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SIPES-HOUSTON CHAPTER NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2015 Seismic Attributes Analysis for the Gulf of Mexico Fred Hilterman El Capitan, Yosemite National Park January Luncheon Review Dr. Kenneth B. Medlock III Fitch Rating Oil Price Energy Entrepreneurs Social SIPES Member Spotlight
Transcript of Seismic Attributes Analysis for the Gulf of Mexico · PDF fileSeismic Attributes Analysis for...
SIPES-HOUSTON CHAPTER NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 2015
Seismic Attributes Analysis for the
Gulf of Mexico Fred Hilterman
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park
January Luncheon Review Dr. Kenneth B. Medlock III
Fitch Rating Oil Price
Energy Entrepreneurs Social
SIPES Member Spotlight
SIPES-Houston Newsletter | Feb 2015
SIPES HOUSTON CHAPTER 5535 Memorial Drive Suite F 654 Houston, Texas 77007 Tel: 713-651-1639 Fax: 713-951-9659 www.sipeshouston.org email: [email protected]
Chapter Officers 2015
Chapter Chair Jay Moffitt (713) -750-9485 x 104 [email protected]
Chair Elect James Mertz (281) 205-8141 [email protected]
Past Chair Jory Pacht (832) 338-5928 [email protected]
Secretary Russell Hamman (713) 526-7417 [email protected]
Treasurer William Smith (713) 650-3060 [email protected]
Website Chair James Allen (713) 871-2350 [email protected]
Technical Program Chair Grant Fergeson (832) 613-4009 grantferge-
Continuing Education Chair Kenneth Mallon (713) 524-1754 [email protected]
Hospitality Chair OPEN
Public Relations Chair Jeff Lund (713) 275-1664 [email protected]
Membership Chair(s) Chip Betz (713) 658-8096 x 17 [email protected] Patrick McCarthy (713) 650-0311 [email protected]
Newsletter Chair Jeff Allen (713) 871-2350 [email protected]
Deal Buyers List Chair Hans Sheline (281) 241-7271 [email protected]
Political Affairs Chair Ross Davis (713) 658-3131 [email protected]
Sponsor Coordinator Christine Milliner (562) 881-6326
National Directors Ralph Daigle (National Pres-ident) (281) 292-6859 [email protected] Mike Jones (713) 654-0080 [email protected] Jeff Lund (713) 275-1664 [email protected]
Office Manager B. K. Buongiorno (713) 651-1639 [email protected]
In This Issue February Luncheon Meeting 1 Fred Hilterman
Annual Science & Engineering Fair 2
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park 2 Jeff Allen
January Cover Story 3 Jeff Allen
December Luncheon Review 5 Russell Hamman
News From The Board 6 Russell Hamman
Pop Quiz 7 Jeff Allen
Oil Price 7
The Energy Entrepreneurs Social 8
The New Petroleum Club 9
Season Pass & New Website 10
Member Spotlight 12
On the cover: Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve, Travis County, Texas. One of central Texas' best-kept secrets - a huge azure-blue grotto that makes the perfect summer swimming hole.
The karst topography of the Hill Country region of Texas can result in some pretty interesting geologic features. Many thousands of years ago, an underground river carved through the soft limestone rock, forming a massive dome-shaped un-derground cavern. Eventually, the cavern collapsed, creating a huge U-shaped grotto
Want to be on the cover? Email Jeff Allen, the editor, at [email protected]
*The meeting will be at the new
Petroleum Club, 1201 Louisiana
Street on the top floor.
INTRODUCTION
The fluid factor (DF), Poisson impedance (PI), and lambda-rho (λρ) are three seismic attributes commonly used to predict pore fluid and lithology.
The pore-fluid sensitivity of these attrib-utes was evaluated with both well-log and seismic data in Tertiary unconsoli-dated sediments from the Gulf of Mexi-co. While the sensitivity of one attribute versus another to discriminate pore fluid is often debated, the sensitivity of the
three attributes are not independent but can be traced back to the fluid factor.
The three attributes along with their sta-tistical distributions for different pore fluids were measured in 183 reservoirs
and then used to calibrate the seismic amplitude in a 3D survey to “true” re-flectivity values thus allowing quantita-tive pore-fluid classification. Surprising-ly, the calibrated reflectivity attribute (fluid factor) showed a more robust pore-fluid interpretation than the inversion
attributes of Poisson impedance and lambda-rho.
BIOGRAPHY Dr. Fred Hilterman started his career with Mobil in the field. Upon receiving his PhD from Colorado School of Mines
(CSM), he rejoined Mobil and then left for the University of Houston (UH) in 1973 where he co-founded the Seismic Acoustics Laboratory (SAL). Later, along with two associates, Fred co-founded Geophysical Development Cor-
poration (GDC), which offered innovative services integrating log and seismic da-ta. After the acquisition of GDC by Geo-kinetics, he tagged along where he works today as Chief Scientist.
He has enjoyed recognition by his peers with awards that include the Virgil Kauff-man Gold Medal, the Maurice Ewing Medal, Honorary Membership from SEG, and the Distinguished Alumni Medal from
CSM.
He has been a continuing education in-structor for the SEG and AAPG since 1976, and was selected by the SEG to be the 2001 Distinguished Instructor. Fred is also a Distinguished Research Profes-
sor at UH and will be the first to say that among all his accomplishments, he most enjoys teaching geophysics to those with a hunger for learning.
Luncheon Sponsors
&
SEISMIC ATTRIBUTES ANALYSIS FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO
FRED HILTERMAN
F E B R U A R Y S I P E S L U N C H E O N
Luncheon registration deadline
is Noon, Tuesday Feb. 17
$30 for Members and Affiliates,
$35 for guests and non-members.
An additional $5 for late/walk-ups.
No-shows will be billed.
Call, fax, or e-mail your reserva-
tion to the SIPES-Houston Office.
You can sign up online at
www.sipeshouston.org, but
payment is still required at the
luncheon or by mail.
Date: Thursday, Feb. 19
Place: Petroleum Club
1201 Louisiana St.
Time: Social 11:15
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Thank you to all the volunteers in the past that helped
make the 55th Annual Science and Engineering Fair of
Houston (SEFH) memorable and exciting. We are call-
ing again to any volunteers that would be able to make
56th Annual Fair on February 27-28, 2015.
There is no better use of time than to invest in the fu-
ture. As we become more reliant on technology and re-
sources become harder to obtain, we need well trained
and critical thinking generations. With math and sci-
ence, anything than be accomplished, so let’s start with
supporting the dreams and education of our children.
The Science and Engineering Fair of Houston is open for
all public, private, chartered, and home schooled junior
and senior high school students in Houston and the
Greater Houston Area.
About the SEFH:
The Science Engineering Fair of Houston (SEFH) pro-
vides a unique and beneficial science educational ser-
vice to public and private junior and senior high school
students in grades 7-12. Through the development and
presentation of science/engineering projects, students
enhance their abilities to: (1) make observations; (2)
ask questions regarding particular phenomena or situa-
tions; (3) formulate ideas and procedures for the solu-
tion to a problem; (4) use complex and/or analytical
reasoning skills to find an answer or solution to a prob-
lem, and (5) effectively present their works to society.
SEFH strongly believes that it is just as important for
students to learn how to use mathematics and science
as it is to learn the subject material in the classroom.
Project based learning has been our top priority since
1960. At SEFH we stress understanding not mem-
orization. The educational activities sponsored by
SEFH complement the rapidly growing need for stu-
dents to be able to understand and utilize new technol-
ogy. In addition SEFH also sponsors a Science & Engi-
neering Writing Contest and a Technical Poster Design
Contest.
A big thank you to the presenting sponsor:
B e A S c i e n c e F a i r J u d g e C l i m b i n g 3 , 0 0 0 ’ G r a n i t e W a l l For 18 days Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell climbed El Capitan, a 3,000’ Granite wall in Yosemite National Park with no support other than a rope!
For more information and a short video click the on the pic-
ture above.
Gateway Exploration is Looking for
Prospects and Acquisi-tions in the Gulf Coast
3 SIPES-Houston Newsletter | Feb 2015
JANUARY COVER STORY
Intense Strombolian Eruption of the Pico do Fogo Volcano in Cape Verde on Nov 23, 2014. The number of volcanic eruptions continues to rise which could lead
to an extremely cold winter for most of the planet. The record for the most eruptions in one year was broken in 2013 and once again in 2014. What kind of impact does that have on the environment?
Could massive and multiple eruptions like we have seen the past two years play a role in slowing down global warming? Some experts think it is possible. For the full article click on the image above.
Along with CO2, volcanoes churn out sulfur dioxide gas. That gas
turns into tiny droplets of sulfuric acid in the upper atmosphere. Those acid particles act like tiny mirrors to reflect sunlight back
into space. For example, after the massive eruption of Mount Pinatubo on June 15, 1991, surface temperatures cooled by as much as 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
“In the last decade, the amount of volcanic aerosol in the strato-
sphere has increased, so more sunlight is being reflected back into space,” said lead author Benjamin Santer, climate scientist
at Laurence Livermore National Laboratory. “This has created a
natural cooling of the planet and has partly offset the increase in surface and atmospheric temperatures due to human influence.”
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Dr. Kenneth B. Medlock III spoke on “Recent Develop-
ments in Global Crude Oil and Natural Gas Markets” at
the luncheon.
While short term price moves can be a result of specu-
lation, policy or exchange rate fluctuations, long term
price trends are a result of supply and demand. Dr.
Medlock’s analysis of the oil market and prices is that
“the best cure for high prices is high prices.” The same
adage applies for low prices as well, spoken like a true
economist. From an examination of over 30 years of
data, he proved that oil price forecasting is rarely accu-
rate and usually mirrors the trends of the three years
prior to the forecast. Our economy is fossil fuel driven
and renewable contributions are uncertain.
Over the past decade, North American LNG import
plans have given way to unconventional resource devel-
opment. This turn of events is set to be exported
worldwide with the near global presence of shale re-
sources. However, shale gas extraction will remain a
function of both price and ultimate recovery as the
plays show considerable variability.
US oil production has journeyed from “Peak Oil” around
1970 to recently when two of the three largest annual
production increases ever took place. The current
crude oil export ban and low prices may drag on US
production growth. Global oil supply is affected by de-
clines due to either maturity such as in Norway, under-
investment as in Mexico and Venezuela, or conflict as in
much of the Middle East. However, there have also
been large supply additions from countries such as Qa-
tar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
J a n u a r y L u n c h e o n R e v i e w b y R u s s e l l H a m m a n
Dr. Kenneth B. Medlock III, the Presenter
Sara Davis, Jim Ticker, and Denise Stone
N E W S F R O M T H E B O A R D R u s s e l l H a m m a n P i c t u r e s C o n t i n u e d
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The Feb 19th SIPES luncheon will be held at the new Petroleum Club @ 1201 Louisiana Street.
Chairman Jory Pacht, called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. on Thursday January 22. The November Board minutes were
accepted and the Board moved on to the business of the day. Denise Stone, Treasurer, reviewed the SIPES Chapter ac-counts and reported that the checking account currently stands at $64,737.28 and the Savings account holds $50,167.32. The December 2014 luncheon had 62 people in
attendance, with 65 registered and 7 walk-ins. There were
14 comps and 6 no shows. Gyrodata was the hospitality sponsor. Plans continue for the joint continuing education symposium with API as well as the technical program for the luncheon speakers.
Hospitality sponsors are needed for the coming year so if you have any favorite companies that you deal with, please pass those names and contact information along to our sponsorship coordinator Christine Milliner. The board is also seeking a new hospitality chairman so if you are interested or know someone who may be interested, please contact B.
K. Buongiorno. The board awarded B. K. Buongiorno an an-nual appreciation gift. The January Board meeting adjourned at 11:20 am.
Greg Miller, Ganesh Batalabhatla , Phil Martin
Jubril Davies, a new Geophysicist, with Bill Smith
7 SIPES-Houston Newsletter | Feb 2015
P O P Q U I Z ! 2 0 1 5 A N D 2 0 1 6 O I L P R I C E ?
The Theory of Plate Tectonics revolutionized the science of Ge-ology. 1) What are the names for the two outer layers of Earth? 2) What are the three types of plate boundaries. 3) What is the leading thought, or reason, on how these plates move? Send answers to the Newsletter Editor, [email protected]
Last Months Answer:
Steve Hartzell is the winner for January! The location is Victo-ria Falls and the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, Africa and the waterfall and river course are set by pre-existing joints in the basaltic lava flows covering the area. Each of the meanders is a "paleo" waterfall. The picture was provided by Jeff Lund of Cor-ridor Oil & Gas.
In February Fitch Ratings revised its base case price deck down-ward for crude oil to reflect continued expected market weak-ness near term. Both base case West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent are affected.
“For 2015, Fitch has revised its base case price deck to match its stress case price deck which is $50 per barrel for WTI ($55
Brent). For 2016, the base case price deck for crude has been lowered to $60 for WTI ($65 Brent). This downward revision stems from the potential for a protracted downturn in prices beyond calendar 2015. Long-term base case price deck assump-tions for crude remain unchanged at $75 per barrel for WTI
($80 Brent) which Fitch believes still remains the marginal cost of full cycle production”.
Ultimately, Fitch expects a supply response due to capital ex-penditure cuts that will result in less drilling and cause prices to revert toward Fitch’s long-term base case price assumption.
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The New Petroleum Club
1201 Louisiana Street
The New South View!
10 SIPES-Houston Newsletter | Feb 2015
In mid January, a Montana pipeline burst sending as much as 50,000 gallons of oil into the frozen Yellowstone River. Residents of nearby cities were told not to drink their tap water. A number of agencies have responded but the frozen state of the river
makes cleanup difficult. The last time oil was spilled in the Yel-lowstone river was in 2011 by an Exxon Mobil pipeline. These are always unfortunate events.
Y E L L O W S T O N E R I V E R O I L S P I L L D r i l l I n t o t h e N e w
The new SIPES Houston website is up and running. It can be found at SIPESHOUSTON.ORG Please visit and become acquainted with the new format. You
can pay your dues online, log in, sign up for luncheons, and much more. It’s also smart phone compatible.
Have you logged in yet?
11 SIPES-Houston Newsletter | Feb 2015
The Crude Oil Export Ban In 1975, in reaction to fears of a possible global oil shortage,
Congress placed severe restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports. In 1975, Gerald Ford was the president, Patti Hearst was on
the FBI’s Most Wanted list, and 8-track audio-tapes were considered high technology. All of that has changed, except for the crude oil export ban. It is time for that policy to be relegated to the history books as well.
The need for restrictions on exports of U.S. crude (if it ever really existed in the first place) has long since passed. Thanks to fracking and other innovative production
techniques, America has gone from energy scarcity to energy abundance.
We will soon be the world’s largest oil producer and must have the ability to sell that American-made energy where demand is highest. Exporting U.S. crude will open new mar-kets and spur investment, and a recent study by ICF Inter-national and EnSys Energy concluded that it could result in an estimated increase of 500,000 barrels per day in domestic crude production by 2020.
Consumers have nothing to fear from crude oil exports. The ICF/EnSys study also concluded that adding U.S. crude to the global energy supply would put downward pressure on fuel prices, saving U.S. consumers up to $5.8 billion in fuel
costs from 2015-2035.
Allowing crude oil exports will also provide a tremendous boost to the U.S. economy. The ICF/EnSys study estimates that, in 2020, lifting the outdated crude export ban could add an estimated $38 billion to GDP, increase government reve-nues by $13.5 billion, reduce our trade deficit by $22 billion, and support as many as 300,000 new jobs for American
workers. The crude oil export ban is a relic from a long-gone era that today stands in the way of economic growth, job creation, and more affordable fuel for U.S. consumers. Congress needs to move into the 21st Century and let it go.
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S I P E S M E M B E R S P O T L I G H T
B.K. Buongiorno awarded with a gift from SIPES for her unparalleled work and support within the organization.
New Positions for 2015
Congratulations to these members and thank you for
your service to SIPES.
Chapter Chair Jay Moffitt (713) -750-9485 x 104 [email protected]
Chair Elect James Mertz (281) 205-8141 [email protected]
Membership Chair(s) Chip Betz (713) 658-8096 x 17 [email protected] Patrick McCarthy (713) 650-0311 [email protected] Secretary Russell Hamman (713) 526-7417 [email protected]
Treasurer William Smith (713) 650-3060 [email protected] Continuing Education Chair Kenneth Mallon (713) 524-1754 [email protected] Deal Buyers List Chair Hans Sheline (281) 241-7271 [email protected]
Political Affairs Chair Ross Davis (713) 658-3131 [email protected]
SIPES Houston Chapter, 5535 Memorial Drive, Suite F654, Houston, Texas 77007 Tel: 713-651-1639 Fax: 713-951-9659 www.sipeshouston.org e-mail: [email protected]
Upcoming SIPES Events
Feb 19: SIPES Luncheon @ the new petroleum club, 1201 Loui-siana
Upcoming HGS Events
Visit HGS.org
Science-Based Events in Houston Museum of Natural Science Lectures
March 3rd: Lecture, Medicine Without Evolution is like Engineer-ing Without Physics, Randolph M Nesse University of Houston Free Lectures Feb 10th: Moderated Debate on Private Profit vs. Public Good:
Do Energy Companies Have a Social Responsibility?
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