March 2016 Outcrop by The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Volume 65 • No. 3 • March 2016

2016 Summit Sponsors Gold Sponsors

Student Sponsor

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

910 16th Street • Suite 1214 • Denver, CO 80202 • 303-573-8621 The Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG) is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to promote interest in geology and allied sciences and their practical application, to foster scientific research and to encourage fellowship and cooperation among its members. The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the RMAG.

2016 OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT

TREASURER

John Ladd john.ladd@discoverynr.com

Tom Sperr tsperr@bayless-cos.com

PRESIDENT-ELECT

TREASURER-ELECT

Larry Rasmussen larryr@whiting.com 1st VICE PRESIDENT

Karen Dean deankaren@comcast.net SECRETARY

John Roesink jroesink@jaggedpeakenergy.com

Sarah Hawkins shawkins@usgs.gov

2nd VICE PRESIDENT

1st YEAR COUNSELOR

Kelly Foley foleykk@gmail.com

Rob Diedrich rdiedrich@sm-energy.com 2nd YEAR COUNSELOR

Jane Estes-Jackson Jane.estes-jackson@mcelvain.com

RMAG STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Carrie Veatch, MA cveatch@rmag.org MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS MANAGER

Hannah Rogers hrogers@rmag.org ACCOUNTANT

Carol Dalton cdalton@rmag.org PROJECTS SPECIALIST

Marissa Stanger mstanger@rmag.org MANAGING EDITOR

Will Duggins will.duggins@i-og.net

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Rates and sizes can be found on page 40. Advertising rates apply to either black and white or color ads. Submit color ads in RGB color to be compatible with web format. Borders are recommended for advertisements that comprise less than one half page. Digital files must be PC compatible submitted in png, jpg, tif, pdf or eps formats at a minimum of 300 dpi. If you have any questions, please call the RMAG office at 303-573-8621.

Holly Sell holly.sell@yahoo.com

Ad copy, signed contract and payment must be received before advertising insertion. Contact the RMAG office for details. DEADLINES: Ad submissions are the 1st of every month for the following month’s publication.

WEDNESDAY NOON LUNCHEON RESERVATIONS

RMAG Office: 303-573-8621 | Fax: 303-476-2241 | staff@rmag.org or www.rmag.org

Greg Guyer Greg.Guyer@halliburton.com Cheryl Fountain cwhitney@alumni.nmt.edu Ron Parker ron.parker@taskfronterra.com DESIGN/PRODUCTION

Nate Silva nate@nate-silva.com

The Outcrop is a monthly publication of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

3 3

Outcrop | March 2016 OUTCROP

New Date: 24 March 2016 AAPG | DPA

The Rockies Playmaker Forum

Marriott Denver City Center I Denver, Colorado

Co-Hosted by: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG)

One Full-day Session The Denver Playmakers Forum will feature US Rockies plays that were put together by well-known, successful playmakers. The forum will feature case histories, learnings, strategies, and suggestions for future playmakers. The event is co-sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and the Division of Professional Affairs-AAPG.

For details contact educate@aapg.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

FORUM

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP Newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

CONTENTS FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

38 Lead Story: Tempest at Teapot Dome, Wyoming

6 RMAG January 2016 Board of Directors Meeting

ASSOCIATION NEWS 2 RMAG 2016 Summit Sponsors 27 RMAG Mentorship Program 29 RMAG/DAPL Geoland Ski Day 31 RMAG & DGS 3D Seismic Symposium 33 RMAG Golf Tournament 2016 35 RMAG/SEPM/DMNS Night at the Museum

8 President’s Letter 20 RMAG Luncheon Programs: Sheri Bowman-Young 22 Mineral of the Month: Barite 36 Welcome New RMAG Members 37 In The Pipeline

COVER PHOTO

40 Calendar 40 Outcrop Advertising Rates 41 Teacher of the Year

A bird’s eye view of the Stansbury Mountains, west of Salt Lake City. Salt flats on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in the foreground. Photo by Will Duggins

Award 42 Advertiser Index

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

RMAG JANUARY 2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING By Sarah Hawkins, Secretary shawkins@usgs.gov

The 2016 RMAG Board of Directors held their first official meeting on January 20, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. Tom Sperr gave the financial report, and the society remains in good financial standing. We would like to thank the 2015 Board of Directors for what they were able to accomplish last year, including the finalization of the RMAG Strategic Plan. This document clarifies RMAG’s mission, vision, core values and goals. The final plan was the result of the hard work over multiple years by Executive Director Carrie Veatch, the 2014 and 2015 RMAG Board, and the RMAG long range planning committee. RMAG is co-hosting several upcoming events later in March and early April. The RMAG/DGS 3D Seismic Symposium will be held on March 3, the same week that this issue of the Outcrop is released. Other events later in the month include the RMAG/DAPL GeoLand Ski Day at Winter Park on March 11, and the DPA/RMAG Rockies Playmakers Forum on March KES T

OSCIENCE L GE , LL RE

24. In addition, RMAG and SEPM are planning to cohost a “Night at the Museum” at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on April 5. Be sure to register as soon as possible for these events! On Tuesday, March 8, the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) is hosting the 2016 Legislative Reception at the University Club from 5:30-7:30pm. This is a great opportunity for geologists to meet with state legislators to discuss current and coming legislation that involves geology related topics, including hydraulic fracturing, coal, uranium, rare earth minerals, and water issues. The cost is $20, and will be collected at the door. The RMAG membership committee is still accepting applications for the 2016 RMAG mentorship program. For 2016, RMAG is aiming to connect 5 mentor/mentee pairs. Go to rmag.org to apply for the inaugural year for this program. The application deadline is Tuesday, March 15.

Thomas E. Hoak, Ph.D. Consulting Geoscientist Kestrel Geoscience, LLC

Structural Geology Seismic Interpretation Magnetic and Gravity Interpretation Basin Analysis and Restoration Regional Desk Studies Integrated Exploration Prospect Generation Presentation Graphics

Littleton, CO USA

Phone: (303) 933-5805 Cell: (720) 375-3015 kestrelco@comcast.net kestrelgeoscience.com

THE BOOK CLIFFS, UTAH: A CASE STUDY IN COASTAL SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY

Daub & Associates, Inc. SPECIALIZING IN PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, HYDROLOGICAL, GEOTECHNICAL AND PERMITTING SERVICES

Gerald J. Daub, P.G., C.P.G.   

W.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLC 2016 Schedule 15-19 August 29 Aug – 2 Sept By arrangement

$3500 Professional/$2500 Student

  

Information and registration: http://littleww.wordpress.com wwlittle@gmail.com

OUTCROP | March 2016

President

gjdaub@daubandassociates.com www.daubandassociates.com

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

PRESIDENT’S LETTER By John Ladd

Survivor! No, I’m not referring to the TV reality show, I’m talking about myself. Why? The Outcrop is posted on the first business day of the month, and by coincidence this is also my 62nd birthday. What’s so significant about turning 62? It doesn’t have the numerical impact of 60 and it doesn’t have connotations, at least for us baby boomers, of turning 64 and retiring to a cottage on the Isle of Wight. However, it does have significance at least as far as the US Government is concerned, because it marks the day that I become eligible for Social Security. This means I have officially reached retirement age and it also means that I have somehow managed to get to this point, riding the ups and the downs of the natural resources business, while staying employed in one form or another for most all of my career. While looking through my

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

President’s Letter explaining the smile on my face in the photo. The day was like a microcosm of my career. Plenty of unpleasant moments like layoffs, sudden moves, and all the bosses quitting on the same day, but I can look back at it all and say I am sure glad to have spent my working career as a geologist instead of doing something like selling insurance. So what does this lengthy introduction have to do with RMAG? Well, we are in the process of starting a mentoring program. The idea behind it is that large numbers of older geologists, who got into the business during the boom years of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, are reaching retirement age and beginning to leave the business. Layoffs and a lack of desire to weather yet another bust will undoubtedly only hasten this process. Many of us might have some useful ideas about surviving the wild swings in the commodity prices that we could pass on to younger geologist who started work during the recently ended boom. However, if we are no longer sitting in the office next door, it’s sort of hard for someone to stop by and informally ask for advice. The mentoring program is intended to set up the infrastructure so that an older worker (or retiree) can be matched up with a younger worker. We will leave it to them to figure out if they want to get together over an occasional lunch or an after-work beer to discuss career issues, or perhaps just be available to answer questions over the phone. I have no idea how successful this will turn

files to find a photo for this column, I came across photos from the end of one of the physically grueling trips that I managed to survive. I was surprised to find that in none of them did I really look totally beat up. The attached one was taken at the end of a trip my daughter dreamed up as a way to celebrate Father’s Day three years ago. It involved skiing uphill 6500’, using skins, to the top of one of the Cascade volcanoes so that we could finish the ski season in style with one really long run back down. I am in okay shape for my age, but this trip was with a group of twenty-somethings who back-country

ski every weekend during the winter, while I usually use a ski lift to get uphill. I kept up with them until the halfway point when it started getting steep. Not only did I have difficulty with the technique of forcing the skis up the slope, but by then the sun was high in the sky, reflecting off the snow and it making it feel uncomfortably hot. I nearly gave up, but fortunately I had crampons with me, so I tied the skis to my back pack and slowly hiked the rest of the way to the top. Everyone in the group was polite and waited for old guy, and after I recovered for a while on the summit we had a wonderful ski back down on perfect corn snow, thus

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

PTTC Presents: Workshops to Improve Your Skills The Petrography of Shales: From Mudrocks to Chalks

Tuesday-Wednesday, March 15-16, 2016, 8:30 am – 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall room 243 Fee: $500, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate, limit 20 Instructor: Dr. Peter A. Scholle, and Dr. Dana Ulmer-Scholle, New Mexico Tech

Synopsis: In the last decade, interest in mudrocks has gone from their role as hydrocarbon sources and seals to being major reservoirs. Unlike most courses that consist of only lectures, this course provides participants the unique opportunity to have hands-on experience using standard petrographic techniques to better understand how the composition of mudrocks, their depositional environments as well as their diagenesis impact mudrock reservoirs. This class is designed for participants that have some fundamental knowledge of geology and some minimal petrographic experience (i.e., can identify common minerals like quartz, calcite, etc. under the microscope). The course: Integrating petrography into the study of mudrocks can often add information about their depositional environments and is an important tool to understanding their detailed composition and diagenesis. The information garnered from petrographic analyses can be utilized to better understand reservoir trends, diagenetic effects that impact reservoir quality and reservoir’s potential response to stimulation. This course combines half-day lectures with hands-on petrographic observations of thin sections from a variety of calcareous and siliceous mudrocks. Participants are also welcome to bring their own thin section samples to the class.

Petra Basics

Thursday – Friday, March 17-18, 2016, 8:30 am – 5 pm, Colorado School of Mines, Berthoud Hall rm. 201 Fee: $500, includes food at breaks, class notes, and PDH certificate Instructor: Jewel Wellborn Topics include: • • • •

Petra Main Module - Fm Top Organization, Zone Functions, and Computation of Isopach. Petra Mapping Module - Structure and Isopach using Gridding Functions and Hand Edits. Petra Cross Section Module - Correlation of Sand Bodies, and Reinterpretation of Isopachs Additional exercises and topics based on class participants interest

How to Find Bypassed Pay in Old Wells Using DST Data

Monday - Wednesday, March 14-16, 2016, 8:00am Monday until noon Wednesday. Billings Petroleum Club, Crowne Plaza Hotel Billings, Montana Fee: $600 MGS members, $650 non-members; Includes: lunch, workbook, and PDH certificate Instructor: Hugh Reid Course Focus For Today’s Low-Priced Oil Environment

This year a major focus of the course will be how to identify tight oil sand from DSTs to use as candidates for horizontal wells with multi-stage frac’s. However we will also identify better permeability zones which are damaged and can be simply reentered or re-perforated in a cheaper vertical well. “No need for an expensive horizontal well where a simple vertical well will do the trick”. We will also cover using water DSTs to find zones for water disposal wells pertinent today’s industry. This course is a non-numerical introduction to understanding DSTs & DST pressure charts focusing on pattern recognition and practical “quick look” techniques. Numerous field examples & case histories are utilized and theory is kept to a minimum. Course manual contains numerous DST charts which can be used for trouble shooting problem DSTs later. It is a permanent reference source. To avoid problem of attendees forgetting procedures taught at the course, all techniques are given in cookbook format ‘fill in the blanks’. A key emphasis of the course is to show how to identify missed (damaged) pay in competitor’s ‘dry’ wells and additional pay in your own producing wells.

Class Descriptions and Register Online: www.pttcrockies.org

For more information, contact Mary Carr, 303.273.3107, mcarr@mines.edu 11 OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

Fluid Inclusion Technologies President’s Letter is a unique approach combining

»»

XRF (PDQ-XRF ®), Trapped Fluid Analysis

position of RMAG as well as holding down a and High Resolution Photography (FIS ®),President ® me more than busy and the last full time job is(RockEye keeping ) of the entire wellbore from thing I need to be doing is volunteering for something well cuttings or core samples of any age. else. However, as an alternative, I got the idea that I could use thisAllmonth’s column to on write down some of analyses are conducted the same the advice I 1might give to in per thewell) early staggram sample (up someone to 575 samples es of their career if they were to ask me how I made it with an analytical cycle of four days. this far. This is not to imply that I am any great source of wisdom. I knowData many other provided on ageologists DVD with my age that I am sure could do as well or better in this role. Alpreviewer software. though I have been reasonably successful, in most respects my career has been pretty average. Perhaps the most distinguishing aspect of it is that I have been able to fulfill a career goal that I set for myself back in grad school, which was to never have to live and work in Houston. NowInformation I can’t give any advice on how to ® aboutyou PetroFecta achieve that goal, other than to have a little good luck and other FIT services, call 918.461.8984 and a lot of determination. Being really addicted to skior visit www.fittulsa.com ing helps foster that determination. But here are some ideas that might be of use whether you are on the Gulf Coast or at the foot of the Rockies. Hope they help:

1 and 2 man Mudlogging Gas Referencing™ Geosteering

Summit CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Mudlogging out. We plan toServices start small the first year and see how

it goes, but if it proves to be useful to members, we Mike will probably try to expand itBarber in future years. You can Manager sign up either to volunteer as aMountain mentor or to request a Serving the Rocky Region mentor through March 15. 230 Airport Rd. Ph (435)657-0586 By making it through the ups and downs all these Unit D Cell (435)640-1382 Heber City, Utah 84032 years, I certainly qualify foremail: beingmbarber@summitmudlog.com one of the mentors, www.summitmudlog.com and if the program does continue, I may well volunteer sometime in the future, but not this year. Taking on the

Neil H. Whitehead, III Consulting Geologist PhD

CPG-AIPG

PG WY

Rocky Mountain Basins Wellsite to Petroleum Systems ArcGIS 303-679-8573

fax 303-679-8574

31634 Black Widow Way

Conifer, CO

OUTCROP

OUTCROP | March 2016

neil3@q.com 80433-9610

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

www.rmag.org

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

June 21st On-thePresident’s Letter Continued from page 43 Rocks Field Trip

»»

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

LOCATION we’ll lease it, permit it, gather it and sell it

Have more than a little luck and becommunity at the created a sensational buzzgood in the scientific right place at the right time: You probably didn’t and elsewhere is testimonial to excellent research want to hear this one,Siddoway, and it’s certainly not the and mosther conducted by Dr. her students important aspect of a successful career, but withcollaborators. The members of the OTR field trip, on the outlongest any good a successful careera is day luck, of thehaving year, were able to catch bitgoof that ingmagic. to be very challenging. I am thinking, for examAs a final act of closure, the skies opened up as weofdrove back towho collect our cars at the Visitor’s ple, the people majored in geology while Center. pelted the group andlast made continued theDime-sized boom washail on but then graduated spring as discussion, impossible. prices were in aand freeeven fall. Igoodbyes, can imagine that gettingWhat startedstarted as a nice day the withcurrent great potential turned a career under conditions has into a highly memorable learning experience with impact. been near impossible. In contrast, there’s my experience. It’s almost embarrassing to recount, it was so References : Myrow, P.M., Taylor, J.F., Miller, J.F.,course Ethington, R.L., Ripperdan, easy. I started the intro geology in SeptemR.L., and Allen, J., 2003, Fallen Arches: Dispelling Myths ber of Concerning 1973 when oil was $2.70/barrel. A month latyour ideas - we make them happen Cambrian and Ordovician Paleogeography of the er, the Rocky ArabsMountain invaded Israel in a surprise Region: Geological Society ofattack Americaon Bulletin, LEASING - PERMITTING - DAMAGES - ROW v. 115, no. 6, US p. 695–713 Yom Kippur. The responded by airlifting massive Siddoway, C., Myrow, P., and Fitz-Díaz, E., 2013, Strata, Structures, amounts of military hardware to Israel to help them and Enduring Enigmas: A 125th Anniversary Appraisal of repel the attack. TheGeology, Arabs responded raising theG.S., Colorado Springs in Abbott, L.D.,by and Hancock, eds., Conceptssell andon Newthe Directions: Exploring 125 Years price of oilClassic they would international marof GSA Discoveries in the Rocky Mountain Region: Geological ket to $5.50/barrel and announcSociety of America Field Guide 33, p. ing an 331–356. embargo on selling any oil to C, Shatford, and was Contreras, theSiddoway, US, which at thatS.time im- A. A. 2013, ARMO Reactivation of CambrianportingOrdovician about 30% of their crudeDetrital or Older Structures: oil supply. werefrom gas“Structureless” lines all ZirconThere Evidence of end the Souther Range winterSandstones and by the of the Front school Established 1927 in Colorado Springs, GSA Abstracts year, oil traded at $13/bbl. By the with Programs, Vol. 45, No.7, p.887. time I https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2013AM/ finished grad school in the WWW.LARIOOIL.COM webprogram/Paper226741.html fall of 1978, the Iranian revoluSiddoway, C. S. and G. E. Gehrels, 2014a, tion was in progress,sandstone cutting crude Basement-hosted injectites of supplies from Athere, wasNeoproterozoic climbColorado: Vestigeoil of the Premier geonavigation/geosteering services Revealed Through Detrital Zircon ing towards its peak of $40/barrel, since 1995 Provenance Analysis, Lithosphere, and gold, which had been released doi:10.1130/L390.1 Siddoway, C. S. and of G. $35/ounce E. Gehrels, 2014b, from its fixed price Cryogenian Sandstones in Colorado: in 1972, was shooting up towards Maximize Target Penetration A New Terrestrial Record for Laurentia its peak of $800/ounce, which in (Rodinia) Revealed Through Detrital Zircon Maximize Production Provenance Analysis, GSA of Abstracts turn was driving up the price all withmetals, Programs, Vol. 46, No. 6, p.763, Avoid Costly Redrills the other especially copper. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/ Moneywebprogram/Paper246788.html. magazine even published a Sterne, E.J., that 2006,fall Stacked, “Evolved” for Triangle cover story on “Careers Senior geosteering staff on call 24/7 to keep Zones along the Southeastern Flank of the ‘80’s” and #1 on their list was you in-zone and respond to structural the Colorado Front Range: The Mountain Geologist. My wife-to-be had»just Geologist, v. 43, p. 65–92. stratigraphic changes www.horizontalsi.com started grad school in Arizona, and Proud sponsor of the my thesis had involved mapping in Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists a porphyry copper belt in British Denver, Colorado Carrollton, Texas Columbia, so I decided to try for a KC Oren 303.249.9965 972.416.1626 Vol.CONTINUED 63, No. 12 December 2014 44 ON PAGE 14

303-279-0789

Lario-Oil & Gas Company

Stay in the Zone

»»

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

President’s Letter

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

minutes telling me how wonderful the place was and how I should cancel the other interview and just come to work for them. After making an offer I couldn’t refuse I did just that. End of job search. Always assume that everyone you deal with in the business may be able, at some time in the future, to help you get a job, so act accordingly. After starting the job with Superior, I found out that there was more to the story about why I was hired. The research for my thesis was supported mainly by the provincial government’s Ministry of Mines. As part of the deal, I was not only supposed to be mapping the area for the subject of my thesis, which had to do with structure and tectonics, but also catalogue all of the mineral shows in the mapping area. The ministry sent out one of their geologists at the beginning of my field season to show me what they wanted me to look for and he periodically stopped by to check in on me during the summer. I used him as one of my references on my resume. It turns out he and the Exploration Manager at Superior had gone to college together and were good friends.

job in the mining business. I got a directory to all the mineral exploration companies in Tucson, there were about 20, and sent resumes to all of them. I got offers back for two interviews, flew out, went to the first one at Superior Oil’s minerals division, and after several meetings with members of the geological staff, I got ushered into the division head’s office. He was an old oil geologist who had been sent from headquarters to watch over all the mining guys. He spent the next 30 SINCLAIR

PETROLEUM

ENGINEERING,INC.

www.sinclairengineering.com

 Unconventional Well Modeling Specialist  Shale, CBM, Tight Gas, Primary, Secondary  Reserve Reports, Property Evaluations  Production Forecasting John Sinclair,Ph.D.,P.E. Licensed in CO, UT, MT, & WY

307-587-5502 (o) 307-431-6382 (c) john@sinclairengineering.com

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

PRESIDENT’S LETTER Apparently he thought I had done a competent job. I gather they had already planned to make me an offer and the only purpose of the interview was to make sure I didn’t have some sort of annoying personality trait. Always be on the alert for an easy way to make your employer money, because in the end, they care much more about whether they get a good return on their investment in your salary and benefits then whether you are polite to your boss and you show up promptly at 8:00 AM every work day. In 1984, Mobil announced they were buying Superior. The purchase was made partly to shore up their reserves, which were lagging, but also because they felt Superior had innovative employees that would help them to increase reserves through more successful exploration and development activities. Although Mobil was not in the mining business and announced plans to shut our division down, they so much wanted to bring in large numbers of Superior’s exploration staff that even some of us mining geologists were offered oil and gas jobs, including myself. I got assigned to the mid-continent production geology group in their Denver office. I’m not sure that local management knew what to do with me because although I was clearly an experienced geologist, it wasn’t exactly the kind of experience that was useful in oil and gas. My supervisor had me start a study about their 30 year old water floods in the Cement Field of Oklahoma. I barely knew what a well log was, but with the help of co-workers, I started to get the hang of

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Whiting: A Bigger and Better Team Visit us at www.Whiting.com

Fundamentally Better Whiting Petroleum Corporation is an independent exploration and production company. We are a leading crude oil producer in North Dakota and operate substantial assets in northern Colorado. At Whiting we are committed to economically attractive and environmentally responsible operations. Our hydraulic fracturing advancements, state of the art geoscience lab and expertise in exploration have made it possible for us to increase production and reserves while reducing emissions, minimizing surface impacts, and preserving precious water resources.

1700 Broadway | Suite 2300 | Denver, Colorado 80290-2300 P: 303.837.1661 | F: 303.851.4923

OUTCROP | March 2016

President’s Letter 1500’ in the Garber which had high resistivity, good SP deflection and separation between the long and short normal curves. In case I missed it, the Schlumberger engineer at the time had helpfully added a comment in the depth column saying “Sand, possible oil or gas.” I did a quick check of the offset well logs and found that this well sat at the top of a 4-way closure. Now I didn’t know much about petroleum geology but I did know that oil floated on water and 4-way closures were a good thing. I mentioned it to my supervisor. At first he seemed upset, because the normal thing to do was just approve whatever Operations wanted to do. This reaction didn’t surprise me because I had already discovered that Mobil didn’t need an influx of people from Superior to improve their performance. They already had technically excellent staff, but they were just held back by a rigid and bureaucratic management system where no one in charge wanted to rock the boat. After showing him my maps, explaining we could test it cheaply and pointing out that there even three other offset wells in the structural closure we could recomplete if

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

correlating logs. One of the frequent tasks we had was to approve changes that the operations group wanted to make to wells. About three months in, a request came across my desk to approve plugging a producer. It was my job to make sure there wasn’t any behind pipe potential. The main producing horizon was a series of fluvial sandstone layers in the Fortuna Formation, between about 2000’ and 3000’. When I looked at the log, a 1950’s vintage e-log, there was another sand layer at

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

POSITIONED FOR GROWTH

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

this one worked, he signed off on my recommendation. Operations perforated the zone and it flowed back naturally at 400 BOPD. The other three offsets performed similarly and by the time they were finished with the recompletions, I had discovered that there was a normal fault on the south flank of the anticline that the field was located on which set up a large fault trap in the same sand layer. I recall that we ended up completing another 20 wells or so in that accumulation. In short order, I had a raise and promotion and I even got moved to an office with a window. Jump at every chance you get to present a paper on work you have done, whether it is via a poster, an oral presentation, or by publishing in a journal. Yes I know, getting up in front a crowd of your peers to present a paper can be unnerving, putting together PowerPoints can be a pain in the neck, and if the reviewers are doing their jobs, getting the paper approved for publication can be time-consuming and tedious. However, as long as you do a decent job, it will pay dividends. Case in point, while working for Snyder Oil in the early ‘90’s, one of the engineers and I presented a poster on our work on Wattenberg Field’s Codell Sandstone at an AAPG Convention. At that time posters were up all day, not just for a morning or afternoon session. Authors were supposed to be in their booths for at least a couple of hours in the morning and then come back after lunch and do it all again. Wattenberg was beginning to attract a lot of attention and we had a continual stream of people in our booth. I quickly gave up trying to keep track

With a proud legacy and an exciting future, QEP Resources is an industry leader in crude oil and natural gas exploration and production. We’re focused on some of the most prolific natural resource plays in the continental United States. These include two world-class crude oil provinces – the Williston Basin and Permian Basin; two prominent liquids-rich gas plays – the Pinedale Anticline and the Uinta Basin; and a premier dry gas asset – the Haynesville Shale.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, QEP Resources, Inc. (NYSE: QEP) is an S&P MidCap 400 Index member company. Learn more at www.qepres.com.

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

President’s Letter me his name but I didn’t recognize it. The next day she called back to say she had the okay to hire me on contract. Turns out the geologist knew me: he was one of the people who had been grilling me at the poster session two years prior. She told me that based on my presentation and our conversation, he was confident that I would do a good job for them. I had to stick around Snyder for a couple of weeks to help with the transition, but I literally left that job on a Friday afternoon and started the new one on Monday morning. So much for a long layoff. Companies may compete against each other in a particular play, but that doesn’t mean you have to treat the employees of a competitor as if they are the enemy. When I worked at Snyder Oil, their chief competitor in the Wattenberg Field was HS Resources. Shortly before I started at Snyder, Amoco had put all of their Codell-Niobrara rights up for sale. One of the companies made the high bid but was unable to come up with enough capital to close the deal so they invited the other to join in 50/50 on the purchase. They followed

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

of whom I talked to. By the end of the day I was exhausted and ready for some adult beverages and could care less about making notes on all the contacts I had made. Two years later, after some financial missteps, Snyder split into two companies with the Wattenberg part merging with another company to form Patina. This was accompanied by the layoff of many employees, including myself. The next day, I started calling around to see if I could find any other work. One of the first people I called was an engineer whom I had worked with at Snyder. She had left a couple of years prior to work for Vessels Oil and Gas. She told me they weren’t adding to the staff, but that they were getting ready to put their Wattenberg assets up for sale and she had been put in charge of getting a sales package together. They had only one geologist on staff and he was too busy with other projects to help her. She said she could use me right away for what would probably be a six month project, but first she would have to get the geologists’ permission to bring me in. She told

OUTCROP | March 2016

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

PRESIDENT’S LETTER up the purchase by running a draft with each company alternating picking acreage they wanted. Something contentious happened during the draft process. I heard a story more than once that during a heated discussion, a senior officer at one of the companies suggested to a senior officer at the other one that they should step outside so they could settle things mano a mano. I’ve heard different versions of how that all ended, so I will leave it to your imagination, but needless to say, relationships between the two companies’ managers was never again very cordial. However, as a typical geologist, I always wanted more data, and my counterpart at HS felt the same way, so we maintained an informal process whereby we could trade logs and other such data as well as discuss what was working and what wasn’t in the field. When I was laid off from Snyder, he was another person I called about work. He told me that HS was currently going through a reorganization so they wouldn’t be hiring anyone immediately, but that once the dust settled, they would be looking to add to staff and he would make sure I was considered. About the time I was finishing up my work at Vessels, they offered me full time job. It was another instance of finish one job on Friday and start the new one on Monday. There are undoubtedly other things I could bring up, but this column has gone on for long enough. In addition, I have nine more of these things to write this year, so maybe I can come back to this subject at a later time. That means I would only have to dream up eight new topics to write about! Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

OUTCROP | March 2016

RMAG LUNCHEON PROGRAMS Speaker: Sheri Bowman-Young — March 2, 2016

Microseismic Event Growth and Interactionwith Local Geology Across Multiple Horizons of the Permian Basin Marc Prince, Senior Seismologist, ESG Solutions analysis designed to better understand in-situ reservoir behavior are also emerging with considerable success. Here we present results from numerous case studies throughout the Permian basin and demonstrate how operators are using these results to evaluate wellbore spacing, compare completions parameters, characterize out-of-zone growth and understand stress release in order to optimize subsequent treatments. The introduction of new sensor deployment strategies have also shed light on the relationship between hydraulic fracture stimulation and fault activation in other north American unconventional formations and may provide similar benefit to operators in the Permian. Evaluation of critically stressed fractures or faults in the vicinity of target production zones may have implications for estimates of reservoir deformation or communication across lithological boundaries. Understanding the nature of fault-related induced seismicity and their relationship to the injection processes is critical to define the potential for out-of-zone growth, but also to understand the role that larger-scale fractures play with respect to the dynamics of the reservoir.

As operators in the Permian Basin continue to focus on unconventional plays including the Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, Spraberry and Cline, geoscientists working in the region are increasingly using geological and geophysical data to optimize drilling and completions strategies in an effort to maximize well productivity. Microseismic monitoring is one such geophysical tool that provides operators with a wealth of feedback on the nature of fracture stimulations in these formations. By characterizing and evaluating factors such as fracture containment, lithological characteristics, geomechanical properties, stress regimes and distribution of natural fractures, an opportunity exists to apply learnings to design more effective stimulation programs. New developments in advanced microseismic

APRIL LUNCHEON SPEAKER ANNOUNCED! Professor Christine Siddoway is a structural geologist and faculty member at Colorado College, whose research in the Rockies spans crustal environments as broad as meltpresent deformation in Proterozoic gneisses and distributed brittle deformation in Garden of the Gods. Her unconventional application of uranium-lead geochronology led to a recent breakthrough on the age of a regional array of sandstone dikes in the southern Front Range. The age of the Colorado injectites had been a persistent problem because the dikes are hosted by crystalline basement. Outside USA, Dr. Siddoway’s primary research focus is the crustal growth and tectonic evolution of West Antarctica. She has led six research expeditions to Marie Byrd Land, twice participated in international research programs, and currently is funded for an ambitious collaborative investigation that uses potential fields geophysics and ice penetrating radar to explore a sector of the West Antarctic rift system that has long been concealed by the Ross Ice Shelf. Dr. Siddoway is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.

OUTCROP | March 2016

Sheri Bowman-Young is an engineer and senior level manager with ESG’s global energy services division, where she oversees all analysis, interpretation and reporting for microseismic projects related to hydraulic fracture mapping and reservoir monitoring. Sheri joined ESG in 2007 as a geophysicist and has since held positions of Geophysical Analyst, Project Manager and Manager of Data Services. Sheri has played an integral role in the growth of ESG’s FRACMAP services, leading efforts to better understand microsiesmic data beyond traditional event location while educating operators on the additional value that can be extracted from microseismic datasets. Sheri is a registered professional engineer (P.Eng.) and a member of the SPE and SEG. She holds dual degrees from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in Applied Math & Mechanical Engineering and Geological Sciences and has authored or presented over 20 papers on microseismic monitoring.

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

PLAYS COVERED: PLAYS COVERED:

Bakken, Niobrara, Three Forks, Codell, Bakken, Niobrara, Three Forks,Frontier, Codell, Mancos, Parkman, Turner, Mancos, Parkman, Turner, Frontier, Mesaverde, Wasatch, Fort Union Mesaverde, Wasatch, Fort Union

March 9-11, 2016 March 9-11, 2016 Colorado Convention Center Colorado Convention Center Denver, Colorado Denver, Colorado

A New Approach

For producers throughout the Rockies and the Northern Great For producers throughout the Rockies and the Northern Great Plains, one thing is certain – efficiency is still key. Challenged Plains, one thing is certain – efficiency is still key. Challenged by vast geography, inundated midstream infrastructure and by vast geography, inundated midstream infrastructure and distance to major markets, companies are slashing breakeven distance to major markets, companies are slashing breakeven prices by optimizing their best assets. Find out what’s working, prices by optimizing their best assets. Find out what’s working, what’s not and what’s next for producers in the West. Plus, what’s not and what’s next for producers in the West. Plus, get the latest updates on potentially game-changing get the latest updates on potentially game-changing midstream additions. midstream additions. This March, join thousands of oil and gas professionals in This March, join thousands of oil and gas professionals in Denver for two days of candid discussions focused on how Denver for two days of candid discussions focused on how to cut costs and operate more efficiently. to cut costs and operate more efficiently.

Featured Keynote Featured Keynote

Luncheon Luncheon Speaker Speaker Karl Rove Karl Rove Former Deputy Chief of Former Deputy of Staff and SeniorChief Advisor Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. to President George W. Bush, Political Strategist Bush, Political Strategist and Bestselling Author and Bestselling Author

Hart Energy invites all employees of E&P companies, pipeline operators, refineries and Hart Energy invites all of E&P companies, pipeline at operators, refineries and utility companies to employees enter the exhibition hall at DUG Rockies no cost. Plus, you have the utility companies the exhibition at DUG Rockies at no cost. Plus, you have the option to upgrade totoa enter full conference passhall for only $795. To submit your qualifying application option to upgrade to a full conference pass for only $795. To submit your qualifying application and register, visit HartEnergyConferences.com/operatorpass. and register, visit HartEnergyConferences.com/operatorpass.

Sponsored by: Sponsored by:

*Completing the application does not guarantee your registration. This pass is valid for new registrations only, *Completing the application does guarantee your registration. This pass is valid for new registrations only, is notretroactive and cannot be not applied for refunds. is notretroactive and cannot be applied for refunds.

Register Register today today at at DUGRockies.com DUGRockies.com Presented by Presented by Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org DUGRK RMAG Full Page.indd 1

Hosted by Hosted by 21

OUTCROP | March 2016

1/28/16 10:53 AM

MINERAL OF THE MONTH By Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist: Task Fronterra Geoscience, 5650 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard, Suite 105, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 | ron.parker@taskfronterra.com

BARITE Heavy Duty

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Impressive diamond-shaped tabular barite crystals on display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Denver, Colorado. Note the crystal zoning evident in the upper middle. From the Bulldog Mine, Leadville, Colorado. Donated to the DMNS by Alan R. Phipps. Photo by Ronald L. Parker

Susan Spancers

Susan Spancers MCEP, RFC, AACEP, NICEP, CSA RFC, AACEP, NICEP, CSAof Mind” HelpingMCEP, You Create Financial “Peace Helping You Create Financial “Peace of Mind”

303 766-9599

303 766-9599 Services Include: createfinancial financial security Services Include: How How to to create security Launch into create-protect-distribute Launch intoretirement: retirement: create-protect-distribute Estate protection: Estate protection: Wills/Trusts-Probate-Incapacity Wills/Trusts-Probate-Incapacity Email: Spancers@Qadas.com Web: Spancers@Qadas.com Web: www.susanspancers.com www.susanspancers.com Email: Adv Svs offeredthrough through TLG, TLG Adv, Inc. Inc. SecSec andand Adv Svs offered TLG,Inc* Inc*and and TLG Adv, 26 West Dry Creek Circle #575, Littleton, CO 80120 26 West Dry Creek Circle #575, Littleton, CO 80120 303 797-9080 *Member NASD-SIPC 303 797-9080 *Member NASD-SIPC

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGISTS – COLORADO SECTION

2016 LEGISLATIVE RECEPTION Save The Date: March 8, 2016 - 5:30 – 7:30 PM Save the Date and plan to join us at our 2016 Legislative Reception. This is a prime opportunity to meet with legislators. They can answer your questions regarding current and coming legislation and you can inform them about issues involving hydraulic fracturing, coal, uranium, rare earth minerals, water issues and many more! AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL LEGISLATIVE RECEPTION Colorado’s Mineral & Natural Resource Wealth Key Contacts & References Tuesday, March 8, 2016 5:30 pm—7:30 pm University Club 1673 Sherman Street Denver, CO 80203 INDIVIDUALS WELCOME, $20 AT THE DOOR! Be sure to invite your legislators beforehand to meet you there. AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGISTS COLORADO SECTION To Exhibit &/or Sponsor Contact: Logan MacMillan Phone: 303-241-2572 E-mail: loganmacmillan@centurylink.net Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: BARITE

Hand sample-sized “crested” barite crystal mass coated with Fe-oxides. Photo by Ronald L. Parker.

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

1994). Barite is common, is frequently found as euhedral crystals that display a unique combination of color, crystal faces and high density. All of these characteristics make barite a favorite of mineral collectors worldwide (Mineral Data Publishing, 2005). Barite is orthorhombic, belonging to the 2/ m2/m2/m crystal class. Unit cell dimensions are a=8.8842Å, b=5.4559Å, c=7.1569Å, for an axial ratio (a:b:c) of 1.628:1:1.312 (Klein, 2002).

Barite (BaSO4) is the most abundant barium-containing mineral and is widely distributed (Klein, 2002; Johnsen, 2002). Barite is associated with many types of ore deposits, primarily hydrothermal in nature (Klein and Philpotts, 2013). Barite plays a substantial role in the geochemical cycling of Ba in the hydrosphere and biosphere (Schenau et. al., 2001). Barite has many societal uses – primarily as a drilling mud additive (Kesler,

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

W.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLC William W. Little, Ph.D. Senior Consulting Geologist 20 South 5000 West Rexburg, Idaho 83440-3613 Cell: 208/201-6266 wwlittle@gmail.com Website: http://littleww.wordpress.com

OUTCROP | March 2016

•  Field Studies •  Geological Mapping •  Sequence Stratigraphy •  Sedimentary Petrology •  GIS Applications •  Training Courses

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

CALL FOR PAPERS

ABSTRACT DEADLINE: April 15, 2016

PETROLEUM HISTORY INSTITUTE 2016 ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

Casper, Wyoming “The Oil City” July 28-31, 2016 PRESENTATIONS – ORAL AND POSTER Friday, July 29th, 2016 Symposium Headquarters: the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center, Casper Proceedings to be published in the 2016 volume of Oil-Industry History FIELD TRIP Saturday July, 30th, 2016 Stops will include Teapot Dome, site of the 1920’s Presidential scandal, and the giant Salt Creek Field, discovered 1889 For symposium details, see: www.petroleumhistory.org

Vol. 65, No. 3 |

ABSTRACTS BEING ACCEPTED NOW Please send abstracts to: Dr. William Brice - wbrice@pitt.edu www.rmag.org or call Marilyn Black 25– 814-677-3152 ext. 105

OUTCROP | March 2016

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: BARITE

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

Experience Integrity Professionalism

We, at Decollement, pride ourselves with some of the most experienced Geologists in the �ield. Our Geologists have on Experience average, ten years of Integrity experience. WeProfessionalism have been operational since 1979 in all of the Rocky Mountain basins. We have We, at Decollement, pride ourselves with some of the most assisted hundreds of clients thousands of wells. have on experienced Geologists in theon�ield. Our Geologists average, ten years of experience. We have been operational since 1979 in all of the Rocky Mountain basins. We have www.decollementconsulting.com | 303-578-6875 assisted hundreds of clients on thousands of wells.

Décollement Consulting Décollement Inc. Consulting

www.decollementconsulting.com | 303-578-6875

Inc.

Barite exhibits a complete solid solution series with celestite (SrSO4), although intermediate members of this series are rare. Thus, most barites are close to BaSO4 in composition (Klein and Philpotts, 2013). Barite displays perfect cleavage on {001}; cleavage is almost perfect on {210}. Barite ranges in hardness from 3.0 to 3.5. With a specific gravity of 4.5, high density is one of this mineral’s most defining characteristics. Barite displays a vitreous to pearly luster (Klein, 2002). Barite is mostly white, but natural varieties in buff (tan), gray, yellow and red - the result of impurities - are common (Mindat, 2016). Blue barite is also frequently observed, a consequence of radiation from radium (Chang, 2002). Some colored barite crystals may be beautifully transparent or translucent. Barite has a white streak. Barite is commonly euhedral, most often occurring as rectangular or diamond-shaped tabular crystals or fibrous masses. Barite crystals sometimes grow in a pattern of subparallel curved plates known as crested barite (photo). A variety of this crystal habit results in an arrangement of angled curved plates about a central axis to form a flower-like structure. Known as a barite rose, this occurrence is visually similar to a gypsum rose; the two are easily discriminated by the much higher specific gravity of the barite rose (Minerals.net, 2016; photo).

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

RMAG Mentorship Program Collaborate Be a Mentor Thrive Navigate Be a Mentee Learn The RMAG will be launching a mentorship program starting in the Spring of 2016! RMAG young professionals will be paired with mentors to provide young professionals with a senior professional mentor who can provide career path and technical mentorship. Applications can be found on the RMAG website and are due to the RMAG office by 3/15/16.

Visit www.rmag.org for more information.

Inspire Growth email: staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org

phone: 303.573.8621

Vol. 65, No. 3 | Street www.rmag.org 910 16th #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

fax: 303.476.2241 27

web: www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016 follow: @rmagdenver

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: BARITE

Rounded plates of barite with sand inclusions arranged radially to form a “desert rose” from the Garber Sandstone, Norman, Oklahoma. Photograph used with Permission from John Betts Fine Minerals.

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26

OUTCROP | March 2016

Barite also occurs as globular concretions and as granular or earthy aggregates (Chang, 2002). Barite is associated with many types of hydrothermal ore deposits, particularly as a gangue mineral with base-metal sulfides (galena, sphalerite), precious metals (gold, silver), fluorite and rare earth elements (Klein and Philpotts, 2013). Other mineral associates include calcite, dolomite, rhodochrosite, gypsum and stibnite. Because barite is comparatively resistant to weathering, it is found concentrated in residual deposits after karstification of carbonate precursors (Kesler, 1994). Barite is an accessory mineral in some igneous 28

rocks, including rare carbonatites. It is a primary mineral in some massive sulfide deposits (Mineral Data Publishing, 2005). Barite is found worldwide. The Mindat.org website lists over 11,000 localities for barite. Economic occurrences of barite are found in China, Turkey, India and the United States, and many other places (Kesler, 1994). Barite is an important phase in the hydrogeochemical cycling of barium in the hydrosphere and biosphere. Barium concentration gradients in ancient seafloor sediments are useful indicators of former marine productivity (Dymond et. al., 1992). Modern ocean studies reveal that microcrystalline

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

RMAG ♦♦ DAPL

GeoLand Ski Day 2016 Friday, March 11, 2016 Registration Opens on the New Year

http://www.dapldenver.org/event/rmagdapl-geoland-ski-day

Discount Code for RMAG & DAPL Members: DAPL-RMAG Après Ski Party & Bus & Lift Ticket Après Ski Party & Bus Après Ski Party & Lift Ticket Après Ski Party 7:00 am 12:00 pm 2:30 pm 3:00 pm 4 - 6 pm

Member $155 $80 $135 $55

Non-Member $170 $95 $150 $70

Schedule Information Buses Depart - Red Rocks Upper Lot *Coffee, donuts and breakfast provided beginning at 6:30am by TBD* Lunch at Lunch Rock Restaurant *Group picture at 12:45 pm Pre-party and load bus in the main parking lot at Winter Park Buses depart for Red Rocks Après Ski Party at Red Rocks' Ship Rock Grille

More info: http://www.dapldenver.org/event/rmagdapl-geoland-ski-day/ & https://www.facebook.com/events/112086792472314/ For 2016 sponsorship opportunities, contact one of the committee chairs:

DAPL Chairs ♦♦ Meg Gibson ♦ 720-583-4070 ♦ mgibson@bwenergylaw.com ♦♦ Patsy Botts ♦ 303-925-0696 x120 ♦♦ Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org 29♦ pbotts@norstarpetroleum.com OUTCROP | March 2016

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: BARITE

Tabular barite crystals from the Sherman Tunnel, Leadville, CO. These golden euhedral crystals display distinct zonation. Photograph used with Permission from John Betts Fine Minerals.

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 barite is a common component of suspended matter (even though barite is largely undersaturated) and is tied to the flux of organics across the depth profile (Schenau et. al., 2001). Barite is useful stuff and it is mined wherever it is found in abundance. Because it is common, barite is mined in almost every country in the world. By far the most dominant industrial use of barite is as an additive to engineer the density of circulation fluid (mud) used to drill oil and gas wells. This dominance has invited application of the term “oneuse commodity” (Kesler, 1994). The oil and gas industry accounts for 90% of industrial consumption (Chang, 2002). Barite is added as a fine powder to drilling mud to increase bulk density, which facilitates floating the rock cuttings out of the hole.

OUTCROP | March 2016

Careful control of mud weight is an essential component of maintaining borehole stability and of preventing excess fluid entry into the borehole – especially blowouts (Baker, 2001). Adding excess barite to circulation fluids sometimes generates vertical cracks in the borehole related to the maximum horizontal compressive stress (SHmax) orientation. These drilling-induced tensile fractures are readily detected by resistivity and acoustic borehole imaging tools, thereby providing a means of establishing stress geometries in the subsurface. Barite added to drilling mud also results in an increase in the Photoelectric Factor (PEF or PE), a standard curve generated by density well-logging tools. PEF is related to the average atomic number of the formation and is useful for identifying lithologies. The

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

22nd Annual RMAG & DGS

3D Seismic Symposium Focusing our Energy Colorado Convention Center March 3, 2016

Program 8:05am

Morning Kickoﬀ Speaker: Ross Peebles (Global Geophysical) Fast, Actionable and Aﬀordable - making seismic a standard tool for ongoing development operations

8:40am

Travis Pitcher (CSM - RCP)

9:05am

Jyoti Behura (Seismic Science)

9:55am

Jeﬀ Zawila (SM Energy)

10:20am 10:45am

12:15pm

Chelsea Newgord (Sigma3 ) Lee Krystinik (Equus Alliance) Keynote Speaker: Than Putzig (Southwest Research)

Three-dimensional radar imaging of structures within the north polar cap of Mars

Afternoon Kickoﬀ Speakers: Jeremy Boak

2:00pm

(Oklahoma Geological Survey) & Julie Shemeta (MEQ Geo Inc.) 4-D Seismology of Induced Earthquakes in OK: Developments at a Geopolitical Hypocenter

2:40pm

Tony Lupo (SM Energy)

3:05pm

J.B. Aldrich (MHA Petroleum Consultants)

3:55pm

Johannes Douma (Cimarex Energy)

4:20pm

Trey Cortez (ENXP)

4:45pm

Heloise Lynn (Lynn Inc.)

See the full program, talk titles, and abstracts at: www.3dseismicsymposium.com

Questions? Please contact the RMAG office. phone:Vol. 303.573.8621 303. 476.2241 | email: staff@rmag.org31 65, No. 3| | fax: www.rmag.org 910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

Limited day of registration will be available on a ﬁrst come ﬁrst serve basis! DGS/RMAG Member: $200 Non-Member: $250

The registration table will open at 7:00am.

OUTCROP | March 2016

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: BARITE

OUTCROP | March 2016

WEBLINKS

http://www.mindat.org/min549.html http://webmineral.com/data/ Barite.shtml#.VsqZm_krL4c http://www.minerals.net/mineral/barite.aspx http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/ baryte.pdf http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/index.htm http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/ mineralmuseum/gallery.

heavy Ba in barite drilling mud shifts the PEF curve to higher values, rendering lithologic identification uncertain (Kennedy, M. C., 2002). The remaining 10% of barite production is used for a myriad of products including whiteners for paints and dyes, material for the manufacture of paper and rubber, radiation dampening, material for diagnostic x-ray medical testing (Minerals.net, 2016). Barite precipitation within offshore petroleum reservoirs is a noted problem tied to seawater injection for waterflooding. When seawater, with abundant sulfate mixes with formation fluids rich in divalent cations (Ca2+, Ba2+, Sr2+), sulfate scale precipitates. This is a particular problem in the North Sea where barite scale reduces permeability and clogs wellbores, piping and valving (Bethke, 1996). Barite scale precipitated in oilfield tanks and piping has also been implicated as a mineral host for 226Ra. Radium is geochemically similar to barium and may be scavenged from formation waters when changes in temperature, pressure or ionic strength initiate barium precipitation (Blount, 1977; Zielinski and Budahn, 2007). The Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) so created is a headache for some oilfield producers. Barite (BaSO4) is the most abundant barium-containing mineral. It is widely

distributed, often beautiful and is a favorite of collectors worldwide. Find some barite for your collection!

»»CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30

php?init=barite

REFERENCES Baker, Ron, 2001, A Primer of Oilwell Drilling, 6th Edition: Austin, Texas: Petroleum Extension Service, The University of Texas at Austin, 192 pp. Bethke, Craig M., 1996, Chapter 22, Petroleum Reservoirs: in, Geochemical Reaction Modeling: Concepts and Applications: New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 317-329. Blount, C.W., 1977, Barite Solubilities and Thermodynamic Quantities up to

»»CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

June 8, 2016 City Park Golf Course

RMAG Golf Tournament 2016 Only one Morning Flight! Registration opens April 4th. Please visit www.rmag.org for more information. Half Day 7:30am shotgun Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Golf Chair - Brandon Sejera bs@decollementconsulting.com 303-842-4104 Past Golf Chair Advisor - Gerald Brummett gb@westlandandlegal.com 303-918-6425

email: staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org

phone: 303.573.8621

910 65, 16thNo. Street Denver, CO, 80202 Vol. 3 | #1214, www.rmag.org

fax: 303.476.2241 33

web: www.rmag.org

follow: @rmagdenver OUTCROP | March 2016

MINERAL OF THE MONTH: BARITE

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 300°C and 1400 bars: American Mineralogist, 62, pp. 942–947. Chang, Luke L. Y., 2002, Barite: in Industrial Mineralogy: Materials, Processes and Uses: Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice-Hall, Inc., pp. 19-26. Dymond J., Suess E., and Lyle M., 1992, Barium in DeepSea Sediment: A Geochemical Proxy for Paleoproductivity: Paleoceanography, 7, pp. 163–181. Johnsen, Ole, 2002, Minerals of the World: Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 439 pp.

Kennedy, M.C., 2002, Solutions to Some Problems in the Analysis of Well Logs in Carbonate Rocks: in, Lovell, M. and Parkinson, N., eds, Geological Applications of Well Logs, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Methods in Exploration No. 13, p. 61-73. Kesler, Stephen E., 1994, Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment: New York: MacMillan college Publishing Company, Inc., 391 pp. Klein, Cornelis, 2002, The 22nd Edition of the Manual of Mineral Science: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 641 pp.

Klein, Cornelis and Philpotts, Anthony, 2013, Earth Materials – Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology: New York: Cambridge University Press, 536 pp. Mindat, 2016, http://www. mindat.org/min-549.html accessed 02/02/2015. Mineral Data Publishing, 2005, http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/baryte.pdf, accessed 02/03/2015. Minerals.net (2016) http:// www.minerals.net/mineral/barite.aspx, accessed 01/30/16. Schenau, S. J., Prins, M. A., De Lange, G. J. and Monnin, C., 2001, Barium Accumulation in the Arabian Sea: Controls on Barite Preservation in Marine Sediments: Geochimica and Cosmochimica Acta, 65(10):1545-1556. Webmineral, 2016, Barite Mineral Data: http://webmineral.com/data/Barite. shtml#.VsqZm_krL4c, accessed 01/30/16. Zielinski, Robert A. and Budahn, James R., 2007, Mode of Occurrence and Environmental Mobility of Oil-field Radioactive Material at US Geological Survey Research Site B, Osage-Skiatook Project, Northeastern Oklahoma: Applied Geochemistry, 22:2125-2137.

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

Night at the Museum An RMAG SEPM DMNS Event

4.5.16 5:30pm - 8:00pm Price: $60/person

Includes one drink and appetizers

VIP Behind-the-Scenes Tours with James Hagadorn 3D Digital Geologic Earth-Surfing with Robert Raynolds Location: The Denver Museum of Nature and Science

email: Vol. 65, No. 3 |staďŹ&#x20AC;@rmag.org www.rmag.org |

phone: 303.573.8621 35 | fax: 303.476.2241 web: www.rmag.org | 910 16th Street #1214, Denver, CO, 80202

OUTCROP | March 2016

WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

Ingvar Alarik

is a Geologist at Anschutz Exploration Corporation in Denver, Colorado.

Cody Bahlau

is a Senior Seismic Observer in Black Hawk, Colorado.

Aaron Bateman

works at Paragon Geophysical Services, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas.

Clint Carney

works at Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Scott Cook

is a Geophysicist at Tricon in Denver, Colorado.

Geoffrey Dorn

is a Sr. Advisor and Product Development Manager, Seismic Interpretation at CGG in Broomfield, Colorado.

Richard Fantel

is a Geologist at Sundarbans Consulting in Lakewood, Colorado.

Amanda Flynn

is a Physical Scientist at US Geological Survey in Lincoln, Nebraska.

OUTCROP | March 2016

Ryan Gall

Stephen Levine

is a student at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

E&P Company in Cypress, Texas.

lives in Northglenn, Colorado.

is a Chief Geophysicist at SM

is the President at Total Depth in Lakewood, Colorado.

Nathan Marolf

John Geiger

Jason Harms

Conor Horton

is a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Adam Johnson

lives in Louisville, Colorado.

Michael Jones

is a Geological Advisor at Mike Jones M&M Oil Company in Kingwood, Texas.

Heather Judd

is a student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Jenny LaGesse

is a Petrophysicist at Chevron in New Haven, Connecticut.

Joel Legg

is a Reservoir Geologist at Schlumberger in Denver, Colorado. 36

is a Geoscience Manager at SK

Tony Lupo

Energy in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at PDC Energy in Lafayette, Colorado.

Janet McAlee

is a Sr. Geologist at

Bonanza Creek Energy in Denver, Colorado.

Beth McDonald

works at Ninyo & Moore

Geotechnical in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Richard Mitchell

is a new RMAG member.

David Nelson

is a Senior Geologic Advisor at Centennial Resource Development, LLC in Denver, Colorado.

Kenneth Pacheco

is a Senior Petroleum Geologist at Chevron Exploration and

Production in Pueblo, Colorado.

Âť CONTINUED ON PAGE 37

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

IN THE PIPELINE MARCH 2, 2016

MARCH 14-16, 2016

RMAG Luncheon. Sheri Bowman-Young. “Microseismic Event Growth and Interaction with Local Geology Across Multiple Horizons of the Permian Basin” Maggiano’s Little Italy, Denver, CO.

PTTC Rockies Short Course. “How to Find Bypassed Pay in Old Wells Using DST Data.” Billings, MT.

MARCH 3, 2016 RMAG/DGS 3D Symposium. MARCH 11, 2016 RMAG GeoLand Ski Day. Winter Park.

MARCH 15-16, 2016

Oklahoma. “EM Induction Response to Materials Containing Conductive Minerals.” MARCH 23, 2016

PTTC Rockies Short Course. “The Petrography of Shale: From Mudstones to Chalks.” CSM, Golden, CO.

Oilfield Christian Fellowship. For reservations, RSVP to OCF-DenverChapter @pxd.com or 303-675-2602.

MARCH 15, 2016

MARCH 24, 2016

DWLS Luncheon. Speaker Misra Siddharth from the University of

Rockies Playmaker Forum. Denver City Center Marriott.

WELCOME NEW RMAG MEMBERS!

» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 36

Aryn Rowe

Samuel Talbert

Todd Peters

is a Geologist at Arowe, Inc. in Black Hawk, South Dakota.

is a Geologic Advisor at Aethon Energy in Dallas, Texas.

Maxwell Pommer

is a Lead GeologistPermian at Resolute Energy in Denver, Colorado.

lives in Arvada, Colorado.

is a Geoscience Manager at Four Corners Petroleum, llc in Lakewood, Colorado. is a PhD Student at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

Richard Potter

is a Geologist at Encana in Denver, Colorado.

Alexandra Racosky

lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Laura Roberts

is a Senior Geologist at Crescent Point Energy in Denver, Colorado.

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

Michael Rumon

Kira Timm

Jan Tomanek

Heidi Samuel

is a Vice President at Gustavson Associates in Lafayette, Colorado.

Jennifer Stempien

works at Seidel Technologies in Denver, Colorado.

is a Geologist at independant Consultant in Boulder, Colorado. is an Instructor and Academic Advisor at Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder in Boulder, Colorado.

Stephen Strachan

works at Strachan Exploration, Inc. in Englewood, Colorado. 37

Si Trujillo

Derek Weller

is a Student at University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.

Alexandre Woodward lives in Boulder, Colorado.

OUTCROP | March 2016

LEAD STORY

TEMPEST AT TEAPOT DOME, WYOMING The Greatest Political Scandal in the History of the American Oil Industry

The rock that gave Teapot Dome its name. The spout and handle have disappeared since the rock was named, although theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still visible in historical photographs. Photo by Stephanie Joyce, Wyoming Public Media Statewide Network

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

By Matt Silverman

ROBERT L. BAYLESS PRODUCER, LLC

arren G. Harding’s presidential administration was probably the most corrupt in American history, and the oil industry was right in the middle of the fun. The scandal surrounding Teapot Dome in the 1920s was the most infamous presidential malfeasance of the 20th Century until Watergate. The story includes sex, bribes, scandal, oil barons, crooked politicians, bathtub gin, smoke-filled rooms, the Roaring Twenties, blackmail, suicide and murder! In short, it’s just like today except that gin is made in distilleries and smoking is less popular than fracking. A series of Presidential Orders created several Naval Petroleum Reserves, including Teapot Dome Oilfield in Natrona County, Wyoming in 1915. The advantages of petroleum over coal for naval fuel had proved irresistible, and the crude reserves were meant to provide a secure wartime supply. Harding was elected in 1920 and chose New Mexico Senator Albert B. Fall for his Cabinet. Fall was a successful rancher and lawyer, but one whose enthusiasm for the private exploitation of the nation’s strategic resources led a contemporary to say, “It would have been possible to pick a worse man for Secretary of Interior, but not altogether easy.” Fall wrangled the Reserves away from the Navy Department, and then leased the field in 1922 to independent oil titan Harry Sinclair in a secret, noncompetitive deal. Senate hearings followed, Fall resigned less than a year later, and Harding died suddenly a few months afterwards. Investigators determined that Fall

had received about $400,000 (some tens of millions in today’s dollars) in “loans” from Sinclair. He was convicted and imprisoned in 1931 for felonies committed in office, the first Cabinet officer ever to suffer such ignominy. Sinclair was jailed for contempt, the leases were invalidated by the Supreme Court, and Teapot was returned to the Navy. For decades Teapot Dome was administered by the Navy and then the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as the last Naval Petroleum Reserve. It is an asymmetrical, Laramide anticline on the southwestern flank of the Powder River Basin. Teapot includes basement-seated northsouth faults on its western boundary and deep, east-west faults throughout the field. Its key producing zones are Cretaceous sandstones and shales, and the Pennsylvanian Tensleep Formation. Teapot still produces several hundred BOPD and several thousand BWPD from about 400 wells. There is undeveloped potential for primary and enhanced oil recovery, as well as infill and horizontal drilling targets. Meagher Energy Advisors was retained in 2014 by DOE to solicit offers for Teapot Dome, effective January 30, 2015. Teapot was acquired by Stranded Oil Resources for $42.5 million. Transfer of title to a new, private operator after 100 years as a Naval Petroleum Reserve represents another exciting chapter in the history of America’s most notorious oil field. The scandal is over but the story continues. The Petroleum History Institute will meet in Casper, Wyoming, from July 28-31 in 2016. This meeting is open to the public and will include papers, posters and a tour of Teapot Dome and Salt Creek Fields. For more information, please visit petroleumhistory.org.

Matt Silverman was RMAG’s President in 2014 and is Exploration Manager for Robert L. Bayless, Producer in Denver. He serves as General Chair of the Petroleum History Institute’s 2016 meeting in Casper. This paper represents the triple junction of his interests in petroleum exploration, American political history and bathtub gin. Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016

CALENDAR | MARCH 2016 SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

RMAG Luncheon.

RMAG/DGS 3D Symposium.

RMAG GeoLand Ski Day.

14 PTTC Rockies Short Course. Billings, MT.

Oilfield Christian Fellowship.

Rockies Playmaker Forum.

DWLS Luncheon.

PTTC Rockies Short Course. Billings, MT.

OUTCROP ADVERTISING RATES 1 Time

2 Times

6 Times

12 Times

Full page (7-1/2” x 9-1/4”)

$330

$620

$1,710

$3,240

2/3 page (4-7/8” x 9-1/4”)

$220

$400

$1,110

$2,100

1/2 page (7-1/2” x 4-5/8”)

$175

$330

$930

$1,740

1/3 page horizontal (4-7/8” x 4-7/8”)

$165

$250

$690

$1,200

1/3 page vertical (2-3/8” x 9-1/4”)

$165

$250

$690

$1,200

1/6 page (2-3/8” x 4-7/8”)

$75

$120

$330

$600

Professional Card (2-5/8” x 1-1/2”)

$20

$34

$84

$144

OUTCROP | March 2016

Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

2016 Award of Excellence for

Teaching of Earth Science Sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists

THE WINNER RECEIVES A Plaque and a $1,000 Cash Award If you teach earth science in K-12 and think you qualify, contact the RMAG office at (303) 573-8621 for an application. Deadline is May 6. Previous winners were also selected to receive the Teacher of the Year Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists at the national and regional level.

The RMAG is a professional organization representing over 2000 earth scientists working in the Denver and Rocky Mountain area. In its capacity as the leading geologic organization in the Rocky Mountain area, each year the RMAG Foundation provides funding for an annual award presented to a teacher in recognition of his or her commendable efforts in introducing young minds to the earth sciences.

Check out the RMAG website at www.rmag.org.

ADVERTISER INDEX • AAPG ��7

• Louis J. Mazzullo, LLC ��24

• AAPG/RMAG DPA Playmakers ��4

• Mineral Appraiser, LLC ��16

• AIPG 2016 Legislative Reception ��23

• MJ Systems ��14

• Daub & Associates, LLC ��6

• Neil H. Whitehead, III ��12

• Décollement Consulting, Inc ��26

• Petroleum History Institute ��25

• Donovan Brothers Inc. ��8

• PTTC ��11

• DUG Rockies ��21

• QEP Resources ��17

• Enerplus ��16

• Sinclair Petroleum Engineering, Inc. ��14

• Eureka Geological Consulting, LLC ��28

• SM Energy ��18

• Geo Link ��32

• Spancers & Associates ��22

• GeoMark ��17

• Stephens Production Company ��19

• GeoSteering ��12

• Stoner Engineering (SES) ��9

• Horizontal Solutions Intl. (HSI) ��13

• Sunburst Consulting ��19

• James C. Karo Associates Land Services ��13

• Tracker Resource Development LLC ��10

• JLog® Petrophysical Software ��6

• Whiting Petroleum Corporation ��15

• Johnson Geo-Consulting, LLC ��8

• W.W. Little Geological Consulting, LLC ��6, 24

• Kestrel Geoscience, LLC ��6

• Yates Petroleum Corporation ��34

VOLUNTER! Vol. 65, No. 3 | www.rmag.org

As a diverse community of individuals working towards a worthy cause, we believe that your unique talents can bring us all forward. Volunteers are always needed and welcome! If you would like to volunteer for any of our committees or events, please contact the RMAG office at (303) 573-8621 or staff@rmag.org

OUTCROP | March 2016