October 2003

On Friday, October 31, 2003, the Bureau's Technical Seminar Series continued with a presentation by Researcher Edgar Guevara. He discussed "BEG Studies of the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela." [Abstract] 10/30/03

Senior Research Scientist Steve Laubach is organizing a session on "Faults, Fractures, and Fractured Rock Behavior" for the 2004 North American Rock Mechanics Symposium scheduled for June 2004 in Houston. A Call for Papers for the symposium and a list of technical sessions can be found by clicking here. The abstract deadline was October 31, 2003. 10/14/03

Veronica Chapa, NSF GK-12 Fellow, distributes free CDs from the Outreach Lecture Series sponsored by U.T. Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Science Institute. Thousands of science teachers attended the Texas Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas, October 30 through November 1. The Jackson School Geoscience Alliance exhibited a booth that highlighted geoscience K-12 outreach programs available at the Department of Geological Sciences, Institute for Geophysics, and the Bureau of Economic Geology. Sue Hovorka and Sigrid Clift from the Bureau and Veronica Chapa, GK-12 Fellow, were exhibitors. Sue also presented workshops on global warming and using GIS in the classroom. 11/05/03

Tarek A. Elshayeb UT Department of Geological Sciences Ph.D. candidate Tarek A. Elshayeb and Floyd "Bo" Henk, of Pacheron Group, held a core workshop October 28–29 at the Austin Core Research Center for 41 geologists, geophysists, and reservoir engineers from 18 oil companies. The workshop, based on Tarek's Ph.D. studies and research, was titled "The Tight Gas Sands of the Cotton Valley Formation: A Core Workshop Integrating the Sedimentology, Ichnology, and Rock Properties Data for a Comprehensive Understanding of the Depositional Environments, Sequence Stratigraphy, Reservoir Characterization, and Log Interpretation (Low-Resistivity Pay)." 11/06/03

Senior Research Scientist Bob Hardage was presented with the Life Membership Award by the Society of Exploration Geophysics (SEG) on October 26 at the 2003 SEG International Exposition and 73rd Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas. The SEG’s Life Membership, awarded for exceptionally meritorious service, is in recognition of Bob’s three decades of contributions to the Society. 11/06/03

Senior Research Scientist Bob Loucks was a featured speaker at a workshop titled "Trenton/Black River Core Workshop and Case Studies Possibilities within the Michigan Basin and Similarities outside the Basin" on October 23, 2003. Bob discussed three processes that may produce large-scale, intensely brecciated and fractured carbonate bodies found within many Ordovician reservoirs. The workshop, sponsored by a Michigan PTTC Satellite at the Michigan Basin Core Research Laboratory at Western Michigan University, was held in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. 10/21/03

Several Bureau researchers received awards at the GCAGS-SEPM Annual Convention held October 22–24 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2002 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Grover E. Murray Best Published Paper Award was presented to Charles Kerans, First Place, and Jim Gibeaut, Roberto Gutiérrez, and Tiffany Hepner, Third Place. The 2002 GCAGS/GCSSEPM Gordon I. Atwater Best Poster Award went to Ted Playton, Second Place, and Charles Kerans and Bob Loucks, Third Place. Click here for a list of all convention presentations 10/22/03

On October 21, Steve Ruppel was the featured speaker at a luncheon meeting of the Permian Basin Section-SEPM in Midland, Texas. Steve presented "Reservoir Architecture of the Giant Fullerton Clear Fork Field; Insights for Reservoir Characterization in the Permian Basin" and was awarded the society's Distinguished Service Award for 2002–2003. [Abstract] [PowerPoint] 10/28/03

eProduction Solutions, Inc. staff demonstrate their iBEAM rod pump controller at the Houston Lunch & Learn. The PTTC Texas Region is organizing Lunch & Learn events as a way to provide technology transfer opportunities to Texas oil and gas operators. These free events are a casual way for operators to learn more about products that will make their operations more efficient and save money. On October 16 and 21 in Midland and Houston, more than 50 people attended a PTTC Texas Region Lunch & Learn event cosponsored with eProduction Solutions, Inc. to demonstrate their newest product, the iBEAM, a low-cost, state-of-the-art rod pump controller. This product is currently being used on more than 25,000 wells around the world. 10/22/03

On Sunday, October 19, 2003, staff at the Bureau's Houston Research Center (HRC) hosted a tour of the facility for the community on behalf of the Houston Geological Society's (HGS) annual celebration of national Earth Science Week. The audience of more than 70 was a mixture of HGS members, their families, and college students from area community colleges. HRC staffers Randy McDonald, Darrell Haynes, Laura Zahm, Beverly DeJarnett and other volunteers exhibited the center's rock cores and cuttings, and explained their importance to our understanding of the Earth. 10/28/03

Bureau researcher Sue Hovorka addresses Advisory Committee and Bureau Directors. The Advisory Committee to the Bureau of Economic Geology held its semiannual meeting at the Bureau's main building on October 16, 2003. The committee was given presentations by Bureau Researchers William A. Ambrose, and Dr. Susan D. Hovorka. Attending members included Ms. Annell R. Bay, Mr. L. Decker Dawson, Mr. James Farnsworth, Dr. Peter T. Flawn, Mr. James A. Gibbs, Mr. William E. Gipson, Mr. Russell G. Slayback (Chairman), Dr. William Fisher, and Dr. Juan Sánchez. [More pictures] 10/17/03

Melanie McCammon recently joined the Bureau's Administrative Services Staff. She will be in charge of Payroll and Time Sheets. Melanie graduated from UT Austin in August with a degree in English. Until her graduation she worked in Publication Sales on a part-time basis. Welcome, Melanie. 10/16/03

The Reservoir Characterization Research Laboratory (RCRL) held its 2003 Annual Meeting and presentation of research results on October 13–17. This was a celebration of 15 years of carbonate characterization research by the group. Fifty representatives from 15 sponsoring companies attended. Researchers focused their presentations on 3-D modeling of carbonate reservoirs based on information from outcrop, subsurface, and seismic volumes. Field trips to Dry Canyon near Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and Pipe Creek in Central Texas, completed the agenda. 10/14/03

The annual Austin Earth Science Week Career Fair was held October 12–18, 2003, in conjunction with National Earth Science Week sponsored by the American Geological Institute. More than 300 middle school students attended and got to learn about careers from earth science professionals. More than 60 people volunteered their time to participate as exhibitors, presenters, and tour guides. The University of Texas at Austin donates the use of the Commons Conference Center each year for this very educational and entertaining event. Please visit the Texas Earth Science Week Website for more information. 10/15/03 The career fair couldn't happen without financial and in-kind support from our 2003 sponsors that included Lower Colorado River Authority, City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review Department, D.B. Stephens & Associates, The Subsurface Library, Contributions from Allan Standen and John Curchin, UT Commons Conference Complex, UT Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment, and UT RecSports.

Research Fellow Linda M. Bonnell was chosen to represent the AAPG as a Distinguished Lecturer for 2003–2004. Her tour, which begins in November, includes two lecture topics: "Sealed, Bridged, or Open—A New Theory of Quartz Cementation in Fractures" and "Reservoir Quality Prediction in Deep Water to Tight Gas Sandstones Using a Process/Stochastic Modeling Approach." [Details and Abstracts] 10/14/03

The 2004 AAPG Hedberg Research Conference, titled "Structural Diagenesis: Fundamental Advances and New Applications from a Holistic View of Mechanical and Chemical Processes," will be held in Austin, Texas, February 8–11, 2004. Co-conveners include Bureau researcher Steve Laubach, Rob Lander (Geocosm), and Jon Olson (UT Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering). The deadline for submitting abstracts was October 10, 2003. Click here for complete details. 08/21/03

Charlie Kerans discusses using core in an energy research program. Members of the Wichita Falls Desk and Derrick Club toured the Bureau on Friday, October 10, 2003. Charlie Kerans gave a presentation on the tools his group uses to develop new and integrated methods to better understand and describe 3-D reservoir environments. Sue Hovorka discussed her current experiment to inject CO2 into the subsurface as a means of reducing greenhouse gas. Scott Rodgers and John Andrews presented "Adventures in Virtual Reality" and Sigrid Clift gave the group a tour of resources available at the Bureau that included the Geophysical Log Facility, Publication Sales, and the Core Research Center. 10/13/03 Sue Hovorka shows location of Bureau's field experiment where CO2 will be injected into a brine-bearing Frio sandstone unit in Liberty County.

The Bureau was well-represented at the recent 2003 West Texas Geological Society Fall Symposium held in Midland from October 8–10. Twelve Bureau employees staffed the booth and researchers presented 12 of the symposium's 35 papers. All talks and posters were well received; two poster sessions presented by Deanna Combs were jammed with people from the time she set them up until they made her take them down: Click here for a complete list of Bureau presentations. 10/14/03

Dr. William L. Fisher has been honored with the establishment of the William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellowship Endowment through a cooperative effort by the American Geological Institute Foundation and the American Geological Institute. The endowment is aimed at facilitating the practice of professional geoscientists, who provide a scientific perspective to discussions of national policy, of getting involved at the national level by enabling selected geoscientists to work as congressional staffers. [PDF] 10/07/03

The Austin Geological Society held its monthly meeting on Monday, October 6, 2003, at the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology. The speaker was Dr. William (Bill) Muehlberger of the Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin. His presention was titled "Still More Pictures from Orbit." [Details] 10/06/03

On Friday, October 3, the Bureau's Seminar Series continued with a presentation by Dr. Jonathan Ennis-King, a research scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The title of his paper was "Putting It Down Under—Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide from an Australian Perspective." Gas saturation for some 3-D simulations in the Petrel subbasin. Jonathan Ennis-King is a Research Scientist with CSIRO, Australia's national research organization, specializing in the modeling and simulation of underground storage of carbon dioxide, and working in the GEODISC research project of the Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Center (APCRC). [Abstract] 09/19/03

The Bureau would like to welcome new Research Associate Renaud Bouroullec, who recently finished a post-doctorate at the Energy and Mineral Applied Research Center, University of Colorado at Boulder. Renaud received his Ph.D. from London's Imperial College of Science (2001), his M.S. Degree from the Université de Rennes, Rennes, France (1996), and his B.S. Degree from the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France (1994). He is a structural geologist with interests in basin analysis, salt tectonics, stratigraphy, and fault analysis. 10/01/03