AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

Instructor: Phonse Fagan, M.Sc., P.Geo., Petro-Ed 

Duration: 1 Day (9:00 am - 4:30 pm) 

Date: Monday August 22, 2011 

Location: Glynmill Inn, Corner Brook, Newfoundland 

Cost: $425.00 plus HST (includes lunch and nutrition break) 

Registration Deadline: August 15, 2011 

Designed for: The course is presented in non-technical language and is designed for anyone who wants a better understanding of the petroleum industry. It will be of particular benefit to new employees to the energy sector, and will provide essential information for anyone wishing to participate in this increasingly important segment of our economy. 

Course Outline: This one-day course provides an overview of the upstream petroleum sector. Participants will gain an understanding of all aspects of petroleum exploration and development. 

Course Content: 

• Types and Uses of Petroleum
• History of the Industry
• Petroleum Geology
• Petroleum Geophysics
• Rights Acquisition and Administration
• Drilling
• Production Systems 
• Overview of Atlantic Canada Petroleum Sector 

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INTRODUCTORY GEOCHEMISTRY FOR SHALE-GAS AND TIGHT OIL 

Instructor: Christopher Laughrey, Weatherford Laboratories 

Duration: 1 Day (9:00 am - 5:00 pm) 

Date: Monday August 22, 2011

Location: Grenfell Room A, Glynmill Inn, Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Cost: $325 plus HST (includes lunch and nutrition break)

Who Should Attend: Geoscientists and engineers who need to integrate basic petroleum geochemistry data with other geologic and engineering data for shale-gas and tight-oil resource play evaluation.  Technicians performing many of these fundamental geochemical measurements in commercial, government, and university laboratories also benefit from this course. Participants should have a solid background in petroleum geology.

Objectives: Participants should be able to accomplish the following by the end of the course:

• select and use the basic geochemical screening tools designed for initial petroleum source rock evaluation: total organic carbon (TOC), programmed pyrolysis, vitrinite reflectance/visual kerogen analysis, and gas chromatography of source-rock extracts.
• apply these basic screening tools to shale-gas and tight-oil reservoir evaluation.
• select and use more advanced geochemical techniques for shale-gas and tight-oil reservoir analyses: organic petrography, canister gas content analyses, stable gas-isotope geochemistry, crude oil screening, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, biomarker analyses, C₇ hydrocarbons, Diamondoids, and fluid inclusions.
• estimate oil and cracked gas yields from basic geochemical data and correlate these results to production data.
• use mass balance equations to calculate the original total organic carbon and hydrogen index of thermally mature and post mature source rocks.
• integrate geochemical data with geological, petrophysical, and geophysical data for comprehensive shale-gas and tight-oil reservoir evaluation.

Content: The course is a practical and applied introduction to geochemical techniques routinely employed in shale-gas and tight-oil reservoir assessment. Class emphasis is on explaining which tools and techniques can best address specific questions, what caveats must be kept in mind when employing these tools, what are the strengths and limitations of petroleum geochemistry in resource play, and how to interpret conflicting data from different analyses. Theory is kept to a minimum and several practical exercises help participants learn to review geochemical data, recognize problems with the data, and begin to cultivate a feel for interpreting geochemical data and integrating these interpretations with other geological information.

The following analytical techniques will be discussed: Leco TOC, Source Rock Analyzer (SRA) and Rock-Eval programmed pyrolysis, Dean Stark and Soxhlet extraction, liquid and gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, organic petrology using reflected light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and advanced scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Several interpretive approaches will be discussed including routine parameters for TOC, programmed pyrolysis, extract composition and quantities, and organic petrology. Special emphasis is given to the many caveats associated with using vitrinite reflectance measurements in marine shales. Participants will complete exercises interpreting pyrograms, gas chromatograms, and elementary biomarker data. The class will employ various cross plots and simple mathematics to interpret gas isotope data and calculate original TOC, hydrogen index, and oil and cracked gas yields. As a final exercise, the class will be divided into two exploration teams that will evaluate geochemical and geological data for specific shale-gas and tight-oil prospects and make recommendations to the group based on an integrated interpretation of the information provided.

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