I am no longer consulting. See below for an archive of past work.
Consulting Archive
Proprietary consulting projects have involved working in interdisciplinary teams, using PC or UNIX workstation software. The petroleum geology projects have included oil and gas exploration, and oil and gas development, in which my role has been as sedimentologist, stratigrapher, sequence stratigrapher, log correlator, seismic interpreter, with exposure to a variety of contemporary technologies.
I have described some of my projects below, beginning with the most recent.
Consulting Experience
Wilcox – Shelf Margin and Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
An offshore independent exploration company contracted me to study the Paleogene Wilcox Group both in onshore shelf margin setting, including progradational and retrogradational modes, and deepwater setting, in order to better understand regional provenance and paleogeography.
Yegua/Cook Mountain 3D Integration
A small independent wished to nail down the interpretation, regional context and marketing context for a Yegua prospect that was indentified in a 3D survey. The company licensed the appropriate Yegua Regional Study we applied it to the prospect and the 3D with a modest amount of custom consulting.
Chicontepec Turbidite Static Model
A static model of a Chicontepec Field complex centered on Coyotes Field was needed in short order for a reservoir simulation. The correlations were intiated and loop tied on paper sections and then entered into and finalized in StratWORKS. The stratigraphic model was also integrated with available whole core. This work was performed for Landmark Graphics and PEMEX.
Frio Formation, Middle Texas Shelf
A fledgling independent had tons of great 3-D seismic and numerous seismically-based prospects, but wanted to provide its geologist with a fast, reliable log stratigraphic framework, sub-regional in scope, and honoring the available seismic. The company subsequently left the nest and was flying high.
Mexico Burgos Basin
In a challenging and complex project, I wore many hats as a technical adviser, a team trainer and coordinator to PEMEX exploration teams which operate in the Burgos Basin, the southern part of the Rio Grande Embayment of the western Gulf. This work was arranged through PGS Reservoir in Houston.
Western GOM Geohistory
An independent exploration company that specializes in deep water Gulf of Mexico activities, asked for a study of the depositional systems and chronostratigraphy of the basin margin shallow water and slope systems in the northern and western GOM, and their relationship to deep water seismic stratigraphic units. The resulting documents were compiled into raster and vector (AutoCAD Map) formats referenced in html and PowerPoint files. The results burned onto a CD ROM and placed in the company intranet. The process served as a template for distributing data and reports to company personnel.
Deep Water GOM
A Houston consulting firm, PGS Reservoir, asked me to study offshore 3-D seismic surveys and prepare an intense one-hour presentation on “Deep Water Sandstones in the Gulf of Mexico: Lessons from the Shelf,” at an industrial seminar. At PGS Reservoir I have had the pleasure of working with some great talent and a fine bunch of people. A PC-based program from Kingdom software provided a very impressive platform for seismic interpretation.
Tertiary Chicontepec Turbidites – Basin Exploration Study, Mexico
I advised a multidisciplinary exploration team performing a basin evaluation of Lower Tertiary deep water turbidite reservoirs, in a project arranged through PGS Reservoir in Houston. The team had access to an extensive collection of whole cores, biostratigraphic data, regional 2-D seismic lines, a newly acquired 3-D survey and an extensive collection of exploration and production well data. The team described core facies, and created a stratigraphic model integrated from seismic and well log data. The work resolved outstanding issues in the extent and origin of the reservoirs, and resulted in the identification of exploration leads. The team went on to reevaluate the petroleum reserves; some of these results will be published in 1999/2000.
Boqueron Field, Venezuela
Boqueron Field is located at the southern part of the thrust belt in eastern Venezuela. This field study undertaken by PGS Reservoir emphasized engineering and simulation. To advance a model for development of a very hot and deep reservoir, I created a stratigraphic “static” model, and interfaced with geophysicists and engineers. Much of the work was done in the PGS workstation environment, Tigress.
Brazil Atlantic Margin
I interpreted 2-D seismic for one of PGS Reservoir’s clients during the Brazil offshore leasing rounds. Working in both Landmark and Tigress workstations, I helped decide which blocks should be emphasized for further study and eventual leasing.
Anadarko Basin Granite Wash
A major oil company with acreage in the Oklahoma part of the Anadarko Basin could not confidently predict gas production in the Mayfield Field area. I performed a detailed correlation of the Granite Wash and mapped the reservoir’s properties after they had been calculated by the client’s petrophysicist. The resulting stratigraphic model identified a complex stratigraphic-structural history that revealed major facies changes northward into the Basin, and very evident growth-structuring.
South Texas Middle Wilcox
Seis-Strat Services of Houston carried out this project in the Middle Wilcox of South Texas for a major oil company. I created a novel geologic model based on the correlation of many well logs. By using this model, I helped to constrain the 3D seismic interpretation and then to predict locations for new well sites.
Middle Texas Lower Wilcox Fields
A major oil company wished to evaluate the Lower Wilcox of South Texas and the Middle Gulf Coast Texas trend for field analog studies and new exploration opportunities. The well-known consulting firm Subsurface Consultants and Associates coordinated this project. As with most projects these days, this one required me to integrate well log, regional 2-D seismic and production data.
SE Texas Yegua Fields
In another project coordinated by Subsurface Consultants and Associates, I assisted a major oil company with a large 2-D seismic data base in the southeast Texas Yegua trend develop analog field studies, and made recommendations about downdip Yegua stratigraphy.
Anadarko Basin Field Study
A large independent in a competitive situation in a field in the Texas part of the Anadarko Basin sought the assistance of Seis-Strat Services of Houston. This project required close cooperation with the client’s geophysicist and the preparation of all product results in StratWorks. We had to reconcile the interpretations from the logs and the 3-D data set, and to integrate all available production data, some of which came from very old scout tickets. The study interval covered almost the entire Paleozoic section.
Tertiary Chicontepec Turbidites – Field Studies, Mexico
I was brought into an ongoing simulation study of producing oil fields in the Lower Tertiary Chicontepec turbidites of central Mexico to develop a detailed “static” geological model. This demanding work required the correlation of 200 wells. The resulting model overturned the existing interpretations and eventually lead to the drilling of new prolific parts of the field. I conducted my work as part of a team assembled by CGG Americas in Houston.
As the engineers said after the 3D was acquired (see above): 3D seismic interpretation ahead of the seismic!
Green Canyon, GOM Field Study
A multidisciplinary integrated field study to define flow units in a Pleistocene turbidite reservoir was coordinated by Subsurface Consultants and Associates on behalf of a major oil company. I worked both in Seisworks 3-D and my own proprietary cross section software. I integrated the interpretation of well logs, dipmeter, FMS images, whole core photos, biostratigraphy and seismic, and interfaced with the geophysicists and engineers to produce a scientifically consistent product.
Lake Maracaibo Field Studies
CGG Americas carried out several field studies of the Lake Maracaibo region which required me to integrate subsurface and seismic data and recommend additional drilling locations. I performed this work on CGG’s Integral Plus workstation and my own proprietary correlation environment.
Matzen Field, Vienna Basin
I was invited to help a major Houston oil company evaluate additional drilling opportunities in the lower Tertiary section of the Austrian Matzen field. Available data included 2-D seismic lines, well logs and core descriptions. This comprehensive data set allowed me to observe classic sequence stratigraphic relationships in classic clastic strata.
Upper Wilcox, South Texas
A large Houston independent wanted detailed mapping of the Upper Wilcox in order to define new drilling opportunities in South Texas. Over a period of several months I used my proprietary mapping software to post data rapidly to maps so that it could then be contoured and interpreted.