain and lacustrine deposition in a strike-slip setting: the Pennsylvanian Boss Point Formation of the Cumberland Basin, Maritime Canada. Journal of Sedimentary Research, B64, 40-59.

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

21

TECHNICAL LUNCHEON

Is There A New Energy Norm- and If So How Do I Play the Game?

SPEAKER Bob Fryklund, Chief Strategist Upstream, IHS Markit

Time: 11:30 am doors open Date: May 13, 2019 Location: Hyatt Hotel, Imperial Ballroom 5/7/9, 700 Centre Street SE, Calgary AB T2G 5P6 Ticket price: $60.00+gst Table of 10 price: $600.00+gst Please note: The cut-off for ticket sales is 4:00pm, May 7, 2019

ABSTRACT As the energy transition progresses companies are faced with dealing with a very dynamic and volatile world with up and down commodity prices, changing geopolitical landscapes and major shifts in markets for which to plan.

As a result, companies are adjusting their strategies to be competitive for the future. Moreover, we are starting to see companies split into several camps— North American independents and global players (the majors and some national oil companies). But for both the priority is focus and short cycle projects which they can dial up and down capital spending as market conditions change. This has in turn lead to the rise of the specialist – companies who focus on one play or basin like the Permian, or one region like the North Sea.

growth in basins once thought as mature with some seeing reserves increase by 2030 times.

This talk will look at the two groups – who they are and what new strategies they are applying.

BIOGRAPHY Bob Fryklund, Chief Upstream Strategist, Energy, IHS Markit, has over 38 years of industry experience focusing on global upstream strategic leadership and has advised on many of industries most revolutionary projects over the last two decades. He has held various executive leadership positions at both majors and leading independents. A recognized Thought Leader on upstream oil and gas, he frequently speaks at key industry meetings, such as the World Economic Forum, CERAWeek by IHS Markit, the Offshore Technology Conference, APLA, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Conference.

He is also an established media consultant and source for both print and television. Mr. Fryklund serves or has served on several boards and executive committees, including the Association of Petroleum Geologists Advisory Board; the Independent Producers Association of America; the Brazilian Petroleum Institute; the International Energy

Agency; the Libya-US Council, a bilateral trade association; and American School of Tripoli. Mr. Fryklund is a member of the Houston Geological Society and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and has published numerous articles in three languages. Mr. Fryklund holds an AB from Hamilton College, has completed advanced studies at the University of Houston and the University of Tulsa, and holds an advanced certificate in management.

But what about exploration? Exploration too is undergoing a reset. New venture exploration has tailed off with the total number of new field wildcats dropping below 500 for the last two years and continuing the deep decline since 2014.

The result has been the lowest amount of oil discovered since 1952.

As a result, exploration is being re- defined, with a smaller and smaller group still participating in new venture exploration and the dominant group focusing on exploration in proven basins.

This has resulted in some remarkable

22

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 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

DIVISION TALKS

PALAEONTOLOGY DIVISION TALK You are what you eat: using dietary trace elements to examine the life histories of dinosaurs and other fossils SPEAKER David Terrill, PhD Candidate, Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary

Time: 7:30 pm Date: Friday, May 10, 2019 Location: Mount Royal University, Room B108 ABSTRACT When considering the nature of paleontological remains, the first images that come to mind are usually that of preserved skeletons, which can include vertebrate bones, the exoskeletons of arthropods such as trilobites, the hard shells of molluscs and brachiopods, the calcitic skeletons of corals, and many others. These hard tissues often form the basis of our understanding of life in the distant past, as we use them (sometimes with the help of exceptionally preserved soft tissues like skin and feathers) to reconstruct the animals from which they came. We then combine this with information obtained from the rock record such as fossil tracks and traces, pollen, and geological information to help us understand what the environment was like and how these animals may have lived during that time.

One, often, overlooked source of information that has been gaining traction in the last two decades is chemical data.

While the process of fossilization often replaces original biological tissues with other minerals, certain fossils retain at least a small portion of their original composition. Of all the fossils known, perhaps the best source of original biological materials is the enamel of vertebrate teeth. Enamel is incredibly hard and resistant, to the point where it is virtually unchanged in fossils dating several hundred million years.

The primary components of enamel include elements such as phosphorous, calcium,

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

carbon, and oxygen, however a number of other elements can be found in trace amounts.

For my work, I primarily focus on strontium, a substitution element for calcium in bones and teeth. Similar to calcium, strontium in the body primarily comes from dietary sources. This means the isotopes of strontium and overall abundances preserved in fossil enamel reflect the diet of the animal. As strontium in the environment is strongly linked to the eroding bedrock in a given area, the isotopes preserved in the enamel can be linked through the animal’s diet back to the location where the animal had been feeding. Using this property of strontium, I have attempted to reconstruct the migratory behaviours of hadrosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta. The relative abundance of strontium preserved in the enamel can also be used to estimate where approximately an animal may fit in the foodchain. I have applied this to a separate project on Silurian conodonts, which are small eel-like fish fossils.

Though well-studied, little is known about the ecology of these animals; through strontium analysis, I hope to be able to show how different conodont species may have exploited different types of food sources. Finally, I will present a few ideas for future paleontological studies using similar techniques.

degrees in astrophysics and geology.

From 2010 to 2017, David worked seasonally as a parks interpreter at Dinosaur Provincial Park, where he had many opportunities to join scientists from the Tyrrell museum and University of Alberta on field excursions in and around the park. He completed an MSc. in 2015 studying sulfur preservation in conodonts, attempting to clarify the relationship of the mysterious group of fossils as they relate to other vertebrates. Currently David is a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary studying dinosaur migration and conodont ecology, and will once again be guiding hikes to the Burgess Shale this coming summer.

DIVISION INFORMATION This event is presented jointly by the Alberta Palaeontological Society, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount Royal University, and the Paleontology 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 403-286-0349 or contact programs1@albertapaleo.org. Visit the APS website for confirmation of event times and upcoming speakers: http:// www.albertapaleo.org/

BIOGRAPHY Growing up in Calgary, David had many opportunities to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller and was an avid fan of dinosaurs growing up. After beginning a BSc. In astrophysics at the University of Calgary, David picked up a summer job working at the museum, where he rekindled his fascination with all things paleontological. A few summers later, David began leading hikes to the Burgess Shale fossil beds in the Field BC area. He graduated in 2010 with undergraduate

23

DIVISION TALKS

OPERATIONS DIVISION TALK AER – Regulatory Data Submission Requirements (Wells) SPEAKER Abi Adeniran | Manager, Well Data Services, Information Management Branch Alberta Energy Regulator

Time: 12:00 pm Date: May 21, 2019 Location: geoLOGIC Classroom (2nd Floor), Aquitaine Tower, 540-5th Avenue S.W. ABSTRACT The business of collecting of geophysical, well drilling, completion and abandonment data has been a vital and critical enabler of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)’s ability to successfully execute its mandate ever since it came into existence 80 years ago.

Alberta’s energy regulator or any regulator for that matter will only be as successful as the relevance, quantity and quality of the

data available for making decisions about regulating energy development within its jurisdiction. The mission of the AER as it pertains to Information management revolves around being agile and constantly improving processes through which data is collected in an efficient, effective and transparent manner while providing access to the data by Albertans and industry stakeholders at large.

This presentation will outline the key elements of the various types of data the AER collects during the construction and completion phase of a well and explain the regulator’s compliance requirements and guidelines.

We will also discuss current submission mechanisms (Digital Data Submission tool & the new OneStop portal) and introduce the governing regulations, applicable directives, the support teams as well as some helpful tips or resources that were created to aid industry stakeholders and the public in general.

BIOGRAPHY Abi Adeniran has a BSc in Geology and a Diploma in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria). He is a member of APEGA and started his oil field career working on drilling well-sites as company representative supervising service operators performing well logging, well data acquisition and a host of completion operations. His career progressed into the service industry specializing as drilling optimization specialist, leveraging downhole data and tool analysis for performance improvements for well delivery. He joined the Regulatory Submission and Compliance group of the AER in 2011, as lead for the well data services and has been involved in implementing Directive 59 provisions as well as helping industry stakeholders understand and meet AER’s Infrastructure well data filing requirements.

REGISTRATION OPENS JUNE 2019 Workshop Overview

In conjunction with the 2019 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, the CSPG is conducting a one-day core workshop focused on refining and improving reservoir characterization and geomodel inputs using information gathered from core. Engineers and geologists will demonstrate how basins and reservoirs can be better characterized by using examples from Montney, Oil Sands, Source Rock Plays and Tight Sands plays.

FOR MORE WORKSHOP INFORMATION VISIT WWW.CSPG.ORG/C2C

24

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

DIVISION TALKS

INTERNATIONAL DIVISION TALK Vampires, Goulash and Hydrocarbons: Some History, Geology and Exploration Success from the Pannonian Basin SPEAKER Gary W. Paukert | VP Geosciences Canadian International Energy Corp Abhi Manerikar | Independent Consultant – Tiger Consulting

12:00 pm May 8, 2019 For location details please visit www.cspg.org ABSTRACT It’s certainly not the first place we think of when someone says, ‘Oil Patch.’ But the Pannonian Basin has a rich – if at times obscure – human, geologic and hydrocarbon history. And a promising future, even if likely not one in ten Calgary explorationists can point to it on a map.

set the stage for generation, migration and entrapment of the hydrocarbon and hydrothermal resources.

Great opportunities arise in oil and gas exploration in ‘eddy areas’ which become cut off from technological advancements, capital investment and the free flow of ideas for long periods of time. With the opening of borders in eastern Europe at the end of the 20th century, exploration in the Pannonian region began to surge ahead, applying new ‘leap-frog’ technologies to areas left relatively fallow for over 50 years.

A handful of companies - some quartered in Calgary – have found good hunting in this relatively obscure basin.

BIOGRAPHIES

Located at a crossroads of human history, largely in Hungary and Romania, the development of this Miocene-age backarc basin resulted in the Great Hungarian Plain. That great plain subsequently was the corridor through which swept the armies of history – Ancient Rome, the Mongol Hordes, and the Ottoman Empire.

In the 20th century, the tanks of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia sped across its flats as those empires lusted for the hydrocarbon resources hidden beneath it and at its crumpled margins.

Those hydrocarbon resources were emplaced by a fascinating geologic history that began with complex plate tectonic interactions, obducted sea-floor flysch, and oddly enough, significant crustal extension just a stone’s throw from one of the world’s great compressional orogens. This extension created the great ‘hole in the ground’ that, when filled in, became the great plain so impactful upon human history. As the basin filled, strikeslip shearing, structural overprinting, deposition of a vast thickness of lacustrine fill and high heat flow due to volcanism and the thin crust ensued. These, in turn,

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

with seismic wiggles in over 50 basins worldwide, plus haunting the oil patches of Denver, Midland, Calgary, Aberdeen, Stavanger and Bogotá. His passion is for rolling around in seismic data and generating prospects. Currently he is VP Geosciences for Canadian International Energy Corp., a new junior start-up in Calgary.

Gary Paukert has B.S. degrees (Physics and Earth Science) from Whitworth University and an M.Sc. (Geophysics) from the University of Calgary. He spent the first decade of his career as a geophysicist working for that cartoon tiger, followed by 16 years with several Canadian mid-sized independents. For the past decade he has prospected for a string of junior explorers, often as not focused on South American exploration. Most recently he was part of Bankers Petroleum’s New Ventures team exploring the Pannonian Basin.

All this work has resulted in familiarity

Abhi Manerikar has worked in the oil and gas industry for 35 years, in a variety of technical roles as a geophysicist followed by management positions at large and small companies. His career has provided the opportunity to work and find hydrocarbons on every continent (except Antarctica) and has spanned the spectrum of activities from frontier exploration to field development. He has recently returned to Calgary after a 4-year term as an exploration executive with a private equity backed start-up exploration company in central Europe, where he built an exploration team and executed a successful exploration program.

25

DIVISION TALKS

GEOMODELING DIVISION TALK The importance of multi-scale geomodels which address various challenges faced across the Montney black oil window SPEAKER

deliver fantastic wells within this corridor.

Pippa Murphy | Velvet Energy Limited

Time: 12:00 Noon Thursday, May 30, 2019 Husky Conference Room A, 3rd Floor, +30 level, South Tower, 707 8th Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta ABSTRACT At Velvet Energy we have focused our exploration efforts on the Montney black oil window, looking for areas where the liquids content is plentiful, and the product is relatively sweet.

With this strategy comes risk, and as we approach the subcrop edge of the middle Montney, that risk is water. We’ve proven through production results that, although water cuts can be high, it is still possible to

From a geomodelling perspective we’re trying to answer 2 questions: 1. When does the water become too risky and is this mappable from a regional perspective?

2.

Can we customize our completions to contact less water and more hydrocarbon?

During this discussion we’ll share how we’re utilizing all available data and building geomodels at multiple scales to get us closer to being able to address these challenges.

BIOGRAPHY

Pippa has a bachelor’s degree in Geology from Kingston University in the United Kingdom. Pippa developed a passion for data integration and geomodelling through her ten years with Schlumberger globally, during which time, she had the honor of working with many highly technical geoscientists across a multitude of challenging areas. In 2015 Pippa joined Velvet where she is now focused on utilizing geomodels to help the team build a better technical understanding across the company’s exploration portfolio.

Information There is no charge for the division talk. We also welcome non-members of the CSPG. Please bring your lunch. For details or to present a talk in the future, please contact Weishan Ren at renws2009@gmail.com.

Pippa Murphy is the Geomodelling Lead at Velvet Energy Ltd, based in Calgary.

BASS DIVISION

Duvernay Core Workshop Friday September 6, 2019 1pm-4pm | AGAT Laboratories

REGISTRATION OPEN NOW! Limited space available– register early

For speaker details and to register please go to www.cspg.org/BASSCORE

26

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

GEOCOMMUNITY TALKS

GEOWOMEN LUNCHEON TALK Canadian Oil and Gas Production and Costs Outlook SPEKAER

Dinara sits on the Editorial Committee of the Institute’s Energy Quarterly Report and Geopolitics of Energy journal and provides economic commentary for CBC, Global TV, The Globe and Mail, the BNN and other local, national and international news outlets.

Dinara Millington | Vice President, Research at CERI

Time: 12:00 pm Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2019 Location: geoLOGIC Classroom, +15 Level, 2nd Floor, Aquitaine Tower, 540 – 5th Avenue SW

Dinara graduated with a Masters of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary, specializing in Econometrics and Time-series Analysis. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with minor in Finance. Ms. Millington spent some time studying at Masarykov University in Brno, Czech Republic, as well as worked and lived abroad in Kazakhstan.

Free Event – No registration required – Everyone is welcome!

ABSTRACT Join GeoWomen of Calgary for a presentation by Dinara Millington, Vice President Research at the Canadian Energy Research Institute. CERI’s mission is to provide relevant, independent and objective economic research of energy and environmental issues to benefit business, government, academia and the public.

DIVISION INFORMATION For more information on GeoWomen of Calgary, please visit www.geowomen.org GeoWomen of Calgary is a GeoCommunity of the CSPG www.cspg.org

BIOGRAPHY

Dinara Millington joined CERI in February GeoWomen of Calgary is a member of 2004 and assumed her current role as a Vice AWSN www.awsn.org President, Research in April 2014. Dinara is responsible for managing the Institute’s research agenda including leading the oil sands projects, assisting in the production  of market research, economic analysis and economic modeling. Ms. Millington has participated in various projects involving oil sands, crude oil, natural gas, LNG, and renewable energy. 

































































Digitize The World

SM





katalystdm.com

 























RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019



27

SOCIETY NEWS

2019 HONORARY ADDRESS – AN EVENING WITH DR. SCOTT TINKER

By Victoria Wallace and Ken Wallace Brief Summary of the Honorary Address: The 2019 CSPG Honorary Address by Dr. Scott Tinker was held on February 28th at Mount Royal University and was moderated by Danielle Smith (radio host of Afternoons on NewsTalk770 in Calgary).

Dr. Tinker joined the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences in 2000. Prior to this appointment, he worked in the oil and gas industry for 17 years.

Currently he is the Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, the State Geologist of Texas and a professor holding the Allday Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin. His passion is education and actively engages amongst often opposing groups – industry, government, academia and non-government organizations (NGOs) – addressing difficult challenges in attempt to find a ‘radical middle-ground’.

His latest education project is the Switch Energy Alliance, more information can be found at SwitchOn.org

Forward: In a time where many Albertans are frustrated with the progress to regain economic strength in one of our core industries – oil and gas, to attract global investments and more importantly, to gain access to global markets (#buildthatpipe) - this year’s Honorary Address provided some much needed food for thought.

Western Canada has vast resources, yet we struggle to develop it as vigorously as our southern neighbour. Despite the fact that developing our resources is good for the entire country, there are many opposing views often vilifying the oil and gas sector.

Is this just a classic example of NIMBYism (not in my back yard), is there a huge disconnect from industry to the average person, or perhaps both?

Summary: Poverty, climate change, and energy are interconnected global challenges. Dr. Tinker’s presentation is based on two

28

opposing premises: 1) climate change is the major issue of our time and fossil fuels are the problem, and 2) poverty is the major issue of our time and fossil fuels are the solution. These very polarizing, divisive topics appear to be at odds with each other, but does a compromise exist?

The developed world has leveraged energy to create a (largely) prosperous society. Developed nations (including Canada) have primarily done so using non-renewable energy (fossil fuels for the most part). Now, the developing world is trying to achieve the same level of prosperity enjoyed by the West. Dr. Tinker began his presentation reviewing several case-examples of struggles and challenges faced by communities in developing countries, but a combination of remoteness, lack of existing infrastructure, politics and corruption and related issues, have historically been too great for them to overcome. Many of these problems can be solved using 21 century solutions, often in different, innovative and creative ways than has been done in developed countries.

Dr. Tinker postulates that economic poverty is tied to energy poverty, since poverty decreases people’s chances of access to energy. Scott provides several alarming statistics. Approximately one billion people in the world do not have access to electricity. The distribution of something as simple as electricity is shocking “[the average North American] fridge consumes nine times more energy than one person in Ethiopia”. And this is only talking about one realm of energy – electricity.

You cannot say “eat your whole plate of food, because [someone in the world] is starving” – that does not address poverty in the slightest. And you cannot be mad at a farmer for producing food, because they are addressing a need, and same goes to energy makers. If energy poverty

can be overcome, this can improve access to many things we often take for granted, such as: food/nutrition, clothing, shelter, clean water, food storage (i.e. cold storage), education, healthcare/medical services, decreased birth rates, decreased unemployment rates, decreased crime, enhancement and empowerment of women and reduced rates of migration for 2.5 billion people of the world. That is over one third of the world’s population.

Is this segment of the world not entitled to prosperity and a better standard of living?

As Dr. Tinker states, electricity does not end poverty but poverty cannot be ended without electricity. It is time to give power to the people. Of course this is no easy feat, as one of the greatest barriers to ending energy poverty is corruption.

Electricity-use, associated-carbon and the environment are at the heart of the climate change-versus-energy discourse.

The increase in CO2 emissions from the AsiaPacific region has grown from less than 1 gigatonne to a staggering 16 gigatonnes in 50 years, whereas the rest of the world’s CO2 emissions has remained relatively constant (or in some cases, decreased slightly) over the same period. A large factor in this increased CO2 emissions in the Asia-Pacific region stems from the fact that more than half of the electricity is supplied from coal.

The Asia-Pacific region is not completely to blame, as they have become the world’s preference for out-sourcing manufacturing.

Many of the world’s countries off-load their carbon dioxide production onto China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Should the clients of these countries not be held responsible for the carbon emitted in the making of the products they purchase?

Perhaps manufacturing-focused countries should charge a carbon levy to compensate for the carbon emitted associated with the production of the goods they make?

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

SOCIETY NEWS

Transportation is also an important topic in to the energy discussion. In 2016, less than 2% of light-duty vehicles were plugin electric vehicles. Granted the electric vehicles will become more affordable, however is it really greener? Electrek. com states that the battery pack of a 70kWh Tesla Model S weighs 1000 lbs and estimates that it contains approximately 63kg of lithium. What happens when these batteries die? Cars die/get replaced?

How will they be disposed of? But a better question yet – where is this electricity coming from?

Electric vehicles shift simply CO2 emissions from the tailpipe to the power plant.

Inspired by these numbers, the authors did some additional research to link “zero emission” electric vehicles to Alberta.

According to the National Energy Board, the 2017 electricity-mix in Alberta was sourced approximately 50% from coal, 39% from natural gas, and the balance, 11%, from renewable sources such as wind, hydro, and biomass – meaning electric vehicles in Alberta are primarily powered by fossil fuels.

Moving on to the topic of renewable energy, Dr. Tinker concedes that renewable energy is an important component of the future energy-mix, but that wind, solar, and hydroelectricity all have their implicit challenges. Each renewable energy source requires vast areas in order to make significant energy contributions. They suffer from intermittent reliability due to naturally occurring changing conditions in wind, overcast, and precipitation.

Furthermore, not all renewable energy sources work everywhere; the challenges with reliable renewable energy can increase with increasing distance from the equator. Additionally and perhaps most importantly, while the sun and rain are renewable energy sources, the materials used to harness said energy are not. Many different metals and rare earth elements are utilized in the materials to make such items as wind towers and solar panels, and not only are these generally mined for, but we also need to mindful of the way we dispose of them. Dr. Tinker summarizes renewables so eloquently “[you think] renewable energy is green – it’s not. It just shifts the effect from the atmosphere to the land.”

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

The global energy equation is varied and complex. Politics, economics, and passion run deep on all sides of the environment and poverty debate. It is difficult to hold a civil energy discussion in a debate where often the loudest voices get the most attention. Perhaps a starting point could be the following three questions: 1) Does every person on this planet deserve what so many of us take for granted? 2) Is the environment important? 3) Is the global demand for energy increasing? If the answer to the previous three questions is YES, then a middle ground must be reached. A compromise: a balanced approach that is achievable, energyefficient, and works in favour of the majority. This idea may seem radical; a “radical middle” as Dr Tinker puts it.

But maybe instead of seeing it as radical, it should be viewed as the “pragmatic middle”.

How is this compromise achievable? The path to success is long and challenging; there is no easy answer. But it may start with awareness and education. Most people do not know where energy comes from, but they think they do. Therefore, it is so important to enlighten people with facts and data. Us, the experts, must engage in energy education. We must help those around us understand that energy powers our lives.

resources of such fuels are vast. Growth of renewable energy sources has not increased as quickly as growth of nonrenewable energy sources.

Energy transitions are achievable, but energy transitions take time. No sizable form of energy, whether renewable or not, comes without environmental impact.

But – we can get better. We can improve, become more efficient and advance our technologies to ensure that each and every person can enjoy this great planet today and in generations to come.

As geoscientists our contribution, impact and perspective to this discussion is crucial. Educate with facts and data, and put forward thought-provoking interpretations to act as a basis for civil discussions to proceed. As Dr. Tinker summarized, energy sources will vary by region, and no form of energy is “good” or “bad”, but energy itself underpins modern economies and helps lift the world from poverty.

The truth is, demand for non-renewable fossil energy remains strong; and

29

Session 1 - Diagenetic controls of reservoir quality in tight rocks Session Chairs: Joe MacQuaker | ExxonMobil

+

Kitty Milliken | Bureau of Economic Geology

TITLE

SPEAKER

AFFILIATION

Clay mineral factories prior to the evolution of land plants: sedimentary processes and diagenetic products

Dario Harazim

Links between lake chemistry, organic matter, microbial processes, and dolomitization in the Green River Formation (Eocene), Uinta Basin, Utah

Max Pommer

Colorado School of Mine

Element cycling in the middle-late Triassic Shublik Fm.: mineralization vs recycling of biolimiting nutrients in an organic carbon-rich mudstone

Kate Whidden

USGS

Silica diagenesis and its role controlling storage capacity in unconventional reservoirs

Kev Taylor

The University of Mancherster

University of Calgary

Session 2 - Origin and Impact of Organic Matter in Unconventional Reservoirs Session Chairs: Wayne Camp | Anadarko Petroleum Corp

+

Hamed Sanei | Aarhus University

TITLE

SPEAKER

AFFILIATION

Petrographic characterization of kerogen, bitumen and residual oil from SEM electron micrographs: examples from the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, DJ Basin, Colorado USA

Lyn Canter

Sedimentary Solutions, LLC, Denver, CO

Solid bitumen in shale reservoirs: a challenge in organic petrography and geochemistry

David Misch

Montan Universitaet, Leoben, Austria

Evidence for the priming effect and alteration of transported refractory organic carbon

Dane Synnott

University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

New techniques and applications of organic petrography and spectroscopy: insights for shale petroleum systems

Paul Hackley

US Geological Survey, Reston, VA

Possible effect of structural deformation on shale reservoir properties: An example from Lower Cambrian shales of Eastern Upper Yangtze Platform, South China

Yong Ma

Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, AB

Geochemical fractionation of organic matter in the Argentinian Jurassic-Cretaceous Vaca Muerta shale

Aleksandra Malachowska

Gdansk University of Technology University, Gdansk, Poland

A new porosity prediction method for unconventional mudstone reservoirs

Wayne Camp

Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Houston, TX

Session 3 - The role of structure in unconventional plays Session Chairs: Julia Gale | Bureau of Economic Geology

+

TITLE

James Wood | Calaber1 Resources

SPEAKER

A new generation of stress maps for development of unconventional oil and gas plays in the conterminous U.S.

Mark Zoback

Implications of constraining natural fractures and in-situ stress trends for field development strategies in David Forand unconventional reservoirs: Examples from the Permian basin A tale of three earthquakes: New insights into fault activation in light of recent occurrences

David Eaton

AFFILIATION Stanford University Chevron USA University of Calgary

Geomechanical simulation of different conceptual models for Shawn Maxwell microseismic interpretations

Encana Corporation

Direct observation of hydraulic fractures in the Hydraulic Fracture Test Site (HFTS) slant core, Midland Basin, Texas: insights into distribution, morphology, and interaction with natural discontinuities

Julia W. Gale

Bureau of Economic Geology

Influence of spatially-varied natural fracture properties on hydraulic fracture growth

Andrew Bunger

University of Pittsburgh

Natural and induced structural fabrics in drill-cores from the Kevin Gillen Montney Formation, western Canada

Vox Terrae

Session 4 - Geological controls and impact of fluid distribution in resource plays Session Chairs: John Curtis | GeoMark Research

+

Tristan Euzen | IFP Canada

TITLE

SPEAKER

AFFILIATION

Tight Hydrocarbon Plays: How Source, Reservoir and Fluid Dependencies Control their Formation

Tim Matava

GGIM

Topic: Biomarker Applications

John Curtis

GeoMark Research

Connection between PVT realities and petroleum geochemistry

Kevin Ferworn

GeoMark Research

Meter-scale Lithofacies Cycle and Controls on Variations in Oil Saturation, Wolfcamp A, Delaware and Midland Basins

Tongwei Zhang

Bureau of Economic Geology

Integrated Geochemical Studies of Produced Water from Unconventional Petroleum Reservoirs, Permian Basin, USA – Utility and Applications

Christopher Laughrey

Weatherford

Topic: Flowback water geochemistry

L. T Bryndzia

Shell International E & P

Application and use of Time Lapse Geochemistry in Unconventional Resource Appraisal and Development

Elizabeth Watt

ConocoPhillips

Session 5 - Geological controls and impact of fluid distribution in resource plays Session Chairs: Stephen Sonnenberg | Colorado School of Mines + Ruben Dominguez | Shell Canada TITLE

SPEAKER

Step-Change Advances in Shale/Tight Oil Well Performance Vello Kuuskraa Carrier Beds as Unconventional Reservoirs

Gretchen Hough

Putting It All Together: Understanding the Value and Impact Darren Arcuri of Data Identifying Opportunities through Value Mapping of the Alberta Montney Wet Gas Fairway Topic: Wolfcamp Delaware Basin topic Topic: Denver Basin Niobrara topic

AFFILIATION Advanced Resources International University of Wyoming Shell Canada Ltd.

Mary Lee

Shell Canada Ltd.

Jacquie Colborne

CSM

Anne Grau

WPX Energy

TH

58

ANNUAL CSPG CLASSIC

E lbow S prings Golf Club • W ednes day June 19, 2019

C

LA

cs

2

th

01

58

8

g .or g p

SSIC

Tournament Information

would like to thank the following 2018 sponsors: Diamond Sponsors AGAT Laboratories geoLOGIC Systems Little Rock Printing Schlumberger Canada Typhoon Energy Ltd. Weatherford Canada

Emerald Sponsors Chinook Consulting Services

Gold Sponsors Belloy Petroleum Consulting M J Systems Pason Systems Corp.

Pro Geo Consultants RBC Dominion Securities Trimble Engineering Associates Ltd.

Schedule: Wednesday June 19, 2019 6:00am Breakfast 8:00am Shotgun Start: Match 1&2 1:00pm Lunch Break 2:00pm Shotgun Start: Match 3 4:30pm 19th hole 5:30pm Awards Dinner

PRICE REDUCED

Where: Elbow Springs Golf Club Format: 2-person teams - Enter with partner of any skill level for three 9-hole matches against other teams of equitable skill level Cost: Member’s Price - $149 +GST Non-member’s Price - $169 +GST

403-262-9229

Online registration and payment only.

To register, go to the CSPG website and select the following tabs: “Events,” “Sporting Events,” and “Classic Golf.” or Classic Golf on the home page.

Registration limited to 64 players, please register early.

What you get:

27 holes of golf with powercart, driving range & awards BBQ, golf shirt, skill prizes door prizes, on-course refreshments Registration Opens March 15, 2019

Prior to starting registration please have the following information: Name / Company / Phone / Business Email / Personal Email

Silver Sponsors

Handicap: HCP/Index/Score

Continential Labs Cordax Evalution Technologies Geo-Steering Solutions Keitech Consulting Rockwell Consulting Roke Technologies

+ Selfie Photo

Sponsorship Welcome, Contact Ryan Axani ryan.axani@bmo.com 403.999.3048

Partner’s info if registering individually: Partner’s Name / Company / Phone / Business Email / Personal Email + Selfie Photo All submitted personal information remains private and will not be divulged for commercial purposes such as email addresses and telephone numbers. This information will be used by the tournament only for communications purposes. However images taken during the tournament might be used for publicity purposes.

For 2019, the charity selected is the CSPG Foundation.

SOCIETY NEWS

WEST COAST LECTURE TOUR WRAP-UP By: Colin Etienne

T

he final lecture tour of the 2018/2019 academic year was sent out to the west coast, and the earth science programs of British Columbia. Colin Etienne, the CSPG’s Outreach Director, was sent out to connect with students to discuss the new opportunities for geologists in the energy sector and how the industry has been evolving over the past decade.

On his tour Colin visited the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.

Colin has been working at Canbriam Energy since April 2014, where he spent 4 years working in various capacities as a geologist before moving into his current role as a Corporate Planning Analyst.

Within the CSPG Colin has been involved in the University Outreach committee since March 2014 in various roles. He also founded the Young Geoscience Professionals in 2017, has been a long serving member of the SIFT Committee of which he is currently a co-Chair, and also now serves in the dual roles of Outreach Director and Trustee of the CSPG Foundation. Throughout

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

his time with the CSPG, Colin’s work has focused on supporting students and new graduates, so when he was presented with the opportunity to go speak to students directly he seized the opportunity. This tour also had the added benefit of having Colin return to UVic, where he studied, and connect back to the BC schools that played an integral role in his career.

The talk focused on the evolution of geologists roles within the industry as Colin has observed them. Starting with a broad discussion of the “conventional” workflows for geologists, Colin then took the students through an operational case study that he has developed to highlight the atypical yet critical role of geologists during development of unconventional reservoirs.

Following this technical discussion, Colin provided his assessment of the state of the global energy industry and how Canada can play a role in it going forward. This led to a broad array of discussions that are necessary to the future of the energy sector. The discussions ranged from the evolving understanding of social license, how a growth in the Canadian industry has

the potential to reduce carbon emission intensity around the Pacific Rim, and how the energy industry’s ability to diversify markets has a direct impact on the career prospects of geologists.

Between the three schools attendance varied from a small number of highly engaged students during one lecture, to a large group filling a classroom with backgrounds comprised of undergraduate as well as graduate students within the departments. It brought together geoscientists who want to work in the energy sector, as well as those focusing on the mineral exploration and environmental sectors as well. Being able to bring together people from disparate backgrounds and specialties in earth sciences led to fascinating discussions about the geology contained in the talk, as well as in depth discussions on challenges the Canadian industry and graduates face going forward.

This tour wraps up the program for the year, ending on a high note.

33

SOCIETY NEWS

ROCK ANALYSIS WORKSHOP, MARCH 21-22, 2019

T

he 2019 Rock Analysis Workshop was a 2-day affair, with the first day at the U of C MacEwan Hall lower level conference hall and the second day at the Alberta Energy Regulator Core Research Centre. David Robertson delivered the welcoming message and introduced the Day 1 session chairs.

Day 1 focused on theory and Day 2 at the lab was primarily concerned with sampling and analytical methods, although both days featured papers on both.

This year’s workshop was extremely well attended, with 161 registrations. If the attendance figure is representative of the level of interest amongst CSPG Members, the organizers feel it is well worth presenting another workshop over the next year or two, perhaps themed to follow a more academic-oriented conference. If you like the idea, please let the CSPG staff know.

The workshop was organized by Amin Ghanizadeh and Stan Stancliffe, who did an outstanding job of constructing an agenda consisting of 38 papers and somehow managed to write and deliver papers of their own. Amin deserves applause by authoring and delivering 3 papers. Stan presented one of his own. The two of them also participated as session chairs. An outstanding performance by any measure.

Photo taken by: Candace Jones

Photo taken by: Amin Ghanizadeh

2019 CSPG Squash Tournament 2019 CSPG Squash Tournament

Registration Open!

Registration Open!

May 30-June 1, 2019 Bow Valley May Club30-June | 250-61,ave 2019SW Calgary Bow Valley Club | 250-6 ave SW Calgary

For more information and to register online go to www.CSPG.org/squash For more information and to register online go to www.CSPG.org/squash

Registration deadline isMay May23,23, 2019 Registration deadline is 2019 34

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

SOCIETY NEWS

STANLEY SLIPPER AWARD CITATION FOR 2018 The Stanley Slipper Medal is amongst the highest honours awarded by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. The medal is presented annually for outstanding contributions to petroleum exploration and development either in Canada or by Canadian-based petroleum geologists working internationally.

The recipient of the Slipper Medal for 2018 is Grant Douglas Wach, Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Director of their Basin and Reservoir Laboratory.

Grant was born on May 16, 1955 in Washington, D.C., United States. Grant’s father was in the Royal Canadian Air Force, stationed with the Canadian Embassy.

When Grant was two months old his family returned to Canada. A childhood of moving to bases in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Germany and Ontario prepared him for the nomad’s life of a geoscientist.

Camping and scouting gave him a strong interest in the outdoors. He hiked a good portion of the Bruce Trail when he was fifteen. At seventeen he was a Junior Forest Ranger for the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests and came back from the “Bush” hooked on becoming a forester. He inquired from a professor in Forestry at the University of Toronto where they did their field work and was told there were a lot of parks and cemeteries.

Grant decided to study at Western University in London rather than pursuing cemeteries and parks in Toronto. Summers were spent working for the Ontario Geological Survey first in the Red Lake District with Fred Breaks and Bill Bonds on a 1:250,000 mapping project. To diversify his experience he next worked for the OGS doing surficial geology in the Ottawa Valley.

He completed his Honours thesis research in his spare time in the Valley working on a Pleistocene ice contact delta with a series raised beaches, remnants of the receding Champlain Sea, for his thesis. Grant graduated in 1979 with a B.Sc. (Honours) in Geography (Minor in Geology).

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

That winter, during a track meet (indoors) in Edmonton, Grant went knocking on doors.

In the HR office at Syncrude he realized his resume was destined for the trash. He went to the geology department to speak to a geologist and ended up with an offer as a surficial geologist.

In 1979 he joined Syncrude working in Fort McMurray and Edmonton. Geologists had complete core control and wireline logs at 100 m intervals in the oil sands mine area but every six months they “mined out their miscorrelations”. Syncrude provided an exceptional opportunity of learning about oil reserves and mining production. They were working inside an oil reservoir.

Grant had a great boss, Neil O’Donnell, who allowed him to take Miles Hayes’ AAPG seminar on Modern Clastic Environments in South Carolina that had a great impact on him. On the overflight and through vibracoring the coastal estuaries, Grant realized the complexities of subsurface reservoirs – and wondered if they could ever be correlated. He spoke to Hayes and formulated a M.Sc. project to investigate the depositional environments of the McMurray Formation.

In 1983 Grant took educational leave to attend the University of South Carolina.

He constructed depositional models of the McMurray and Clearwater formations from core and well logs from the Syncrude leases. He wrote his thesis in his “spare time”, graduated with an M.Sc. in Geology in 1984 and returned to Syncrude.

Grant left Syncrude in 1986 to study with Harold Reading at the University of Oxford. He studied the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous in the Wessex and Channel basins on the south coast of England.

After completing his doctorate in 1991 he joined Exxon Production Research in Houston where he worked worldwide as a sedimentologist and stratigrapher. One of his first assignments was working with George Pemberton from the University

of Alberta. They constructed a Trace Fossil Atlas that became the basis of Pemberton’s schools and the SEPM trace fossil volume. They did field work in the Book Cliffs with John Van Wagoner and the Clastics Research Group and a lot of core description. Grant also completed studies in the Bohai and Tarim basins in China and studies in the Gulf of Mexico and western United States.

Grant moved to Texaco Upstream Technology in 1996 where he continued as a specialist in reservoir characterization, stratigraphy and sedimentology providing technical support to business units worldwide including Gulf of Mexico, the continental USA (e.g. Delaware and Permian basins), West Africa, Colombia, Trinidad, China, the Middle East and SE Asia. Many of these studies involved field work and Grant led many field seminars.

Grant preferred to work as a technical specialist and enjoyed learning from the geoscientists and engineers on the teams with whom he collaborated. He was very involved with the West Africa discoveries and Trinidad exploration and development.

In 2001 Texaco was purchased by Chevron.

Grant elected not to be redeployed to California and 2002 took up a new position at Dalhousie University as Professor of (Continued on page 36...)

35

SOCIETY NEWS (Continued from page 35...)

Petroleum Geoscience and Stratigraphy.

Thus, started a new and important chapter in Grant’s professional life - but he still had one foot firmly in the industry door with the intention of helping to guide Dalhousie Earth Sciences students into rewarding industry careers.

Grant’s academic roles and contributions to his students at Dalhousie are legion and have been summarized by his students and colleagues.

Professor Emeritus Marcos Zentilli comments that: “Many of our students work in the petroleum industry, yet none of our faculty had that practical experience.

Grant changed all that in a hurry, and we were soon offering expert education that put Dalhousie on the oil industry map.

Grant created the Basin and Reservoir Lab, brought specialized software and equipment, and has become a soughtafter mentor. Grant is one of the most generous and dedicated professors that I have ever met. He will do anything for his students, and his enthusiasm is infectious.

Despite having arrived at the university at a time with the petroleum industry was under social snub and having been treated with polite rejection as an outsider to the academic world, Grant has always made sure that the substantial funds he attracted did benefit all, not just his group. Thanks to him we have a lecture room and drill core display facility for students to use.”

Teaching and Research: Grant’s courses have been aligned with the needs of students seeking to join the petroleum industry and include stratigraphy, petroleum geology, advanced petroleum geoscience and petroleum geoscience field methods. Grant has authored or co-authored approx. 250 technical papers and talks, many with his students. The retinue of graduates that he has mentored is extensive numbering 14 B.Sc., 19 M.Sc., 9 Ph.D. and two postdoctoral fellows.

Charlie Carlisle (M.Sc.) adds: “The Basin and Reservoir Laboratory is without a doubt “State-of-the-Art”; it has only grown to be so under Grant’s tacit determination for a facility in which no student’s work would be hampered by limited lab resources.

Today it is important to be trained not

36

only with microscope and hammer, but also in software applications. He pushes his students to be the best they can be, encouraging them to master every tool.

In today’s harsh market, this has greatly benefited his students: most of us, if not all, studying under him have not struggled for work since the downturn and that is simply because he has always placed his students’ success first. He is a credit to the world of geoscience.”

Career mentorship: According to Grant, “We are providing students with the skills they need to get not just a job but to have a career and become leaders. If students can have fun doing it, even better”. Grant speaks highly of his students. “Companies realize our students are bright and have a great attitude.” Carla Skinner (M.Sc. student, Shell) notes that: “Challenge. Trust.

Respect. These are important qualities in a supervisor and mentor, and ones that Dr. Wach excelled at. He challenged me to learn more, to work harder, and to reach higher.

He trusted me to think for myself and to ask questions when I needed more guidance.

He respected me and my opinions, allowing me the safe space to express myself without fear of judgement. He provided me with countless opportunities for experiential learning through field trips, for professional growth through internships, and for personal growth through lecturing. I would not be the geologist I am today without his teaching, mentoring, and support.”

Industry, Government and Academic interfaces: Dr. David Mosher (Geological Survey of Canada and United Nations) summarizes his experience as: “Dr. Wach’s enthusiasm for earth sciences and his commitment to students – not just his students but to students in all of Earth Sciences and Engineering is impressive.

He goes beyond the call of duty in organizing amazing student field trips for petroleum systems studies (e.g. Texas and Trinidad). He trains teams for student competitions and he employs students to give them experience. These activities are well beyond the scope of his teaching responsibilities. Dr. Wach immediately set about to tackle local issues and to study the conjugate margins in Europe and North Africa to bring better light on to the petroleum potential of this region. The

innovation in play concepts he has brought to the fore will benefit the region for a long time to come. One of the critical roles Dr. Wach has played at Dalhousie University is the linkage of industry with academia. Like no other in this region, he has managed to engage industry in support of student training and academic research that applies to the petroleum industry.” Dave Brown (Canada- Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board) provides an additional perspective: “The Conjugate Margins conference series was initiated by Grant and his colleagues in government. They have been tremendous successes and forums for his students to interact with industry.”

Industry-related competitions: The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) Program, and the FIELD and CO2 competitions by the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) are intensive competitions requiring recommendations for exploitation and delineation of fields. The competitions pit Dal’s mainly undergrad teams against graduate student teams from across Canada and the world. The teams have done very well finishing 1st and 3rd in this worldwide competition. It’s a benchmark of accomplishment on a resume.

Field Schools and Field trips: Grant is well known for leading local field trips to the Bay of Fundy, Rainy Cove, Five Islands and the Joggins Fossil Cliff site. He also leads the Trinidad field seminar every February – a one-week trip that has students visit field exposures and do activities in small teams integrated with the University of West Indies and Young Professionals.

“Trinidad is the best place in the world to learn about petroleum systems,” Grant says. “It’s a natural lab – beautiful expanses of sand cliffs that are analogs for oil and gas reservoirs, and a lake of pitch the size of this campus. When students go into the workforce, they think back to what they’ve learned in these field courses.”

Grant does not neglect the social side of education and the building of community and he hosts many events at his home for students and colleagues.

Professor Grant Wach has mentored several

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

SOCIETY NEWS

generations of petroleum geologists and has paved the way for their future roles in our industry. He is a worthy recipient of the Stanley Slipper Gold Medal.

Note: Readers are requested to read Grant’s full citation on the CSPG website.

It includes numerous endorsements from students and colleagues.

GRANT’S LIFE LESSONS GEOLOGY STUDENTS

FOR

Grant looks beyond resumes and transcripts in perspective students - do they have a passion for geology? That passion gets them through the rough patches in their research when they may have doubts.

Try different jobs as an undergraduate to see where your desire lies as geologist.

Study abroad for a year or go to another institution for graduate work.

our own peers and mentors. They help to shape our careers and we, in turn, shape our students through our research, the classroom and field. This mentorship is often more valuable than any paper we write.

The ideal student project has a subsurface dataset of core, well logs and seismic, linked to outcrop analogs, so that student researchers can understand the complexity of the subsurface.

Geology is the best degree you can get. You learn the sciences, to critically read, and write your research. You learn to articulate your ideas; all key skills, even if you decide to leave geology.

Keep going to the field. Study the outcrops where you can test the subsurface concepts you find help you to develop new ideas to explore.

The leadership we provide is learned from

YGP/Summer Student Field Trip Burgess Shale: Mount Stephen – Trilobite Beds Hike July 20th, 2019 VISIT CSPG.ORG TO REGISTER TODAY CSPG Student Rate: $ 70 + GST YGP CSPG Member Rate: $170 + GST YGP Non Member Rate: $200 + GST

Field Trip Description:

If you are new to the Burgess Shale and wish to see abundant and obvious Cambrian fossils, this is the hike to do. The site is strewn with rock slabs containing appendages of the Cambrian predator Anomalocaris canadensis; trilobites Ogygopsis klotzi, Olenoides serratus and Elrathina cordillerae as well as brachiopods and sponges.

The Mount Stephen Fossil Beds were discovered in 1886, after railway workers reported finding what they called "stone bugs" in the talus on the slopes of Mount Stephen. Learn about the environment in which these creatures lived and perished and why many of the species that are found here do not occur at the Walcott Quarry site. This is a great hike for kids who will enjoy studying the rocks to find relatively large, easily recognizable fossils

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

37

SOCIETY NEWS

R.J.W. DOUGLAS MEDAL The R.J.W. Douglas Medal was established by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists in 1980 to honour the memory of one of Canada's outstanding geologists, Dr. Robert J.W. Douglas. It recognizes those who best emulate the scientific qualities of this extraordinary geologist. This medal is awarded annually by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists to an individual for outstanding scientific contributions to the understanding of sedimentary geology and, just as importantly, commending major contributions to regional tectonics and structural geology that are important to petroleum geology in Canada.

Dr. Ashton F. Embry is a most worthy recipient of the R.J.W. Douglas Medal. Based on 50 years of field and subsurface research, and through collaborative work, he has eluciated the stratigraphy, sedimentology, depositional history, tectonic development and paleogeographic evolution of both the Middle-Late Devonian, Franklinian Foreland Basin and the Mesozoic portion of the Sverdrup Basin in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This work has led to highly significant and widely used qualitative

and quantitative petroleum assessments of these strata.

resource

Dr. Embry has also looked at larger, circumarctic geological issues and by working with geoscientists from other Arctic countries, has made stratigraphic correlations of the Canadian Arctic Phanerozoic succession with basin successions throughout the Arctic. This work has allowed Arcticwide paleogeographic reconstructions, including the recognition of a previously unknown land area to the north of the Sverdrup Basin, and has provided solid constraints for proposed tectonic models for the development of the Amerasia Basin portion of the Arctic Ocean.

Dr. Embry has written extensively on sequence stratigraphy methodology, terminology and application.

His practices are currently employed by many geologists in a variety of basins. He has also demonstrated the existence of discrete tectonic episodes in the Phanerozoic succession of Arctic Canada and has provided criteria for the recognition of tectonic episodes in basins. This work

has led to the suggestion that many of the tectonic episodes recognized in the Arctic may occur in basins on other continents.

Dr. Embry has also designed a classification system for reefal carbonates and this has become a widely used nomenclature for coarse grained carbonates.

31st Annual CSPG/CSEG/CAPL 10km/5km Road Race and Fun Run Thursday, September 19, 2019 To register please go to www.cspg.org– Events– Road Race & Fun Run

38

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

30th Annual CSPG Mixed Golf Tournament August 23, 2019 Mark your calendars, and get ready for the 2019 CSPG Mixed Golf tournament on 23rd August at Lynx Ridge Golf course, celebrating 30 years of social golf with your Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists.

The four-golfer, best-ball tournament includes a round of golf, meals, plenty of hospitality and good times, and a chance to network with your colleagues and industry sponsors. This year we trust that we return to the typical August golf, where the course is at its finest, with the inviting fairways, smooth greens, spectacular mountains and the ever-beckoning water hazards and sand traps to capture errant golf shots, instead of smoky skies that only clear because of the rain!!!

To register please go to www.cspg.org, Events, Mixed Golf Tournament Member rate: $100+gst Non-member rate: $140+gst Team registration available!

Questions? Contact Kristy Casebeer kristy.casebeer@cspg.org

RESERVOIR ISSUE 3 • MAY/JUNE 2019

39

The theme behind this year’s conference will focus on reservoir both old and new, and how the marriage of technology and geological evaluation has unlocked hidden potential or breathed new life into what had been forgotten. We are looking to the re-examination of previous core presentations, showcasing the classic reservoirs of our history that established our resource.

As well as, the new plays that have been born out of the learnings and insights we have gained from our rich geological history.

Advanced Registration Closes: May 10 General Delegate Registration: *Core Meltdown ticket included

$190.00

Group Registration Group of 3 Registrations

$540.00

Group of 5 Registrations

$800.00

Group of 10 Registrations

$1200.00

*Core Meltdown ticket included *Core Meltdown ticket included *Core Meltdown ticket included

Day Rates May 16th - Day Rate

$100.00

May 17th - Day Rate

$100.00

Register online today! www.cspg.org/coreconference