Petroleum Geostatistics in a nutshell

I just finished reading the amazing book of Jef Caers of The Stanford Center for Reservoir Forecasting (SCRF) , "Petroleum Geostatistics” This thin and small, 90 pages book can be used as a guide for modeling petroleum reservoir. Jef has tried to keep everything simple and smooth and amazingly without involving too much of math he has made a precise explanation of application of geostatistics in reservoir modeling.

In the first chapter he explains the role of geostatistics in reservoir modeling. Then he goes through the modeling of geological continuity. Beside "object modeling" and "variogram modeling" he talks about "training images" and their application in modeling continuity. The next chapter is about building high resolution geocellular models (geological model). This chapter also covers application of seismic data in making geological model. Chapter four is about application of geostatistics to history matching under geological control. Finally in the last chapter he talks about modeling uncertainty and application of geostatistics in doing that.

Looking in title of each chapter does not show the real value of book. The real value of book lies on two things. One is the brief and crystal clear explanation of modeling workflow. The other value of book is the short tips given here and there about the pitfalls of modeling and application of geostatistics in it.

I recommend the book for beginners and intermediate level practitioners in the field. The book is useful for reservoir engineers and geoscientists and even can be used as a guideline for people who want to exercise working in integrated teams.

Dr.Larry Lines, President Elect of SEG

Dr.Larry Line has been elected as President of SEG which I believe will be announced at SEG annual meeting in San Antonio coming September. Apparently he will spent a year on apprenticeship and then another year as head of SEG. I wish him the bests. He is my supervisor and I hope I still can have him as my supervisor.

Earthquake in Peru: The pain and fear again

Earthquake is part of the life and is not avoidable. But the harm it makes is avoidable. However the work necessary to make the world safe against it is so huge that sometimes when I think about it, I reach a point that I just let it go. The way is so long and so uncertain. By the way, we can take small steps. One day we will reach the point that we can live with the Dragon in peace. For now I just can pray for the people in Peru and I can end some helps.

If you are living in one of the risky areas in the world be watchfull. My beloved country Iran seems all red in the map. This shake my bones. If you know persian take a look at this documentary about risk of earthquake in Tehran. Frightening but awaring.

Peru's earthquake is in picture here from BBC

Geology.com - Earth Science News, Maps, Dictionary, Articles, Jobs

Check out this great site about geology. You can find lots of useful information, daily news and even jobs for geologists there!
Geology.com - Earth Science News, Maps, Dictionary, Articles, Jobs

I love Titi, I can't live without Celly!

I love my TV. Her name is Titi. I can't live without her. I love my cell phone as well. His name is Celly. I can't breath without him. Yesterday, I was almost dead. You know way? Because of this stupid sun! Today this nerd scientist appeared on Titi and talked about an solar storm thing that wrecked a bunch of those satellite things in the sky and made trouble for my Titi and Celly. You see how sad this is! I hate the sun! I'm about to cry...

Safety on earth is an illusion. The things that happen once in a while for our satellites is going to happen for us too, sooner or later. For now, we are safe under the invisible protection of the earth's magnetic field, which protects us against the continuous flow of cruel waves of high energy particles fired from the sun.

Geological records revealed that the current north pole was actually in the south around 780 thousand years ago. In a very short period of time, maybe three thousand years or so, the north and south poles switched their position. 200 thousand years age, the earth experienced another magnetic pole replacement. Evidently, the intensity of magnetic field had dropped to 10% of its maximum at the time of replacement. In such conditions, solar winds can easily hit the earth's surface along with every thing on it. Studies show that the magnetic filed has already lost 10% of it's strength. But don't worry, we have enough time to come up with some ideas to protect us from this threat.

Magnetic field of the earth fighting the solar wind.

Tehran, The threat of Earthquake

We had another earthquake close to Tehran yesterday. It is so scary. This city is not ready for earthquake which already past the due. The only thing that we can do now pray for having it later when the city is refurbished and reconstructed before getting wiped out. We have to do it, the options are doing now and saving lives or doing later after we lose many things more important than just money. With population of 12 millions, I even can't think about the aftermaths.

May the force be with you, Geoscientists. The future!

The future for Geoscience career is more than just good. That's the message from G. Warfield ‘Skip’ Hobbs , Managing Partner, Ammonite Resources Company at CSPG annual convention. This is not trivial. If you have a career in mind or you are in a stage of your life that you are to choose what to study, it's time to think about it. Existing facts are: The oil price is high, experienced people are going to retire and oil price drop in nineties caused a lack of interest in geoscience career at that time and so, now there is a gap between people with 10-15 years of experience and people with less than three years. The hydrocarbon is still the dominant source of energy. on the other hand, the predictions show demands for hydrocarbon are increasing, so the oil price won't drop below 50$ again and we have enough hydrocarbon to exploit but we need more expert people to do that (i.e it's not easy dude!).
The conclusion is step in and take the chance. It's wise to choose a career in geology, geophysics and reservoir engineering.
Think about it!

CSPG Convention 2007, Flow of knowledge, opportunity for networking and plenty of gifts

Things went well at CSPG/CSEG annual convention 2007. There were lots of speeches which some of them were really excellent. Also there was a good opportunity to expand the professional network. And finally in the exhibition hall, many companies were presenting latest technologies for audiences. Also, there were plenty of gifts, food and coffee to make this event plausible and joyful.
Thanks to sponsors and people who managed it.

Ocean; the undiscovered planet

Isn’t it a little ridiculous that what we know about the surface of planet Mars or Venues is more than what we know about Earth’s oceans?!
Geologists in the early nineteenth century speculated that the ocean floors were dull expanses of mud, featureless and flat. For centuries, naturalists also thought that the oldest rocks on Earth were on the ocean floors. They believed that the present-day ocean basins formed at the very beginning of the Earth's history and throughout time they had slowly been filling by a constant rain of sediment from the lands. Data gathered since the 1930's have enabled scientists to view the seafloor as relatively youthful and geologically dynamic, with mountains, canyons, and other topographic forms similar to those found on land. The seafloor is no more than 200 million years old--a "young" part of the globe's crust compared to the continents which may contain rocks nearly 20 times that age.
The revolutionary theory of plate tectonic develops when information collected from oceans floor since 1950. Sea level changes have been understood in the light of new concepts; processes of sedimentation and changes in coastlines are looked at with new techniques and understanding
Marine geology is a relatively new division of geology; in fact it’s a combination of several disciplines like, geophysics, tectonic, oceanography, sedimentology and it uses GIS and remote sensing techniques widely.

I Sweat More These Days

Is it just me or everybody else is feeling hot? I feel a lot more hot these days from the times I can remember from my childhood. If it wasn't for the facts scientists have revealed, I'd think there is something wrong with me.

The fact that the average temperature of the earth is now two degrees more than what it was 50 years ago is not an issue that a concerned person could easily ignore. The studies show that around 6% of the north pole ice cap has disappeared in half a century. If the condition persist, it will be gone in 2080.

Greenland Ice Cap

Melting Ice

The scientist predict that the earth will be six degrees warmer in 20 t0 30 years from now. The impacts of this fundamental change is beyond imagination. One of the most profound impacts of this so called "global warming" would be on the golf stream. Once it is stopped, the change in the food chain of the Atlantic ocean would bring many species to extinction. The life of the other creatures won't remain untouched either. North pole bear for instance, would be extinct most probably. The list of changes is endless.

White Bear, Reigning the North Pole, Lives on the Ice

Apparently, the earth has experienced many warm and cold periods before, with recorded geological evidence. The main concern is the answer to this question: "What has human activity got to do with this global warming?". There are still debates on the effect of human activity on the climate change. Many believe that the huge amount of carbon dioxide emissions, the gas which results in green house effect, a product of fossil fuels consumption during the last 70 years of industrial outburst, is the culprit. On the other hand, there are some other people who insist that this is just another inevitable warm period in the earth's history. Both parties have their own reasons and evidence. In either case, should we be worried?

CSPG Annual Convention 2007

Next week we have the CSPG annual convention here in Calgary. This is the first convention since I have been here. It starts at May 14 and ends in May 17. If you are in Calgary or around and you are a student still you can join the event with student rate (70 CND). I'll bring more from the event next week.

Dr.Larry Lines, The Lord Of The Seismic Lines

Here we have good, very good and the excellent. Nobody is weak, nobody is bad. Every piece of your effort counts. This is Larry Lines class. And this is how he treats people. I believe he is not playing this. He deeply believes it. Everybody is good. Larry Lines reminds me another teacher of mine, Dr.Mehrdad Esfandiari in University of Tehran, which I owe half of my life to him. I have seen many teachers, almost all with high ethical values. All of them deeply believe and practically appreciate that every human being is equal, but just a few really believe that people are equally good.
Dr.Lines has been head of department of Geoscience (Geology and Geophysics) at University of Calgary since 2002. He has worked for Oil and Gas companies for years.
With all these experience and all the respects everyone has for him, he still is as simple as his students. Beside lots of things I learnt from him in Geophysics, he also taught me how to keep the life simple and happy while you are in top. Salute Sir! Salute!

Reservoir Characterization

I am studying Reservoir Characterization in University of Calgary and here I want to briefly introduce it to you. In general reservoir characterization tries to study static and dynamic properties of an oil or gas reservoir. It covers and combines Petroleum Engineering, Geology and Geophysics of Reservoir. These days in every oil company people try to ease communication between Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists. All the information we have about a reservoir comparing to complexity of the earth is very little. Thus, we need to mix whatever we know about reservoir to get as realistic as possible image of what is going on down there. But the problem is that discussion between geologist and geophysicists is like talking English to a French guy. And when these two try to communicate with an engineer it's like ice hockey. In fact they don't talk, they fight. Hence, some people started thinking hah! Maybe we can teach them a little bit of each of these. Then these girls and guys can seat together in peace and get something out of the earth. These things started mostly in Austin and Stanford and some other oil and gas hotspots. Last year two good fellows at U of Calgary started thinking, "Well we have geologists, we have geophysicists, and we have engineers! And we have lots of oil. We need it and we can do it! So, let’s do it! And they did it. These to guys are Dr.Larry Lines, an unbelievably nice old (young in heart) geophysicist and an Engineer, (He just reminds me scotch lords and scientists) Sir Tom Harding former Nexen's Manager.
According to Larry, during an afternoon coffee session they came up with the initial idea. The idea is to put ideally equal number of people from each disciplines in teams and teach them to do all the stuff on reservoir together. For the first year only 8 people got admission in that it was announced so late. But the plan is to get up to 24 people, 8 from each discipline. Dr. Jerry Jensen newly assigned as coordinator of this program.
In my opinion this is a unique opportunity especially for those who have some experience in industry to quickly catch all they need and go back to industry which is in a great demand of such people. This was the idea made me to leave Schlumberger and come here.
For those who are interested in the program I suggest to take a look at this.

About Geology: A team blog

About Geology is a team blog. We are a group of old fellows who mostly are used to study in University of Tehran in 90s. Now each of us is doing or studying a kind of Geology somewhere in our lovely Earth. Here we blog on whatever is related to Geology. We want to share what we know about it with ourselves and with you. Let us know how you think about this!