Part I of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas.
Part I deals specifically with what petroleum is and what is responsible for the sedimentary basins in which it is formed.
Topics include:  what is petroleum, origin of petroleum, kerogen types,  what petroleum is what it is used for, what are sedimentary basins and how are they formed.
Target group:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part IV of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part IV deals specifically with what petroleum system source and reservoir rock.  Topics include:  origins of oil, formation of source rock, fluid dynamics of accumulation and spill point and timing and nature of reservoir rock. Target group:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part II of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas.
Part II deals specifically with what petroleum system elements and processes.  Topics include:  Elements: source rock, reservoir rock, seal rock, migration path, trap; Processes:  petroleum generation, migration, accumulation, preservation and timing.
Target group:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part V of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part V deals specifically with petroleum accumulation and early exploation.  Topics include:  types of accumulation, examples of East Texas and Prudhoe Bay fields; drilling at Titusville, Spindletop and Cerro Azul. Target group:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part III of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part III deals specifically with what petroleum migration, traps and seals.  Topics include how petroleum migrates out of source rock into reseservoir rock and ultimately into different types of traps.   Target group:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part VI of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part VI deals specifically with geologic maps and drilling wells.  Topics include:  what is a geologic map, how maps are made using aerial photos; how drilling adds information to maps, equipment used to drill a well.  Targe:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part VII of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part VII deals specifically seismic data acquisition in the context of making maps.  Topics include:  seismic acquisition in different terrains, how energy is put into the earth, and the way seismic images subsurface structures and stratigraphy.  Target:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part VIII of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part VIII deals specifically with how seismic works.  Topics include:  refraction and reflection, gathers and move-out, and migration.  Target:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

Part IX of a series of PowerPoint presentations called HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods:  What Geologists and Geophysicists Do To Find Oil and Gas. Part IX deals specifically with integrated interpretation and visualization.  Topics include:  integration and calibration of log, core and seismic information and workstation/visualization tools.  Target:  all non-geoscience audiences including K-12.

ANNOUNCEMENT & CALL FOR PAPERS
3rd PESGB/HGS International Conference on African E & P
QE2 Conference Centre, London, September 7th-8th, 2004

"Africa: The Continent of Challenge and Opportunity"

INTRODUCTION: Alternating between London and Houston, this event has already established itself as the primary technical E & P conference on Africa, with an attendance in Houston September 2003 of over 400 delegates. In September 2004, the event will be held in the Mountbatten Conference suite in the QE II centre in Westminster with its commanding views over West London.

INVITE FOR PROGRAMME PAPERS: The two day programme of around 22 high quality talks will span all aspects of technical challenges and opportunities presented by Africa’s diverse petroleum provinces, There will be sessions on North Africa, New & Frontier Areas, West Africa and Emerging and Developing Technologies.
All Abstracts should be sent as soon as possible, but no later than Friday 12 March 2004, to Duncan Macgregor at duncan.macgregor@sasol.com or duncan.macgregor2@ntlworld.com. Several abstracts have already been received from major and independent oil companies as well as noted academics.

POSTERS: There will be a large poster programme complimenting the oral sessions, and aimed particularly at more specialist studies, where authors will be invited to present their African research & successes interactively with conference delegates.

SPONSORSHIP & EXHIBITION: There will also be an exhibition area available to Conference Sponsors. Details of sponsorship opportunities and associated exhibition space are available from the PESGB office ‘Africa Conference 04’ at 41-48 Kent House, 87 Regent Street, London, W1R 7HF or from Chris.Brown@petro-canada.com

DELEGATE REGISTRATION: Pre-registration will be available from the PESGB office in London from the 1st April 2004 at a discounted rate of £250 for PESGB/HGS/Geol Soc. members and £295 for non-members. For more information and application forms see: www.pesgb.org.uk

The Committee: The conference organising committee for the 2004 London consists of Ray Bate (Chairman), Duncan Macgregor (Technical Co-ordinator), Chris Brown (Sponsorship), Mike Lakin, Val Clure & Gail Williamson of the PESGB. Al Danforth, Ian Poyntz, Gabor Tari, Art Beall and Paddy Keenan of the HGS are the Houston representatives.

December 2003 HGS Bulletin
Regular Monthly Articles: 

• From the President
• From the Editor
• HGA/GeoWives

Feature Articles: 

• Book Review--The Sea Shell on the Mountaintop:  A Story of Science, Sainthood and the Humble Genius
• Eyes on Earth, from a Houston Perspective
• Eyes on Planet Earth:  Monitoring Our Changing World--Earth Science Week 2003, A Huge Success Across Texas
• HGS Purchases State-of-the-Art Projectors
• Global Climate Change--the Conflicting Arguments
• HGS Financial Summary for 2002-2003

Abstracts of Monthly Meetings:

• Selection of an Environmental Laboratory:  What to Do and What Not to Do
• Styles, Mechanisms and Hydrocarbon Implications of Syndepositional Folds in Deep Water Fold Belts:  Examples from Angola and the Gulf of Mexico

Earth Science Module is a PowerPoint Presentation in three parts.  It is intended for primary and middle school students as a most basic introduction to what geologists do and why it is important.  Topics include Energy Resources, Environmental Geology, Mining Geology, Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Floods.  The presentation was originally developed by Bill Dupré and later modified and animated by Art Berman

November 2003 HGS Bulletin
Regular Monthly Articles: 

• From the President
• From the Editor
• HGA/GeoWives

Feature Articles: 

• Africa:  New Plays - New Perspectives, HGS-PESGB Second International Symposium A Great Success
• AAPEX 2003 - A Pictorial Overview, Chairfest 2003

Monthly Meeting Topic Abstracts: 

• Early Paleogene Isolation of the Gulf of Mexico from the World''s Oceans? Implications for Hydrocarbon Exploration and Eustasy
• Identifying Stratigraphy and Fluids Using Spectral Decomposition: The Current State of the Art
• Energy Dissipation: Origin of Structure and Organization in Siliciclastic Sedimentary Systems
• The Ethics Storybook
• Large-Scale Continental Extension
• Exploration for Fault-Related Fractured Reservoirs

October 2003 HGS Bulletin Regular Monthly Articles:

• From the President
• From the Editor

Feature Articles:

• Earth Science Task Force:  State of Texas
• Geological Based Modeling to Reinstate the Controversial Pore Pressure Conversion Factor
• Houston Geological Society''s Participation at the Texas Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching
• Earth Science Task Force; State of Texas
• Geological Based Modeling to Reinstate the Controversial Pore Pressure Conversion Factor

Abstracts of Monthly Meetings:

• Success Using Seismic Attributes and Horizontal Drilling
• Site Assessment and Remediation Challenges Posed by Ether and Alcolhol Fuel-Oxygenates in the Subsurface
• The Hydrocarbon Potential of the Agadir-Tarfaya Deep Water Basin:  Offshore Morocco
• The Barnett Shale Gas Play: An Unconventional Gas Play in the Fort Worth Basin - Now the Largest Gas Field in the State of Texas
• Integrated Study of a Sub-Salt Deep Water Turbidite Play (Gulf of Mexico) Supported by Behind-Outcrop Examples from the Lewis Shale (Wyoming) and Jackfork Formation (Arkansas)

A PowerPoint Presentation modified from basics taken from John Armentrout and others on the AAPG Website and elsewhere.  The presentation addresses the basics of oil and gas traps and seismic detection.  It covers the demographics of people going into the petroleum industry and compares demand, usage and product cost with the availability of qualified people to run the business.  Toward the end the presentation broaches environmental issues, foreign policy including the petroleum context of the Afganistan and Iraq adventures, the quixotic gauntlet of ANWR actually solving energy problems and a host of other topics of potential interest to middle and high school students.  It even looks at corporate behavior in the petroleum business, the effect of mergers and takeovers on the industry, the short-term focus of corporations and the patterns of frivolous energy usage in the US irrespective of political leaning.

A PowerPoint Presentation orginally compiled by John Armentrout of Mobil and later posted on the AAPG Website.  Modified and animated by A. E. Berman, HGS Academic Liaison Committee in December 2003.
The presentation is appropriate for non-geoscientists and middle school students.
Put the presentation in "Slide Show" mode to use most effectively

HGS Northsiders Dinner – 17 February, 2004
 
Prediction of Reservoir Architecture in Carbonate Systems
 
Charles Kerans
Bureau of Economic Geology
Jackson School of Geosciences
University of Texas at Austin
 
Abstract:
Carbonate reservoirs hold more than half of the world’s remaining hydrocarbon resource base. Much of this resource is well delineated in terms of in-place volumetrics, but major hurdles still exist in terms of maximizing the recovery efficiency of this resource. With more than 70 years of carbonate reservoir development in basins like the Permian Basin of West Texas, both major and independent oil producers have arrived at an important conclusion….carbonate reservoirs are complex! Recovery efficiencies rarely exceed 30 percent through secondary recovery. Tertiary recovery can be effective in many fields, but an equal number are probably unsuited. The additive effect of depositional, diagenetic, and structural heterogeneities contribute to the mystique that is carbonate reservoir development, and the through going message is that these systems must be unraveled one reservoir at a time. Notwithstanding this complexity, observations from a wide range of reservoirs have led to important generalizations regarding our ability to predict reservoir style and substantially improve static reservoir model construction.
 
Prediction of stratigraphic architecture and heterogeneity style in carbonate reservoirs has advanced greatly over the past decade. Integration of core, log, and seismic data, aided by outcrop analogs, has proved to be the most successful approach to unraveling the stratigraphic or “matrix” plumbing systems of carbonate fields. Sequence concepts such as accommodation history and Milankovitch setting are important, but geologically oriented petrophysical analysis and seismic processing are both critical for proper delineation of the 3D reservoir model. Examples of heterogeneity styles and reservoir architectures found in greenhouse, transitional, and icehouse settings, with examples from the Middle East, U.S., and other areas will provide examples of how reservoir architectures can be predicted, analyzed, and converted into 3D models.
 
Speaker Biography:
Charlie Kerans is a senior research scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, the University

Slime, Sand, and Shells: Lacustrine Hydrocarbon Play ElementsWithin a Continental-Environment Phase Stability Framework
Abstract:Lake basin types have characteristic associations and distributions of hydrocarbon source, reservoir, and seal strata.  These differences arise mainly from distinct histories of lake hydrology, which control the evolution of lake water chemistry, the nature and stability of food webs, and clastic sediment supply rates. Hydrocarbon sources are influenced strongly by these controls on the ecosystem, and reservoir- and seal-prone strata are linked to these controls through the timing of clastic sediment supply relative to lake level and the influence of water chemistry on the dominant lithology (e.g., clastic, carbonate, evaporite).The strong genetic association of play elements requires an integrated approach to prediction, which is facilitated by expanding the lake basin type diagram (Carroll and Bohacs, 1995, 1999) to a full continental-environment phase stability framework. This framework places fluvial, floodplain, coal, aeolian, and the three lake-basin-type strata into relative stability fields, constrained by their inter-related controls: the rate of potential accommodation relative to supply rates of sediment and of water. The phase trajectory of basin evolution determines the proportion of each lake basin type in the resultant strata. This approach helps explain why all lake basins do not contain the full suite of lake basin types and how the fill of a chain of ancient lakes may be genetically related. One can predict phase trajectories in a forward sense from estimates of basin subsidence, paleoclimate, and sediment yield, or one can reconstruct phase trajectories from relative thicknesses and areal extents of each continental environment stratal package: thick underfilled lake packages point to dominant control of potential accommodation rates whereas thin underfilled lake packages indicate dominant control of supply rates of sediment+water.Associated fluvial styles among the lake basin types appear to vary systematically, with perennial, high sinuosity streams in overfilled, intermittent to perennial low-sinuosity streams in balanced fill, and a wide range from ephemeral sheetflood/braided streams to perennial high sinuosity streams in underfilled lake basins. Lateral distributions of reservoir-prone strata also vary significantly among lake basin types, and lake shoreline shapes encompass a richer diversity than typically seen in marine settings: shorelines tend to be more highly constructive and dispersive in more persistently closed hydrologic basins. Fundamental changes in shoreline type and lake character between highstands and lowstands may even obviate the application of Walther''s Law for predicting lateral distributions, especially in underfilled lake basins. Ultimate reservoir quality may be related to phase trajectory through the diagenetic effects of fluctuating groundwater tables. Each lake-basin type has a characteristic history of groundwater level changes, recorded in recurring associations of paleosol types and ichnofossil assemblages: histosols and shallow single tier burrows, tracks, and trails in overfilled, vertisols and multi-tier, moderate depth insect burrows in balanced fill, and aridisols and entisols with multi-tier, multiple generation, relatively deep burrows in underfilled lake basins.Observations indicate that these associations of hydrocarbon play elements occur in a wide variety of tectonic settings and ages, from continental rift to convergent foreland basins of Cambrian to Recent age. Continued success in economic discovery and efficient recovery of hydrocarbons depend upon continued testing and elaboration of these concepts, and a deeper understanding of the essential processes controlling deposition of lacustrine strata.
Speaker Biography:Kevin M. Bohacs (B.Sc.Honors, Geology, University of Connecticut, 1976; Sc.D. in experimental sedimentology, M.I.T., 1981) is a sedimentologist and stratigrapher with ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company. At URC, he leads investigations of organic-rich rocks from deep sea to lakes in basins around the world. He tries to keep the geo- in geochemistry, integrating field work, subsurface investigation, and laboratory analyses. He divides his time between geological research, collaborative studies with exploration companies, and teaching stratigraphy and hydrocarbon-system analysis in the classroom and field. His awards include AAPG''s Jules Braunstein Memorial Award (1995), Best International Paper (1998), AAPG Distinguished Lecturer (1999-2000), and Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Distinguished Lecturer (2001).

HGS International Explorationists Group Dinner Meeting
Monday January 19, 2004
Westchase Hilton Hotel
9999 Westheimer
Social Hour 5:30, Dinner 6:30, Talk 7:30
"Brazilian Deepwater Fold Belts:Tectonic Drivers and Structural Styles of Potential Traps"
Scott E Thornton, Shell International E&P, Inc., Peter Mullin, Amerada Hess, and David D. J. Stewart, Shell International E&P, Inc.
ABSTRACT:

Deepwater fold belts in the emerging and frontier basins in Brazil are structurally quite different than the more explored Santos, Campos and Espirito Santo Basins (the Southern Salt Basin). One key difference is the nature of the mobile substrate. In the deep water fold belts of the Equatorial Margin and extreme northeast Brazil, little salt exists in the deep water continental margin, although shallow water salt is penetrated in the Potiguar and Sergipe-Alagoas basins. As a result, mobile shales, sometimes overpressured, provide the base of the decollement(s). Continental margin structural imprints from breakup of the North Atlantic and South Atlantic provided strong contrasts in structural fabric of the continental margin as well, separating these underexplored fold belts into 2 generic sectors: 1) southern sector from Cumuruxitiba to Parnaiba-Pernambuco basins where roughly east-west rifting occurred and 2) northern sector along the Equatorial Margin from the Ceara to the Foz do Amazonas basin, where North Atlantic oblique rifting initiated Berriasian rifts and later drifting. Some limited parts of the Equatorial Margin also have Triassic rifts, akin to eastern North America. Fold belts and their contiguous listric-faulted nearshore structural zones will be dissected from the south to the north, from the Cumuruxitiba to the Foz do Amazonas basins.
The major tectonic drivers and structural controls for formation of these fold belts will be discussed relative to the general stratigraphic section known in shallow and deep water. In addition to the Campanian uplift, Middle Eocene and Late Middle Miocene Andean orogenies have triggered fold belt formation. The lack of significant exploration in these deepwater fold belts points to upside potential in high-risk and potentially high-reward structural segments.
BIOGRAPHIES:

Scott E Thornton (speaker) has worked for Shell, Unocal and independents, generating exploration evaluations and regional studies of the South Atlantic continental margins.  He has worked on Brazil since 1992, including 4 bid rounds.  In addition, he has conducted block/prospect evaluations, regional studies and well operations in offshore North Alaska, offshore Southern California, South Asia, SE Asia, China, Australia and the Subandean Zone in South America.  He currently works as a contract consultant in Shell International E&P, Inc. working on Brazil exploration.  Scott's prior fold belt experience has been in onshore Pakistan, onshore and offshore western Burma, Ecuador, Peru, and offshore north Alaska.
Peter Mullin is currently Exploration Director for Amerada Hess’s Brazil group, a part of Hess’s South Atlantic Margin Team. Prior to joining Hess this year, Peter worked for some 24 years with Shell, primarily on exploration new ventures in South America and West Africa. He was Shell’s exploration manager first for Angola and then Brazil (working all the Brazil bid rounds), and most recently was Shell’s Head of Evaluation for Trinidad. In addition to South Atlantic margin basins, he has worked the Subandean fold belts in Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela and Trinidad, and the Barbados accretionary prism in the Caribbean.
Dave Stewart is Team Leader, Brazil Team, Subsurface Evaluation, Shell International E&P, Inc. in Houston. Dave has worked on Brazil since Bid Round 0 and, in addition to coordinating Bid Round Evaluation, has performed both regional and prospect analysis throughout the Brazilian marginal basins. Dave came to Shell from Robertson Research to join The Group’s seismic stratigraphy effort in the Research Centre in Rijswijk, Holland. Dave has also had assignments at Shell on the Norwegian and British North Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.
POSTER SESSIONS:

“Global Analogs and Prediction of Lacustrine Source Rocks: SE Asian and Brazilian Basins”
By Scott E. Thornton and David D. J. Stewart, Shell International E&P, Inc.; Gilbert R. Stern, IGC; Joe Curial, Unocal Corporation; George E. Moore, Consultant; Robert K Merrill, Samson Resources Company; Rex Cole, Mesa State College; Gregg Blake, Unocal Corporation.
 
“Syn-rift and Transpressional Plays along the Equatorial Margin: Brazil and Africa.”
By Ian Davison, EARTHMOVES

HGS International and HGS Joint Dinner Meeting - December 15, 2003
 
Styles, Mechanisms and Hydrocarbon Implications of Syndepositional Folds in Deepwater Fold Belts;
Examples from Angola and the Gulf of Mexico
 
Frank J. Peel, BHP Billiton Petroleum, Houston
 
Abstract:
 
This presentation combines recent published material with new ideas as to provide a review of how the structural geology of deepwater fold belts influences the distribution of hydrocarbons within them. How do deepwater foldbelts differ from orogenic fold belts? What factors control the location of the fold belt? What is the significance of early-formed precursor folds? Why are these factors important in exploration for hydrocarbons?
 
First, we consider the significant differences between passive-margin and orogenic fold belts, then, the application of Coulomb wedge theory to passive margins (to explain where and why fold belts form), and lastly, explore a critical factor-- whose significance has only recently been recognized-- namely the influence of early-formed folds on the later-formed large structures, and how hydrocarbons are trapped within them.
 
Part 1: Comparison of passive margin fold belts with orogenic fold belts
Fold and thrust belts occur primarily in two settings: either linked to an orogenic belt forming due to plate convergence, or in the compressional toe of a system of gravity-driven movement on passive margins. While mixed-mode fold belts also exist, and other scenarios for fold belt formation are also observed, it is instructive to compare and contrast the two end members and consider the implications of the differences for the hydrocarbon systems, which can trap in either setting.

Orogenic fold belts
The ultimate driving mechanism of orogenic fold belts (including accretionary prisms) is relative plate movement. The rate of convergence is effectively fixed, and the main variable affecting the rate of movement in the frontal thrust belt is the partitioning of shortening between the frontal thrust system and contraction within the body of the orogenic belt. Shortening will occur whether or not there is a good decollement. The nature of the decollement does, however, have a strong influence on the structural style. The total shortening in the orogenic fold belt can be 100s of km, and, as a result, most of the thickening of the orogenic wedge occurs by tectonic thickening of the accreted mass.

Passive-margin fold belts
The ultimate driving force of passive-margin fold belts is gravity. This may take the form of gravity sliding, driven by the existing slope of the margin, plus continued tilting (as seen in the outer Kwanza basin, and the GOM Cretaceous/Paleogene strata), or as gravity spreading of the sediment wedge (like in the Niger Delta, Africa, and Neogene GOM). The rate-limiting factors are the rheology of the wedge, decollement level, and the rate of sediment input to the shelf and upper slope. As a result, passive margin fold belts are commonly intimately linked to the pattern of depositional systems on the margin.
 
While most passive margin fold belts shorten at slower rates than

Houston Geological Society Meeting
December 9, 2003, 6:00pm. Rudi Lechners Grill, Woodlake Square, Gessner at Westheimer, Houston.
 
Title: The Selection of an Environmental Laboratory: What to do and what not to do.
 
Abstract:  Successful laboratory programs depend heavily on the shared understanding of the end data user’s needs. The person responsible for selecting the laboratory must understand the data user’s needs and communicate those needs to the laboratory. Laboratory selection cannot be made until the data-quality objectives have been established.
 
The end data user’s needs determine the data quality objectives (DQOs). The DQOs are used to select the level of required performance (LORPs). The LORPs include methods, detection limits, and quality control limits. Not all laboratories can meet the levels that you may require, or even perform the analytical methods you may require.
 
Determination of the qualifications of a laboratory is obtained through a recent audit performed by a qualified chemist who has a clear understanding of your DQOs. The audit(s) should be augmented with performance evaluation samples, which are samples of known concentration that are sent to the laboratory for analysis and reporting.  Their analysis provides a check of both the laboratory’s equipment capabilities and their quality control program.  The reporting process is also reviewed during this test to see if the laboratory does indeed deliver all the required data in a usable format, and in a timely manner.   
 
The two most common causes for failure of an analytical program is failure to clearly define DQOs and failure to clearly communicate them to the laboratory. Expectations, such as LORPS deliverables, schedules, and special quality control needs must be clearly communicated with the laboratory.  Using a data form that can serve as a checklist is highly recommended. Once you have identified two or three labs that can and will do what you need, then price can be considered.  The saying, “You get what you pay for” generally applies at this point in an evaluation. If a laboratory has substantially lower rates, the auditing chemist might discover that is due to a cost-cutting practice that would render the data results unsuitable for your use. However, under some circumstances it is possible to lower prices by leveraging other projects.
 
 
Biographical Sketch: Dr. William S (Bill) Hitchcock has 30 years of experience in environmental chemistry, serving CONOCO and DuPont Environmental in the 1980s and 90s.  He presently serves as President of W. S. Hitchcock, Inc., which provides consulting on chemistry, environmental chemistry, data validation/review, and sampling. With more than 20 years experience, he has managed the quality of chemical data. He also serves as Principal Chemist of Environmental Litigation Associates and is a Primary Lecturer for the Institute of Environmental Technology (http://www.ela-iet.com/), and provides litigation support and expert testimony in chemistry and environmental chemistry to industry and the legal community.

Last Call for Some Great HGS Meetings This Year
The holiday season is about to begin and you will soon have much more to do than attend HGS technical talks.  Make plans now to attend these great talks before time runs out.
But please, make your reservations and register your guests on the HGS website.  That''s where the attendance lists are now kept. If you need assistance with the HGS website, email or call Dave Crane, the webmaster. (713) 789-5916.  If you don''t have access to websites, you may e-mail or call the HGS office with the following information for yourself and each guest you want registered.  E-mails are preferred because the call volume is sometimes overwhelming.  Someone will then make your reservation on the website for you:
1. The event name and date.2. Attendee''s name and, if a current or past HGS member, their member number.3. Attendee''s email address (or a contact phone number if you don''t know the email address.)4. Your credit card number if you want to pre-pay.  Or you may pay at the door.
Thank you very, very much for helping us make this transition to a web-based event reservations system.  It will provide many new benefits to you and for the office staff.

Monday, November 10, 2003 (5:30pm, Westchase Hilton)
"Energy Dissipation:Origin of Structure and Organization in Siliciclastic Sedimentary Systems" Dr. John Van Wagoner of ExxonMobil will discuss his group''s thoughts unifying energy dissipation and dissipation pathways that provide a context for a new and all-encompassing way to analyze and interpret sedimentary systems.

Thursday, November 13, 2003 (11:15am, Houston Petroleum Club)
"The Ethics Storybook"
John Gibson, President and CEO of Halliburton''s Energy Services Group will present his distinguished lecture on business ethics.  True tales from the oil patch will introduce the tools and techniques for ethical decision-making.
This is a joint Houston Energy Council Meeting (HGS, GSH, HAPL, SPE, SPEE, SIPES, SPWLA).

Monday, November 17, 2003 (5:30pm, Westchase Hilton)

"Large Scale Continental Extension"
Dr. Brian P. Wernicke of Cal Tech is the speaker at the Fifth Annual Robert E. Sheriff Lecture. In addition to Dr. Wernicke''s paper, come and meet the next generation of geoscientists from the University of Houston. 

Tuesday, November 18, 2003 (5:30pm, The Woodlands Resort) "Exploration for Fault Related Fractured Reservoirs"

Dr. Ron Nelson of Broken N consulting will discuss exploration philosophy, technical approaches and recent examples related to finding fault-related fractured reservoirs.
Join the NorthSiders with their first scheduled dinner meeting in The Woodlands.

Wednesday, November 19, 2003 (11:15am, Houston Petroleum Club)"Santa Fe Ranch Field: A Recent, Significant Onshore Vicksburg Discovery"Paul Constance of Output Exploration LLC will present his paper on the background and modern-day discovery of the 200+ BCFE, Vicksburg -  Santa Fe Ranch Field.

Tuesday, December 9, 2003 (5:30pm, Rudy Lechner''s Grill)
"Selection of an Environmental Laboratory: What to Do and What Not to Do" 
Dr. William S. "Bill" Hitchcock of W.S. Hitchcock, Inc. will explain the importance of Data Quality Objectives and Level of Required Performance in selecting an environmental laboratory service.

Monday, December 15, 2003 (5:30pm, Westchase Hilton)
"Styles, Mechanisms and Hydrocarbon Implications of Syndepositional Folds in Deepwater Fold Belts; Examples from Angola and the Gulf of Mexico"
Dr. Frank Peel of BHP Billiton Petroleum will discuss deepwater fold belts, how they differ from orogenic fold belts, and how they influence the distribution of hydrocarbons within

NorthSider HGS Meeting 11/18/03
 
“Exploration for Fault-Related Fractured Reservoirs”
by R.A. Nelson
Broken N Consulting, Inc.
Simonton, TX
(www.BrokenN.com)
(nelson_consulting@hotmail.com)
 
Abstract:
Fractured reservoirs associated with faults produce oil and gas throughout the world.  They occur in carbonates, clastics, and crystalline rocks.  Recent examples include Monte Alpi and Tempa Rosa in Italy (carbonate), Bach Ho in Vietnam (granite), and several Trenton-Black River Fields in the NE USA (carbonate).  This kind of fractured reservoir is quite variable in opportunity, varying from small volumes of hydrocarbons up to 400+ MBO.  The key to these reservoirs, which often occur in low porosity matrix rocks, lies in the inhomogeneous distribution of fracture intensity.  These fracture systems are inherently variable in nature along strike and with depth.  The essentials to predicting optimum well locations lie in depicting and predicting the areas along the fault trends that are most fractured and have the best reservoir communication and drainage.  Predictions are based on rock mechanics principles and a detailed understanding of the geometry of the fault surfaces in 3-D.  In addition, depiction can come from well-selected seismic attributes designed to highlight highly fractured volumes of rock.  In particular, attributes associated with coherency and amplitude have proven to be very useful.
 
Experience tells us that target zones of high fracture intensity associated with faults are often only a few hundred feet in width but have high fracture intensity and permeability draining large volumes of low porosity matrix storage.  Properly selected, wells in fractured reservoirs associated with faults can drain large volumes of hydrocarbons and require few wells to obtain the accessible volumes.
 
Exploration philosophy and technological approaches will be discussed using recent examples from Venezuela, Italy, Vietnam, Appalachians, and the Rockies.
  
Speaker:
Dr. Ronald A. Nelson has worked the majority of his 29 year professional career with Amoco and BP Amoco.  Since 2001, he has been the Principal Investigator for Broken N Consulting in Simonton, TX USA.  His expertise lies in structural geology, rock mechanics and fractured reservoir evaluation and management.  His knowledge in these subjects is recognized world-wide.  Ron has worked on some 85 fractured reservoirs and an equal number of fractured reservoir exploration plays.  He has been an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer twice, an SPE Distinguished Author, and author of two editions of a textbook entitled “Geologic Analysis of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs”. He is a Past-President of HGS, and a Past-Vice President of AAPG.

HGS International Dinner Meeting University of Houston Department of Geosciences AND U.H. Geoscience Alumni Association in association with the HGS International Group Presents:
 
 "Large Scale Continental Extension" 
 Dr. Brian P.  Wernicke, Chandler Family Professor, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
 Date: Monday, November 17, 2003
 Time: Social 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6:30 p.m.
 Place: Westchase Hilton, 9999 Westheimer
 

The Ethics Storybook
John Gibson, President and CEO
Halliburton Energy Services Group
 
Abstract:
Throughout the ages, people have told stories.  Tales and legends flow from chief to tribe, grandfather to child, colleague to colleague.  Some stories begin with “Long ago…” or “Once upon a time…” Others are shared as memories: “Do you remember when…?” And then there’s gossip: “Did you hear what happened?” Today we are bombarded with stories in the news, e-mail, advertisements, phone calls, personal conversations, songs on the radio.  The point is the stories that flow through our cultures continue to shape our beliefs and behaviors in that culture.
 
Stories have power.
 
Business leaders can use the power of stories within their organizations to drive “right behavior” and build an ethical culture.  True tales from the oil patch introduce the tools and techniques for ethical decision-making.  During this lecture, an objective will be to work through ethical dilemmas by examining an issue from all perspectives, weighing the impacts of various choices, and making thoughtful decisions that send the right messages to constituents.   People in the oil patch can develop an ability to use stories within their organizations to strengthen ethical values.
 
Speaker Biography:
John Gibson was appointed president and chief executive officer of Halliburton’s Energy Services Group in January 2003. He had been president of Halliburton Energy Services since March 2002. Mr. Gibson had previously been with Landmark Graphics Corporation, serving as president and chief executive officer since 2000 and earlier as chief operating officer. He joined the company in 1994 and held various executive positions, including executive vice president of Landmark’s Integrated Products groups, and president and vice president of Landmark’s Zycor Division.
 
Mr. Gibson’s career in oil and gas began as an exploration geophysicist for Gulf Oil Company. Following the acquisition of Gulf by Chevron, Mr. Gibson became manager of geophysical and geological subsurface imaging for Chevron’s Oil Field Research Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from Auburn University and a master’s degree in geology from University of Houston.
 
Mr. Gibson serves on the board of directors of Parker Drilling Incorporated. He is a member of the Indiana University Department of Geological Sciences Advisory Board, a director of the National Association of Manufacturers, and serves on the board of trustees for the Houston Grand Opera. He also has several roles at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in

Energy Dissipation: Origin of Structure and Organization in Siliciclastic Sedimentary Systems
 
J. C. Van Wagoner, D.C.J.D. Hoyal, T. Sun, N.L. Adair
 
Abstract
 
Siliciclastic strata are nested bundles of sedimentary bodies classified and named according to depositional environment, geometry, and scale. Our analysis of 482 sedimentary bodies formed by unidirectional, fully turbulent flows, ranging in length scales from <10 cm to 1000s km, from most depositional environments, reveals that shapes of these bodies are statistically similar, scale invariant, and independent of depositional environment. This similarity suggests that these bodies were deposited by a common global physics. We postulate that this fundamental physics is non-equilibrium thermodynamics, in particular, energy dissipation and dissipative structures.
 
Geologically significant flows are far-from-equilibrium open systems with large energy gradients. The Second Law of Thermodynamics requires that these gradients be minimized. Far-from-equilibrium flows do this through the formation of dissipative structures. The primary dissipative structure in flows in all environments of deposition is the jet/plume pair linked through a hydraulic jump. Such flow structure is self-similar and scale invariant, from the scale of the entire flow down to the viscous sublayer. For this reason, the bodies produced by this type of decelerating flow are also scale invariant.
 
The jet/plume pair dissipates kinetic energy though entrainment in the jet portion of the flow causing flow deceleration. In the process, deposition occurs if the flow is carrying particles. As the resulting sedimentary body grows and interacts with the flow, it also becomes a dissipative structure. We believe that all sedimentary bodies, from current ripples to submarine fans, are dissipative structures. That is, a sedimentary body is the framework to optimally deliver kinetic energy through channels or flow pathways to new dissipation sites where jets are active. As a result of deposition and consequent vertical growth of the sedimentary body, flows are superelevated by being locally forced up and over the deposit. This creates the energy dissipation paradox: in the process of dissipating kinetic energy, potential energy is created. Potential energy gradients are minimized by another dissipative mechanism, avulsion.
 
This evolution of sedimentary bodies from the initial jet deposits to complex avulsive bodies such as deltas and submarine fans follows a specific pathway from jet→jet deposit→nonavulsive or leaf deposit →avulsive or tree deposit. We call this the energy dissipation pathway. It is the scale invariant pathway along which all sedimentary bodies evolve. We believe that current ripples, bars in rivers, deltas, and submarine fans all form and evolve along this pathway. If correct, this hypothesis of energy dissipation and the energy dissipation pathway provides a new, unifying context for the analysis and interpretation of sedimentary systems.
 
Speaker Biography
 
Dr. John C. Van Wagoner obtained his PhD from Rice University in Houston, Texas in 1977.  He is currently a Senior Research Advisor to the Reservoir Geometry and Continuity Division at ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company. Teaching responsibilities have included instructor on Advanced Clastic Facies and Sequence Stratigraphy, and Ov

Identifying Stratigraphy and Fluids Using Spectral Decomposition:
The Current State of the Art
 

Dr. John P. Castagna, University of Oklahoma
 
Abstract:
Various wavelet transform techniques have resulted in spectral decomposition with improved vertical resolution and more accurate frequency spectra.  Some of these algorithms are matching pursuit of various kinds, the continuous wavelet transform, and various optimization methods.  Spectral decomposition has been used successfully in both direct hydrocarbon indication and stratigraphic interpretation.  The next major hurdle to overcome in the interpretation of spectrally decomposed data is separating fluid and stratigraphic effects.  Experience has shown that integrated analysis of spectral decomposition with other attributes (such as AVO) combined with stratigraphic interpretations yields the best results.
 
Biographical Sketch:
Dr. John P. Castagna holds the Edward L. McCullough Chair in Geology and Geophysics and is Director of the Institute for Exploration and Development Geosciences at the University of Oklahoma where his main technical interest is quantitative seismic analysis in exploration and reservoir characterization.  Dr. Castagna joined the University of Oklahoma in 1996.  From 1980 to 1996 he worked for ARCO in a number of research, exploration, field-development and management positions. 
 
In 1995 Dr. Castagna was visiting research scientist at the Geotechnology Research Institute of the Houston Advanced Research Center, where he was principal investigator for research projects funded by the Gas Research Institute, the Energy Research Clearing House and a consortium of energy companies.  Also in 1995, he was named distinguished lecturer for the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), lecturing on “Applied AVO analysis: use and abuse of amplitude variation with offset.”  He has been chairman of the Leading Edge editorial board and First Vice-President of the SEG.  In addition to numerous technical papers, he is the author of the book “Offset-Dependent-Reflectivity: Theory and Practice of AVO Analysis.”
 
Dr. Castagna is a graduate of Brooklyn College, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in geology in 1976 and a master’s degree in high temperature geochemistry in 1981.  He completed his doctoral degree in exploration geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin in 1983.

October 28, 2003
HGS Meetings and Events November, 2003
The annual HGS / GSH  SHRIMP  PEEL is just over a week away on November 7th at the Sam Houston Race Park (SHRP), so please make plans to attend.  See the ad in the HGS Bulletin or the GSH Newsletter for details.  You can purchase your ticket through the HGS / GSH office and now it is even easier as you can pay by credit card over the phone or via fax.  HGS members can make reservations and pay on-line.  Either way, the HGS office will mail your tickets right out to you once they receive payment.We are once again in-doors in Pavilion A at the SHRP and ready to have another great time eating lots of boiled shrimp with cold beverages, enjoying live music provided by Nigel Edison and the Gulf Coast Outlaws, thoroughbred horse races (and we are right on the home stretch), and door prizes between races.  You can't beat the fun for only $25 each!  ($35 after 10/31 or at the Park.)The Shrimp Peel offers a great venue for a group get-together, too.  If you are looking for an opportunity to show your team some appreciation for their hard work or just to want to build esprit de corps, consider bringingout your team.  This is a sure winner and your employees will really appreciate it.For you folks in the service business, consider getting tickets for your clients to show you appreciate their business.
"Go Baby Go."  Participation is key to any event, so come on out and enjoy the night, enjoy the food, enjoy the networking and socializing !!!!!!!!If you have any questions regarding this event, contact Lee Shelton via email or by phone at 832-351-8814.
 

Additional HGS November Activities

Check the November HGS calendar for more great meetings and events.  You can register and pay for almost all of them at the HGS website if you are registered on the site. That is true for both members and non-members
Remember, all currrent and former HGS members have been pre-registered on the HGS website. Please do not register more than once. If you forget your password, just click on "Forgot your password," enter your email address, and it will be sent to that email address if we have it in a user record.
If you have not renewed your membership for 2003-2004, contact the HGS office to find out how to renew.  If you are not a member of the HGS, please plan to join.

 
HGS October Meeting Highlights:
The HGS Dinner Meeting at the Westchase Hilton this Monday, October 13th, features two short complementary talks about the recent field discovery and development of a stratigraphic trap formed by a diagenetic change in a diatomite. The talks describe both the geologic model and seismic definition of this diagenetic trap as well as the successful horizontal drilling and stimulation that developed the field. The two presentations are titled:

• “Delineation of a Diagenetic Trap Using P-Wave and Converted-Wave Seismic Data in the Miocene McLure Shale, San Joaquin Basin, CA,” and, 
  

• 
  “The North Shafter and Rose Oil Fields: A Seismically Defined Diagenetic, Stratigraphic Trap in the Miocene McLure Shale, San Joaquin Basin, CA.”

The notes for the two HGS seminars on Dry Holes and Disappointing Seismic Anomalies are now available from the Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin:

Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Dry Hole Seminar.Issued in November 2000 in cooperation with the Houston Energy Council. Ring-binder format, unpaginated. HGS 001CN, $40.00 plus $3.50 handling and 8.25% Texas sales tax. Prepayment by credit card or check is required.Disappointing Seismic Anomalies.Issued in October 2003, Dry Hole Symposium #2. Ring-binder format, unpaginated. HGS 002CN, $40.00 plus $3.50 handling and 8.25% Texas sales tax. Prepayment by credit card or check is required.To Order:Contact Publications Sales at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) by phone at 1-888-839-4365 by fax at 1-888-839-6277 or by onsite visit to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, 10100 Burnet Road, BEG Bldg. 130, Room 1.1.04.All credit cards except Diner''s Club are accepted; orders must be prepaid. To pay by check, call the BEG to request a proforma invoice.Orders are shipped book rate (4th class, media mail) unless courier service is requested and paid for by the customer.

Paul BabcockHGS Vice President 2003-200410 October, 2003

The various activities include:

• Kids Essay Contest Deadline Oct 3 
  

• 
  Volunteer Geologist Training Oct 4 

• Family Energy Festival at the Museum Oct 11 

• Stone City Field Trip Oct 18 

• Core Field Trip Oct 19 
  
• 
  
• For more information on Earth Science Week, see http://www.hgs.org/esw03/index.html