Bureau of Economic Geology

2006

JSG Structural Diagenesis Initiative

See Meetings for information on the 2006 FRAC Research Meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Training on the fracture pattern generation software Joints and associated fracture permeability estimator software was featured at the October 2006 FRAC research meeting in Jackson Hole. See the Meeting page for details. 7/12/06

Fractured shale, carbonates and sandstone were the focus of some of the field investigations conducted in June in preparation for the October 2006 FRAC field trip and meeting. 6/30/06

See the FRAC Slide archive for a complete set of outcrop photographs.

Student in FRAC Group Wins Award

Kira Diaz-Tushman, Steve Laubach, and Randy Marrett received the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Energy Minerals Division (EMD) Best Poster Award for Fracture Pattern Heterogeneity in Km-Scale Reservoir Analog Outcrops, which was presented at the AAPG Annual Convention in Houston in April. Right: Randy and Kira on the outcrop last summer. See Reports for an account of the field study

Julia F.W. Gale, R. M. Reed, and R. H. Lander received the AAPG Energy Minerals Division (EMD) President's Certificate of Excellence for Synkinematic Carbonate Fracture Sealing Cements in Opening-Mode Fractures: Characteristics and Models, presented at the AAPG Annual Convention in Houston.

08/03/06

FRAC Student Completes Dissertation

Namsu Park recently defended and completed his dissertation Discrete Element Modeling of Rock Fracture Behavior: Fracture Toughness and Time-Dependent Fracture Growth supported by the Fracture Research & Application Consortium in the Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering. FRAC members involved include Jon Olson who supervised the research and Steve Laubach and Jon Holder and Larry Lake who served on Namsu’s committee. A copy of Namsu's dissertation is posted on the FRAC ftp site.

In May 2006 FRAC team was in the field collecting interwell-and core-scale data on fracture patterns and fracture diagenesis from reservoir analog outcrops. Spectacular large bedding plane pavements are providing unique information for calibrating our core analysis and fracture modeling and prediction methods. Results will be reported at the October 2006 FRAC meeting. More information is available on the Research page. Contact Steve Laubach for information. 03/22/06

AAPG Grant to Kira Diaz-Tushman

Kira Diaz-Tushman is the recipient of the Raymond D. Woods Memorial Grant. Kira is investigating regional and intra-well-scale fracture patterns in NW Scotland. Kira and her field area recently appeared on the cover of the Journal of Petroleum Geology. 4/19/06

See the FRAC Slide archive for copy of Kira's presentations and preliminary results.

Julia Gale's presentation on Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale is available on the FRAC Research page. Contact Julia for more information about ongoing Barnett Shale studies. 03/14/06

Researcher Hooker to Conduct BEG Seminar

John Hooker will address Friday's BEG seminar attendees on SEM-CL and Fracture Scaling, or Too Many Microfractures! [ Abstract ] The talk will be held in the Bureau's Main Conference Room on April 21 at 8:30 a.m. 4/19/06

See the FRAC Slide archive for a copy of John's talk.

FRAC will be at AAPG. More information about FRAC presentations in Houston is listed on the new JSG Structural Diagenesis page. All presentations will be posted on the FRAC Research page. Contact us if you have questions. 4/3/06

Bureau scientist Julia Gale presented the BEG Friday seminar on March 17. Julia's topic was Predicting Fracture Porosity Evolution in Dolostone, [ Abstract ] Models of fracture growth and diagenesis explain many features found in dolostone fractures. Results are providing more accurate predictions of reservoir response. Slides: Research. 03/14/06

A Members workshop on Jon Olson's Joints software and fracture permeability estimation workflow for fractured carbonate and siliciclastic rocks is in the planning stages. We intend to hold the workhop in Houston. Contact Olson for more information. 1/3/06

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Peter Eichhubl has joined the UT Bureau of Economic Geology and FRAC as a Research Scientist as part of our Jackson School Research Initiative on Structural Diagenesis. Peter will involved in our BES project focused on testing models in the Piceance Basin. For more information see Member's What's New. 12/25/05

Synkinematic bridges

Structural Diagenesis Master Class is a discussion meeting on structural diagenesis research topics that meets on alternate Fridays during the Spring semester. Students and staff are regular participants. Members are welcome to attend, and should contact Peter Eichhubl for more information. See the Meeting and Class announcement for times and topics. 1/3/06

The 2006 FRAC meeting will return to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. More information on plans for the meeting and associated short course and field trip will be posted on the FRAC Meetings page. 8/10/05

A FRAC sidewall core study is in the April 2006 issue of Journal of Petroleum Geology and images from FRAC are featured on the journal cover. Results of this study were reported to members in 1999. The cover shows images from student projects in Scotland and Mexico and a rig shot from our study of Ellenburger dolostones. 1/3/06

Steve Laubach attended the conference on Structurally Complex Reservoirs held by the Geological Society February 28-March 2 at Burlington House, London. The title of Steve's presentation was "Vertical and Lateral Scales of Heterogeneity in a Fractured Reservoir Analog, Middle Triassic to Lower Jurassic La Boca Formation, NE Mexico." Co-authors are JSG graduate students Meghan Ward and Leonel Gomez. Slides and text posted under Reports. 03/10/06

Selected Highlights 2005
Visiting Distinguished Chair — Olson		2005 Events
SPE Distinguished Lecture Tour — Milliken
Austin FRAC Meeting
Jackson School Structural Diagenesis Initiative
Recent graduates

For more project news, see What's New on the Member's site.