August 2019 Outcrop

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Volume 68 • No. 8 • August 2019

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

2019 Summit Sponsors PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

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Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

1999 Broadway • Suite 730 • Denver, CO 80202 • 800-970-7624 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.

2019 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT

2st VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT

Tom Sperr tsperr@bayless-cos.com

Dan Bassett dbassett@sm-energy.com

PRESIDENT-ELECT

TREASURER

Jane Estes-Jackson janeestesjackson@gmail.com

Eryn Bergin eryn.bergin@aec-denver.com

1st VICE PRESIDENT

TREASURER-ELECT

Heather LaReau heatherthegeologist@gmail.com

Chris Eisinger chris.eisinger@state.co.us

1st VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT

SECRETARY

Ben Burke bburke@hpres.com

Anna Phelps aphelps@sm-energy.com

2nd VICE PRESIDENT

COUNSELOR

Sophie Berglund sberglund@raisaenergy.com

Donna Anderson danderso@rmi.net

RMAG STAFF PROJECTS SPECIALIST

Kathy Mitchell-Garton kmitchellgarton@rmag.org MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Debby Watkins dwatkins@rmag.org CO-EDITORS

Courtney Beck Courtney.Beck@halliburton.com Jesse Melick jesse.melick@bpx.com Wylie Walker wylie.walker@gmail.com DESIGN/LAYOUT

Nate Silva nate@nate-silva.com

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Rates and sizes can be found on page 3. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 800-970-7624.

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DEADLINES: Ad submissions are the 1st of every month for the following month’s publication.

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The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

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Outcrop | August 2019 OUTCROP

Register today at www.rmag.org!

August 17, 2019 Pennsylvanian Fossil Collecting Trip Trip Leader: Dennis Gertenbach Location: McCoy, CO Trip Limit 30 - Family Trip

October 12, 2019 Hygiene Sandstone Trip

Trip Leaders: Piret Plink-Bjorklund & Mike Genecov, Colorado School of Mines Location: Boulder, CO Trip Limit 20

October 13-18, 2019 Permian Basin Trip

Trip Leader: Dr. Rick Sarg Location: El Paso,TX & Carlsbad, NM Trip Limit 20

Trip details, pricing and registration information at:

www.rmag.org

email: staff@rmag.org

phone: 800.970.7624

OUTCROP | August 2019

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OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

CONTENTS FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

14 Lead Story: The Evolution of Development Strategy in the Midland Basin

6 RMAG July 2019 Board of Directors Meeting

32 RMAG On the Rocks: Eocene Fossil Fish Collecting Field Trip

ASSOCIATION NEWS 2 RMAG Summit Sponsors 4 RMAG On the Rocks Field Trips 7 RMAG August Short Course 9 RMAG Permian Basin Short Course/Field Trip 11 RMAG Sporting Clay Tournament

10 President’s Letter 26 RMAG Luncheon programs: Walter Nelson 28 RMAG Luncheon programs: Rich Gibson 40 Welcome New RMAG Members!

40 Outcrop Advertising Rates 42 In The Pipeline 43 Advertiser Index 43 Calendar

COVER PHOTO View of Marmot Mountain, San Isabel National Forest, Buena Vista, CO Photo credit: Kira Timm

13 RMAG/DWLS Fall Symposium 24 Mudrock Sedimentology And Sequence Stratigraphy Core Workshop 42 2019 Outcrop Cover Photo Competition

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RMAG JULY 2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

By Anna Phelps, Secretary aphelps@sm-energy.com

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is working on luncheon talks for the beginning of 2020. The Committee is continuing to plan the fall Core Workshop and the Permian Basin Short Course, both in September.

The Membership Committee helped set up a Young Professionals Happy Hour with SPE and DGS at URTeC. The Committee is planning the Mentorship Program summer BBQ on August 3. The Publications Committee reported that the Mountain Geologist has a nice line-up of papers for the July and October issues. The Committee is always looking for lead articles for the Outcrop, so consider sharpening your pencil and contributing

Welcome to the dog days of summer, fellow outcrop wanderers. It’s been hot and stormy on the Front Range and the mountain wildflowers have been marvelous. I hope you’re enjoying this prime outcrop excursion time, just make sure you don’t get too distracted by fossil fragments to escape the afternoon thunderstorms!

The July meeting of the RMAG Board of Directors was held on July 17, 2019 at 4:00 PM. All board members expect Dan Bassett were present. Treasurer Eryn Bergin reported that expenses in June were high and that the investment accounts are up.

The Continuing Education Committee

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RMAG August Short Course 8/27/2019 Location: LMKR 707 17th St., Denver

Register at www.rmag.org Price: $250/members $275/non-members

Dr. John Curtis & Catherine Donohue, GeoMark Research

Practical Aspects of Petroleum Geochemistry for Conventional and Resource Plays This one-day applied geochemistry course will cover source rock evaluation, crude oil geochemistry and correlation, natural gas geochemistry, and the application and integration of reservoir geochemistry.

email: sta@rmag.org

phone: 800.970.7624

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING heat flux at the core-mantle boundary create regional, not global, stratification at the top of the Earth’s core. For example, they investigate a region of low seismic velocity in the lowermost mantle below Africa, which is anomalously warm, and can reduce the core-mantle boundary heat flux below Africa. Their work is based on numerical simulations of core convection and have implications for the dynamics and evolution of the core.

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an article! On the Rocks reported on a fun glacial geology hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. There are still open spots for avid fossil collectors to sign-up for the Pennsylvanian Fossil Collecting on August 17.

The Educational Outreach Committee visited Summit Elementary in Cherry Creek and interacted with seventy third graders! The Committee will have a booth at the Colorado Science Conference on November 8 to help educate people interested in science education on geoscience and geoscience education strategy.

In honor of the intense heat fluctuations we’ve been experiencing on the Front Range this summer, this month’s geologic news concerns core-mantle boundary heat flux. In a Nature Geoscience article published in June, scientists argue that lateral variations in

SOURCE:

Mound, J., Davies, C., Rost, S., Aurnou, J. (2019) Regional stratification at the top of the Earth’s core due to core-mantle boundary heat flux variations. Nature Geoscience, 12, 575-580. DOI: 10.1038/ s41561-019-0381-z.

Mineralogy XRD XRF FTIR

Geochemistry Programmed Pyrolysis Organic Geochemistry Analysis Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Stable Isotopes Fluid Analysis

Water Analyses UV/VIS ICP-OES

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9/4-5/2019 10/13-18/2019

Short Course Field Trip

Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Permian Basin Short Course & Field Trip Register for either or both!

Join us for this unique opportunity to explore and learn about the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate system in the Permian Basin in the classroom and the field! Dr. Rick Sarg of the Colorado School of Mines will present a 2day short course in September and then lead a 5-day field trip in October.

Short Course: This two-day workshop provides an introduction to the application of carbonate and sandstone facies, diagenesis, and seismic sequence stratigraphy to exploration and production focused on the Late Paleozoic carbonates and siliciclastics of the Permian basin. This includes conventional and unconventional reservoirs. The workshop combines seismic, well log and rock data, and the concepts of sequence stratigraphy to develop interpretations of Permian basin hydrocarbon systems, and characterize reservoirs and seals.

Field Trip: This field trip will introduce participants to a series of some of the finest outcrop exposures of carbonate and deepwater siliciclastic rocks in the world. Participants will meet in El Paso, Texas, and travel as a group to Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Trip cost include 5 nights hotel stays, breakfast and lunch for Monday through Friday, transportation, and one special dinner/social gathering.

Airfare may be purchased through RMAG or on your own.

Register at www.rmag.org Short Course only: $450 Field trip only (no airfare): $2000 Field trip only (with airfare from Denver): $2200 Short Course & Field Trip (no airfare): $2200 Short Course & Field Trip (with airfare from Denver): $2600 email: sta@rmag.org

phone: 800.970.7624

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

By Tom Sperr

Summer Reading reading just to get a tiny glimpse of how his mind works.

The public would be better served if we could hear and understand more statistics to make policy decisions. Instead, we get only sound-bites and the truly sad stories, many of which are not statistically significant. I’m not making light of people’s misfortunes, but too often we are more swayed by a good (or bad) story than we are by hard data. And we are seldom presented with the costs of a given public policy versus its benefits.

Bjorn Lomborg’s 2001, The Skeptical Environmentalist, is a well researched and referenced study of the global warming. Lomborg is a Danish political scientist and statistician. Lomborg believes that mankind’s emissions are causing earth’s temperatures to rise, but that it may not be the most important problem we face here on earth. He is very critical of many of the proposed policies to reduce global warming.

Lomborg makes a case that the vast quantities of funds proposed to combat climate change might be better spent on other world health and environmental problems. He might be called an environmental economist as he applies cost/benefit analysis to

With all of the daily doom and gloom folks get from the news media, one would think that the world is getting worse everyday. There is hard evidence that the world is really getting healthier, richer and safer than anytime in history. But that kind of news doesn’t sell papers. The many trends of improvement of human welfare are slow moving, long-term events that will never make the headlines.

Steven Pinker is a philosopher and linguist from Harvard and has written books about the improvement of the human condition. His 2011 Better Angels of Our Nature, is a thoroughly researched and referenced work with a main thesis that mankind is safer today than anytime in history. Pinker cites recent and historical statistics to show that violence is on a long historical decline and that the late Twentieth Century is perhaps the safest time to live in known history. In Better Angels, a century by century accounting of the deaths by warfare all over the world is used to show that we are killing less of each other today than we ever have. Pinker has his critics some who think that he puts statistics ahead of humans and that he ignores suffering in third world countries. Pinker is worth

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SC

The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

porting lay

Tournament

10 10 19

Kiowa Creek Sporting Club • Prizes for individual high score and team 1st, 2nd and 3rd flights.

• Includes one round of 100 sporting clays, lunch, and door prizes.

• Does not include ammunition (please bring enough ammo for 100 clays or you may purchase ammo at Kiowa Creek).

• You may also rent a gun for $20 onsite.

Registration and sponsorship open at www.rmag.org!

5 Person Team (member): $425 5 Person Team (non-member): $500

email: staff@rmag.org

web: www.rmag.org

phone: 800.970.7624

1999 Broadway, Ste. 730, Denver, CO, 80202 Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

Individual (member): $85 Individual (non-member): $100

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

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environmental problems. Cost/benefit analysis is seldom presented in environmental discussions. It seems we can’t spend too much to save the planet.

Lomborg has more recently advocated for research into climate engineering to alleviate global warming.

Of course, Lomborg too has attracted numerous critics of his methodology and conclusions.

I think both of these authors are worth a look.

You may not agree with their conclusions, but I find their logic to be tight and both supply numerous references if you really need to go down the rabbit hole on some of the issues. Their use, or some might say misuse, of statistics to make their points is a great example of how to approach social problems. I wish we would see more of this type of approach in public policy debates.

REFERENCES:

https://www.lomborg.com/ https://stevenpinker.com/ Lomborg, Bjørn, The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521010683 Lomborg, Bjørn, Smart Solutions to Climate Change, Comparing Costs and Benefits, Cambridge University Press, November 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-76342-4 Pinker, S. (2011). The Better Angels of our Nature .

New York, NY: Viking.

Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. Viking.

Formation Evaluation • Petra® Projects Reserve Reports • Drilling Engineering • Well Plans

Bill Donovan

Geologist • Petroleum Engineer • PE

(720) 351-7470 donovan@petroleum-eng.com www.petroleum-eng.com

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RMAG/DWLS

Fall Symposium

October 22, 2019 Sheraton Denver West The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the Denver Well Logging Society are teaming up again to present the 2019 Fall Symposium

MULTISCALE IMAGING FOR RESERVOIR OPTIMIZATION Pricing: Members: $225 before October 1, 2019 $250 after October 1, 2019 Non-members: $275

Register at www.rmag.org

Sponsorships and exhibitor spots available! Contact the RMAG for details. email: staff@rmag.org

phone: 800.970.7624

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LEAD STORY

The Evolution of Development Strategy in the Midland Basin

Some Lessons for North America’s Stacked Horizontal Oil Plays

By William R. Drake

comes the threat of an increase in frequency of frac hits and detrimental production down time. The escalating demand for sources of frac water and flow-back capacity are also growing concerns. Other impacts of high-density drilling and production programs are just starting to unfold.

Cao et al. (2017) recently highlighted the negative financial impacts of drilling just one unneeded well across several drilling spacing units (DSUs). The result underscores the critical need for operators to determine their ideal well density early in their development program.

INTRODUCTION Oil and gas develoment in the Midland Basin (Figure 1) has a long history dating back to the 1920s, when the first producing vertical well was drilled. Since then, development of the Midland Basin has evolved in steps from drilling vertical wells on 40 acre spacing, to single-bench horizontal parent wells, and to today’s multi-well pads consisting of densely spaced horizontal wells covering multiple formations and landing zones. But new challenges come with the industry making the switch from horizontal well tests to full field development. For example, with an increase in well density

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FIGURE 1: Location of the Midland Basin, West Texas. Figure accessed March, 2019

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

from https://oilandgas-investments.com/america-great-oil-patch/

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LEAD STORY As horizontal development progressed, however, some operators began to realize that drilling large IP parent wells might not be ideal for full field development and could result in the stranding of reserves. The tradeoff of these booming parent wells was the creation of localized zones of depletion and altered pressure and stress profiles around the isolated horizontals. These depleted zones presented significant operation and completion challenges when operators later returned to the drilling unit for infill drilling with child wells (Figure 2). Child wells typically underperform their parent well counterparts (Figure 3) (e.g., Ajisafe et al., 2017; Thompson et al., 2018), so mitigating their negative impacts on production has therefore become a significant area of focus for the industry.

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 EARLY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES Early horizontal development of individual Wolfcamp intervals in the Midland Basin began in earnest in 2011 (e.g., Blomquist, 2016). In the initial development phase, operators were targeting the Wolfcamp formations in the southern portions of the basin and drilling stand-alone horizontal wells. These initial wells were designed to test the profitability of implementing horizontal technology in the basin, and the results of these initial wells were very positive. But the early success can be largely attributed to the wells being unbounded parent wells. The depletion in the region was typically confined to a few existing vertical wells that likely only affected a few stages of the horizontal wells. These widely-spaced parent well tests typically caused few (if any) frac hits that resulted in less production down time. Rather, the test wells had higher initial production (IP) results and higher estimated ultimate recoveries (EURs) compared to the densely drilled multi-well pads of today.

TODAY’S MOST COMMON DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

As horizontal development has progressed over the past 10 years, well densities have increased,

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OUTCROP | August 2019

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LEAD STORY

FIGURE 2: Reservoir pressure model of 600 ft well spacing showing how a pressure sink caused by pore pressure depletion can

have a negative impact on hydraulic fracture geometry that affects both the parent well and child well. a) Reservoir pressure model at 1 year depletion and modeled complex fracture geometry of the child well. b) Maximum stress azimuth at 1 year depletion and modeled complex fracture geometry of the child well. The modeled complex hydraulic fracture geometry for the child well shows 1) frac hits from the child well to the parent well in black circles and 2) longitudinal fractures aligned along the wellbore highlighted in white circles. From Ajisafe et al. (2017).

and additional formations have been targeted in the Midland Basin. Landing zones have evolved from a single landing zone to a wine-rack (or chevron) pattern within several formations (Figure 4).

What was once a single Wolfcamp landing zone program in 2011 has transformed into a multi-well pad program targeting up to eight different formations with multiple landing zones within each formation. The switch to a multiple bench program was in most cases driven by operator attempts to capture additional reserves that were not captured by the single bench strategy. With Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 or more feet of oilcharged rock (e.g., Laredo Petroleum, 2013; QEP Resources, 2016), the Midland Basin lends itself to this multi-bench, multi-landing zone approach.

This multi-bench strategy certainly has its upsides such as increased reserves and increased drilling inventory. But with the good also comes the bad.

With more wells being drilled in a DSU, there is an increased local demand for frac water and water disposal capacity, both of which can be expensive. An increased rate of frac hits, ultimately resulting in costly rig and production downtimes, is

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LEAD STORY

Figure 4. Drake

FIGURE 3: Cumulative production after five years for three alternative child well spacing scenarios (1,320 ft, 660 ft, and 660 ft and

150 ft deeper) compared to the parent well. The 1,320 ft lateral well spacing in this scenario provided the maximum cumulative oil production, but the child well still produced 5% less than the parent well. From Ajisafe et al. (2017).

Idealized example of the evolution of horizontal well density and landing zones in the Permian Basin for a 1 mile-wide DSU. Modified from QEP Resources (2016).

FIGURE 4:

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LEAD STORY

FIGURE 5: The methodology of the Tank-Style Development approach.

Thompson et al. (2018) reported an example where Tank-Style Development doubled the value of a DSU. Their methodology, which eliminates parent wells and child wells as we currently define them, has caught the attention of many operators in the basin who struggle with well spacing optimization. Tank-Style Development requires intricate choreography between drilling rigs, completion crews, and production operations. Two key operational steps involved in Tank-Style Development are 1) implementation of a drilling buffer and 2) creation of a pressure wall (Figure 5).

First, the operator establishes adequate space between the active completion crew and the drilling rig. Second, a pressure wall (a vertically-aligned group of wells that have been completed but not yet on flow-back) is created between the completion crew and the first set of wells to be put on production. The completed wells essentially “supercharge” the reservoir and create a pressure barrier between areas of subsurface operations. By adhering to this development methodology, three important gains are realized. First, a demonstrable

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inevitable with high-density horizontal well tests in close proximity to one another both vertically and horizontally. There is a much greater risk of overlapping drainage radii and lower EURs when compared to lower-density well test counterparts.

The capital cost of over drilling in a high-density and multi-bench approach could have a significant impact on a company’s financial health (Cao et al., 2017). As a result, operators are highly focused on identifying the ideal well density and optimal landing zones for each formation, while also weighing the constraints of a volatile and unpredictable oil price deck.

TANK-STYLE/BLOCK/CUBE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: THE SOLUTION OF THE FUTURE?

One of the recent strategies operators have employed to mitigate the negative impacts of parent-child relationships while trying to maximize value and reserves of a DSU is “Tank-Style Development” (aka “block” or “cube” development).

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Modified from Thompson et al. (2018).

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LEAD STORY

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increase in microseismic event count and moment magnitudes in the stimulated rock volume (SRV) is achieved (Figure 6) and accompanied by an increase in ultimate oil recovery at the DSU scale (Figure 7). Second, frac hits are minimized or eliminated, thus significantly reducing downtime of impacted drilling operations and/or active production due to temporary shut-ins. Third, and most importantly, parent-child relationships are eliminated along with their detrimental pressure, completion, and production impacts. Because of the success of well-executed Tank-Style Development, versions of the assembly line-like strategy have gained popularity over the past year despite the upfront capital commitment and complex operational choreography.

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The results of Tank-Style Development are impressive (Thompson et al., 2018) (Figure 7), but there are also important limitations to consider. To successfully implement and fully benefit from this strategy, the operator needs a contiguous blocky acreage position and must be willing to spend a significant amount of capital up front to initiate the assembly line methodology. Many operators with large acreage positions that are not held by production (nonHBP acreage) are busy chasing expiring leases or dealing with

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LEAD STORY

FIGURE 6: Event count and moment magnitudes are increased when Tank Style Development is utilized.

From Thompson et al. (2018).

onerous continuous-drilling clauses. In addition, many operators cannot afford to commit a significant portion of their annual budgets to developing a single geographic region of their portfolio.

Even for those operators who have assembled the required acreage positions and have the flexibility in their acreage portfolio that allows them to focus on a single area, there is still the need to overcome the upfront cost of starting the assembly line. For example, the subsurface drilling buffer requires the operator to drill several multi-well pads prior to a completion crew moving in. In addition, deliberate production delays are required to create an effective pressure wall. The drilling buffer and pressure wall can, in practice, take several months to develop. The necessary delay of bringing wells online results in a significant number of drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs). From an economic standpoint, the impact is the spending of significant capital up front with little return on investment in the early stages of this process.

The learning curves for determining the optimal well density are always daunting considering the inevitable complexities of horizontal plays from basin to basin, from formation to formation, and from volatile commodity prices. These complications can be amplified during a Tank-Style Development plan. If, for example, a chosen well density is too aggressive in a Tank Development plan, it could be months before the results are available to

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support an adjustment to a lower density. Meanwhile drilling and completion of additional pads at this less than optimal density has continued. Stopping or modifying the assembly line can be accomplished, but it requires swift action and a flexible team to implement changes as data comes in. In contrast, a parent well strategy or lower density well strategy is easier to modify, and yields quicker production results and return on investment. The higher individual well results in this case, however, will fail to maximize the oil recovery of the entire DSU.

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WHAT IS THE BEST HORIZONTAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY?

Regardless of the horizontal play or basin, drilling at increased horizontal well densities, even when Tank-Style development is implemented, can result in lower IPs and potentially lower EURs on a per-well basis. However, the Tank-Style Development strategy can result in increased oil recovery in a DSU when compared to lower density drilling (Thompson et al., 2018). The elimination of parent and child wells yields more oil from a DSU and provides a larger well inventory, but it also eliminates the booming IPs and single-well rates of return (RORs) that are attractive to the eye of Wall Street.

This means that the “short game” is focused on ROR at the expense of stranding pay and reducing the ultimate recovery of a DSU. The “long game”,

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LEAD STORY

Reservoir performance varies as a function of well density (left). EUR trends can be used to profile the cumulative value of a DSU and/or asset in order to determine the value-optimal development density (right). From Thompson et al. (2018).

FIGURE 7:

Cao, R., Li, R., Girardi, A., Chowdhury, N., and

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

in contrast, is optimizing and responsibly developing multiple reservoirs to reach maximum recovery in a DSU over the life of the field. What then is the best horizontal development strategy for a given play or basin? In the end, the answer may depend on an operator’s acreage footprint, capital commitments, and a corporate philosophy geared towards either short-term ROR or long-term EUR.

Chen, C., 2017, Well Interference and Optimum Well Spacing for Wolfcamp Development at Permian Basin: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC), 11 p., https://doi. org/10.15530/URTEC-2017-2691962 Laredo Petroleum, 2013, September, Investor Update, Slide 27, retrieved from: http://www.laredopetro.com/media/28666/investor_update_meet-

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

ing.pdf, accessed April, 2019.

Special thanks to Kate Hartig for insightful discussions and comments.

QEP Resources, 2016, June 21, Permian Basin Acquisition, Slide 10, retrieved from: http:// ir.qepres.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=237732&p=i-

REFERENCES

rol-EventDetails&EventId=5230131, accessed

Ajisafe, F. O., Solovyeva, I., Morales, A., Ejofodomi, E., and Porcu, M. M., 2017, Impact of Well Spacing and Interference on Production Performance in Unconventional Reservoirs, Permian Basin: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC), 16 p., https://doi.org/10.15530/ URTEC-2017-2690466 Blomquist, P.K., 2016, Wolfcamp Horizontal Play, Midland Basin, West Texas: AAPG Pacific Section and Rocky Mountain Section Joint Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada.

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April, 2019.

Thompson, J., Franciose, N., Schutt, M., Hartig, K., and McKenna, J., 2018, Tank Development in the Midland Basin, Texas: A Case Study of Super-Charging a Reservoir to Optimize Production and Increase Horizontal Well Densities: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC), 16 p., https://doi.org/10.15530/ URTEC-2018-2902895 22

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Mudrock Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy Core Workshop

Date: Sept 10-11, 2019

Location: USGS Lakewood and Stratum Reservoir, Golden Instructors: Stratigraphix Prerna Singh, Ph.D., Sven Egenhoff, Ph.D Ali Jaffri, Ph.D Abstract: Many factors affect the volumetric and flow capacity of mudrocks including (i) organic content type, maturity, distribution (ii) mineralogic composition - ductile vs. brittle thus affecting the geomechanical properties and (iii) current day stress fields - imperative for decisions including orientation of horizontal wells and completion design. Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy can provide an understanding and explain the systematic variation of the abovementioned factors.

This two-day course will use lectures, core, thin-section and well-log data to highlight critical details impacting understanding resource distribution as well as planning landing zones and completions. We will examine four public and three proprietary cores across seven formations (Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford, Mancos, Mowry, Bakken, Niobrara, and Haynesville). High-quality photographs of key features in proprietary cores will be provided as part of course material (photography will be permitted on public cores).

This is RMAG’s only core workshop this year! Don’t miss it!

Price: $450 (early bird through 8/30); $500 (after 8/30)

email: staff@rmag.org

phone: 800.970.7624

1999 Broadway, Suite 730, Denver, CO 80202 OUTCROP | August 2019

web: www.rmag.org

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About the instructors: Prerna Singh, Ph.D. is a Subject-matter expert in Unconventional Shale and Tight sand plays with deep understanding of key elements including organics, matrix, pore volume, fractures and stress states. She has a doctoral degree in geology focusing on facies and sequence stratigraphic studies of the Barnett Shale. She interconnects geology, rock physics and geophysical data, wherever available, to solve the subsurface puzzle and constructs a coherent picture of the critical components necessary for highest hydrocarbon recovery. Over the years she has worked with majors including Chevron, BP, Schlumberger, in projects involving Business Development, Research, Exploration and Appraisal.

She is currently teaching Geology and Geomechanics of Unconventional plays to enable the usage of these subjects as tools for application in well execution decisions including selecting optimal well placement depth, perforation depth and stage spacing. In her course, she emphasizes clarity on fundamentals e.g. organic content, mineralogy and in situ stress state and provides deeper understanding of how these parameters control for example hydraulic fracture geometry and thus well performance.

Sven Egenhoff, Ph.D. is a recognized expert in shale sedimentology applied to understanding unconventional reservoir deposition and diagenesis. Sven has nineteen years of experience postdoctorate working worldwide on hydrocarbon-related problems, mostly onshore Sweden, Norway, continental US (Bakken and Woodford), and Bolivia, as well as offshore UK (Kimmeridge Clay) and is a top influencer on industry’s current thinking of shale plays. He is currently a professor at Colorado State University and has trained over 400 undergraduate and graduate students in oilrelated sedimentology and well-logs and has consulted or held research contracts with Hess, Marathon, and Noble Energy, among others.

Ali Jaffri, Ph.D. is the founder of Applied Stratigraphix LLC, and has nineteen years of experience in sedimentology and stratigraphy projects. He has worked several onshore US Basins, North Sea, Indus Basins, Barents Sea, Offshore East and West Africa, Taranaki Basin, Offshore Mid-Norway, and Former Soviet Union. He has a doctorate from Colorado State, Masters from Oklahoma State and Bachelors from University of Colorado. Equally proficient in carbonates and clastics, he has trained over 500 oil and gas professionals from thirty-four companies in ten countries.

Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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OUTCROP | August 2019

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Walter Nelson | August 7, 2019

Sequence Stratigraphy and Geologic Reservoir Characterization of the Niobrara in the Northern San Juan Basin

By Walter Nelson

OUTCROP | August 2019

lithostratigraphic units with significant sequence stratigraphic surfaces interpreted.

Numerous extensive outcrop locations (in and around Pagosa Springs, Piedra, and Durango, CO) along with three new cores along the CO-NM border form the foundation for sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the Niobrara marine cycle in this study. Establishing and applying a sequence stratigraphic framework to any section creates consistent reference standards for communication, research, and further correlation. Comparisons of lithologic and geochemical data from equivalent strata between the northern San Juan Basin and DJ Basin reveal significant differences in the timing and style of source-rock deposition (and associated low-oxygen conditions).

The sequence stratigraphic framework also emphasizes tremendous lateral facies changes within the basal Niobrara section (i.e. Fort Hays Limestone to Tocito Sandstone). Once refined and applied, this stratigraphic framework can be used for predicting the distribution of reservoir and geomechanical properties in addition to enhancing the current understanding of the Niobrara and the Western Interior Seaway.

In the northern San Juan Basin, the Niobrara Formation is represented by the upper half of the Mancos Shale (the Smoky Hill Member and Cortez Member). This section is generally equivalent to the Niobrara Formation along the Colorado Front Range. Although the Fort Hays Limestone is absent west of Pagosa Springs, the C Chalk and B Chalk are well-expressed as two resistant bench-forming calcareous units in the northern San Juan Basin.

These two calcareous units have also been established as prospective hydrocarbon targets by operators in the area. Calcareous facies equivalent to the A Chalk were not deposited in the northern San Juan Basin due to siliciclastic dilution during the regressive latter half of the Niobrara marine cycle. The overall third-order Niobrara marine cycle includes these members of the Mancos Shale: the Juana Lopez, Montezuma Valley, Smoky Hill, and Cortez Members. The Smoky Hill Member sits just above the basal Niobrara unconformity in most of the study area, and the entire section also has greater thickness and siliciclastic content than its equivalent farther east along the Front Range. Despite these differences, the four Niobrara fourth-order cycles (T7a-R7a thru T7d-R7d) have been assigned to distinct

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Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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OUTCROP | August 2019

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Rich Gibson | September 4, 2019

Controls On Petroleum Phase And Water Production In The Wall Creek Resource Play Powder River Basin, WY

By Rich Gibson, SM Energy, Denver, CO

OUTCROP | August 2019

generated from DST temperatures, shows contours that do not parallel structural contours due to regional gradient variations. Temperature and vitrinite reflectance data were used to calibrate 1D burial history models by simultaneously solving for basal heat flow and the amount of erosion since ~40Ma. A relationship between present-day temperature and vitrinite reflectance derived from the model results was used to convert the temperature map to maturity. Oil maturity data, early-life GOR values, visual appearance of the oils, and gas isotope values all show clear relationships to this map, with the highest maturity fluids confined to a sub-circular area located generally east of the basin axis. KINEX modeling of the Niobrara source verifies that the observed range of GOR values can be explained by thermal maturity variation between ~1.1 and 1.4 %Ro at the Wall Creek level. Oils are inferred to have migrated downward into the reservoir and continued maturing in-situ so that they match present-day reservoir maturity levels.

Sequential flattening of a regional E-W 2D seismic line across the basin shows that the area that is now the deep basin was on the west flank of a low-relief paleo-high in latest Cretaceous to early Tertiary time. Based on the 1D basin models,

The Wall Creek Member of the Frontier Formation, originally developed by vertical wells along NNW-SSE high phi-k sandstone trends, has been the target of horizontal drilling for the past several years in the deepest part of the Powder River Basin.

The basin is asymmetric with a gently dipping east limb and steep west flank that is only locally faulted at Wall Creek level. The sands are continuous from outcrop on the west flank into the productive basin center, but transition into mudstone updip toward the east. Oils within the Wall Creek are derived from the Niobrara, which is 250-700’ above the top of the reservoir. Petroleum properties (phase and GOR) and water production vary within the confines of the play. Vertical wells in the highest quality reservoir trends typically produced with <10% water cut. Horizontal wells drilled into intervening lower quality reservoir areas have water cuts ranging from <10% to >80% that do not vary systematically with calculated pay thickness, PhiH, or SoPhiH. Log calculated water saturations are lowest on the east flank and basin center, but gradually increase westward up the west flank despite the apparent lack of either a structural or stratigraphic trap in this direction.

Variations of petroleum phase and GOR do not conform to a simple depth-dependent relationship.

A temperature map at the top of the Wall Creek,

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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OUTCROP | August 2019

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS variation in log calculated Sw values is dominated by reservoir quality, a 20% overall Sw increase in rocks of consistent reservoir quality from east to west is also clearly evident. The observed Sw and production behavior can be understood in terms of a capillary drainage and imbibition curves. Rocks east of the basin axis, which have stayed in closure throughout basin evolution, remain on the drainage curve and produce the most water-free. Rocks west of the basin axis that are no longer in closure have undergone partial leakage and moved down imbibition curves to varying degrees. Since imbibition curves are steep relative to drainage curves, water influx has a relatively small impact on increasing Sw while having a dramatic impact on phase mobility due to partial or complete ‘snap off’ of the non-wetting oil phase in pore throats. As a result, production behavior in the domains west of the basin axis are not well predicted based on log calculated parameters.

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

migration of oil and gas from the Niobrara source occurred in the early Tertiary, coincident with the presence of this paleo-high. These observations suggest that petroleum in the Wall Creek was originally captured in a regional, westward-dipping stratigraphic trap and maintained there through mid-Tertiary deep burial. Subsequent uplift of the west flank allowed petroleum to leak westward, being replaced by imbibed water. Since reservoir quality had already been degraded by diagenesis during deepest burial, the rate of leakage was probably very slow and may be continuing today.

Log-calculated Sw values and horizontal well water cuts follow a regional pattern consistent with this model. Wells located east of the present-day basin axis have <20% water cut. An intermediate domain of flat to gentle eastward dip is characterized by 2060% water cut, whereas wells on the steeper dipping west flank have water cuts >70%. Although the RICH GIBSON: • MS and PhD from Virginia Tech structural geology • 21 years at Amoco and BP in research, exploration, and development – worked a

variety of domestic (GOM, GGRB, Alaska, etc.) and international (Trinidad, Brazil, Mexico, Romania, western Canada, etc.) projects, many involving integration of structural geology and petroleum systems

• 3.5 years at Apache and 4.5 years at SM Energy - domestic onshore projects • Currently chief geologist at SM Energy in Denver

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OUTCROP | August 2019

RMAG ON THE ROCKS

FIGURE 1: The RMAG Fossil Fish Collectors posed at an outcrop of the Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation

on the Lewis Ranch Quarry, near Kemmerer, Wyoming. This fossil-fish-rich exposure was deposited in Fossil Lake during Eocene time, 52 million years ago. Fossils from here are found in museums and private collections all over the world.

Eocene Fossil Fish Collecting Field Trip Kemmerer, Wyoming—June 22-23, 2019

By Denise M. Stone

OUTCROP | August 2019

guests on the Eocene Fossil Fish Collecting Field Trip. The trip destination was the Lewis Ranch near Kemmerer, Wyoming, and our mission was four hours of exploring for fish fossils at an outcrop of the Fossil Butte Member (FBM) of the Green River Formation. The private property of the ranch contains a commercial fossil fish quarry located just across the valley from Fossil Butte

The technique is a bit tricky but imagine carefully splitting open a slab of finely laminated limestone and finding a complete dark brown fossil skeleton of a 52 million year old, nearly 3 inch long Mioplosus Labracoides. That’s what happened to Nathan Rogers on the June RMAG field trip to hunt for fish fossils in the Green River Formation of Wyoming.

There were 16 RMAG members and

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

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FIGURE 3: Nicely preserved skeletal vertebra of what looks like a FIGURE 2: Happy RMAG member Nathan Rogers

holding up a complete fossil skeleton he found of a 52 million year old Mioplosus Labracoides in the Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation on the Lewis Ranch outside Kemmerer, Wyoming.

National Monument. RMAG was fortunate and grateful to be one of three Denver area organizations granted entry to hunt for fossils this summer at the Lewis Ranch.

On the night before going in the field the group met at the aptly named Fossil Country Inn and Suites in Kemmerer for a welcome by Mike Tischer, RMAG Field Trip Coordinator, and a talk by Blake Sullivan. Blake, our host, works the quarry and is the owner of a business called Moments in Time, a company that sells fossils to scientists, collectors and hobbyists. After several years as a commercial

Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

chef, Blake became interested in fossils and got a degree in anthropology from the University of Denver. He has been fascinated with exploring for and finding fossils ever since.

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32

Diplomystus Dentatus, a 52 million year old (Eocene) fish from the Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation, near Kemmerer, Wyoming. It was collected on the private property of the Lewis Ranch. It appears the outer fins may have been nibbled off by a predator or scavenger.

LOCATION

The Kemmerer area is in the high mountain desert of southwestern Wyoming. The landscape is open with low grasses and sage, the hills are rounded and rolling with white to cream colored slopes where the FBM is exposed at the surface. On our day in the field there were blue skies

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

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OUTCROP | August 2019

FIGURE 4: RMAG members and guests hunt for

fossil fish at a three-foot thick exposure of the “split-fish layer” within the Fossil Butte Member of the Eocene age Green River Formation. The Lewis Ranch Quarry near Kemmerer Wyoming was host to an enthusiastic group of RMAG members and guests on June 23, 2019

OUTCROP | August 2019

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ON-THE-ROCKS FIELD TRIP REPORT

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

and temperatures in the sixties. The conditions were ideal.

We spent all our time in the quarry exploring an outcrop of the “split-fish layer,” also known as the “sandwich beds,” within the FBM of the Green River Formation. In the FBM, an entire 52 million year old Eocene lacustrine ecosystem is preserved; from microscopic pollen, spores and algae, to the remains of insects, birds, bats, palm fronds and crocodiles. However, as we learned firsthand, due to the abundance of lake water in the ancient environment, the remains of fish are everywhere. A total of 27 species of fish have been identified so far in the FBM. They flourished in what has been called the Green River Lake System which lasted from 56 to 44 million years ago.

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY

These Eocene fossils are evidence of the re-emergence of life following the asteroid-induced mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic that wiped out 75% of all living species, including the dinosaurs. Following the retreat of the interior Cretaceous Seaway, life on earth was in transition. Continental uplift was occurring, and lakes occupied shallow sub-basins collecting runoff from nearby highlands. The Green River Lake System lasted 12 million years and consisted of 3 large lakes: Fossil Lake, Lake Gosiute, and Lake Uinta. Together these covered over 25,000 square miles in the border area of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The maximum thickness of preserved lake sediments in this area is over 7000 feet. These sediments and their enclosed fossils provide a clear look back at the diversity of life during Eocene time.

Fossil Lake was the smallest and most shortlived lake, lasting 2 million years in duration, from 53-51 mya. The age of the FBM sediments has been determined to be 52 mya by the dating of a layer called the K-spar Tuff, a thin volcanic ash unit among many in the sequence, that caps the FBM. The thickness of the FBM ranges from 40 to 73 feet.

Where we worked on it, the “split-fish layer” was a 3 foot thick unit, exposed on the steep quarried slope of a bluff. Access was off the main highway Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

FIGURE 5: The technique for finding fossil fish is simple.

Care is necessary to split the limestone of the “split-fish layer” with a hammer and thin chisel. The chisel is placed parallel to laminations where brown material, likely fossils, is visible. By tapping it gently with the hammer the layers separate very easily. along a dirt road to the top of the bluff where the quarry was located.

TECHNIQUE

The technique to finding fish fossils is to take a slab of limestone from the outcrop and split the layers open where you see any brown material. A

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

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ON-THE-ROCKS FIELD TRIP REPORT

FIGURE 6: Location Map of the Eocene age Fossil Lake in southwestern Wyoming and northern Utah. It was part of the 25,000 sq mi

Eocene age Green River Lake System that lasted 12 million years. (from Grande, L. 2013. The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time, p.14, University of Chicago Press.

FIGURE 7:

RMAG member Ginny Gent and quarry host Blake Sullivan show off a beautifully preserved, but broken fish fossil found in the Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation at the Lewis Ranch Quarry near Kemmerer, Wyoming.

OUTCROP | August 2019

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ON-THE-ROCKS FIELD TRIP REPORT

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35

FIGURE 8: At the Lewis Ranch Quarry in the Fossil Butte Member of the Green

River Formation near Kemmerer, Wyoming, Liza Glenney and Denise Stone show why the zone in the quarry with abundant fish is called the “split-fish layer”.

When chiseled, rock layers often split through the fish skeletons, leaving fish remains on each side of the two separated surfaces.

BOOK

It was a Knightia Eocaena. He was so fascinated it changed his course of study and his life passion became science and paleontology. Today he is the foremost authority on the fossils of the FBM of the Green River Formation, a prolific author of scientific papers and a Curator at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

thin chisel and hammer are the necessary tools. The brown color parallel to bedding indicates organic remains, most likely fish. By placing the horizontal chisel edge parallel to the layers and tapping lightly with the hammer, the layers easily separate. The exciting part is seeing the newly exposed surfaces for the first time and discovering if you have “caught” a fish or not. Quarry host Dain Hanson looked at all our fossil finds to see if anything rare had been found, in which case we would be asked not to take it home.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for anyone. We all got to keep what we found. Geologist or not, people that explore for fish fossils here are impressed. The fossil fish are so well-preserved one can visualize them swimming.

The fish are very life-like, well-preserved and they are everywhere! The key is to take care in splitting the layers so not to break what you find, as the thinner you split the layers the more fragile they become. Unfortunately, there were lots of broken rocks at the outcrop containing broken fish parts. The name “split-fish layer” was named for the fact that rock layers often split through fish skeletons commonly leaving fish remains on each of the two separate surfaces.

For a more detailed study of the flora and fauna species deposited and preserved at Fossil Lake, the best resource is Lance Grande’s book entitled The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time. While studying economics years ago as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, a friend gave Grande a fossil fish from Wyoming.

OUTCROP | August 2019

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 39

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ON-THE-ROCKS FIELD TRIP REPORT

FIGURE 9: The three guides during the field trip, from left to right, Dain Hanson Lewis Quarry Host, Mike

Tischer RMAG Field Trip Coordinator, and Blake Sullivan, Lewis Quarry Host. They made it a great field trip, enjoyed by all!

In his book, Grande points out that the fossil contents of the FBM are internationally known and can be found in museums and private collections all over the world. The remains are revered by fossil-collecting amateurs, professional scientists, nature-art dealers and even interior designers.

The Kemmerer area has been worked for fossils for 140 years, and the effort continues. It is certainly worth a visit. The Fossil Butte National Monument, established in 1972, protects 13 Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

square miles of Fossil Lake. There is a welcoming visitors center complete with extensive fossil displays of species found in the area. For quarry workers and scientists, the summer months are typically for field work and collecting and the cold snowy winter months for preparation and study of fossils.

There are public trails for visitors to the monument but collecting fossils there is prohibited. Kemmerer is a geological destination like no other. The fish will dazzle you!

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38

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OUTCROP | August 2019

WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

Tristan Bates

is a student at Adams State College.

Ashley How

Todd Boesiger

Joseph Islas

Sheridan Mullen

works for the Bureau of Land Management.

works at Anadarko in Houston, Texas.

Joe Jacobs

is a student at the Colorado School of Mines.

is a Senior Environmental Geology Student at Colorado Mesa University. is a Geologist/Petroleum Engineer at Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in Sidney, Nebraska.

Chris Bowie

is a Geologist at Devon Energy.

Michael Chisam

is a Sr. Operations Geologist at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in Denver, Colorado.

Celine Gill

is a student at Metro State University.

lives in Denver, CO.

Didi Ooi

Tatjana Scherschel

is a Sr Staff Geologist at Anadarko in Houston, Texas.

Christian VanWyngarden

Teresa Johnson

is a GIS Analyst at Quantum Water & Environment in Lakewood, Colorado.

lives in Westminster, CO.

Isabella Landis

Willlam Young

lives in Limerick, PA.

lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Chris Matson

is a Technical Manager at Stratum Reservoir in Golden, Colorado.

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OUTCROP | August 2019

IN THE PIPELINE AUGUST 7, 2019 RMAG Luncheon.

Speaker Walter Nelson. “‘Sequence Stratigraphy and Geologic Reservoir Characterization of the Niobrara in the Northern San Juan Basin.” Maggiano’s Downtown Denver.

information or to RSVP via email to kurt.reisser@ gmail.com.

AUGUST 17, 2019 RMAG On the Rocks Field Trip.

Pennsylvanian Fossil Collecting. McCoy, CO.

AUGUST 9, 2019

AUGUST 27, 2019

DIPS Luncheon.

Members $20 and Nonmembers $25. For more

RMAG Short Course.

Presenters: Dr. John Curtis and Catherine Donohue,

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42

GeoMark Research.

“Practical Aspects of Petroleum Geochemistry for Conventional and Resource Plays.”

AUGUST 27, 2019 RMS-SEPM Luncheon.

Speaker: Jason Eleson.

Lecture: TBA. Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Vol. 68, No. 8 | www.rmag.org

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5

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16

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RMAG On the Rocks Field Trip.

PA Fossil Collecting.

18

19

25

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23

24

27

28

29

30

31

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RMS-SEPM Luncheon.