INTRODUCTION
Please allow me to introduce a short presentation about my applied carbonate seminar. I am offering this seminar on a private basis, to be presented either at your offices or at a nearby facility.
This highly-rated seminar will provide the training needed by any geoscientist or engineer involved in carbonate exploration or development geology projects. Each participant will come away from this seminar energized with a much-enhanced understanding of carbonate sequences, and with new approaches that can be applied in their daily work.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could forward this on to those personnel within your company who make decisions regarding training of employees. Thank you very much – Jeff Dravis.
CARBONATE RESERVOIRS
Carbonate rocks (limestones and dolostones) contain major oil
and gas deposits throughout the world:
Discovering carbonate plays is predicated on a sound understanding of the key controls that govern their occurrence and distribution, for a given geological period. Seismic is but one part of the equation.
In addition, existing carbonate reservoirs can be exploited if one understands the basic play relationships, how these reservoirs are organized into depositional cycles, and how porosity and permeability relate to depositional facies and cyclicity.
PURPOSE
The purpose of my seminar is to introduce participants to established principles of carbonate sedimentology, as they apply to hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. Hydrocarbon play relationships associated with both shallow- and deep-marine sequences are emphasized in this seminar, while stressing the interrelationship between reservoir, source, seal and trapping mechanism. How one zones (models) a carbonate reservoir to more effectively extract oil and gas, is discussed as well. Numerous case studies are presented and evaluated.
APPROACH
I teach this seminar with the basic premise that to predict or exploit carbonate plays, or even interpret seismic data and wells logs in the subsurface, one needs a sound understanding of carbonate depositional systems (facies) and potential pathways for porosity and permeability evolution (diagenesis). You need at least some experience with the rocks!
I have designed a five-day seminar that utilizes a sample-based lecture and exercise format. The seminar includes various rock description/interpretation exercises, a real exploration core problem with a suite of logs, and a stratigraphic-facies correlation exercise. Exercises are tied to ten identical rock sets, comprised of fifty-six (56) samples from around the world, which reinforce principles presented in lectures.
WHO IS THIS SEMINAR FOR?
This seminar is intended for geologists, geophysicists, petrophysicists, reservoir engineers and managers working, or planning to work, carbonate sequences. This is an excellent refresher course for those who have been away from carbonate projects for a while. Geologists with siliciclastic backgrounds working mixed carbonate and siliciclastic sequences benefit from this course as well.
After this seminar, each participant will be able to describe and classify typical carbonate rocks, interpret facies relationships, delineate stratigraphic sequences and correlate facies within them, evaluate reservoir quality in limestones and dolostones, and better understand subsurface carbonate play relationships.
Participants will be able to more confidently initiate carbonate projects or evaluate carbonate prospects brought to them.
WHY A PRIVATE SEMINAR?
There are several benefits to conducting a private version of this seminar in your office, or in a nearby facility:
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
This seminar has been presented 136 times to industry, either on a private basis, or in a public format open to all companies.
Private versions of this seminar have been presented to Tenneco, Conoco (6 times), BP Canada, BHP, Chevron, Exxon USA, Canadian Hunter Ltd., Union Pacific Resources, Marathon Oil, ADNOC, Chesapeake Energy (9 times), Occidental Oil & Gas (6 times), Baker Hughes (8 times), Apache, Southwestern Energy (3 times), PEMEX, Suncor Energy, Devon Canada, Talisman Energy, Penn West, Husky Energy, Encana (twice), Anadarko (3 times), Enerplus, Shell (Pittsburgh), Sandridge Energy, Petronas (twice), PTTEP (Bangkok), Vermilion Energy (Calgary; 4-22) and Continental Resources (twice, back-to-back; 9-22). This seminar also was presented to the Geoscience Department at Stanford University.
INSTRUCTOR’S QUALIFICATIONS
Jeffrey J. Dravis (Ph D) is a technical consultant and instructor in carbonate geology with over 40 years of worldwide industry and field experience in all aspects of applied modern and ancient carbonate geology. This experience includes 8 years with Exxon Production Research Company where he headed up Exxon’s worldwide training efforts in carbonates. Since 1987, he has taught 332 basic and advanced applied carbonate in-house and field seminars. He has completed nearly 200 technical projects for clients, including reservoir studies in Texas (Paleozoic & Mesozoic), Devonian of W. Canada and Russia, Jurassic and Cretaceous of Gulf of Mexico, and Cretaceous of Tunisia; and exploration studies of the Jurassic Smackover and Haynesville, and Cretaceous James Lime, Edwards and Glen Rose Limestones, Austin Chalk/Eagleford, Devonian/Mississippian of W. Canada, Pennsylvanian of the Four Corners region, Mesozoic of western and northern Africa, Permian Khuff of Qatar, and Tertiary off of Nicaragua. See web site for details. Contact me for a C.V.
Typical classroom view showing participants with notebook and rock sets, as they work an exercise following a lecture.
Participants work in groups of two, fostering discussion and sharing experiences. The labs reinforce the formal lectures. This format is more enjoyable and enhances learning.
Lectures are reinforced with exercises that use rock samples of cores and outcrops, augmented by thin sections for each sample. Thin section photographs are organized into a 154-page rock catalog photo book. Each person uses and keeps the paper copy of the photo book of hand sample & thin section photographs (valuable reference later on!).
Slab of Rock Set Sample 42 (Jurassic)
Thin Section Photomicrograph of Sample 42 (Oolitic Grainstone With Blue Secondary Micromoldic Ø)
Demonstration samples from all over the world, ranging in age from Holocene to Cambrian, are used to illustrate typical examples of carbonate skeletal and non-skeletal grains, textures and sedimentary structures, porosity types, and evaporites.
Participants examine these samples before tackling some of the formal exercises. Samples available only for U.S. seminars.
Much of the fourth day of the seminar is devoted to a core description exercise that utilizes a suite of cores from a lower Cretaceous reefal and oolitic sequence in S. Texas. Participants discern depositional facies, cycles of sedimentation, and reservoir quality, and relate each to log response. They present their results to the group. Each group discusses the plays evident in their core and evaluates the bigger-scale controls for each.
First three lectures are presented with the assumption that most participants have little or no carbonate background.
(Introduction to unique attributes of carbonate facies and controls on their deposition)
(Non-skeletal and skeletal components of limestones; criteria for their recognition and environmental significance [exercise])
(Review of popular classification schemes; discussion of typical sedimentary textures and structures inherent to carbonates, and their significance for interpreting environmental setting [exercise])
(Basic geochemical principles governing diagenetic reactions; carbonate mineralogies and their influence on diagenesis; diagenetic environments and associated processes and products, including cementation and porosity modification in marine, fresh water and burial diagenetic environments; diagenetic fabrics -their recognition and significance; controls on carbonate diagenesis; guidelines for predicting porosity trends in the subsurface; new techniques for more effective evaluation of diagenetic history and reservoir quality [exercise])
(Review of geochemical principles governing dolomite formation; controls on dolomitization; review of standard models of dolomitization; porosity development/modification associated with dolomitization; review of new techniques to interpret facies and timing of porosity evolution in massive dolomites [exercise])
(Review of Choquette and Pray scheme for classifying carbonate pore types; evaluation of other published porosity schemes [exercise])
(Discussion of controls on facies occurrence and distribution; attributes and criteria for recognition of basinal facies, foreslope facies, platform reef systems, oolitic sand complexes, platform-interior grapestones, subtidal pelleted sands and lime muds, and carbonate tidal flats; Review of predictive end-member models: the ramp and platform with a steeply-dipping margin; use of Holocene two-dimensional models stressing comparative sedimentology, environmental relationships, geometries and preservable facies attributes; review of classical models of shallow-marine carbonate deposition from the Caribbean, Arabian Gulf and Australia; role of trade winds in carbonate deposition)
(Facies components of ancient carbonate sequences and their upward-shoaling character; recognition of depositional sequences and cyclicity in outcrops and cores; major controls on depositional cyclicity; geometries within depositional cycles; geometries between depositional cycles; effects of progradation and backstepping on carbonate facies distribution and geometry; guidelines for predicting depositional cyclicity in ramps or steep-margined platform settings; use of depositional cyclicity for local and regional time-stratigraphic correlation -implications for exploration and development geology)
(Use of wireline logs in delineating carbonate facies and depositional cyclicity; pitfalls in log pattern correlations; seismic expression of carbonate buildups and other facies; pitfalls of seismic interpretation; evaluation of existing carbonate sequence stratigraphic models)
(A suite of cores allows delegates the opportunity to interpret depositional facies, break out depositional cycles and vertical sequences, tie facies and porosity to cyclicity and log response, and assess regional depositional setting. In Texas, a suite of superb Lower Cretaceous cores are borrowed from the Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin and form the basis for the core problem. A suite of wireline logs is used with these cores. In Calgary, cores from a Devonian sequence can be easily substituted, using the facilities at the A.E.U.B. If the client has a series of cores from a basin of particular interest, these may be used as well. Or,a suite of cores from Devonian and Mississippian sequences can be shown to illustrate various play types in the western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
(Discussion of a classification scheme relating physiographic setting to geometry of plays; review of reservoir, source, seal and trap relationships for conventional carbonate plays, including platform-margin sands, platform-margin reefs, platform-interior mounds, platform-interior subtidal muds and tidal flats, and downslope mounds; review of unconventional carbonate plays, in particular, foreslope deposits and basinal chalks; review of case studies are discussed for each play type; extensive bibliography).
Play type examples can be tailored to the interest of the client.
(Demonstrates how established principles of carbonate depositional cyclicity can be applied to more effective zonation of existing carbonate reservoirs; reviews tangible benefits which result from using this approach, including development of field extensions, wedge-edge prospects, improved well excellence and more effective recompletions)
(Exercise utilizing rock sample sets to reinforce key points discussed during the seminar. In this exercise, delegates are required to interpret facies and vertical sequences based on samples from four wells, develop a map depicting the regional physiographic setting, construct a time-stratigraphic cross section in which time-equivalent facies packages are correlated, and evaluate the merits of potential play relationships based on their cross section. This popular exercise challenges the delegates to apply all the information they have learned during the seminar [exercise])
NOTE: Discussions on evaporites and carbonate source rocks are integrated into some of the topics noted above. If desired, separate lectures on these two topics can be provided (see below):
EVAPORITES
(Controls on evaporite formation and distribution; review of environments of formation and models; depositional and diagenetic fabrics; interrelationships between evaporites and carbonate sequences)
CARBONATE SOURCE ROCKS
(Discussion of controls on preservation of organic matter in carbonate facies; review of models for predicting carbonate source rock potential; carbonate source rock case studies, including discussion of how various techniques and approaches aided a regional evaluation of hydrocarbon migration distances and pathways)
“As anyone who has taught college level courses and short courses knows, a lot of work goes into putting together even a mediocre course.Your course was absolutely superb and the amount of thought, effort, and time you put into it was apparent to even the most casual observer.
Your organization of topics was well thought out, your execution and timing of the lecture material was bang on, and the exercises were an excellent way to emphasize the topic at hand.Whether we were looking at thin section images, hand samples, cores, or well logs, everything came together just as it was intended.When we were stumped, you managed to drag the correct answer out of us with gentle prodding.It’s easy to just give the answers when you are the instructor, but it’s better to give students the mental and intellectual support they need to work through the thought process to derive the correct answer to the problem.You gave each of us, from the least skilled to the most skilled, that support.
As a bonus, the amount of take home resource material was and is amazing.Not only did we get areference book of thin section and hand sample images, but you provided each of us with atravel guide full of references, images, and presentation, plus we also have the 750-page course notebook.You have definitely set a high bar for others who teach industry related classes.….. I am able to take what I learned in your course and apply it immediately to my work.“
“This was one of the best 5-day courses I have taken -learned enough about carbonates that I could start a carbonate project and know where to look for help and what type of preparation I need, and that should help the company.”
“Instructor was very knowledgeable and though-provoking. He appeared thoroughly competent in all aspects of carbonate geology, and possessed a very likable personality and temperament. Works very well with people.”
“It (this seminar) will help me as a development geologist to interject regional concepts into my interpretation.”
“Quality of Instruction: “Excellent. Speaker was very articulate, open to questions and made an effort to walk around, ask questions and give advice during exercises.”
“The core and laboratory exercises were based on real exploration examples and were very effective.”
“This course is especially useful for the siliciclastic-background geologist who is starting out in carbonates.”
“The core and laboratory exercises were based on real exploration examples and were very effective.”
For the teaching fee for this seminar, when it is presented in Houston, in the state of Texas, or its contiguous states, please contact J. Dravis for pricing information.
This fee includes five days of teaching and several days for preparation. Instructor’s travel and lodging expenses, including charges for rental and shipping of cores (40 boxes), are separate and reimbursable for seminars taught outside of Houston. Seminar is limited to 20 people, normally.
Since the size of the group being trained will vary, your company also covers the costs associated with reproducing the course manual (750+ pages, keyed to lectures; color viewgraphs); all handouts; a 154-page photo book with color images of samples (rock slabs and thin sections) utilized in exercises (a very valuable reference). Those costs come out to about $375/person. Client is expected to provide a suitable room for lectures, and a room for the core exercise (4thday), as well as beverage/coffee service each day.
For a seminar in Texas attended by 16 people (a typical size), the per person cost (< $2000) is very much less than what most training organizations charge and saves even more money because there are no employee travel and lodging costs.
Full teaching fee is payable 15 days before the start of the seminar.
For seminars presented in Canada or Europe, or elsewhere. Contact J. Dravis for pricing information.
Canadian or European clients can substitute other cores for a core exercise (and assume those costs) or fill the additional time with lectures of their choice. This time also can be used to review the client’s carbonate projects or play prospects/concepts.
Client agrees to reimburse costs associated with reproduction of notebooks and handouts, and costs for shipping of notebooks, handouts, and other exercise materials (rock sets, photo books, etc.). International clients also agree to reimburse instructor for reasonable travel (business class for flights longer than 4 hours), and all food and lodging expenses.
At least a three-week lead time is usually required to organize and prepare for an in-house seminar, if it is presented in Texas or its contiguous states. Such a time framework also is contingent upon the instructor’s technical consulting load at the time, and the cores being available for use.
For seminars held internationally, a one-to two-month lead time is preferred.
Note that this seminar can be tailored to fit your needs and time framework. Two or more smaller companies may consider a combined sponsorship of this seminar for their employees.
If you have any questions, please contact Jeff Dravis at (713) 819-4444 or by e-mail at jdravi@rice.edu
Thank you for your consideration. (Revised March 4, 2023)
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