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Stephen C. Ruppel Stephen C. Ruppel is a Senior Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin where he specializes in the sedimentological characterization of Paleozoic carbonate successions and is currently director of the Permian Basin Geological Synthesis Program. Prior to coming to the Bureau in 1981, he worked at McGill University in Montreal and Chevron Oil Co. in New Orleans. He holds the Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee as well as BS and MS degrees from the University of Illinois and University of Florida respectively. His current research deals with identifying stratigraphic and diagenetic controls of reservoir development in outcropping and subsurface Paleozoic carbonates in the Permian Basin. For the past three years he has also led a multidisciplinary research program focused on the geological characterization of Middle Paleozoic mudrock successions. |
lecture abstracts |
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Lecture SR1: Geological approaches to characterization and More than any other type, carbonate systems require detailed, multidisciplinary, geologically-based characterization in order to develop valid reservoir models. This is because critical reservoir characterization details needed for reservoir modeling, such as reservoir architecture, pore types, rock fabric distribution, and permeability and saturation characteristics, cannot readily be defined from most borehole datasets. Realistic characterization of these attributes requires detailed, rock-based studies of available cores and outcrops and integration of these data with petrophysical, geophysical, and engineering data. Studies of both large and small Permian carbonate reservoirs in the Permian Basin of west Texas over the past 20 years have demonstrated the validity of geologically based reservoir modeling and have revealed key procedures for characterization. The giant Fullerton field reservoir, because of its size and the abundance and completeness of data (e.g., 800 wells, 14,000 ft of core, 1700 thin sections, 26 mi2 of 3D seismic data, 222 mi of 2D seismic data,) is particularly instructive. Fundamental reservoir characterization elements include: (1) construction of outcrop model of depositional facies and architecture, (2) description of cores to produce depositional and cycle-based, architectural framework, (3) integrated analysis of rock fabrics and petrophysics, (4) integration of rock fabrics into 3D geological framework, (5) distribution of petrophysical attributes in interwell space using cycle-scale 3D seismic inversion. These steps optimize inclusion of underlying geological controls on reservoir development and form a much stronger basis for flow modeling and simulation than conventionally designed models that lack such geological underpinnings. Lecture SR2: Understanding black shale successions: Lessons and Although largely unstudied until recently, the Barnett Shale of the Ft. Worth Basin, Texas, has become one of the better known black mudrock successions in the world. Emerging results of new research on these and related rocks, based on subsurface and outcrop data, offer intriguing insights into fundamental aspects of mudrock formation. Among these insights is the recognition that mudrock facies are not widely continuous, that organic matter conversion to hydrocarbon may control distribution and abundance of nanoscale pores and thus permeability, that fracture distribution may be affected by mineralogical variations along a proximal-distal gradient, and that, based on trace element chemistry, the Barnett ocean may have been much more stratified than most other anoxic basins. This research, based on more than 70 cores and available outcrops, indicates that mudrock attributes vary between and within basins and that these variations are commonly systematic. Data from the Barnett and the underlying Upper Devonian Woodford Fm provide important insights into the distribution of these attributes and their controls. These data are fundamental for understanding processes and products of mudrock formation worldwide. |
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publications of note |
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Ruppel, S. C. and Loucks, R. G., 2008, Black Mudrocks: Lessons and Questions from the Mississippian Barnett Shale in the Southern Midcontinent: Sedimentary Record, p. 4-8. |
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