Post on 26-Sep-2020
THE RECORD
T H E D E N V E R G E O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y
APRIL 2 0 19 E D I T I O N
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
25th Anniversary 3D Seismic
Symposium Recap
April Short Course: Introduction to
TIBCO Spotfire – Niobrara Case
April Luncheon: Application of
machine learning to predict oil
production from stochastic AVA
inversion attributes
UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 10th:
Short Course: Introduction to TIBCO
Spotfire – Niobrara Case, 8:00am at
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
April 11th:
Monthly Luncheon: Application of machine
learning to predict oil production from
stochastic AVA inversion attributes,
11:30am at Wynkoop Brewery
April 17th & 18th:
Denver Advanced Practices in
Unconventional Basins 2019 (DAPUB),
8:00am at Embassy Suites
2019 SPONSORS
Diamond Sponsors
2019 SPONSORS
Platinum Sponsors
2019 SPONSORS
Gold Sponsors
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
DEVON ENERGY CORPORATION
GREAT WESTERN OIL & GAS COMPANY
HALLIBURTON
HIGHPOINT RESOURCES
LARIO OIL & GAS COMPANY
MICROSEISMIC INC
RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION PROJECT (CSM)
SM ENERGY COMPANY
STEPHENS PRODUCTION COMPANY
TRICON GEOPHYSICS
2019 SPONSORS
Silver Sponsors
AERA ENERGY
BELL & MURPHY AND
ASSOCIATES LLC
BUCKLEY POWDER
CAMINO NATURAL
RESOURCES
CONFLUENCE RESOURCES LP
FLAT GATHERS
GEOPHYSICAL NAVIGATION
SERVICES
HARDIN INTERNATIONAL
PROCESSING INC
INTERACTIVE EARTH
SCIENCES CORPORATION
INTERNATIONAL RESERVOIR
TECHNOLOGIES
LAND SEISMIC NOISE
SPECIALISTS
MACKAY CONSULTING
MEQ GEO INC
MSRP GEOCONSULTING
NANOSEIS
OASIS PETROLEUM
RCP
SHALEPROFILE
ST. CROIX GROUP
TENAX GEOSCIENCE
2019 SPONSORS
Specialty Sponsors
2019 SPONSORS
Specialty Sponsors
Silver Anniversary Recap By Sarah Gach, Morgan Brown and Julie Shemeta
25 years?! Where has the time gone? The silver anniversary Symposium, themed “3D Seismic
Symposium Silver Anniversary”, returned for a second year to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House,
and boasted 417 attendees, 75% of whom work on the E&P side of geophysics. A whopping 26
companies (up from 18 in 2018) exhibited at this year’s Symposium, and the organizing
committee was forced to turn a few companies away at the last minute. Our generous corporate
and individual sponsors contributed $47,500 toward the costs of the Symposium. The Denver
Geophysical Society (DGS) hosts the Symposium, and it is DGS’s primary fundraiser for the
year. The officers of the DGS appreciate the geophysical community’s continued generous
support!
To celebrate our 25th anniversary, the Symposium committee decided to host an icebreaker and
the annual Student Challenge Bowl on the Monday night before the main event. Roughly 50
attendees watched six teams from CU-Boulder, Colorado School of Mines, and BYU duke it
out. The top three teams were all from Colorado School of Mines, and CSM’s Youfang Liu and
Adam Tuppen winning money toward a trip to the 2019 SEG conference in San Antonio, Texas
this fall. The icebreaker event following the Student Challenge Bowl boasted an open bar and
generous appetizers – the students and attendees went home well-fed and networked! Peter
Duncan of Microseismic Inc. provided the game-show type questions and buzzers and Scott
Cook expertly MC’ed the evening.
The kickoff speaker, Dr. Joe Davis of Kalnin Ventures, outlined his petroleum system-based
methodology for risking unconventional plays in his talk Defining Unconventional Sweet Spots.
Chris Wright, CEO and Chairman of Liberty Oilfield Services, Executive Chairman of Liberty
Resources, and founder of microseismic pioneer Pinnacle Technologies, inspired the lunchtime
crowd with a justification for the oil & gas industry’s place in the world…and geophysicists’
place in the industry. For anyone interested his presentation, a similar talk titled “The intimate
link between health and hydrocarbons” that Chris gave in Dallas can be viewed at
https://youtu.be/61Q5NEHJ1lw
Several presenters highlighted processing, interpretation, and drilling in complex geology:
overthrust depth imaging in Beaver Creek Field, Wyoming from Devon Energy’s Robert
Horine, high-angle Marcellus geosteering in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania from Bob Grundy
of Inflection Energy, and a SCOOP acquisition and processing case study in the Oklahoma
SCOOP play from Chuck Diggins of DUG.
Two presenters took the audience to the San Joaquin Valley of California. California Resources
Corporation’s Darren Williams highlighted how integrated geophysical technology can derisk
unconventional reservoirs, while Chad Severson of Aera Energy demonstrated how seismic
attributes delineated tectonically controlled submarine channels in a deep exploration play.
Multiple aspects and scales of the Permian Basin were on show throughout the program. In the
Midland Basin, Aaron Fisher, of Tracker Resource Development, outlined how 3D seismic
mapped rock quality and optimal landing targets on Tracker’s acreage. QEP’s Cory Christie
and Jill Thompson presented a case study highlighting how seismic attributes can identify zones
prone to “Frac Hits”, or interference between adjacent horizontal wells. Patrick Rutty of
DrillingInfo presented a predictive analytics case study from the Midland Basin which showed
(much to the relief of the audience!) that 3D seismic definitively adds value in optimized
unconventional field development. Andrew Lewis of Fairfield Technologies and Simpon Payne
of IKON took the audience west, to the Delaware Basin, where he presented a seismic rock
physics characterization. Scott Cook of Tricon Geophysics and Mike McKee of Jetta Permian
LP demonstrated how HTI fracture analysis highlighted drilling hazards on Jetta’s acreage.
As the use of fiber continues to gain traction in the industry, two presentations discussed
various applications of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS). Ge Jin, ConocoPhillips, highlighted
the value of different frequency ranges of DAS data for well spacing and completion design
optimization. Gary Binder, of Colorado School of Mines, discussed the value of incorporating
time-lapse vertical seismic profiling (VSP) and DAS data together to identify stress induced
velocity changes.
A follow up survey on the meeting revealed attendees thought this year’s meeting was
“Excellent” (46%, 77 votes) or Very Good (38%, 63 votes). The new Opera House location was
voted a big success with 66% voting “Excellent” (99 votes). 97% of the survey responders (143
votes) said they would attend the meeting next year.
The 2019 R. Randy Ray Best Speaker Award was presented to QEP’s Cory Christie and Jill
Thompson for their “Frac Hits in the Midland Basin: a case study using geophysical
applications to identify and minimize well interference”
The symposium was chaired this year by Angie Southcott and Brad Birkelo. Angie, who was
recently elected Vice President of the DGS, has relinquished her chairmanship to focus on her
DGS duties. She’ll be replaced by Simon Cole. A huge key to the Symposium’s ongoing
success is the high level of commitment and longevity of the Symposium committee.
Committee members, past and present, who served more than a decade, were recognized with
awards.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge Kyrie Encinas, Executive Director of the DGS, who has
been the steady guiding force and “glue” that held this year’s 3D Seismic Symposium meeting
together. The 2019 Symposium was Kyrie’s third since assuming the mantel of DGS Executive
Director, and it was clear to all observers that she’s really gotten the hang of it!
Picture 1: Kickoff Address: Defining Unconventional Sweet Spots with 3D by Joseph R. Davis from Kalnin
Ventures - Photo courtesy of Dave Purcell – Ski U L8r Photography
Picture 2: Beautiful venue Ellie Caulkins Opera House hosted 417 attendees - Photo courtesy of Dave Purcell –
Ski U L8r Photography
Picture 3: 26 companies exhibited at this year’s Symposium - Photo courtesy of Dave Purcell – Ski U L8r
Photography
Picture 4: Attendees enjoying lunch during the symposium - Photo courtesy of Dave Purcell – Ski U L8r
Photography
Picture 5: Keynote speaker Chris Wright, Liberty Oilfield Services CEO, during his talk
“The Intimate link between health and hydrocarbons” - Photo courtesy of Dave Purcell – Ski U L8r
Photography
Picture 6: Cory Christie and Jill Thompson from QEP holding their 2019 R. Randy Ray Best Speaker Award
for their talk “Frac Hits in the Midland Basin: a case study using geophysical applications to identify and
minimize well interference” - Photo courtesy of Dave Purcell – Ski U L8r Photography
April Short Course
Introduction to TIBCO Spotfire – Niobrara Case
By Bryan McDowell of Discovery Natural Resources
April 10th, 2019 at
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation - 1099 18th St., Denver, CO 80202
Class begins at 8:00 am until 5:00pm
Who should attend?
Oil and gas professionals (geoscientists, engineers, etc.) interested in compiling, filtering, and
visualizing data quickly and effectively
Learning Outcomes
Users will build a simple production database and interactive bubble map of the Niobrara
Formation in the DJ Basin by:
• Importing spreadsheets and shapefiles into Spotfire
• Creating data visualizations including pie charts, bar charts, line charts, and maps
• Performing IP and Cum Volume calculations using simple equations, case statements,
and OVER functions
• Drafting summary tables using data categories and filters
• Exporting data and visualizations to Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
Course Description
This hands-on course will introduce TIBCO Spotfire features relevant for oil and gas
professionals. Participants will learn the fundamentals of importing data, creating
visualizations, calculating custom properties, and exporting results by building a simple
production database and interactive bubble map of the Niobrara Formation in the DJ Basin. By
the end of the course, participants will be able to create: (1) Rate-Time and Cum-Time bar,
scatter, and line charts; (2) summary tables by well, operator, township, and county; (3) IP and
Cum Volume bubble maps with GOR indicators; and (5) rules-of-thumb for exporting quick,
readable visualizations for Microsoft PowerPoint.
The Instructor
Bryan McDowell is a reservoir engineer at Discovery Natural Resources and a Ph.D. candidate
at Colorado School of Mines. He recently received his Master’s in Petroleum Engineering and
will be completing his Ph.D. in Geology in Fall 2018. Bryan specializes in integrating geologic
and engineering data sets for a fuller understanding on productivity controls in unconventional
reservoirs. He has utilized Spotfire for three years as a platform for a wide variety of projects
including helium exploration, ammonite localities, production databases, rate transient analysis,
tracer tests, and well interference.
April Monthly Luncheon
Application of machine learning to predict oil
production from stochastic AVA inversion
attributes
Presented by Hayden Powers of Colorado School of
Mines Co-Authors: W. Trainor-Guitton1, and G. Michael Hoversten2
Colorado School of Mines1, Chevron2
April 11th, 2019 at
Wynkoop Brewery - 1634 18th St., Denver, CO 80202
Registration starts at 11:30am
Talk starts promptly at 12:00 pm
The focus of our work is to use machine learning, specifically a Naive Bayes Classifier (NBC),
Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS), and a simple Artificial Neural Network (ANN), to classify
and predict oil production from stochastic AVA inversion attributes. The output attributes of the
inversion include density, porosity, Vp/Vs, and p-impedance. The inversion generates hundreds
to thousands of samples from the converged chain for every model location. These attribute
samples are clipped to be within a defined radius of each wellbore and are then used to train and
classify the NBC and ANN. The algorithm cross validates by testing all combinations of wells,
based on the number omitted. The results of the cross validation are evaluated using MDS to
understand why wells are predicted correctly or incorrectly. MDS is valuable because it
incorporates an understanding of similarity between 3D structures around the individual
wellbores.
This analysis was done on both the SEAM Life of Field Model (SEAM) and a field dataset
from offshore West Africa (WAF). SEAM has 11 producing wells, while WAF only has 3.
Three data points is insufficient to running a cross validation, so the training set for WAF is
extended to include the 3 injecting wells as pseudo-producers. The results for WAF using the
NBC are more accurate than SEAM, showing validity in the extension of the dataset. The NBC
also struggles near the fault blocks of SEAM, where the covariance in the inversion most likely
extends past the fault planes. Lastly, the ANN has yet to be applied to WAF, but the early
results show improvement over the NBC for SEAM. The ANN does a binary prediction of high
and low producing which is the most comparable to the NBC. However, once there is more
confidence in the predictions, this will be changed to a continuous cumulative oil prediction.
The final product is determining and using the optimal parameters from the two supervised
methods of the entire reservoir to predict high grade drilling locations and give an uncertainty
measurement to those predictions.
THANK YOU TO THE CURRENT DGS ANNUAL
SPONSORS!
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