The pandemic has impacted our ability to get together, but the most aggravating thing for a geologist is staying away from rocks.
Recently, State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery (STARR) program researchers organized two successful workshops that were attended by more than 20 Texas operators. The first workshop took place in October. Its objective was to provide an overview of ongoing and completed STARR team studies of the Strawn Group. Core workshop participants examined the relationship between carbonate and siliciclastic systems across the Eastern Shelf and reviewed aspects associated with the Strawn petroleum system and production in King and Stonewall Counties. Peter Flaig led this effort.
STARR wanted to show more rocks, so during the first week of November, the team hosted a second core workshop on the Barnett Shale in collaboration with two other Bureau groups, the Mudrock Systems Research Laboratory (MSRL) and the Fracture Research and Application Consortium (FRAC). Geoscientists and engineers from the BKV Corporation attended this event to discuss a wide variety of Barnett-related topics, from the play’s stratigraphic framework and prognosis of sweet spots to natural fractures and their relevance for hydraulic treatments. This event kickstarted a collaboration with BKV colleagues. Lucy Ko led this workshop.
STARR will offer more workshops during 2022. Stay tuned!
STARR researcher and carbonate specialist Kelly Hattori explains the nature and main characteristics of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate systems to Texas operators participating in the workshop led by Peter Flaig.
Horizontal core of the Mississippian-aged Barnett Shale. A beautiful carbonate concretion with fractures filled with calcite. Snapshot from the Barnett workshop hosted by STARR, MSRL, and FRAC.
Vertical core and photomicrograph of the Pennsylvanian-aged Strawn Group. These rocks tell the story of an environment where both siliciclastic and carbonate systems coexisted, challenging the notion that siliciclastic systems always “kill” carbonate factories.
STARR and RCRL (Reservoir Characterization Research Laboratory) researcher Bob Loucks discussing the main facies that can be observed in the Barnett Shale during a workshop with STARR partner BKV Corporation.
