Meeting Information

"Residual Hydrocarbons – An E & P Impact Overview"

Paul A. Connolly
Chief Petrophysicist
EOG Resources

Residual hydrocarbons are those left in a reservoir in the aftermath of a natural or production-induced imbibition process which has reduced the hydrocarbon saturation to levels well below those initially present in the original accumulation.  For dominantly water-wet systems, they are generally immobile under primary production, but have often been the targets for tertiary EOR projects, having been left behind in the swept portions of waterflood projects.  Identification of hydrocarbons as residuals in exploratory ventures can be key to avoiding costly mistakes – running pipe on dry holes, conducting production tests of non-producible zones, and drilling seismic “bright spots” caused by residual gas saturation (“fizz gas”) in breached traps, etc.  Rudimentary evaluation techniques for identifying residuals will be shown, and laboratory rock property measurements useful in understanding the expected saturation level of residual hydrocarbons in a given rock will be discussed.  Finally, examples illustrating the exploration and production impact of proper identification and characterization of residual hydrocarbons will be shown.

From the President

Stefani Whittaker (The Discovery Group)

As I sit in the airport waiting for my flight home from this year’s SPWLA convention, I realize what a privileged generation I belong to. I have always had the convenience of flying anywhere I needed to go, I have always had a color TV, and my family has always had at least two cars. Although I have some pretty unforgettable stories and experiences in my short life, I have never lived through a World War, and as a female have always had the opportunity to go to any school, and enter any industry.

In my career in the oil patch, I have always had the convenience of a scientific calculator, and a computer that fits on a desk as opposed to one that takes up a whole room and reads punch cards. Casual attire has always been acceptable at the office, cell phones and on-site satellite equipment have always been available for field operations, and printers have been odorless, small, and available on all field trucks.

As you can see, we’ve come a long way, but I fear that with the impending retirement of so many senior professionals, some of this industry’s wonderful history will be lost unless their stories and knowledge can be handed down to the next generation. For this very reason we have heard time and time again that we need to get the younger generations interested in joining professional societies like DWLS and SPWLA.

I think that the younger generations need to appreciate the vast knowledge that is already present in our industry, soak it up and document it as much as possible. In order to keep moving forward, we shouldn’t “re-invent the wheel” or forget the valuable lessons that those before us have already learned. The stories from “the good ol’ days” are worth being preserved if for nothing else than comic relief! More importantly though, these stories can give the “young-uns” an appreciation for how far our industry has progressed over the years. My hope is that by preserving the anecdotes and lessons of the past, we can motivate my generation to keep better records of what we are accomplishing and learning for the betterment of future generations.

As your DWLS President this year, I am dedicated to encouraging involvement from young professionals and to accumulating and preserving the history of our society for future generations. To accomplish these goals, my board has been busily working this summer to put together some great lunch talks, and a fall workshop on Capillary Pressure. We are also in the process of putting together letters to send to colleges in the Rocky Mountain Region to advertise our SPWLA scholarship fund, and we are planning the second annual social Christmas Party for December. We are in the brainstorming stages of how to attract a younger population to our meetings, and if you as members have any ideas please do not hesitate to contact one of us!

I’m honored you have entrusted me with these important responsibilities, and I look forward to embarking on this adventure with all of you!

From the Vice President - Technology

Terri Olson (EOG Resources)

My goal for luncheon talks this year is to find good speakers with interesting and relevant talks that relate to petrophysics, especially in unconventional plays. My predecessor did a good job of scheduling speakers who brought in the crowd—the board even considered moving to a larger venue this year to accommodate the demand for space. (After substantial research by Celeste Koon, we decided that the Wynkoop is hard to beat.) So we’ll see how popular the talks are this year. Suggestions for speakers (or volunteers) are welcome—please contact me if you have ideas.

I’m excited about the lineup we have for the Fall Technology Workshop on Oct. 19, encompassing both a strong grounding in the basics of capillary pressure (by Ramona Graves of CSM) and more advanced topics such as vapor desorption, water block, surface energy, and shale compressibility. The lineup includes not only professors (Graves and Norman Morrow from the University of Wyoming) but also experts from industry (Pat Lasswell, Bob Barree, and Steve Bailey). For the first time we also have a poster presentation, on integrating core cap pressure and log data for saturation/height relationships and reservoir quality estimation, by Michael Holmes. See the announcement for details, and don’t delay in signing up—this one could fill up soon.

From the Vice President - Membership

Dan Krygowski (The Discovery Group)

School buses on the roads, temperatures decreasing, if even slightly, and the first DWLS newsletter in a few months. All those events conspire to bring yet another annual event: Bugling, not of the elk, but of the VP-Membership, in search of your annual dues. Dues are due now, and although you have until December 1 to pay, I urge you to do it sooner rather than later, to avoid having your email filled with ever-terser reminders.

Please consider continuing to be part of what is arguably the largest and most active chapter of SPWLA. Through your dues, DWLS provides an arena for technical information and discussions, and support for those wishing to become part of our specialty, as well as providing social contacts. This year, dues are again $10, as is the Lifetime membership of $75. You don’t have to be a “geezer” to be a Lifetime member. In fact, the younger you are, the cheaper it is, from a yearly perspective.

If you are a student, the membership dues are waived (otherwise defined as “Free!”), but we would still like to hear from you to find out if you have escaped with your diploma, and so we can keep our records current.

This year, we are moving farther into the digital world with the ability to pay dues by PayPal. If you can’t, or would rather not, go digital, you can pay by cash or check at the September Luncheon, or send either to me via snail mail at: DWLS VP-Membership, P.O. Box 3006, Denver CO 80201-3006 USA. Again, dollars through the ether are much preferred over other methods.

If you are joining for the first time, or are moving up to Lifetime member status, please go to the DWLS website for the appropriate membership form, and deliver one of those to me (filled out, of course) with your dues. Or (again the preferred method) give me the form and tell me that the electrons are carrying the bucks.

From the Editor

Dominic Holmes (Digital Formation)

Don't forget to register for the Fall Workshop titled Beyond the Basics of Capillary Pressure: Advanced Tops and Emerging Applications.  For members in good standing, the price is only $225pp; just use the special member page to register.

From the Webmaster

Tony Holmes (Digital Formation)

As you may have heard through the grapevine, or seen from one of our various notices, or even (gasp!) read up above, the DWLS is (finally!) able to accept PayPal for payments for luncheons and workshops.  In fact, anytime you feel the need to (or are required to, say, to eat lunch with us) PayPal will be the preferred method to send us money.  Besides bringing us into the digital age, we hope this will reduce or even eliminate the lines to get into the luncheons, and make reservations easier for everyone involved.  It's also another way we can reduce our use of resources; unless you print out a receipt, the entire transaction can be paperless.

To make the process as simple as possible, we hope, we have a button in this newsletter that you can use to make your reservation to the luncheon.  It's in the blue section in the upper right, and, you guessed it, says "Make Reservation."  You can also get to this from the main page of our website, and click on our new PayPal page.  If you use this method, you can even pay for your membership dues at the same time.  In fact, all of the "Make Reservation" or "Register" (or "Add to Cart") buttons will add stuff to a shopping cart.  So if you use the link above in Dominic's column to register the for the Fall 2009 Workshop, you can come back to add in a reservation for the luncheon, pay your membership dues, and make one payment for the lot of it.  If you're feeling generous, you can even do this for more than just yourself – just update the Quantity field for each item, and then be sure to put the names and companies for each person in the "Additional Information for the DWLS" field during checkout.

Payments made through PayPal can be through Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, or from any bank account or debit card.  The latter will require you to have your own PayPal account, which is free and pretty easy to setup.   You can still pay by check, sort of, by using their eCheck system, which is essentially doing your check online via an electronic funds transfer from your checking account. Whatever payment method you choose, you will get a receipt right then and there, and we will be notified that you have paid.  Hence, reservations and payments will happen all at once, saving us all a step.

As with any new system, there may be hiccups along the way, but feel free to contact me with any questions or problems.  I'll still be working with Noga Gardiner to make sure that luncheon reservations and payments work out for everyone.

Thanks for being part of the society!

Meeting Details

Sponsors