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Bureau Hosts Inaugural TORA Sponsors Meeting

November 9, 2016
TORA PIs

TORA Principal Investigators, from left to right: Project Manager and petroleum engineer Mark Walsh, energy economist Svetlana Ikonnikova, and senior research fellow John Browning.

In November the Bureau of Economic Geology hosted the first meeting of industry sponsors of the Tight Oil Resource Assessment project (TORA) in Austin. TORA will build upon the successful research efforts of the Bureau’s ongoing Shale Production and Reserves Study to characterize the complex tight oil formations of the Midland and Delaware basins of West Texas.

TORA will use the Bureau Study’s methodology, work flow, and modeling, and many of the same team members, to estimate the economically recoverable tight oil resources and production-rate scenarios in both of these basins of the broader Permian Basin, the most prolific oil-producing area in the nation. TORA will also utilize the Bureau’s long history of research into several multifaceted formations explored by drilling operations in the Permian Basin, such as those documented in Bureau Reports of Investigation 277 and 281.

Tight Oil Resource Assessment

Industry partners at the meeting heard reports of the extensive progress that the TORA team has made in understanding production in the target areas. This work includes 2D and 3D geological mapping, petrophysical modeling, well history matching and predicting estimated ultimate recovery (EUR), statistical identification of critical production drivers, and production outlook modeling incorporating various economic and future-technology scenarios. TORA teams will also utilize the renowned expertise of the Bureau’s water and energy researchers to factor in full-cycle water usage and costs. Sponsors provided vital insights into their past experiences with the Delaware and Midland basin formations, and they provided key guidance for future research. For information about becoming a partner in the important investigations of the TORA research initiative, contact co-principal investigator Mark Walsh.
 

TORA fence diagram

The Bureau's Tight Oil Resource Assessment project (TORA) will employ multidisciplinary approaches including 2D and 3D geological mapping, petrophysical modeling, well history matching and predicting estimated ultimate recovery (EUR), statistical identification of critical production drivers, and production outlook modeling incorporating various economic and future-technology scenarios.


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