Table of Contents

Vol. 6, No. 2
2nd Quarter 2000

Slatt Stepping Down as PTTC Rocky Mountain Regional Director

Roger Slatt, Director of the PTTC Rocky Mountain Region, and Chairman of the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at Colorado School of Mines (CSM), is stepping down from both of these positions to accept a new post. He will be leaving CSM at the end of July to serve at the University of Oklahoma as director of the School of Geology and Geophysics and the Eberly Family Chair Professor.

“Dr. Roger Slatt has worked hard to develop and shape the Rocky Mountain PTTC region. Respected in academia and the petroleum industry, he has applied his can-do initiative to benefit the independent oil and gas industry. The Rocky Mountain program has consistently been at the front in meeting the needs of independents—thanks to Roger and his very capable staff,” said Deborah Rowell, PTTC Executive Director.

Bob Nance, president of Nance Petroleum Corp, in Billings, Montana, and immediate past Chair of PTTC’s Board of Directors added, “We can’t thank Roger enough for his leadership within PTTC. His great interest in advanced technology and his work in obtaining an unparalleled library of oil and gas software for the Rocky Mountain Software Demonstration center in Golden, has made him an invaluable asset to the PTTC. I want to personally thank Roger for all the help he has given us and wish him all the success in the world in his new endeavor. “ 

Slatt earned a B.S. and M.S. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Alaska. He is the recipient of many professional and industry awards including the prestigious Distinguished Service Award in 1996 from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He recently edited a book, Compartmentalized Reservoirs—The Exception or the Rule, which is an outgrowth of a 1996 AAPG symposium with the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers.

Slatt’s PTTC responsibilities in the Rocky Mountain region go to Sandra Mark. (related story on Sandra Mark)

PTTC Helps Launch Online System for Mississippi Oil and Gas Data

In May, the Mississippi Office of Geology (MOG) launched a visually oriented database of geological data as part of its website through the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. The database, available at http://library.geology.deq.state.ms.us, currently provides an electronic source for information about many of the state's: (1) scout tickets, (2) sample well descriptions, (3) county production maps, (4) production summaries, and (5) other basic well information.

The project was a three-way collaboration between MOG, the MS Oil and Gas Board, and PTTC's Eastern Gulf region. "There were several key factors causing this project to happen," according to Ernie Mancini, director of PTTC's Eastern Gulf region. "The dedicated efforts of innovative geological and computer professionals were helped by the rapid evolution in computer and Internet technologies. Also, the donations of several important data collections from private industry were a big boost. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the financial support of several state and national groups working together."

The scout ticket collections have been a major part of getting this project off the ground. MOG was able to find five private collections to make available on the web. One of the first data sets to be scanned was the recognized, one-of-a-kind Robert Steffey collection of sample descriptions of wells drilled in the 1930s and 1940s. Steffey had an oil and gas scout service out of Jackson, MS, and his style of reporting was very colorful. Anyone reading the weekly reports will be entertained, as well as informed. Steffey also described sample cuttings of wells; the scanned images are the only information available on some of these old wells.

A key enabling technology for interactive map presentations was AutoCAD's Whip tool. The user, after downloading the free Whip tool software, can click on any field and browse through information hot linked about that particular field - such as production by formation.

MOG is in the process of creating various image collections in GIF format, enabling the recognition of most handwriting. They also plan to make data available on CD-ROMs. Once scout tickets are online, they will be pushing to add digital versions of mudlogs, one-inch logs, and core analyses. Ultimately, MOG hopes the user will have open access via the Internet to digital data from both MOG and the MS Oil and Gas Board.

For further information, contact Jack Moody, MOG, phone 601-961-5522, fax 601-961-5521, email: jack_moody@deq.state.ms.us.

Distributed Energy Resources Workshop Held in Houston

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) joined with PTTC’s Central Gulf and Texas regions to present a May 15th workshop in Houston on Distributed Energy Resources (DER) in the Oil Patch. It was co-sponsored by the new DER Initiative at Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies in Baton Rouge.

With the electric industry changing rapidly, oil and gas producers can position themselves to take advantage of these changes by using DER strategies. This involves the placement of small electric generation equipment at or near a load center to meet specific customer needs, support economic operation of the existing power distribution grid, or both. The last two summers have seen electric price spikes and rolling brownouts throughout much of the country. DER efforts could help alleviate these problems in the future.

According to GRI – formerly the Gas Research Institute – about 40% of discovered, and 29% of undiscovered natural gas reserves in the lower 48 states fall into the categories of low or sub-pipeline quality. Every year, energy producers vent or flare this gas, or just do not produce it all. Rather than throw that "free energy" away, it can be converted into electricity for on-site consumption and even for re-sell to the grid under certain conditions.

In Texas alone, producers vented or flared 41 billion cubic feet (Bcf) during 1998. If they had been able to capture this gas and convert it into electricity, it would have been equal to a baseloaded 469 Mw plant. In Louisiana, the numbers are similar, almost 20 Bcf flared or vented in 1998, which equals a 20 Mw baseloaded generation plant.

Contact Ritchie Priddy, LSU, phone 225-388-4544 or email rpriddy@lsu.edu.

Sandra Mark Named New Director of Rocky Mountain Region

Sandra Mark has become director of PTTC’s Rocky Mountain region, replacing Roger Slatt. (See related story on page 13) She has been manager of PTTC’s regional software training center for four years. Mark is a consulting petroleum geologist specializing in reservoir characterization of clastic rocks, as well as PC software applications for geoscientists and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). She holds three geology degrees—a B.S. from San Jose State University, an M.S. from Northern Arizona University, and a Ph.D. from CSM. Her 25 years of experience include positions with Chevron and ARCO.