Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Stratigraphy
Sequence stratigraphy is a method developed to support geoscientists in the geological interpretation of subsurface data. The method can be applied to 2D and 3D seismic data in all depositional environments. This course will review the basic terminology and definitions of surfaces, systems tracts, sequence sets, and stratigraphic hierarchy. The method will then be described and applied to the interpretation of subsurface data in non-marine, shallow-marine, and deep-marine depositional settings. The emphasis is on the recognition and mapping of play elements from exploration to production scales, with particular emphasis on mudstones as source rocks, seals, and unconventional reservoirs.
Business Impact: Participants will develop an understanding of how sequence stratigraphy aids in the prediction and mapping of play elements, including their presence and quality, based on seismic data, well logs, and core. They will enhance value for their employers by identifying high- and low-risk areas, generating robust resource volume assessments, and providing interpretations of reservoir distribution that allow for more accurate predictions of production. Integrated datasets of outcrop, core, well logs, and seismic data are used to teach the concepts, with examples from Cretaceous marine systems of the Western Interior Seaway, Devonian systems of western Canada, and Paleogene systems of the North Sea and the Ainsa Basin.
Schedule
Duration and Training Method
This is a classroom or virtual classroom course comprising a mixture of lectures, discussion, case studies, and practical exercises.
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to:
- Interpret seismic lines in a sequence-stratigraphic context.
- Apply sequence stratigraphy to define plays and prospects and predict the presence and quality of play elements in seismic data.
- Apply the concepts of facies, facies stacking, and shoreline trajectory to define parasequences, surfaces, and systems tracts.
- Evaluate the main controls on depositional sequences.
- Describe the accommodation succession method and sequence-stratigraphic hierarchy.
- Apply the sequence-stratigraphic method in non-marine, shallow-marine, and deep-marine environments.
- Predict source-rock adequacy using sequence-stratigraphic principles.
- Predict seal quality, column-height constraints, and connectivity using sequence-stratigraphic principles.
- Predict reservoir adequacy for unconventional reservoir systems within a sequence-stratigraphic framework.
Course Content
- Sequence Stratigraphy Method Applied to Cores, well logs and Seismic data
- Idealized Depositional Sequences
- Fundamentals of Seismic Stratigraphic Interpretation
- Play Definition at Regional Scale
- Seismic Facies Mapping
- Predicting source rock adequacy using sequence stratigraphic methods
- Predicting seal adequacy using sequence stratigraphic methods
- Characterizing unconventional reservoir potential using sequence stratigraphic methods.
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
This course is relevant/aimed to geophysicists, geologists, petrophysicists, reservoir engineers, explorationists and managers who are interested in an introduction or review of the theory and application of contemporary stratigraphic techniques to exploration and production.
Instructors
Rene Jonk
Background
Rene Jonk has more than 25 years of experience in geoscience characterization for petroleum exploration, development and research, having held technical advisor and leadership roles with ExxonMobil and Apache. He has worked extensively across offshore basins of the African and South American margins, as well as the North Sea, onshore North America and the Mediterranean areas. His experience spans across onshore and offshore regions, research, exploration and production, and both conventional and unconventional reservoir systems. Rene’s holistic approach to depositional systems allows him to work across reservoir, seal and source evaluations, at basin to field compartment scales.
Both at ExxonMobil and Apache Rene was responsible for stewarding, developing and delivering classroom and field-based training in stratigraphy and sedimentology, including seismic stratigraphy, clastic reservoir sedimentology, fine-grained rock (seal, source and reservoir) characterization, and deep-water depositional systems. Rene delivered these courses internally, as well as to external student audiences, including the SEPM short course on sequence stratigraphy.
Rene is an honorary professor at the University of Aberdeen, where he teaches formal courses on seal evaluation and reservoir characterization with application to petroleum geology and CCS, mentors Petroleum Geology M.Sc. and Ph.D. projects and is a consultant with the Sand Injectite Research Group. He is an active member of SEPM, EAGE and the Geological Society of London.
Affiliations and Accreditation
PhD University of Aberdeen – Petroleum Geology
MSc Free University of Amsterdam - Geology
Courses Taught
N410: Sequence Stratigraphy Applied to Exploration and Production
N442: Reservoir Architecture of Deep Water Systems (California, USA)
N468: Deep Water Reservoirs – Exploration Risking and Development Characterisation (Distance Learning)
N517: Well Log Sequence Stratigraphy for Exploration and Production (Distance Learning)
N518: Seismic Sequence Stratigraphy for Exploration and Production (Distance Learning)
N526: Sequence Stratigraphic Controls on Deep-Water Reservoirs Architecture: Brushy Canyon Formation,Permian Basin (West Texas and New Mexico, USA)
N747: Deep-Water Depositional Systems (Ainsa Basin, Spain)
N751: Deep-Water Clastic Depositional Systems in a Source-to-Sink Context (Pyrenees, Spain)
Accreditation and Certification
CEU: 2.1 Continuing Education Units
PDH: 21 Professional Development Hours
Certificate: Certificate Issued Upon Completion
RPS is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. We comply with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognised internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices.
We issue a Certificate of Attendance which verifies the number of training hours attended. Our courses are generally accepted by most professional licensing boards/associations towards continuing education credits. Please check with your licensing board to determine if the courses and certificate of attendance meet their specific criteria.