Alan Clare

Integrated Modeling for Brown Field Reservoir Management, Forties Field, North Sea

Alan Clare, Manager Exploration Technology, Apache Corporation

Formation evaluation and permeability prediction in a highly heterogeneous reservoir – The Kuparuk C-Sand

Daniel T. Georgi

Baker Atlas / INTEQ
Houston Technology Center
Host: M. Peeters

Lyndsay Ball

Orthopyroxene, olivine, and quartz in the Valles Marineris, Mars:Possible evidence for a layered igneous intrusion?

Gillian R. Foulger

Gary Mavko

Dale Bird

Martin Landrø

Future challenges and unexplored methods for 4D seismics

CSM Visiting Professor
Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology (NTNU)

GP581/681 Student Presentations

Geomechanical modeling as a reservoir characterization tool at Rulison Field, Piceance Basin, CO

Remote sensing analysis of alteration mineralogy associated with natural acid rock drainage in the Grizzly Peak Caldera, Sawatch Range, Colorado.

Using outcrops and rock properties to predict geologic facies and fluid presence in deepwater settings

Alan Clare
Manager Exploration Technology, Apache Corporation
January 12, 2006

Integrated Modeling for Brown Field Reservoir Management,
Forties Field, North Sea

Abstract
The keys to making mature assets give up their remaining wealth lie in the equipping of technical staff with the skills, time and tools to efficiently re-evaluate the asset. Fundamental to this is the integrating of the abstract and non-abstract – the assimilation of inherited field lore with new techniques for interpreting and managing the quantitative field data.

Skills can obviously be enhanced by technology. Equipping the geoscientist with the best technology and tools to aid their analytical skills and make them more efficient is essential.

Time, not only to do the everyday tasks more efficiently, but to think creatively is crucial. Workflows in the mid to late 90s to map, model and simulate fields were time consuming and the driver often spent more time under the hood than at the wheel. It permitted little time to do what the geoscientist was employed for, to think and to impart abstract creative expertise into the quantitative, simulated world. The time available to think has, supposedly, increased in direct proportion to computing power and is an area that corporate culture needs to jealously safeguard for its staff.

Biography
Alan Clare is the Manager of Exploration Technology at Apache Corporation in Houston. He has worked in the oil and gas industry for the past 16 years as an exploration and development geologist with ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Apache Corporation. As part of his role in the Apache Technology group he has been responsible for building an integrated reservoir model for the Forties Field in the UK sector of the North Sea.

James D. Klein
ConocoPhillips and
President, SPWLA
January 19, 2006

Formation Evaluation and Permeability Prediction in a
Highly Heterogeneous Reservoir – The Kuparuk C-Sand

Abstract
The Kuparuk River Field on the North Slope of Alaska is one of the largest oil accumulations in North America. Approximately one-third of the OOIP is contained in the C-sands, which are shallow marine sandstones, characterized by intense bioturbation and complex diagenesis. Siderite content is extremely variable, leading to large variations in permeability. Interpretation of wireline logs in these sands for mineralogy, porosity, and water saturation is relatively straightforward, provided the siderite and glauconite content and core heterogeneity are taken into consideration. Developing a realistic permeability log is more difficult due to extreme scatter in porosity-permeability cross plots. Deterministic porosity-permeability transforms are poor predictors, since the results do not replicate the extreme scatter present in the core data. Recent efforts at field description have required re-evaluation of the permeability model, with a need for predicted properties that could be scaled up in a straightforward fashion for use populating a geocellular model. A new method for the prediction of permeability based on random selection of values of core bulk density from sub-groups of the bulk density log (RHOB) and petrofacies was developed. For each half-foot log depth, selection of core bulk density points is repeated until the density averaged over a sliding window matches the RHOB within 0.05 g/cc. The values of core porosity and permeability that correspond to the selected value of core bulk density are then selected as the final result at each depth point. The method duplicates the statistical distributions of the core porosity and permeability values for every half-foot. We upscaled from 0.5 ft sample increment to 1 and 2 ft increments. The upscaled permeability values match permeability thikness product (kH) based on core-plug data. The values are also consistent with kH determined from maximum flow rates observed in a large number of wells. Given the match with other measures of permeability, the upscaled permeability values were deemed satisfactory for use in the geo-cellular model.

Biography
James D. Klein is a Principal Petrophysicist with ConocoPhillips in Houston, Texas. He joined ConocoPhillips in 2000, after working 17 years for ARCO. He studied geophysics in school, obtaining his B.S. in 1970 from the Colorado School of Mines, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Utah in 1977 and 1980. He has worked on electrical geophysical methods for hydrocarbon and minerals exploration, and petrophysical characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs for equity determination, reserve estimation, and field development and operations. He has carried out research and technology development in resistivity logging and modeling, electrical rock property measurement and interpretation, through-casing resistivity logging, evaluation of thin-bedded reservoirs using electrical anisotropy, and NMR logging and laboratory studies. He has co-authored 5 patents and is currently president of SPWLA.

David Benson
Assoc. Professor of Hydrogeology
CSM Dept. Geology & Geological Engineering
January 26, 2006

A few topics in fractional calculus that a geophysicist
might find interesting

Abstract
Fractional derivatives, and especially fractional-order PDEs, describe systems that are driven by extreme values. This is often found in the field of hydrology, where surface flows or subsurface velocities may span many orders-of-magnitude.  The extreme values are also characteristic of random fractals with fat-tailed probability distributions that are common in the earth sciences. Maybe of more interest to the geophysicist is the fact that the most useful type of fractional time derivative was invented in the '60s (no wonder) by a geophysicist named Michel Caputo, who was trying to describe the extremely long relaxation times in viscoelastic material.

Biography
David Benson
1985 B.S. Geology (Geophysics Emphasis) New Mexico State University
1992 M.S. Hydrogeology, San Diego State University
1998 Ph.D. Hydrogeology, University of Nevada, Reno (UNR)

1998 - 2005 Post-Doc to Assoc. Professor, Desert Research Institute and UNR
2005 - present Assoc. Professor, Colorado School of Mines, G&G

Daniel T. Georgi
Baker Atlas / INTEQ
Houston Technology Center
February 2, 2006

NMR Contributions to Petrophysics

Abstract
Nearly 50 years ago petrophysicists added Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, NMR, measurements to their arsenal of tools for characterizing rock and fluid properties. Generally, petrophysicists are not interested in the NMR properties of either rocks or fluids, but use those properties to infer properties of interest such as permeability. In the laboratory and downhole, NMR physicists typically measure relaxation T 1 and T 2, spectra and relate them to common rock properties, including porosity, surface-to-volume ratios, clay bound and irreducible water, permeability and grain size. For reservoir fluids the spectra can be related to diffusion and viscosity and the laboratory and downhole data are used to identify hydrocarbon type and saturation as well as the fluid’s diffusivity and viscosity.

Volumetric information on porosity, bound water, and free water volumes are generally available from standard NMR log data. However, hydrocarbon identification, characterization and saturation require special acquisition schemes and “heavy” processing. Further, the NMR information is collected from the near borehole, flushed zone, and, hence, it is critical to consider the effect of drilling mud filtrate on the rock and formation fluid properties. Even if the rock properties are not changed the hydrocarbons of interest are typically flushed to residual saturation levels. When drilled with Oil Based Mud, formation hydrocarbon fluids will likely be some miscible combination.

The new generation of NMR tools are run with a variety of acquisition modes and the data are processed with specialized algorithms to extract desired petrophysical information. These techniques are fine tuned to effectively deal with the small signal in the presence of noise. The new interpretation techniques have evolved significantly from the old approach of “one-echo train to one T 2 spectrum” to simultaneously inversion of multiple echo trains based on improved modeling of the NMR response to multiple fluids for different magnetic field gradients, data acquisition parameters and logging environments. Furthermore, the new interpretation techniques are no-longer narrowly based on conventional one-dimensional T 2 spectrum but view the fluid properties in multiple (parameter-domain) dimensions including T 1, apparent and intrinsic T 2, and diffusivity, which significantly increase the robustness of NMR-based fluid typing. Finally, we are moving beyond stand alone NMR interpretation and integrating NMR data with conventional log data to improve reservoir description and reduce reservoir description uncertainties.

Biography
Dan Georgi is an active member of both SPE and SPWLA. He was president of the SPWLA in 2003-2004. In addition, he has participated in numerous SPWLA and SPE workshops and topical conferences and organized the NMR short course at the 1995 Paris SPWLA symposium. He has authored and co-authored numerous technical publications. In 1989 and 1992, he received the Canadian Well Logging Society award for best presentation, and in 1992, he was an SPWLA distinguished lecturer.

Dan moved from the academic world of Columbia University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to Exxon Production Research Company in 1981. In 1986, he transferred to Esso Resources Canada (now Imperial Oil) and worked in both operations and research. In 1991, Dan joined Core Laboratories, then a division of Western Atlas International, and in 1993, he moved to Western Atlas Logging Services which is now a part of Baker Hughes. Dan is currently the Director of Science at INTEQ/Baker Atlas Technology Center in Houston. He is also responsible for the NMR Program. During his 25+ years in the oil industry Dan has been involved with tool development, interpretation development, core-log integration and reservoir evaluation of conventional, shallow gas, fractured formations, and heavy oil reservoirs. He has published extensively on many formation evaluation topics but most recently on permeability and permeability anisotropy as well as multiphase flow in horizontal wells.

Lyndsay Ball
Project Chief
USGS Nebraska Water Science Center
February 9, 2006

Determination of Canal Leakage Potential Using Continuous Resistivity Profiling Techniques in Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming

Abstract
In the North Platte River Basin, a ground-water model is being developed to evaluate the effectiveness of using leakage of water from selected irrigation canal systems to enhance ground-water recharge. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the North Platte Natural Resources District, used land-based capacitively coupled and water-borne direct-current continuous resistivity profiling techniques were used to map the lithology of the upper 8 meters and to interpret the relative canal leakage potential of 110 kilometers of the Interstate and Tri-State Canals in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming. Lithologic descriptions from 25 test holes were used to evaluate the effectiveness of both techniques for indicating relative grain size. An interpretive color scale was developed that symbolizes contrasting resistivity features indicative of different grain-size categories. The color scale was applied to the vertically averaged resistivity and used to classify areas of the canal as having either high, moderate, or low canal leakage potential.

When results were compared with the lithologic descriptions, both land-based and water-borne continuous resistivity profiling techniques were determined to be effective at differentiating coarse-grained sediments from fine-grained sediments. Both techniques were useful for producing independent, similar interpretations of canal leakage potential.

Biography
Lyndsay Ball received a B.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in Land Resources from Virginia Tech in 2003. Prior to completing her undergraduate degree, she began her career in hydrology as a seasonal hydrologic technician with the U.S. Forest Service Alaska Region. In 2003, she became a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). She has been dedicated to applied geophysics for the past two years, primarily using electrical methods to characterize shallow aquifer systems. Currently, Lyndsay is the project chief of the geophysical program at the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center and plans to pursue a M.S. in hydrology and geophysics beginning in the fall of 2006.

Masami Nakagawa
CSM, Department of Mining Engineering
February 16, 2006

Abstract
Neil Armstrong described the Moon as a beach of fine powders. Material and mechanical properties of fine powders under terrestrial environment is an on-going active research area. However, the same cannot be said in terms of dust (or fine lunar soil particles) research in space exploration. In this talk, we will discuss micrometeorites bombardments that are responsible for producing very fine cohesive lunar dust and its consequences on machine performance and safety of astronauts. We will also discuss the importance of conducting scientific/validation experiments under realistic lunar environment. We will close this talk by discussing dust mitigation strategies that are based on micromechanical observations of the behavior of fine particles.

Biography
Masami Nakagawa received his B.S and M.S in Mechanics at the University of Minnesota and his PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University. After graduation from Cornell, he joined Tohoku University in Japan. During his four years of tenure there he conducted research on snow avalanches and molecular dynamic simulations. He then moved back to New Mexico to join a non-profit research organization “New Mexico Resonance” to work on non-invasive MRI measurements of granular flows. He enjoyed his four years with that group. After a brief stay at Sandia National Laboratories, he moved to Colorado School of Mines in 1996. It has already been 10 years since he moved to Golden, and he realizes that this is the longest stretch of time he and his family have stayed in one place. He has had various funded research projects in the past, but the most memorable is his latest $15M NASA “Project Dust” awarded in April of 2005. The Project Dust disappeared rather quickly but the importance of dust research for the Moon and Mars Exploration has not disappeared. He is still very passionate about this topic.

Victoria E. Hamilton
Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
University of Hawai'i
February 23, 2006

Orthopyroxene, olivine, and quartz in the Valles Marineris, Mars:
Possible evidence for a layered igneous intrusion?

Abstract
The Valles Marineris is a ~3000 km-long, up to 8 km deep, canyon system on Mars that exhibits evidence for formation and modification by both tectonic and aqueous processes. Mariner and Viking images showed that the upper ~0.5 km of the Valles Marineris wall rock contains layered materials. The presence of meter-scale, extensive layered materials in the lower wall rocks was revealed more recently by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. Based on geomorphology, the origin of these layers generally has been assumed to be sedimentary (aeolian, lacustrine, or air fall deposits), the result of millennia of extrusive igneous activity in the Tharsis region, or some combination of these processes. One recent investigation [Williams et al., 2003] proposed that this layering might also originate from intrusive igneous activity related to volcanism in the Tharsis volcanic/tectonic province, which is transected by several of the Valles Marineris canyons. Mineralogical data from the MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and 2001 Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) have revealed the presence of globally rare materials rich in olivine, orthopyroxene, and felsic minerals within an area approximately 150 km long by 30 km wide (~4500 km 2) in one of the canyons. The association of these mineralogies might be explained by unrelated episodes of igneous activity, or by the magmatic differentiation and crystal fractionation characteristic of a layered igneous intrusion, which has interesting implications for the possible presence of economically valuable deposits. I will discuss the composition and distribution of the materials in the Valles Marineris and present evidence for and against the origin of these materials as part of a layered igneous intrusion.

Biography
Vicky Hamilton received her Bachelor's degree in Geology at Occidental College ( Los Angeles) in 1993, writing a thesis on the geology and evolution of the Hecate Chasma corona/fracture belt on Venus. She received her Ph.D. in Geology in 1998 from Arizona State University based on her work modeling the thermal infrared spectroscopy of pyroxene minerals, Martian meteorites, and mafic igneous rocks. She stayed on at ASU until 2002 as a postdoctoral researcher, faculty research associate, and visiting assistant professor, studying the mineralogy of Mars via data collected by two thermal infrared spectrometers currently orbiting Mars. In the fall of 2002, she joined the faculty at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she has overseen the installation of a thermal infrared emission/reflectance spectroscopy laboratory, and continued her research into the mineralogy of Mars, focusing on olivine-, orthopyroxene- and felsic-rich terrains, as well as searching for the source regions of the Martian meteorites. Laboratory research projects include the visible through infrared spectroscopy of basaltic tephras, altered tephras, igneous glasses, meteorites, meteorite fusion crusts, and olivines. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets, and sits on the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) Science Council responsible for overseeing the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX.

Gillian R. Foulger
Professor of Geophysics
University of Durham, England
March 2 , 2006

No Plume Beneath Iceland

Abstract
The assumption that the North Atlantic Igneous Province and the Iceland "hot spot" are products of a plume head and tail, sourced in the deep mantle, is fundamental to the plume hypothesis and to widely accepted geodynamic theories, but is incompatible with current knowledge. The predictions of the plume hypothesis regarding crustal and upper mantle structure of the volcanic margins, Iceland, and the intervening oceans have been falsified by recent experiments. Multiple seismic tomographic and receiver-function studies of the Iceland region find strong evidence that the low-velocity anomaly there is confined to the upper mantle. Oceanic crust produced close to the hypothesized plume is thin, not thick. Lower crustal magmatic bodies assumed to be underplated by the plume predate the arrival of the hypothetical plume. A competing model can explain the high melt productivity along this part of the mid-Atlantic ridge.

Biography
Seismologist Gillian Foulger led a multinational consortium that deployed in Iceland the largest regional broadband seismometer network ever installed in the world to that time. Her other seismological research includes 4-D tomography of the Coso geothermal area in California. She is the co-ordinator of the current debate on whether deep mantle thermal plumes exist, which has been described as the most important controversy in geoscience today. She manages the impartial website, www.mantleplumes.org, which has major contributions from more than 200 scientists worldwide. She has edited a major book on the controversy and has another underway. Foulger was awarded the 2005 Price Medal [for geophysics and planetary science] of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Gary Mavko
SEG Spring 2006 Distinguished Lecture
March 9, 2006

Abstract
Over the last decades enormous strides have been made to understand the relations between the physical properties of reservoir rocks and their geophysical signatures -- the science now known as Rock Physics. We have gradually discovered more and more order in relations that once appeared disappointingly scattered, for example, velocity vs. porosity, porosity vs. permeability, Vp/Vs vs. saturation and lithology.

Rock Physics models now allow us to quantify many of the elastic and inelastic signatures of rocks in terms of the rock composition, pore and grain texture, fluid saturations, and stress. However, even with these advances, we always have many more reservoir parameters than independent seismic measurements—even with shear wave-related attributes like AVO and Elastic Impedance.

A powerful strategy for minimizing the resulting interpretation uncertainty and risk is to develop means to quantify and incorporate geologic constraints into the Rock Physics models. We do this by modeling seismic amplitudes in terms of sedimentary parameters that control reservoir quality, and that also are consistent with the conventional geologic interpretation. Textural parameters that impact both reservoir quality and elastic (seismic) signatures include mineralogy, grain size, sorting, cement, and shaliness. Hence, these are the key parameters linking the depositional processes and their seismic signatures.

In this presentation we will discuss how depositional and post-depositional processes in various geologic settings can be related to velocity, density, and Vp/Vs ratio. An array of robust models including elastic bounds, contact theory, and empirical relations, allow us to quantify and predict seismic signatures associated with plausible geologic trends.

Some of the keys have been to explore effects of pore pressure, stress, temperature, clay content, compaction, fluid type, and saturation.

Biography
Gary Mavko received a B.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in geophysics from Stanford University. He spent six years at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California. In 1984, he joined Entropic Geophysical, a seismic processing contractor, as a research geophysicist and eventually became Entropic's vice president for Research. Dr. Mavko returned to Stanford University in 1989 where he is an associate professor in the Department of Geophysics and co-director of the Stanford Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics Project. His research and teaching interests include understanding the physical role of pore fluids on seismic velocity and attenuation and developing processing and interpretation techniques for both reflection and crosswell seismic data. His current focus is to develop ways for rock physics knowledge to help bridge the gaps between seismic methods, interpretation, reservoir flow simulations, and geostatistics.

Barbara Romanowicz
Director, Berkeley Seismological Lab, UCB
March 16, 2006

Abstract
The observation of continuously excited free oscillations of the Earth, in the absence of earthquakes, was first made by Japanese scientists in 1998. Since then, attention has focused on elucidating the physical mechanism responsible for them. The mechanism must be shallow, as fundamental modes appear to be preferentially excited and the observed amplitudes show seasonal variability.

We have developed an array-based method to detect and locate sources of the hum, using a propagating wave approach, the dispersive properties of Rayleigh waves and data from two large aperture arrays of very long period seismometers, in California and in Japan. We have shown that, for each array, there is a well defined preferential direction, which is stable over one season but changes significantly from winter to summer. The fluctuations as a function of time of the maximum stack amplitudes are correlated across the two arrays and point to the northern Pacific ocean in the northern hemisphere winter and the southern Oceans in the
summer, correlating with the temporal fluctuations in the distribution of maximum wave height on the global scale. We have inferred that the background oscillations originate primarily in the oceans, and are caused by a non-linear coupling mechanism involving the atmosphere
(winds), the oceans (infragravity waves) and the seafloor (Rhie and Romanowicz, 2004).

Further analysis of several particularly large North Pacific storms indicates that a given ocean storm can produce a series of relatively weak seismic sources, and that the coupling occurs most likely when the ocean waves reach the continental shelf, by interaction with the complex ocean floor topography. We show in particular that the Rayleigh waves produced can be
followed deep inside the north American continent. We also show how the "hum" relates to the so-called "micro-seismic noise" which is omnipresent in the period band 1-15 sec.

References: J. Rhie and B. Romanowicz (2004) Excitation of earth's incessant free
oscillations by Atmosphere-Ocean-Seafloor coupling, Nature, 431, 552-556.

J. Rhie and B. Romanowicz (2006) A study of the relation between ocean storms
and the earth's hum, G-cubed, submitted.

Biography
I was educated at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France and hold a masters' degree in pure mathematics - then went to the Institut de Physique du Globe (also in Paris) where I got a PhD in Geophysics. My career has been spent going back and forth across the Atlantic. After a 2 year post-doc at MIT I took a position at CNRS and deployed the first global broadband seismic network, GEOSCOPE. In 1991 I accepted the position of Director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and have been on the faculty in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science since then as well. I have been chair of EPS since 2002.

I investigate deep earth structure and dynamics using seismological tools: elastic and anelastic seismic tomography; waveform modelling of mantle and core phases; wave propagation in complex heterogeneous and anisotropic media; earth's normal modes and surface waves. Recently, I have also started working on coupling phenomena between the solid earth and the fluid envelopes such as expressed in the earth's "hum". I also have an interest in earthquake processes and scaling laws, real time estimation of earthquake parameters, the development of modern broadband seismic and geophysical observatories on land and in the oceans and finally, planetary seismology.

Dale Bird
Bird Geophysical
March 30, 2006

Abstract
Interpreted hotspot tracks in the deepest part of the western Gulf of Mexico basin are identified from structural highs that were mapped by integrating seismic refraction and gravity data. A Late Jurassic mantle plume may have generated these tracks on the North American plate and Yucatan block as the Gulf of Mexico opened (ca. 150 Ma). The proposed hotspot tracks are associated with high-amplitude, distinctive gravity anomalies that provide the basis for a kinematic reconstruction that restores the western ends of the hotspot tracks with a 20 ° clockwise rotation of the Yucatan block, or almost one-half the total rotation required to open the Gulf of Mexico basin. The duration of track generation is estimated to have been about 8 to 10 My, or almost one-half the total time required to open the Gulf of Mexico basin.

Prior to extension related to seafloor spreading, extension of continental crust over a 10 to 12 My interval was the result of approximately 22 ° of counterclockwise rotation and crustal thinning. Autochthonous salt appears to be confined to the continental flanks of the hotspot tracks confirming that salt was deposited during continental extension and not after ocean floor had begun to form. The prominent gravity anomaly along the western boundary of the basin is thought to be produced by a marginal ridge, which was created along the ocean-continent transform boundary as the basin opened. The eastern flank of this marginal ridge, and the northernmost, easternmost, and southernmost terminations of the hotspot tracks, are interpreted to coincide with the oceanic-continental crustal boundary in the basin.

Biography
Dale Bird served in the 1st Military Intelligence Battalion, U.S. Army, from 1976 to 1979. In Houston his first job was with Aero Service (1981) as a data processor, and his experience since has included positions with Digicon Inc., Marathon Oil Company, World Geoscience, and Aerodat. In 1997 he established Bird Geophysical. While working, Dale has earned three degrees in geophysics from the University of Houston: BS in 1986, MS in 1991, and Ph.D. in 2004. He is a licensed Texas Professional Geoscientist and a member of several professional organizations including: AAPG, AGU, EAGE, GSA, GSH, HGS, SEG, UHGAA, and the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA).

Martin Landrø
Department of Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics
Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology (NTNU)
April 6, 2006

Abstract
Two major challenges that 4D seismic analysis will face in the next decade are to make it work for carbonate reservoirs and to extract production related information from 4D data sets where the signal to noise ratio is low. In order to meet these challenges we have to test various methods. Some of these opportunities will be discussed in this talk: The need for new and innovative rock physics measurements, especially to gain more insight into how varying stress conditions influence the seismic parameters. How to couple the reservoir fluid flow simulator with 4D data, and furthermore how the geomechanical modeling should be coupled to the time-lapse seismic data in an optimal way. Recent 4D studies from compacting reservoirs have revealed that we have to study the overburden rocks as well as the reservoir itself, and therefore there is a need to increase our insight into geomechanical changes. New methods for 4D analysis, such as for instance increased exploitation of the seismic long offset information are discussed. New directions might be to constrain the 4D analysis with other measurements such as electromagnetic sea bed logging or high precision gravimetric measurements. The focus on high repeatable data will probably continue, although the dramatic improvements in seismic repeatability we have seen in the last decade, is expected to be more moderate in the future. Shot generated noise and weather generated noise are some of the reasons for assuming that this will happen.

Biography
Martin Landrø has been a professor of applied geophysics at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, since 1998. He has held research positions with SERES (86-89), SINTEF Petroleum (89-93) and Statoil (96-98). He was section manager at SINTEF Petroleum from 93-96. He was selected as Distinguished Lecturer EAGE in 97, and received the EAGE Petroleum Geoscience award 2000 for best paper. He was coordinator of the EU-project ATLASS (Analysis of Time LapSe Seismic data). The participants were NTNU and Delft Universities, ENI-Agip, Norsk Hydro, Shell, Statoil and CGG. Currently, he is project leader of the strategic university programme improved overburden and reservoir characterization, combining seismics and rock physics, which is sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council. He has supervised more than 30 diploma students, and currently is supervising six PhD students, working on various geophysical themes such as lithology and fluid prediction from seismic data, pressure prediction from seismic data, time lapse seismic, gravimetric reservoir monitoring and carbonate seismics. He was a member of the Scientific Committee of the SEG Production and Development Forum, Taos, New Mexico, 24-29 June 2001. In 2001, he received the Best Paper in Geophysics award. He was selected Esso Distinguished Lecturer in Australia 2003, and is an associate editor in Geophysics. He received the Norwegian Geophysical award in 2004. Martin is currently a visiting professor at the CSM Department of Geophysics.

David Stillman
CSM Ph.D. Candidate, Geophysics
April 13, 2006

Abstract
Over the past decade, much has been learned about the surface of Mars; however, the subsurface of Mars still remains a mystery. Many surfaces on Mars are buried by aeolian deposits or coated with dust and thus hidden from traditional imaging methods. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has the potential to image beneath these layers to give geological context to drilling targets, locate potential subsurface rover hazards, investigate stratigraphy, and most importantly, image subsurface water. The discovery of Martian subsurface aquifers has significant implications for a manned mission to Mars and could reveal important clues about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The Martian subsurface appears to be a good radar environment because typical temperatures are below the freezing point of water and the low concentrations of surface clays and near surface water. However, GPR depth of penetration is extremely dependent on the EM properties of the subsurface which include dielectric permittivity, magnetic permeability, and DC resistivity. Martian soil has a mineralogical composition that is unlike the majority of soils seen on Earth. Furthermore, a magnetic dust layer blankets nearly every surface on the planet. Consequently, attenuation mechanisms such as dielectric and magnetic relaxations losses could cause significant attenuation of radar energy. Dielectric and magnetic relaxations can also be temperature dependent, which is significant since the average temperature on Mars is 213 K with planetary diurnal variations ranging from 154 – 300 K.

In order to understand the affect of EM losses on GPR depth of penetration on Mars, the EM properties of Martian analog samples were measured versus frequency and temperature using an HP8753D vector network analyzer. The measurements were also acquired versus temperature over a range of 180 – 300 K to simulate the Martian environment. Results from these measurements yielded several significant EM relaxations in Martian analog minerals that had never been observed before prior to this study. Grey hematite was found to possess a large temperature dielectric relaxation with a relaxation frequency observed at 230 and 450 MHz at 213 K. Magnetite was found to possess a temperature independent magnetic relaxation with a relaxation frequency at 200, 540, and 580 MHz.

Biography
David E. Stillman graduated in 2000 with a BS in geophysics from Colorado School of Mines. He remained at Mines to pursue his doctorate degree in geophysics and is currently studying the electromagnetic properties of Mars under Dr. Gary Olhoeft. David has completed a diverse list of internships including work in the fields of oil exploration, environmental, remote sensing, and space exploration. After finishing his degree, David plans to pursue his passion for space exploration and hopes some day to be interpreting near surface geophysical data from Mars, the Moon, and Europa.

Shannon Higgins
CSM MSc. Candidate, Geophysics
April 13, 2006

Abstract
Geomechanics is a powerful reservoir characterization tool. Geomechanical modeling is used here to understand how the in-situ earth stresses relate to the geologic, production and completion practices of Rulison Field, Piceance Basin, Colorado. A one-dimensional geomechanical model is built for four wells combining rock strength, static elastic moduli, stress magnitudes, pore pressure and stress direction. Empirical correlations are developed to derive rock strength and static elastic parameters from well logs in tight gas plays. Through wellbore simulation, input parameters are validated and unknown inputs are calculated. The results of the modeling provide continuous strength and stress profiles for Rulison field. These profiles provide insight into the relationship between natural and hydraulic fractures, optimal well placement, completion strategies and hydraulic fracture design. Geomechanical modeling is used to better understand and characterize a tight gas field.

Biography
Shannon was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She received her B.S. degree in geomechanics from the University of Rochester in 2000. There she also played women’s basketball for four years and went participated in two Division III final four tournaments. Shannon has had numerous internships in the oil, environmental and civil engineering industries. Shannon hopes to finish her Master’s degree in May and will start working with Schlumberger Data and Consulting Services in Denver.

Donny Keighley
CSM MSc. Candidate, Geophysics
April 13, 2006

Abstract
Time lapse seismic data is currently playing a crucial role in the monitoring and development of oil and gas fields throughout the world. Until recently, it has primarily been used only where large changes are expected; however, if successful it could be valuable in other fields. One application where it could prove valuable in the future is in monitoring production from tight gas sand reservoirs. Typically these reservoirs have micro-Darcy permeability and are only economically productive due to the presence of natural and artificial fractures. Unfortunately, finding natural fractures is very difficult because of their small scale. Time lapse monitoring could aid in producing these fields in two ways: first, by locating productive zones so that depleted zones can be avoided in the future, and second by identifying productive zones so that they can be characterized and similar ones can be targeted in the future.

Biography
Donny is originally from Cincinnati, OH and moved to Golden in 2000, primarily because he enjoys skiing and hiking. He earned his undergraduate degree from CSM in 2004 and has been studying with the Reservoir Characterization Project since then. He has interned with Oxy and Cheveron, and following his graduation (hopefully) this year he plans to work for EnCana in Denver.

David Coulter
CSM PhD Candidate, Geophysics
April 27, 2006

Abstract
Two hydrothermally altered zones within the Grizzly Peak Caldera generate acid drainage that is not associated with significant historic or modern mining. These systems are characterized and mapped with high spectral and spatial resolution airborne imaging spectroscopy. The data, covering the wavelengths of 440 nanometers to 2440 nanometers at 2.5 meter ground resolution, are used to map iron minerals associated with the weathering of pyrite and clays associated with hydrothermal alteration. A new optimization method for generating semi-quantitative mineralogy is discussed and demonstrated on the airborne data. The results are presented as mineral mixture maps and mineral ratios that accurately target acid sources within the systems.

Biography
David Coulter earned a B.S in Geology from Kent State University and an M.S in Geological Engineering from the University of Arizona. From 1983 to 2001 he was employed by Newmont Mining Corporation where his primary responsibilities included remote sensing and image processing research and development and applied remote sensing support to exploration operations. After leaving Newmont he focused on the use of ASTER satellite imagery for mineralogical mapping and participated as a collaborative researcher for a NASA funded Colorado Geological Survey study of natural and anthropogenic acid drainage. At Colorado School of Mines, his Ph.D. research has focused on the mapping of hydrothermal and supergene alteration minerals associated with naturally occurring acid drainage using airborne imaging spectroscopy. His general research interests include quantitative remote sensing, the application of signal processing methods to remote sensing, and remote sensing field methods.

Michael Rumon
CSM MSc Candidate, Geophysics
April 27, 2006

Abstract
The Reservoir Characterization Project at the Colorado School of Mines has collected two dedicated nine-component time-lapse surveys over a tight-gas reservoir in Western Colorado. The surveys were completed at Rulison Field, which is located in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado. The idea behind the use of dedicated time-lapse surveys is to monitor changes in the reservoir that occur between the two surveys. Reservoir changes are attributed to the production of gas. The dedicated surveys were completed in the fall of 2003 and 2004, with 11 months passing between the surveys.The goal of my ongoing research is to monitor gas production and pressure depletion in a complex, unconventional reservoir. By monitoring productive zones and drainage areas, drilling, completion, and recompletions zones can be identified to improve hydrocarbon recovery efficiency. My research focuses on the use of shear wave seismic data as a tool for monitoring time-lapse changes in a challenging and potentially rewarding hydrocarbon asset. Shear waves have the potential to increase our understanding of reservoir complexities and control on production.

Biography
Michael Rumon joined the Reservoir Characterization Project in January of 2005. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Geophysics. He also completed his undergraduate degree at Mines in geophysical engineering. Michael was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before coming to Colorado in 2000 to begin his undergraduate program. His future plans include beginning a geophysical career in the oil and gas industry, focusing on exploration and reservoir characterization. He has accepted a job in Denver with Encana after graduating.

Eldar Guliyev
CSM MSc Candidate, Geophysics
April 27, 2006

Abstract
In the regions of complex geology such as Rulison field, Colorado incorporation of additional tools is required for reservoir characterization, monitoring and production enhancement. Such a tool is Vp/Vs extracted directly from seismic. I have developed and tested an algorithm, which will ensure correct and high resolution Vp/Vs ratio, extracted from multicomponent seismic data and calibrated with well log data.

Biography
Eldar Guliyev was born and raised in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. After high school graduation he was accepted by Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. After two years in the geology department, he decided to change his major to geophysics. Eldar received his BS degree in 2001 and his first MS degree in geophysics in 2003. After that he served an internership with BP and then was employed by SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan). After serving military duty for six months, he came to the Colorado School of Mines to earn his second master's degree in geophysics, where he is a student with the Reservoir Characterization Project.

Xiaoxia Xu
CSM PhD Candidate, Geophysics
May 4, 2006

Abstract
I will discuss a moveout-based algorithm for geometrical-spreading correction designed to compute the azimuthally varying reflection coefficient from wide-azimuth seismic data. The spreading factor for horizontally layered, azimuthally anisotropic media is computed using a 3D nonhyperbolic moveout equation. Full-waveform synthetic modeling confirms that the developed spreading correction can handle strongly anisotropic overburden that may include layers of orthorhombic symmetry. Since the method operates directly with the effective moveout parameters, it does not require knowledge of the velocity model.

Biography
Prior to joining Colorado School of Mines in 2002 to pursue a PhD degree, Xiaoxia received a BS in applied geophysics from the Petroleum University of China and an MS in geology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After graduation, she plans to join the Upstream Research Lab of ExxonMobil to work on fracture detection.

Kathleen Baker
CSM MSc Candidate, Geophysics
May 4, 2006

Abstract
Understanding deepwater reservoir structure plays a key role in reducing economic risk in deepwater drilling and production. It is well known that fluid content and lithology impact seismic signature along with many other variables such as seismic frequency, pressure, temperature, and depth of burial. The use of deepwater outcrops, application of sequence stratigraphy, and calibration by local rock and fluid properties may improve our quantitative seismic interpretation. This process utilizes tools from various disciplines to attempt to differentiate these things that impact seismic signature. This work is useful because it provides a methodology that integrates tools of various disciplines to improve accuracy of reservoir characterization and enhance performance prediction. As a result, we reduce risk and cost of drilling in these deepwater settings.

Acknowledgments
Thanks to partial support of the Department of Energy (DOE) and Paradigm Geophysical, well logs provided by Fred Hilterman. Thanks to Ronny Hoffman and Trey Meckel for valuable discussions. TGS and BHP Billiton for Seismic and Well log data. 1

Biography
Kathleen Baker is from Denver, Colorado and received her Bachelor of Science in Geophysics from Colorado School of Mines in 2003. After a brief trip to Japan she returned to study geophysics at the master's level. She recently finished the master's thesis and plans to move to Houston to work for Chevron Oil company. In her spare time she like to travel, ski and snowboard, ballroom dance and watch movies.

Matthew Silbernagel
CSM MSc Candidate, Geophysics
May 4, 2006

Abstract
Extracting fluids from the pore space in a reservoir or aquifer transfers the stress burden to the remaining solids, sometimes to such a degree that notable compaction of the matrix occurs. This reduction in pore volume, in return, alters pore fluid pressures. Secondary fluid movement results as the fluid pressures equilibrate, and this coupled loop iterates.

Sharp contrasts in geomechanical properties combined with poorly managed pumping schemes give rise to steep pressure gradients and large strains that may lead to irrevocable fissuring, lowering of the ground surface, disruption of subsurface fluid flow, and possible failure of infrastructural elements. In an attempt to quantitatively predict both the vertical compaction and the horizontal stretching associated with changing subsurface fluid flow, I have developed a poroelastic (Biot) finite element model that bidirectionally couples fluid pressure to compaction. I apply this model to a field application with the goal of folding the results into criteria for predicting changes in stress fields and tying the analysis to geophysical data.

Biography
Matthew Silbernagel joined the Reservoir Characterization Project and the Center for Rock Abuse at the Colorado School of Mines after earning bachelor degrees in geological engineering, geology & geophysics from the University of Wisconsin. Matt has held various positions in the geophysical engineering industry as well as with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in remediation geotechnics. Matt enjoys working as a teaching fellow in 8th grade science and engineering classrooms through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. This summer he will lead workshops on applied geophysics and engineering for K-12 teachers.