UNCHEON SPEAKER TRANS ALASKAN PIPELINE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

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1 C NT CT A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e W y o m i n g G e o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n V o l u m e T, N o. 1 J a n u a r y PR ESIDE NT S MESSAGE Graeme Finley Happy New Year to all our members! I hope you had the chance to attend the annual SPE/WGA Christmas party on December 15th it was great fun. Attendance was light, but everyone had a good time. I highly encourage all of you to come out next year. As we embark upon 2011, we should have an exciting year, with decent oil prices and the growing Niobrara and horizontal Parkman plays. The coming year is also going to be a busy one. In June, the WGA will be the host society for the AAPG Rocky Mountain Section annual meeting in Cheyenne. I know a lot of hard work has gone into the planning of the meeting, and I am sure that Lyn George and her committee will put on a great conference! In August, we will have our second annual scholarship golf tournament. Proceeds from this tournament go directly to scholarship awards (not into the CDs to earn interest). Given the current low interest rates, it has become increasingly difficult to award meaningful scholarships to applicants. It is for this reason that we would like to add any golf tournament proceeds directly to the awards, rather than adding to the principal of a CD. As we look back upon 2010, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize Beth Anderson. Beth stepped into the role of WGA office manager in 2010, coming on board halfway through the planning of the Annual Field Conference. Things were a bit overwhelming, to say the least. Beth stepped up and was a huge help in the planning for the Conference. Since then, Beth has been instrumental in the daily operations of the WGA, and things have really shaped up! Thank you Beth, you are truly appreciated! I would also like to thank Steve Reid for his service to the WGA. Steve may not be the first person to serve on the Board more than once, but he is the first to serve a second term as President. I admit that I would be much more nervous taking on the role of President if I hadn t been on the Board with Steve and benefited from his mentorship. His experience with the WGA is a huge asset and I don t plan on allowing him to go into WGA retirement as long as I am on the Board. Thanks, Steve! One final note: we will be honoring another group of 50- and 60-year members at the Friday luncheon on January 28th. Please plan to attend and help us honor those who blazed the trail to help make the WGA what it is today. Sincerely, Graeme Finley Upco ming 2011 WGA Luncheon Meeti ngs Meetings: At Casper Petroleum Club, unless noted. Lunch: Buffet ($10.50), served 11:15a.m. to noon. Speakers Presentations: Begin at noon. Guests: Always Welcome! Reservations: info@wyogeo.org or call and leave a message at WGA office January Mark Milliken THE TRANS ALASKAN PIPELINE IPELINE: PAST AST,, PRESENTP RESENT, AND FUTURE, P Table of Contents 14 January Joint meeting/spe Robert Sterling THE MOWRY SHALE HALE,, REVIEW R OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL OIL RESOURCE PLAY IN THE BIG HORN BASIN Luncheon Abstracts p From The Editor p January 28 January 4 February 11 February Derek Allan Jim Barlow Rob Ettema and Andy Hanson Dan Clark NEW CONCEPTS IN LWD GEOSTEERING G APPL PPL. WGA PIONEERP LUNCH WGA P UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Professional Development p. 5 Members Corner p. 6 Special Events pp Grains, Matrix, Cement p. 9 Professional Services pp February 25 February Mike Sullivan Joint Meeting/SPE URANIUM WASTE TO BE DETERMINED WGA Contact Information p. 13 Calendar Quick Reference p. 14

2 JANUARY 2011 LUNCHEON L 7 January Speaker: Mark Milliken (Linc Energy) UNCHEON SPEAKER ABSTRACTS TRANS ALASKAN PIPELINE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Discovery of the giant Prudhoe Bay field in 1968 by ARCO and Humble led to an agreement among these companies and BP to propose and study an 800 mile, 48 pipeline to the ice-free Valdez marine terminal. A federal right-of-way was issued in 1974, and construction began. Hundreds of hungry stateside geologists headed north for jobs involving geohazard and geological mapping, environmental studies, well site geology, and foundation engineering support. The smart geologists skipped geology and joined a union. Even the lowest paid union laborers earned 2-3 times more than professional geologists. Construction was completed in 1977 by the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) at a cost of $8 billion ($28 billion 2010). Crossing three mountain ranges and 800 rivers, it was the largest privately funded project ever. Eleven pump stations with four pumps each operated at 1180 psi and 2 million BOPD throughput. By 1981, 2 billion BO were shipped. In 2002, an M7.9 earthquake on the Denali Fault caused only minor pipeline damage and no spillage. New life was breathed into the pipeline in 2002 when the USGS reported NPR-A reserves of 10 billion BO based on extrapolations from the Alpine Field discovery. By 2009, 15 billion BO had been loaded into 20,000 tankers. In October 2010, the USGS struck a blow to the pipeline s future by downgrading NPR-A reserves by 91% to 896 million BO. Currently there are four operating pump stations with a throughput of less than a million BOPD. TAPS predicts the pipeline can physically operate until Minimum throughput rates of MBOPD are needed for economic operation. The pipeline s economic future may lie with ANWR, whose development potential and timing are uncertain. 14 January Joint Luncheon with SPE Speaker: Robert Sterling (Cirque Resources LP) THE MOWRY SHALE, REVIEW OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL OIL RESOURCE PLAY IN THE BIG HORN BASIN The Cretaceous Mowry Shale is a prolific source rock for quite a few of the Cretaceous reservoirs in many Rocky Mountain basins, including the Big Horn Basin. A few 1980 vintage wells have been completed out of the Mowry Shale as a bailout zone because of the shows seen while drilling through it. In the Powder River Basin there was more production encountered in vertical wells, but once again mainly as a bailout after conventional reservoirs proved nonproductive. Recently the Mowry Shale has been the subject of several concerted exploration programs over the last couple of years in the Powder River and Big Horn Basins. Recent horizontal drilling in the Powder River Basin has had mixed results. Newer technology application along with an understanding of the play concept can be expected to result in better commercial results. The Mowry is a siliceous shale that ranges in gross thickness in the Big Horn Basin from 250 to over 400 feet. Amorphous silica content ranges from 45% to as high as 70%. There are areas in the basin where very fine grained turbidites are interbedded with siliceous shales in the Mowry. TOC content ranges from 1.1% to as high as 4.0%, but there is a relationship between lower TOC values and higher thermal maturity. There are both type II and type III kerogens present in the Mowry. Continued on page 3 Page 2 CONTACT January 2011

3 JANUARY 2011 LUNCHEON L UNCHEON SPEAKER ABSTRACTS The 2008 USGS evaluation of the Big Horn Basin describes the Mowry as a possible basin centered oil accumulation. Overall reservoir characterization for the basin centered Mowry is slightly different than the areas that have historically produced from the Mowry in the basin. Within the hydrocarbon generation window, expulsion microfractures contribute to the overall matrix of reservoir pore space, along with interparticle porosity and large crack fracture porosity. Horizontal drilling with effective completion technology will be key to making this play commercially successful. Robert Sterling is a Senior Geologist at Cirque Resources LP in Denver. Prior positions include EOG Resources Inc as a Division Geologic Advisor, Nahama & Weagant Energy Company as Vice President Exploration and COO, Challenger Minerals Inc as Division Geologic Manager. He holds a BS in Geology from California State Polytechnic University Pomona and an MS in Geology from California State University Los Angeles. 21 January Speaker: Derek Allan (Baker Hughes) New Concepts in LWD Geosteering Applications 28 January WGA Pioneer Luncheon Speaker: Jim Barlow HONORING THE OLD-TIM TIME MEMBERS OF WGA The group being honored here today as 50- and 60-year members of the WGA can probably remember what our Rocky Mountain basins looked like at that time. A series of oil and gas producing anticlinal traps located around the margins of basins; Lance Creek, Big Muddy, Salt Creek in the Powder River Basin; Dallas, Derby, and Circle Ridge in the Wind River Basin; LaBarge, Hatfield and Lost Soldier in the Green River Basin; Rangely and Parker Dome in the Piceance Basin; Big Sheepherder structures all around the Big Horn Basin; little production in the Denver and Williston Basins. Stratigraphic traps came on slowly. Weimer s Patrick Draw and Lawson s Grieve discoveries were significant field developments and provided new stratigraphic concepts for geologists to pursue. Seismic helped define the interior of the basins and the stratigraphic condition and potential traps. Now, fracking and horizontal drilling. Geologists had trouble selling stratigraphic prospects to managements who had been schooled on structural closures. An example: After the Grieve discovery Forest Oil s management, Clayton Dorne and Bill Miller, were pressing for another big discovery and Don Lawson and I put together a fake prospect based on Grieve geology clearly a stratigraphic trap. They threw us out of the office. No one would drill a prospect like that. We had to move through acceptance of stratigraphic traps and the central Denver and Powder River Basin oil production got us started. The Wamsutter gas picture and the Williston Basin oil play are big time now. (Jack Parker really discovered the Williston play the technology and oil price weren t ready then.) Shale gas and oil are coming on. It remains to be seen if technology and price are ready. (Bill Curry, (Skip s father), who discovered the Big Muddy field, knew natural gas was very common and used to say gas was still being generated. He had drilled the Niobrara.) CONTACT January 2011 Page 3

4 FROM THE EDITOR Hello! My name is Barb McGavern-Atkinson and I am excited to be your new WGA newsletter editor for I am a geologist at Trihydro Corporation and have been a member of WGA since moving to Wyoming in snowy February It took me nearly 20 years to make the West my home, and I ve finally arrived and love it! I d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you and to let you know that we have some exciting things coming for WGA and our newsletter this year. Importantly, I would like to stress that this little newsletter is as much your publication as it is the other members So, I will be asking for your input time and again throughout this coming year. Your opinions, stories, advice, and news matter to me and to your other fellow members. Let your voices be heard. Isn t that one of the fundamental goals of our organization to learn from each other, gain knowledge, and become better geologists and people? Here are some goals for the WGA newsletter this year: A new personal profiles section, featuring senior and/or more experienced member geologists. A new section devoted to a member s Most Memorable Geological Moment Timely resource information for all things geology at our local Casper College (i.e., geology club, seminars, Tate Museum, research, field trips). Focus on the WGA scholarship program and the fortunate recipients thereof. Emphasis on membership, fellowship, and fun (leisurely articles, geologic photography, and other items of whimsy and interest, from time to time). Please do not hesitate to offer ideas for material, news, etc. to include into the newsletter from time to time. I can be reached at batkinson@trihydro.com; (work), or at ooidgirl@bresnan.net; (home/cell) Mmmm geology! Page 4 CONTACT January 2011

5 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTACT January 2011 Page 5

6 MEMBERS EMBERS CORNERC C With each new year and each new volume of the newsletter, have you ever stopped to realize: The average age of our WGA membership spans nearly seven decades? As a result, we have an abundance of life-long professional experience, expertise, and just plain good ol story-tellin right at our fingertips! Do you know that there are many mid-professionals and junior or younger members of WGA who appreciate this fact and would value the mentorship and fellowship of our more senior geologists? You may not be the best professional speaker and you may not be the best professional technical writer and you may not be the most comfortable at telling your story, summarizing your research, explaining your professional opinions. But you have true experience in your field, you have thoughts to share, guidance to offer, and stories that need to be heard. Why not share them? Consider being a Friday luncheon speaker for WGA, and tell YOUR story. Your fellow members would truly appreciate it. Similarly, how may of you younger members, just entering college or, perhaps, recent graduates, realize how the fast-paced changes in modern technological aspects of geological science may have quickly left some of us older geologists (i.e., those of us who have long since graduated) in the dark? Why not be a luncheon speaker, as well?...present your thesis or doctoral research, ask opinions, provide new insight and theories, tell YOUR story, too? As mentioned previously in the editor s note, this WGA newsletter is YOUR newsletter; you, the members, make WGA what it is: the largest, most active and successful geological association in the USA! We are eager to hear what you have to say! Page 6 CONTACT January 2011

7 SPECIAL EVENTS DUE TO LIMITED SPACE AND PERSONAL SAFETY, STROLLERS ARE NOT ALLOWED. CONTACT January 2011 Page 7

8 SPECIAL EVENTS There are several contributor levels (at left), if you would like to help sponsor this event. Please contact Kathy Huval at or , Bob Dill at or Fred Garcia at for more information, or to receive a sponsorship form. A receipt for your contribution will be mailed to you for your records; contributions are made payable to: Page 8 CONTACT January 2011

9 GRAINS RAINS,, MATRIXM ATRIX,, CEMENTC, M, C This is a new as section for the WGA newsletter especially for all you true geo-nerds who just can t get enough of geology for geology s sake.... You know, those of you who opted for a beautiful piece of chrome dioptase instead of the old traditional diamond wedding band or those of you who have more rocks gathering dust in your garage and curio cabinets than those that naturally inhabit your backyard. Just random geological tidbits of goodness here all the things that hold our great science together. Just like grains, matrix, and cement! This section is all for you... We hope you find it to be a gneiss addition! Fossil of the month: Stromatolite Stromatolites, during life, are mounds; with high tides or storms, they become covered with sediment and, subsequently, will grow a new layer of bacteria on top (continual growth). When stromatolites are fossilized, erosion eventually uncovers them to give a flat cross-section-like appearance. Stromatolites are rather rare today, but at various ages in the past they were very common. It may be misleading to think of stromatolites as organisms. Geologists actually refer to them as a sedimentary structure. Mineral of the month: Arthurite Photo of the month Photo/source: Mineral Photos from Chemical Formula: CuFe2(AsO4, PO4, SO4)2-4H2O (Hydrated Copper Iron Arsenate Phosphate Sulfate Hydroxide) Color: Apple to emerald green Luster: vitreous to pearly Transparency: Crystals translucent System: Monoclinic Habit: Prismatic to acicular, globular aggregates and crusts Cleavage: Not observed Fracture: Uneven Hardness: 3 to 4 Specific Gravity: 3.0 to 3.2 Streak: Green Associated minerals: pharmacosiderite, beudanite, secondary arsenates Notable Occurrences: Calstock, Cornwall, England; Atacama Province, Chile; and Majuba Hill, Nevada, USA Where in the world? Can you guess where this photograph was taken?.. (Hint: Answer on back page of newsletter, p. 14, beneath calendar) Photo/source: Geo-word of the month: poikilotopic (pöi kil ə täp ik) Referring to the fabric of a crystalline sedimentary rock in which the constituent crystals are multisized and larger crystals enclose smaller crystals of another mineral. Also known as poikilocrystallic. CONTACT January 2011 Page 9

10 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Page 10 CONTACT January 2011

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13 CONTACT INFORMATION Wyoming Geological Association P.O. Box 545 Casper, WY (307) Fax (307) WGA 2011 OFFICERS President Graeme Finley Goolsby, Finley & Associates President-Elect JoAnn True True Oil 1st Vice President Mike Hawks Linc Energy 2nd Vice President Julia Lemaster Goolsby, Finley & Associates Secretary/Treasurer Amber Robbins Bureau of Land Management Editor Barb McGavern-Atkinson Trihydro Corporation Past President Steve Reid Consulting Geologist WGA 2011 AAPG Delegates Mike Kozimko Tom Anderson Advertising & Office Administrator Beth Anderson Continuing Education Ralph Specht Dance Martha Horn Field Conference 2011 General Chair Lyn George Library Dean Stilwell Membership & Directory Beth Anderson COMMITTEES Nomenclature Committee Carl Babb Don Cardinal Gary Winter Paleontological Resources Brent Breithaupt Publicity & Environmental Issues Rémelle Burton Olson Scholarship Kent Sundell SPE Liaison Dave Chase Stratigraphic Committee Carl Babb Don Cardinal Lyn George Gary Winter U.W. Liaison Amber Robbins CONTACT Submission deadline for February 2011 issue is Monday, January 17th. All ads must be prepaid. Send ad and payment to: WGA PO Box 545, Casper WY CONTACT ADVERTISING RATES 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. CONTACT January 2011 Page 13

14 Wyoming Geological Association P.O. Box 545 Casper, Wyoming Website: Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Casper, Wyoming Permit No. 299 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Mark Milliken, Trans -AK Pipeline SPE, Robert Sterling; The Mowry Shale PTTC CSM (see p.5) Thursday Friday Derek Allan; LWD Geosteering Applications Jim Barlow, Pioneer Lunch API Chili Sponsors Deadline January New Year s Day! Saturday Answer (from p 9): One of the principal facilities at risk during the 1989 to 1990 eruptions of Redoubt Volcano was the Drift River Oil Terminal located at the mouth of the Drift River, 35 km (22 mi) northeast of the volcano. This aerial view, looking southwest, shows the 1.9 billion barrel capacity oil storage tanks. Redoubt Volcano is on the skyline at left. Photograph by R. McGimsey, U.S. G. S., April 13, Page 14 CONTACT January 2011