Geophysical Society of Houston Calendar Events RSS Feed

CGGVeritas in N4037 (North East Building, Floor 4)

Rock Physics Special Interest Group on 15-Feb-12 5:15 PM

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:15:00 GMT

Rock Physics Special Interest Group
Start Date: 15-Feb-12 5:15 PM
End Time: 15-Feb-12 6:30 PM
Location: CGGVeritas in N4037 (North East Building, Floor 4), Houston, TX 77072
Speaker: David Dewhurst

Event Details:

Strength Prediction and Partial Saturation in Shales

The first part of this talk looks at laboratory derived strength data from fully saturated preserved shales and derives empirical correlations between these strength measurements and more easily (or typically) measured physical and petrophysical properties. Good correlations and poor correlations to often used parameters will be discussed. The talk will then go on to explore the impact of partial saturation in shales and the effects on static and dynamic mechanical properties. The results have implications for clay-bearing gas shales but also highlight the critical role of preservation of in situ water content in shaly rocks

10300 Town Park Drive

Houston, TX 77072

gdhgdhgd on 17-Feb-12 8:30 AM

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:30:00 GMT

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Start Date: 17-Feb-12 8:30 AM
End Time: 17-Feb-12 5:30 PM

Technical Luncheon (Pelazzio) on 21-Feb-12 11:00 AM

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Technical Luncheon (Pelazzio)
Start Date: 21-Feb-12 11:00 AM
End Time: 21-Feb-12 1:30 PM
Location: Pelazzio/The new Omni Palace, Houston, TX 77077
Speaker: Arthur Cheng

Event Details:

Downhole Measurements of Elastic Properties of Shale Gas

Arthur Cheng, Halliburton

The elastic properties of shale gas reservoirs are significantly different from those of conventional clastic reservoirs. Specifically, shale reservoirs are highly anisotropic, usually with the axis of symmetry vertical or near vertical (VTI anisotropy). The anisotropy characterized by shale elastic properties comes from a number of sources, among them the deposition history and environment, the total organic content, the maturity of the hydrocarbon, and the aligned cracks and grains. The VTI anisotropy detected in gas shales may be quite large, and significantly affects seismic imaging as well as the estimation of geomechanical properties for hydraulic fracture design. There is not a single borehole measurement that can easily measure all the necessary parameters to fully characterize the VTI elastic anisotropy in gas shales. However, by a combination of measurements, we can do so. We can use the Stoneley wave and the Flexural (dipole) mode in acoustic logs to estimate the shear wave anisotropy, and we can use walkaway VSPs to measure the P wave anisotropy. The other type of anisotropy common in gas shale reservoirs is azimuthal anisotropy (HTI anisotropy), caused mainly by vertically aligned fractures or cracks. Again, it is not straight forward to measure the anisotropy using a single borehole measurement. We can use shear wave splitting from cross-dipole acoustic logs to estimate the shear wave anisotropy, and azimuthal/walkaround VSPs to estimate the P wave anisotropy. In this presentation, I will present methods and examples for each case, and discuss the sensitivity of these methods to various borehole and acquisition parameters.

Figure.Laboratory measured P and S wave velocity anisotropy in a number of different shales. The data illustrates that there is significant velocity anisotropy in shales. Beware that the normal assumption of weak anisotropy does not apply to most shales. The data also shows that in general P and S wave anisotropy are similar, and wet or liquid-saturated shales show a bit more S wave anisotropy than P wave anisotropy, while dry or gas-saturated shales show more P wave anisotropy than S wave anisotropy.

Pelazzio/The new Omni Palace

12121 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77077

Technical Luncheon (Petroleum Club) on 22-Feb-12 11:00 AM

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Technical Luncheon (Petroleum Club)
Start Date: 22-Feb-12 11:00 AM
End Time: 22-Feb-12 1:30 PM
Location: Petroleum Club of Houston, 77003, Houston
Speaker: Arthur Cheng

Event Details:

Downhole Measurements of Elastic Properties of Shale Gas

Arthur Cheng, Halliburton

Petroleum Club of Houston

800 Bell St Ste 4300

77003, Houston

Call for Volunteers-Judges needed for the San Leon Elementary Science Fair on 23-Feb-12 8:30 AM

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:30:00 GMT

Call for Volunteers-Judges needed for the San Leon Elementary Science Fair
Start Date: 23-Feb-12 8:30 AM
End Time: 23-Feb-12 2:00 PM
Location: San Leon Elementary School (Dickinson ISD), San Leon, TX 77539
Event Details:

Judging Procedure: We have five categories, the students have been narrowed down to five per category in each grade, the students will present their project to the judges and then there will be a question and answer session for each student. There is a form that you evaluate on. The scores are tabulated for a winner.

The school will be serving a light breakfast and providing lunch for the judges. Breakfast will be starting at 8:30am and judging will begin at 9am. It does tend to take all day to judge all the grade levels. We are excited for your interest and look forward to hearing from you. Please contact D'Ann Schneider if interested.

D'Ann Schneider

dschneider@dickinsonisd.org

4th Grade Teacher

San Leon Elementary School

San Leon Elementary School (Dickinson ISD)

2655 Broadway

San Leon, TX 77539

Webinar - On-line Learning on 27-Feb-12 10:00 AM

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Webinar - On-line Learning
Start Date: 27-Feb-12 10:00 AM
End Time: 1-Mar-12 2:00 PM
Speaker: Leon Thomsen

Event Details:

On-line Learning Returns in February, 2012

The popular program initiated by the GSH in July, 2011, will continue with a line up of world class instructors teaching the latest in geophysical technology over the internet, live, to a world wide audience. Kicking off the new year is Leon Thomsen, presenting his popular course on Anisotropy.

Understanding Seismic Anisotropy in Exploration and Exploitation: Hands on

A four half-day course, covering all areas of seismic anisotropy - presented by Leon Thomsen

This course will consist of 4 4-hour sessions, 10 AM – 2 PM

It will be done live on the Internet, using connections through Go-To-Meeting.

Each student will be given Internet access to the full live presentation, with an opportunity for interaction with the instructors and other students, while viewing the same Power Point Presentations (with audio) that are shown to other attendees.

Course Description

All rock masses are seismically anisotropic, but we often ignore this in our seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation. The anisotropy nonetheless does affect our data, in ways that limit the effectiveness with which we can use it, if we ignore it. In this short course, we will understand why this inconsistency between reality and practice has been so successful in the past, and why it will be less successful in the future, as we acquire better seismic data (especially including vector seismic data), and hold correspondingly higher expectations of it. We will further understand how we can modify our practice so as to more fully realize the potential inherent in our data, through algorithms which recognize the fact of seismic anisotropy. The course is accompanied by numerous class exercises, presented in Excel (.xls) format.

Day 1

1. Physical principles

a. Definition of anisotropy

b. Anisotropy vs. heterogeneity

c. Anisotropy as a function of scale

d. Elasticity and Symmetry

e. The Power of Notation

Day 2

2. P-waves: imaging

a. Polar anisotropy

b. Azimuthal anisotropy

c. Slowness ellipses

Day 3

3. P-waves: characterization

a. Polar anisotropy

b. Azimuthal anisotropy

c. Stress and Fractures

Day 4

4. S-waves:

a. Polar anisotropy

b. Azimuthal anisotropy: S-wave splitting

c. Crossed-dipole sonic data

5. C-waves: (Day 4)

a. C-wave basics

b. Polar anisotropy

c. Azimuthal anisotropy: C-wave splitting

6. Epilogue: (Day 4)

Microseismic Special Interest Group on 1-Mar-12 11:30 AM

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:30:00 GMT

Microseismic Special Interest Group
Start Date: 1-Mar-12 11:30 AM
End Time: 1-Mar-12 1:30 PM
Location: Apache Corp., Houston, TX 77056
Speaker: Neal B. Nagel, Ph.D.

Event Details:

Discrete Element Modeling for the Optimization of Shale Gas Stimulations - Employing the Right Physics and Integrating with Microseismic Data

Many (most?!?) shale plays are being developed in a trial-and-error process that is both random and highly inefficient. Partly, this is because the ‘old’ hydraulic fracturing (HF) technologies - such as the bi-planar, pseudo-3D frac models - simply do not work in naturally fractured formations like the shale plays, and the adapted commercial tools include gross assumptions and rules-of-thumb which essentially ignore the complex physics (hydro-mechanical behavior) of rock failure when a HF propagates in a fractured media. The current models also fail to incorporate and optimize around the use of field data like microseismic (MS) data. Too often, MS data is used for nothing more than ‘dots in a box’ without a true cause-and-effect link back to rock failure within a particular fractured reservoir under a particular frac design.

Unlike the commercial tools available for hydraulic fracture design, a new generation of models, like discrete element models (DEM), are being developed to evaluate the hydro-mechanical behavior of actual natural fracture characteristics (intensity, orientation, thermo-hydraulic-mechanical properties) and the deformation and different failure modes of both the rock matrix and the fracture system. These tools can be used to explicitly model the mechanical behavior of fractures and matrix during a hydraulic fracturing process. Further, DEM models can fundamentally evaluate rock failure - the source of MS events in the field - and provide a method to establish the direct cause-and-effect link between the MS data (including location, time, magnitude and moment!) and formation characteristics and the frac design. The synthetic MS produced by DEM models also provides a means to calibrate the model when compared with field MS data, which contributes to a better understanding of the failure mechanisms and allows for optimization of the completion design and production plans.

This presentation will review the developments by Itasca Houston in the application of DEM codes to hydraulic fracture design, including the generation of MS events, as well as present some of the interesting - and perhaps controversial - results coming from the numerical simulation of hydraulic fracturing in fractured shales.

Apache Corp.

2000 Post Oak Blvd #100

Houston, TX USA 77056

Rock Physics Special Interest Group on 7-Mar-12 5:15 PM

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:15:00 GMT

Rock Physics Special Interest Group
Start Date: 7-Mar-12 5:15 PM
End Time: 7-Mar-12 6:30 PM
Location: CGGVeritas in N4037 (North East Building, Floor 4), Houston, TX 77072
Speaker: TBD

Event Details:

TBD

CGGVeritas in N4037 (North East Building, Floor 4)

10300 Town Park Drive

Houston, TX 77072

GSH Technical Breakfast on 14-Mar-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 14-Mar-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 14-Mar-12 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: Chang Li,

Event Details:

Anisotropic Model Building for NE Garden Banks in GOM

Hess Corporation

Chang Li - Geophysicist

Although anisotropic depth imaging is becoming the standard for offshore exploration, anisotropic model building is actually in its infancy. A primary challenge is that anisotropic models are highly non-unique when determined from seismic data alone. Therefore, borehole data, such as well-ties and check-shots, are becoming important ground-truth constraints. For example, Bakulin et al. (2010) investigated several approaches for building anisotropic models in the Green Canyon area of GOM and found that using more borehole-calibrated profiles gave better depth positioning. They also found that careful extrapolation guided by geologic horizons is crucial for building smooth anisotropic 3-D models. However, due to the complexity and non-uniqueness in anisotropic model building, it is difficult to use one approach for all cases.

For Northeast Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, we assume vertical transverse isotropy (VTI) and derive Thomsen’s delta by comparing seismic and well data. Both well-tie and check-shot data indicate a two-layer delta trend in NE Garden Banks: low delta shallow and high delta deeper. The interface between the two delta zones corresponds to a distinct seismic reflector - the base of a mass transport complex which is also a local maximum in the velocity. Using this two-layer delta model and a scanned Thomsen’s epsilon model, we carry out anisotropic (VTI) imaging. The VTI imaging reduces misties by 80% compared to isotropic imaging.

Fugro

Pelazzio/The new Omni Palace

Technical Luncheon (Pelazzio) on 20-Mar-12 11:00 AM

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Technical Luncheon (Pelazzio)
Start Date: 20-Mar-12 11:00 AM
End Time: 20-Mar-12 1:30 PM
Location: Pelazzio/The new Omni Palace, Houston, TX 77077
Speaker: Tarik A. Alkhalifah

Event Details:

Imaging the Earth Using Better Lenses: Seismic Anisotropy

Tarik Alkhalifah, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Seismic data have long been processed and imaged under the isotropic wave propagation assumption. Despite the abundant amount of shaly sediments in the Earth’s subsurface with well-known anisotropic material composition, as well as, the natural sedimentation process that has a general vertical preference, we typically resorted in the 1990’s to isotropic imaging algorithms. Only recently, starting around the early 2000s, that imposing anisotropic medium assumptions to wave propagation and imaging saw wide spread appeal and now it is part of the mainstream seismic data imaging process in many places. The reason for this development is three fold: 1) the higher resolution, longer offsets, multi azimuth nature of our acquisition nowadays, 2) the advancement in simplifying the anisotropy description and representation, including resorting to the acoustic assumption, and finally, 3) the tremendous return for investment seen in seismic images produced by including anisotropy in imaging.

Advancement in simplifying the anisotropic medium representation and imaging is still underway including simplifications in representing the depth axis with pseudo depth that allows us to eliminate the dependency on the, usually elusive from surface seismic data, vertical velocity. We also saw recently simplifications in describing the transversely isotropic medium (TTI) tilt using a structural conformable approach and more so by replacing TTI with a dip-oriented model (DTI). In this case many of the equations that we use for angle gather decomposition as well as imaging are simple, simpler than even those associated with the vertical symmetry TI (VTI) case. All this advancement is done under, what is now considered, the conventional acoustic assumption, and this assumption has recently been applied to the titled orthorhombic case. We also saw recently witnessed the development of methods to decompose the image point after reverse time migration to reflection angles and azimuths for such media. This will provide us with anisotropy velocity quality control tools that are also useful for updating the velocity model as well as assessing the illumination properties of our acquisition in TTI media.

Despite such advancements, the biggest challenge in seismic imaging in complex anisotropic media is still parameter estimation, which rarely gets the attention commonly devoted to reverse time migration methods. In this presentation, I will share insights into anisotropy parameter dependency for imaging. We will look at the traveltime and amplitude influence of key parameters and discuss the dreadful trade off between anisotropy and inhomogeneity. I will also introduce methods based on smart perturbations of the eikonal equation in TTI media that can be used for easy parameter estimation in complex media. Similar perturbation methods can be applied to the wavefield, and thus, can be used to estimate anisotropy parameters using wave equation methods.

In anisotropy parameter estimation and usage a simple, but important, fact holds: We can only estimate what the data (of all kinds) allows us to estimate, so we have to make sure that we have the anisotropy parameter combinations that actually influences your data.

12121 Westheimer Rd

Houston, TX 77077

Technical Luncheon (Petroleum Club) on 21-Mar-12 11:00 AM

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Technical Luncheon (Petroleum Club)
Start Date: 21-Mar-12 11:00 AM
End Time: 21-Mar-12 1:30 PM
Location: Petroleum Club of Houston, Houston, TX 77002
Speaker: Tarik A. Alkhalifah

Event Details:

Imaging the Earth Using Better Lenses: Seismic Anisotropy

Tarik Alkhalifah, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Petroleum Club of Houston

800 Bell St Ste 4300

Houston, TX 77002

GSH Technical Breakfast on 11-Apr-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 11-Apr-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 11-Apr-12 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro Building, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: TBD

Event Details:

TBD

Kingwood and Deerwood Country Club

GSH Golf Tournament on 7-May-12 10:00 AM

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:00:00 GMT

GSH Golf Tournament
Start Date: 7-May-12 10:00 AM
End Time: 7-May-12 5:00 PM
Location: Kingwood and Deerwood Country Club, Kingwood, TX 77345
Event Details:

You are cordially invited to the 2012 Geophysical Society of Houston Golf Tournament on May 7, 2012 at the Kingwood and Deerwood Country Clubs. This year’s tournament promises to be a great event with more (quicker) door prizes and several enhancements to the golf tournament. We will be utilizing all 3 courses at Kingwood plus the Deerwood Country Club. Breakfast will be served at both clubs, prior to play and is included in the entry fee! Please note the earlier tee times. This will allow people to get home at a decent time.

The entry fee is $125.00 per person $500.00 per team before April 30

$150.00 per person $600.00 per team after April 30

Entries are limited and will be accepted on a first come/first served basis. Entry Fee includes: Golf with cart, Breakfast, Range balls, On–course beverages and fabulous door prizes. A cash bar will be available during dinner and awards presentation.

Schedule of Events:

8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Registration and Driving Range

8:30 – 10:30 a.m. Breakfast

10:00 a.m. Shotgun start (Deerwood)

10:30 a.m. Shotgun start (Kingwood courses)

3:30 p.m. Cash Bar and Dinner Buffet

4:00 p.m. Dinner, Awards presentation.

Click here for registration forms.

1717 Forest Garden Dr

Kingwood, TX 77345

GSH Technical Breakfast- TBA on 9-May-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast- TBA
Start Date: 9-May-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 9-May-12 8:30 AM

GSH Technical Breakfast on 9-May-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 9-May-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 9-May-12 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro Building, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: TBD

Event Details:

TBD

GSH Technical Breakfast on 12-Sep-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 12-Sep-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 12-Sep-12 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro Building, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: TBD

Event Details:

TBD

ANNUAL GSH / HGS SALTWATER TOURNAMENT on 5-Oct-12 8:30 AM

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:30:00 GMT

ANNUAL GSH / HGS SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
Start Date: 5-Oct-12 8:30 AM
End Time: 5-Oct-12 5:30 PM

GSH Technical Breakfast on 10-Oct-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 10-Oct-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 10-Oct-12 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro Building, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: TBD

Event Details:

TBD

GSH Technical Breakfast on 14-Nov-12 7:00 AM

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:00:00 GMT

GSH Technical Breakfast
Start Date: 14-Nov-12 7:00 AM
End Time: 14-Nov-12 8:30 AM
Location: Fugro Building, Houston, TX 77081
Speaker: TBD

Event Details:

TBD