Speaker:
Bob Shoup
Oct 15
The Petroleum Club of Lafayette, 111 Heymann Blvd, Lafayette
Habits of Successful Oil and Gas Finders
D. J. Tearpock and R. C. Shoup
Our industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year drilling dry holes that were predictably dry holes. These wells were drilled on inaccurate interpretations and maps; and they were dry holes before they were spud! Do these sound like your wells? Most of us would say no, yet for over 85% of the industries geoscientists, they are.
Approximately 15% of the world’s geoscientists are highly successful oil (and gas) finders, that being that they have exploration drilling success rates between 25 and 70%. Conversely, approximately 15% of the world’s explorationists routinely drill dry holes. The remaining explorationists have exploration drilling success rates close to that of the industry average of 15 to 30%. What is it that sets the highly successful oil finders apart?
All oil finders seem to be creative and to have perseverance, but those traits alone do not make successful oil finders as there have been many ‘creative’ dry holes. Company studies combined with years of observation, have shown that the highly successful oil finders share 10 habits in their interpretation of the data and their portrayal of the structure in their maps. The focus of this talk is on those 10 habits, and how they contribute to an individual’s or companies exploration and development success.
Habit 1: Successful oil finders ensure that their interpretations are geologically and geometrically valid.
This may sound intuitive, and with workstations and 3D data sets, a habit that is no longer necessary. Unfortunately, we have seen, and continue to see, countless maps, even from 3D data sets that are geologically improbable, and many maps that are geometrically impossible.
Habit 2: Successful oil finders have a strong background in geology, and have a thorough knowledge of the tectonic and depositional environments for the area in which they are working.
Workstations are doing to geologic skills what the calculator has done to math skills. Of the last 100 students in my class, only 11 have contoured a map, and less than 20 have made cross-sections.
Habit 3: Successful oil finders plan their time and their work in order to ensure accurate interpretations and maps.
Rushed maps and interpretations are poor maps and interpretations. Poor maps and interpretations are a great recipe for drilling dry holes.
Habit 4: Successful oil finders use all of the data.
Another intuitive habit, yet many interpreters have never talked to the reservoir engineer.
Habit 5: Successful oil finders ensure that their seismic and well correlations are accurate and loop-tied.
Well log correlations are the foundation for all of our interpretations. Many interpreters do not correlate the entire well log using resistivity markers (see Habit 4). Many others do not loop tie their correlations as “strike lines are hard to interpret”.
Habit 6: Successful oil finders know which methods, tools, and techniques are needed to define and understand the subsurface.
Do you use TVT as opposed to TVD? Do you calculate restored tops for faulted or ‘not-reached’ wells? Do you use the Wharton Method for mapping net pay? If not, you are not using Habit 6.
Habit 7: Successful oil finders map all relevant geological surfaces.
Do you map fault surfaces? For thick reservoir sequences, do you map the top and base of the reservoir? If not, you are not mapping all relevant geological surfaces, and you are also most likely coming up with inaccurate, and quite possibly incorrect maps and reserve estimates.
Habit 8: Successful oil finders map multiple horizons.
Do you map multiple horizons? Do you ensure that the fault traces migrate appropriately with depth? If not, you are increasing the possibility of drilling your wells in the fault gap.
Habit 9: Successful oil finders ensure that their cross sections are balanced
As mentioned before, many interpreters no longer make cross sections, much less balance them. Yet for an interpretation in compressional settings to be valid, they must be balanced. Even in extensional areas, cross sections can and should be balanced.
Habit 10: Successful oil finders document their work.
We live in an audit-friendly world today (yes that is an oxymoron). The first thing an auditor will look at is your documentation, do you have it?
The application of these ten habits in your interpretation work flow, or your teams or companies work flow, will improve your success rate by helping to ensure that your interpretations and your maps are as accurate and as geologically valid as possible.
You can still drill dry holes on prospects based on valid geologic interpretations and maps. But, with inaccurate maps and incorrect interpretations, you are almost certainly going to call for cement.
Bio:
Robert ‘Bob’ Shoup…
Bob Shoup is a Board Certified Petroleum Geologist with over 30 years experience in basin analysis, regional studies, new play generation, prospect evaluation, field studies and development planning, drilling operations, and project management. Bob began his career at Shell Oil in 1980; followed by four years working for private oil companies before becoming an independent consultant in 2003, consulting in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and New Zealand. A recognized expert in clastic depositional environments, rift basins, and syndepositional structural systems, Bob is a proven oil finder with a 46% exploration success rate and over 100 MMBOE discovered resources.
In addition to consulting, Bob teaches various SCA training courses in Houston, the Asia Pacific and Middle East Regions. Bob is a creative individual, both within the work and home environment. In 1994 he was a nominee for the Pulitzer Prize in drama for his play Second Alarm.
Bob is also an active contributor in the professional community. He is a Past President of Bangkok’s Chapter of the South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society and of AAPG’s Division of Professional Affairs, and past Secretary-Editor of the AAPG House of Delegates. He has served on numerous AAPG Committees and was Chairman of AAPG’s Mentor, Membership and Student Chapter Committees. He is a recipient of AAPG Certificates of Merit in 1990, 1991, and 1998; AAPG’s Distinguished Service Award in 2000, the DPA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2008, and DPA Life membership in 2010. He currently serves as an ethics lecturer for the DPA.
