Sequence Stratigraphy of Unconventional Resource Plays

This course is designed for geoscientists that work or intend to work on unconventional resource plays. Systematically the course introduces participants to the sedimentology of unconventional reservoirs and then covers sequence stratigraphic applications. It is assumed that participants already have a working knowledge of sequence stratigraphy. We do not recommend this as a first-time introduction to sequence stratigraphy and strongly urge you to enrol in the Applied Sequence Stratigraphy course first.

Who Should Attend?

This is an upper level, work-intensive course that assumes participants have a background in sequence stratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy and sedimentology of clastic and carbonate reservoirs. The audience for the course includes geologists, geophysicists, and reservoir engineers who are involved in creation of geomodels and horizontal well planning for geosteering. The goal presents several examples of sequence stratigraphic applications in unconventional reservoirs.

Course Outcomes

At the end of the course participants will have a greater understanding of and have developed the following key attributes:

• Through understanding of Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy of Tight Oil Sandstones and Coalbed Methane
• Sequence stratigraphic surfaces and systems tracts in carbonates
• Introduction to the sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of “shales”
• Understanding of reciprocal sedimentation in mixed systems
• Ability to explain production differences from wells
• Prediction of sweet spots

Key Course Highlights

• Case studies in tight oil sandstones from the Frontier, Teapot, Parkman, Muddy (J-Sandstone), Gallup, and Tocito.
• Case studies from “deep” carbonate mudrock reservoirs of the Permian Basin including the Avalon, Wolfcamp, Bone Springs, and Spraberry.
• Case studies from “shallow” carbonate mudrock reservoirs of the Williston Basin including the Bakken and Three Forks, the Eagleford and the Niobrara
• Mudrock examples from examples from the Barnett, Bakken, Mowry and Monterrey.
• Core workshop (Bakken and Three Forks) at the Denver USGS - if this course is run outside the US then the final day focuses on client projects