A Publication of the Wyoming Geological Association. Volume XIII, No. 4 April 2017

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1 A Publication of the Wyoming Geological Association Volume XIII, No. 4 April 2017 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE Hello again WGA members. Our first meeting in April will be held in what will be the new home for WGA meetings; The Black Gold Grille. The process of finding a new home after the closure of the Petroleum Club has been a long one, but after lots of input from the membership I think we ve found a place that can meet our needs. Ron the owner of the Black Gold Grille has been great to work with, and they ve purchased a new screen that we can use for our presentations. The Field Conference Committee has been working hard on preparations for this year s field conference in September, focusing on the geology of northern Wyoming. Mike Mellin has been doing an amazing job finding authors who will contribute to the field guide, and Matt Larson and Kent Sundell have put together an outstanding itinerary that takes us up through the Big Horn Basin, to the Beartooth Mountains, and back to Casper over the Big Horn Mountains. We will spend one night in Cody and another in Red Lodge, MT. We will have registration materials out soon, so please keep an eye out for those so you can make sure to reserve your spot on what should be an amazing trip. If you have an idea for a paper you d like to contribute, please get a hold of Mike Mellin soon. The Gene George Memorial Golf Tournament is scheduled this year for June 23rd. Melanie Peterson is heading up the planning for the tournament which will be held again at Three Crowns in Casper. WGA will be in touch soon with registration information. Other fun activities WGA is planning for this summer include a WGA BBQ, and a fieldtrip with GFG Resources to the Rattlesnake Hills. -Phil Nickerson Reservations: info@wyogeo.org or call and leave a message at WGA office Date Name Title Venue 4/7/2017 Quin Miller Exploring pore network evolution Black Gold Grille with neutron scattering 4/14/2017 No Meeting Happy Easter! 4/21/2017 Cynthia Blankenship Deepwater Horizon Black Gold Grille 4/27/2017 Randi Martinsen (SPE) Petroleum is First Found Black Gold Grille C NTACT APRIL 2017 PAGE 1

2 7 April Quin Miller, University of Wyoming Topic: Exploring pore network evolution with neutron scattering Abstract: The global energy landscape is changing rapidly due to production of hydrocarbons from low permeability formations via horizontal drilling and reservoir stimulation with hydraulic fracturing fluids. Understanding the evolution of nanoscale pore and fracture networks in these environments is crucial for maximizing hydrocarbon extraction and promoting America s energy security. Nanopores are important to understand because they exert strong control over rock connectivity, provide abundant reactive surface area, and are environments in which nanoconfined fluids and minerals exhibit emergent properties. At the University of Wyoming and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we are utilizing small angle neutron scattering (SANS) to quantify rock pore characteristics and demonstrate how fluid-rock interactions may alter pore networks. SANS is receiving increased attention as a method for quantifying nanoscale (~1-700 nm) pore network characteristics, including internal surface area, porosity, pore size distributions, and connected pore fraction. This presentation will detail recent SANS work on the anisotropic nature and connectivity of Woodford Shale pore networks. These properties have implications for preferential fluid flow in the Woodford Shale and for efficient hydrocarbon extraction. Additionally, SANS and aqueous geochemistry results from hydrothermal experiments in which Marine and Gothic shale samples were reacted with CO2-acidified brine will be presented. SANS results indicated mineral dissolution increased porosity but secondary precipitation decreased the fraction of connected pores. These results also highlight the potential for monitoring downhole physicochemical processes by tracking produced fluid chemistry. Lastly, future directions of application of neutron scattering to unconventional reservoir research will be briefly presented. Biography: Quin Miller is a PhD Candidate in the University of Wyoming Department of Geology and Geophysics and is advised by Associate Professor John Kaszuba. His research concerns fundamental and applied problems related to fluid-rock interactions in confined environments. He will graduate in May and begin work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where he will investigate topics related to fossil energy and interfacial geochemistry. C NTACT APRIL 2017 PAGE 2

3 21 April Cynthia Blankenship, Retired BP Topic: DEEPWATER HORIZON: AN INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE ON A DEADLY $60 BILLION TRAGEDY Abstract: Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig. On April 20th, 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, an uncontrollable blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles away. The fire was inextinguishable and two days later on April 22nd, the Horizon sank leaving the well gushing at the sea bed and causing the largest oil spill ever in US waters. It was approximately 5:30am April 21st, 2010 and Cynthia Blankenship was six days into her new role as BP s Deepwater Gulf of Mexico New Wells Delivery Manager. She was listening to the news while making breakfast for herself and her three children when she heard a brief clip that a rig in the Gulf of Mexico was on fire. That was the start of the most mentally and emotionally taxing four months of Cynthia's life. She was thrust into the battle of a lifetime, BP head-to-head against the Macondo well, with the media and politicians attacking from all sides. For the first time beyond friends and family, Cynthia will share her experience in the heart of the Response. You are invited to join her for an insider's perspective on what is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Biography: This summer Cynthia retired from BP after a distinguished career spanning 27 years and 3 continents. She took the opportunity to retire early so that she, her husband and their three teenagers could move to Jackson Hole. Cynthia now works as a Business Consultant specializing in risk and safety management. C NTACT APRIL 2017 PAGE 3

4 27 April Randi Martinsen, University of Wyoming Topic: Petroleum is First Found the Path to the Economic Development of U.S. Shale Gas & Tight Oil Resources Abstract: Once George Mitchell cracked the problem of economically extracting gas from the Barnett shale the news traveled fast and almost overnight the shale gas revolution was born. However, the path leading up to that achievement was long and tortuous. Natural gas was first extracted from shale in 1821 in Fredonia N.Y. Hydraulic fracturing was first used to extract gas from limestone in In the early 1970 s the U.S. government initiated the Eastern Gas Shale Gas Project to better assess gas resources. It also funded developing drilling and completion technologies in the areas of horizontal drilling, massive hydraulic fracturing and microseismic. Mitchell took advantage of tax incentives and these developing drilling and completion technologies as he pursued economically extracting gas from the Barnett. It took him 17 years however to officially drill and economic well. Over the course of those 17 years Mitchell Energy collected log and core data by deepening existing shallow productive wells. They developed data driven models that went against conventional wisdoms regarding producing gas from shale such as all shales were water sensitive and shale needed to be naturally fractured to produce. There is no resource play magic. Resource plays like conventional plays, require a mature source, a reservoir with porosity and at least some permeability a seal and a trap. HC viscosity plays an important role. However there is much geoscience that needs to be done to better understand the pore systems of shales and their vertical and lateral variability. Geology is essential to drilling economically successful wells. Quickly after Mitchell Energy made their breakthrough operators started applying similar technologies to drilling and completing oil wells in shales and very low permeability siltstones and sandstones. One of the most successful was the unlocking of the Bakken. However, like the Barnett, it did not happen overnight as operators had been drilling and completing wells in the Bakken since the 1950 s. The most prolific Bakken fields have strong geologic controls. As long as we have new ideas and as long as there is an explorationist who believes there is an oil or gas well that should be drilled we will develop the technology to do it. Biography: Randi Martinsen is a certified petroleum geologist with 40+ years experience (domestic and international) working in industry, consulting and teaching. She started her career as an exploration and production geologist with Cities Service Company, Denver, CO. In 1979 she became a consultant and moved to Laramie, Wyoming and shortly after joined the faculty of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming (UW) where for 33 years she has taught courses in petroleum geology and engineering, clastic depositional systems, sequence stratigraphy, reservoir characterization and physical geology and conducted research. Her research at UW focused on developing and improving geologic models useful for exploration and production from stratigraphic traps, and she has numerous publications in this area. Throughout her academic career, she continued to consult with industry by providing professional training, basin analysis and reservoir characterization studies, and expert witness testimony. Recently, she formed Hydrocarbon InSight, LLC, to better manage her consulting activities as she transitions to retiring from UW and back to more full-time consulting and converting her years of research at UW into developing oil and gas prospects. She is a Past-President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the world s largest international geological professional association and a recipient of WGA s Frank A. Morgan award. C NTACT APRIL 2017 PAGE 4

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12 Phil Nickerson Bronco Creek Exploration Mike Mellin Ur-Energy Matt Larson True Companies Rebecca Good Bureau of Land Management Melanie Peterson Goolsby Finley & Associates Amol Bhavsar Marron Bingle-Davis Sunshine Valley Petroleum Melanie Peterson Dixie Eaton Ralph Specht Please contact board for info Joanie Dunlap Con Trumbull Arnold Woods Carl Babb Gary Winter Lyn George Brent Breithaupt Julia Lemaster Lyn George Kent Sundell Barb McGavern-Atkinson Dave Chase Phil Nickerson CONTACT Submission deadline for May 2017 issue is Monday, April 24. All ads must be prepaid. Send ad and payment to: WGA PO Box 545, Casper WY Full Page 7.5 x 9.5 1/2 Page 7.5 x 4.5 1/4 Page 3.5 x 4.5 Business Card 3.5 x 2 Various Sizes $3.50 per column inch per month ($10 minimum) $100/month $1000/year $50/month $500/year $25/month $250/year $10/month $100/year Advertising space is also available in the membership directory and the annual field conference guidebook. Discounts are available for advertising in all three publications. C NTACT APRIL 2017 PAGE 12

13 Wyoming Geological Association P.O. Box 545 Casper, Wyoming Website: Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Casper, Wyoming Permit No. 299 April 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Quin Miller- Black Gold Grille No Meeting- Happy Easter!! Cynthia Blankenship- Black Gold Grille Randi Martinsen- Black Gold Grille C NTACT APRIL 2017 PAGE 13