12:55 p.m.
Introductory Remarks
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
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Panel_14268 Panel_14268 12:55 PM 1:00 PM
1:00 p.m.
Women Sitting Wells: A Forgotten History
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
When Affirmative Action regulation introduced a “horde” of women geologists into the bowels of major multinational oil companies starting in 1973, the concept of sending women out to sit wells upset management throughout the United States. Within a few years, the fear that drilling crews would greatly harass women were proven unwarranted. Women now routinely take their turn minding their company’s drilling programs. Lost to the 1970’s generation of male managers and to all the women who “fought the good fight” to get out onto a well site was the fact that women had been hired to sit wells over a half of century before! US entry into World War I in 1917 produced an acute shortage of geologists as they went off to war. In 1917, coincidentally, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists was born. Also in 1917 newly formed and successful Empire Gas and Fuel Company (later Cities Service Company) of Bartlesville hired Alexander McCoy to establish a research lab for subsurface investigations including well sitting, sample describing and contour map making…innovative concepts that were slow to be tried and embraced in the Midcontinent. McCoy was historic with this geologically-based exploration which was crucial because this was long before well logging tools, micropaleontology and seismic were developed and advanced correlation stratigraphy. The other historic decision he made starting in January 1918 was to hire three women geologists for well sitting and sample description work! In 1919 they became the first women members of AAPG. That same year Roxana Oil Company (later Shell Oil) in St Louis also hired three women and they too became members of AAPG. All of these first six left their jobs (and quit AAPG) when the war was over, either due to returning men taking back those jobs or due to marriage. In fact in 1920, McCoy married the first woman he had hired, thus ending her career! For the most part, women geologists were again prevented from well sitting until 1943 when the US became engaged in the Second World War which once again created a shortage of geologists. Women were hired in larger than ever numbers to replace the soldiering men. After the war, once again, many women left their jobs and left the industry. Although, some persevered and had very successful careers. The occasional woman did manage to do some well site work before Affirmative Action, but it was rare. By 1973 their well site legacy had been forgotten. When Affirmative Action regulation introduced a “horde” of women geologists into the bowels of major multinational oil companies starting in 1973, the concept of sending women out to sit wells upset management throughout the United States. Within a few years, the fear that drilling crews would greatly harass women were proven unwarranted. Women now routinely take their turn minding their company’s drilling programs. Lost to the 1970’s generation of male managers and to all the women who “fought the good fight” to get out onto a well site was the fact that women had been hired to sit wells over a half of century before! US entry into World War I in 1917 produced an acute shortage of geologists as they went off to war. In 1917, coincidentally, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists was born. Also in 1917 newly formed and successful Empire Gas and Fuel Company (later Cities Service Company) of Bartlesville hired Alexander McCoy to establish a research lab for subsurface investigations including well sitting, sample describing and contour map making…innovative concepts that were slow to be tried and embraced in the Midcontinent. McCoy was historic with this geologically-based exploration which was crucial because this was long before well logging tools, micropaleontology and seismic were developed and advanced correlation stratigraphy. The other historic decision he made starting in January 1918 was to hire three women geologists for well sitting and sample description work! In 1919 they became the first women members of AAPG. That same year Roxana Oil Company (later Shell Oil) in St Louis also hired three women and they too became members of AAPG. All of these first six left their jobs (and quit AAPG) when the war was over, either due to returning men taking back those jobs or due to marriage. In fact in 1920, McCoy married the first woman he had hired, thus ending her career! For the most part, women geologists were again prevented from well sitting until 1943 when the US became engaged in the Second World War which once again created a shortage of geologists. Women were hired in larger than ever numbers to replace the soldiering men. After the war, once again, many women left their jobs and left the industry. Although, some persevered and had very successful careers. The occasional woman did manage to do some well site work before Affirmative Action, but it was rare. By 1973 their well site legacy had been forgotten. Panel_14260 Panel_14260 1:00 PM 1:15 PM
1:15 p.m.
M. King Hubbert and "Peak Oil": How Do His Forecasts Look in 2015?
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Marion King Hubbert generated prescient and unwelcome forecasts in 1956 and again in 1962, that annual U. S. crude oil production would peak in the late 1960s or early 1970s at around 3 billion bbl, and decline thereafter, implying growing American dependence on imported oil. Hubbert estimated that ultimate domestic crude oil production would total about 200 billion bbl. These forecasts brought him into sharp conflict with the U. S. Geological Survey’s Vincent E. McKelvey throughout the 1960s, and continuing well into the 1970s, even after McKelvey became Director of USGS in 1971. Under McKelvey’s leadership, USGS had consistently estimated that domestic crude oil resources were much larger than Hubbert’s forecasts -- as much as 590 billion bbl -- sufficient “to meet projected consumption through and beyond” the end of the 20th century. Their increasingly acrimonious dispute reached out well beyond the American scientific community, and spilled over into National energy policy. When U. S. crude oil production peaked in 1970 at about 3.2 billion bbl, Hubbert’s bold forecast seemed to be confirmed, and he was hailed as a prophet. McKelvey was fired in 1977 by the incoming Carter administration, and Hubbert’s forecasts were used as a basis to deny government subsidies to domestic E&P companies (“if the resource endowment is not there, it’s not worth paying companies to try and look for it”), and to develop alternative domestic energy sources, including oil shale deposits. Hubbert then developed analogous estimates of future domestic natural gas production, as well as global crude oil production. He forecast that U. S. natural gas production would peak in 1975, at about 18 trillion ft3 per year, with a total production of about 1,050 TCF. Hubbert also predicted that global oil production would peak at an annual rate of about 40 billion bbl in about 1995, with ultimate production of about 2000 billion bbl. These forecasts have long since been eclipsed by actual production, and discovered reserves. Examined from the vantage point of nearly 40 years, all of Hubbert’s forecasts are clearly too pessimistic, primarily because he failed to anticipate that technological breakthroughs would make E&P in hostile environments possible, and that new drilling and stimulation technologies would allow reservoirs to be developed in rocks then thought to be incapable of production. Marion King Hubbert generated prescient and unwelcome forecasts in 1956 and again in 1962, that annual U. S. crude oil production would peak in the late 1960s or early 1970s at around 3 billion bbl, and decline thereafter, implying growing American dependence on imported oil. Hubbert estimated that ultimate domestic crude oil production would total about 200 billion bbl. These forecasts brought him into sharp conflict with the U. S. Geological Survey’s Vincent E. McKelvey throughout the 1960s, and continuing well into the 1970s, even after McKelvey became Director of USGS in 1971. Under McKelvey’s leadership, USGS had consistently estimated that domestic crude oil resources were much larger than Hubbert’s forecasts -- as much as 590 billion bbl -- sufficient “to meet projected consumption through and beyond” the end of the 20th century. Their increasingly acrimonious dispute reached out well beyond the American scientific community, and spilled over into National energy policy. When U. S. crude oil production peaked in 1970 at about 3.2 billion bbl, Hubbert’s bold forecast seemed to be confirmed, and he was hailed as a prophet. McKelvey was fired in 1977 by the incoming Carter administration, and Hubbert’s forecasts were used as a basis to deny government subsidies to domestic E&P companies (“if the resource endowment is not there, it’s not worth paying companies to try and look for it”), and to develop alternative domestic energy sources, including oil shale deposits. Hubbert then developed analogous estimates of future domestic natural gas production, as well as global crude oil production. He forecast that U. S. natural gas production would peak in 1975, at about 18 trillion ft3 per year, with a total production of about 1,050 TCF. Hubbert also predicted that global oil production would peak at an annual rate of about 40 billion bbl in about 1995, with ultimate production of about 2000 billion bbl. These forecasts have long since been eclipsed by actual production, and discovered reserves. Examined from the vantage point of nearly 40 years, all of Hubbert’s forecasts are clearly too pessimistic, primarily because he failed to anticipate that technological breakthroughs would make E&P in hostile environments possible, and that new drilling and stimulation technologies would allow reservoirs to be developed in rocks then thought to be incapable of production. Panel_14261 Panel_14261 1:15 PM 1:30 PM
1:30 p.m.
History of Petroleum Geology Investigated Through Its Textbooks
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Ever since the beginning of the modern petroleum industry in North America in 1859, books on petroleum geology have been an important educational tool. Indeed the evolution of petroleum geology as an applied science can be investigated through its textbooks. This paper identifies six phases in the development of petroleum geology books. Phase I (1860s-70s) includes the earliest books published in and about Pennsylvania such as Thomas Gales’ Rock Oil. Phase II (1880s-1910s) includes the books published by British authors, most notably Sir Boverton Redwood, in line with colonial interests of the British Empire but also having a theoretically richer content. Phase III (1910s-1940s) witnessed the first modern textbooks by American geologists as a response to the growth of oil industry and petroleum education and after World War I. These books focused on “oil habitats” both as geographic locations and subsurface traps. Phase IV (1950s-60s) serves as a transition from the “oil habitat” paradigm to a more process-based petroleum geoscience. Arville I. Levorsen’s Geology of Petroleum is the best example of this period which trained many generations of petroleum geologists. Phase V (1970s-2000s) includes the contemporary textbooks highlighting the “petroleum-system” paradigm. The ongoing Phase VI is expected to deal more with unconventional hydrocarbon sources and written by authors not only from English-speaking countries but also from other countries as petroleum geology continues to be at the heart of global exploration for both conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas by international as well as national oil companies. Ever since the beginning of the modern petroleum industry in North America in 1859, books on petroleum geology have been an important educational tool. Indeed the evolution of petroleum geology as an applied science can be investigated through its textbooks. This paper identifies six phases in the development of petroleum geology books. Phase I (1860s-70s) includes the earliest books published in and about Pennsylvania such as Thomas Gales’ Rock Oil. Phase II (1880s-1910s) includes the books published by British authors, most notably Sir Boverton Redwood, in line with colonial interests of the British Empire but also having a theoretically richer content. Phase III (1910s-1940s) witnessed the first modern textbooks by American geologists as a response to the growth of oil industry and petroleum education and after World War I. These books focused on “oil habitats” both as geographic locations and subsurface traps. Phase IV (1950s-60s) serves as a transition from the “oil habitat” paradigm to a more process-based petroleum geoscience. Arville I. Levorsen’s Geology of Petroleum is the best example of this period which trained many generations of petroleum geologists. Phase V (1970s-2000s) includes the contemporary textbooks highlighting the “petroleum-system” paradigm. The ongoing Phase VI is expected to deal more with unconventional hydrocarbon sources and written by authors not only from English-speaking countries but also from other countries as petroleum geology continues to be at the heart of global exploration for both conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas by international as well as national oil companies. Panel_14262 Panel_14262 1:30 PM 1:45 PM
1:45 p.m.
The History of Oil and Gas Development in the Denver Basin
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
The Denver Basin encompasses an area of about 70,000 square miles in eastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, and southwestern Nebraska. More than 1.3 billion barrels of oil, 7.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 3.6 million barrels of water have been produced from more than 47,000 wells across the basin. Petroleum production is from Mississippian through Upper Cretaceous strata. The first oil well in the basin was completed in 1881 in the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale in the Florence field, the oldest active oil field in the United States. Depths of production across the basin vary from less than 900 feet (270 meters) from the Pierre Shale in the Florence field to about 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in Lower Cretaceous Muddy (J) Sandstone in the Wattenberg field. Focus of conventional production in the basin is the Muddy (J) Sandstone. There is scattered Paleozoic conventional production along the borders of the basin, in Nebraska, Lincoln County in southeast Colorado, and structural traps along the northern boundary of the Wattenberg field. Knowledge of petroleum source rock(s) and resources for Paleozoic strata within the basin are limited by lack of deep drilling; oil and gas in Mississippian and Pennsylvanian units in Lincoln County may have sourced from Paleozoic strata of the Denver Basin, or migrated westward from the Anadarko Basin. Unconventional, primarily horizontal oil and gas wells are concentrated in the Wattenberg field area of the deep basin; production from low-permeability sandstones of the Muddy (J) began in 1970. Exploration and production from tight calcareous shale of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation was initiated in the early 1900s in the basin, accelerated in the early 1980s, and continues to expand outward from the Wattenberg field, particularly to the northeast. Unconventional sweet spots are concentrated in an area of elevated basement heat flow that enhanced oil and gas generation from bounding organic-rich shales and the Niobrara Formation. The Denver Basin encompasses an area of about 70,000 square miles in eastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, and southwestern Nebraska. More than 1.3 billion barrels of oil, 7.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 3.6 million barrels of water have been produced from more than 47,000 wells across the basin. Petroleum production is from Mississippian through Upper Cretaceous strata. The first oil well in the basin was completed in 1881 in the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale in the Florence field, the oldest active oil field in the United States. Depths of production across the basin vary from less than 900 feet (270 meters) from the Pierre Shale in the Florence field to about 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in Lower Cretaceous Muddy (J) Sandstone in the Wattenberg field. Focus of conventional production in the basin is the Muddy (J) Sandstone. There is scattered Paleozoic conventional production along the borders of the basin, in Nebraska, Lincoln County in southeast Colorado, and structural traps along the northern boundary of the Wattenberg field. Knowledge of petroleum source rock(s) and resources for Paleozoic strata within the basin are limited by lack of deep drilling; oil and gas in Mississippian and Pennsylvanian units in Lincoln County may have sourced from Paleozoic strata of the Denver Basin, or migrated westward from the Anadarko Basin. Unconventional, primarily horizontal oil and gas wells are concentrated in the Wattenberg field area of the deep basin; production from low-permeability sandstones of the Muddy (J) began in 1970. Exploration and production from tight calcareous shale of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation was initiated in the early 1900s in the basin, accelerated in the early 1980s, and continues to expand outward from the Wattenberg field, particularly to the northeast. Unconventional sweet spots are concentrated in an area of elevated basement heat flow that enhanced oil and gas generation from bounding organic-rich shales and the Niobrara Formation. Panel_14263 Panel_14263 1:45 PM 2:00 PM
2:00 p.m.
Tempest at Teapot Dome, Wyoming: The Greatest Political Scandal in the History of the American Oil Industry
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Warren G. Harding’s presidential administration was probably the most corrupt in American history, and the oil industry was right in the middle of the fun. The scandal surrounding Teapot Dome in the 1920s was the most infamous presidential malfeasance of the 20th Century until Watergate. A Presidential Order in 1915 created the first Naval Petroleum Reserves, including Teapot Dome Oilfield in Wyoming. The advantages of petroleum over coal for naval fuel had proved irresistible, and the crude reserves were meant to provide a secure wartime supply. Harding chose New Mexico Senator Albert B. Fall for his Cabinet. Fall was a successful rancher and lawyer, but one whose enthusiasm for the private exploitation of the nation’s strategic resources led a contemporary to say, “It would have been possible to pick a worse man for Secretary of Interior, but not altogether easy.” Fall wrangled the Reserves away from the Navy Department, and then leased the field in 1922 to independent oil titan Harry Sinclair in a noncompetitive deal that guaranteed a favorable market: Uncle Sam. Senate hearings followed, Fall resigned less than a year later, and Harding died suddenly a few months afterwards. Investigators determined that Fall had received about $400,000 (over $5 million in today’s dollars) in “loans” from Sinclair. He was convicted and imprisoned in 1931 for felonies committed in office, the first Cabinet officer ever to suffer such ignominy. Sinclair was jailed for contempt, the leases were invalidated by the Supreme Court, and Teapot was returned to the Navy. Teapot Dome is now administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as the last Naval Petroleum Reserve. It is an asymmetrical, Laramide anticline on the southwestern flank of the Powder River Basin. Teapot includes basement-seated north-south faults on its western boundary and deep, east-west faults throughout the field. Its key producing zones are Cretaceous sandstones and shales, and the Pennsylvanian Tensleep Formation. Teapot still produces about 240 BOPD and 18,000 BWPD from about 350 wells. There is undeveloped potential for primary and enhanced oil recovery, as well as infill and horizontal drilling targets. Meagher Energy Advisors was retained in 2014 by DOE to solicit offers for Teapot Dome, effective January 30, 2015. Transfer of title to a new, private operator after 100 years as a Naval Petroleum Reserve will represent another exciting chapter in the history of America’s most notorious oil field. Warren G. Harding’s presidential administration was probably the most corrupt in American history, and the oil industry was right in the middle of the fun. The scandal surrounding Teapot Dome in the 1920s was the most infamous presidential malfeasance of the 20th Century until Watergate. A Presidential Order in 1915 created the first Naval Petroleum Reserves, including Teapot Dome Oilfield in Wyoming. The advantages of petroleum over coal for naval fuel had proved irresistible, and the crude reserves were meant to provide a secure wartime supply. Harding chose New Mexico Senator Albert B. Fall for his Cabinet. Fall was a successful rancher and lawyer, but one whose enthusiasm for the private exploitation of the nation’s strategic resources led a contemporary to say, “It would have been possible to pick a worse man for Secretary of Interior, but not altogether easy.” Fall wrangled the Reserves away from the Navy Department, and then leased the field in 1922 to independent oil titan Harry Sinclair in a noncompetitive deal that guaranteed a favorable market: Uncle Sam. Senate hearings followed, Fall resigned less than a year later, and Harding died suddenly a few months afterwards. Investigators determined that Fall had received about $400,000 (over $5 million in today’s dollars) in “loans” from Sinclair. He was convicted and imprisoned in 1931 for felonies committed in office, the first Cabinet officer ever to suffer such ignominy. Sinclair was jailed for contempt, the leases were invalidated by the Supreme Court, and Teapot was returned to the Navy. Teapot Dome is now administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as the last Naval Petroleum Reserve. It is an asymmetrical, Laramide anticline on the southwestern flank of the Powder River Basin. Teapot includes basement-seated north-south faults on its western boundary and deep, east-west faults throughout the field. Its key producing zones are Cretaceous sandstones and shales, and the Pennsylvanian Tensleep Formation. Teapot still produces about 240 BOPD and 18,000 BWPD from about 350 wells. There is undeveloped potential for primary and enhanced oil recovery, as well as infill and horizontal drilling targets. Meagher Energy Advisors was retained in 2014 by DOE to solicit offers for Teapot Dome, effective January 30, 2015. Transfer of title to a new, private operator after 100 years as a Naval Petroleum Reserve will represent another exciting chapter in the history of America’s most notorious oil field. Panel_14264 Panel_14264 2:00 PM 2:15 PM
2:15 p.m.
Hardstoft — Britain's First Oil Field
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
In 1911, Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and during his time in office he took the strategic decision to power British Naval ships with oil and phase out the use of coal. It was a strategic decision based upon improving the performance of the naval fleet. It worked and during the First World War the Royal Navy outperformed their German counterparts. However, Britain relied on importing oil from its colonies and dependencies with Trinidad and Persia supplying the lions share. This made the UK vulnerable and as a consequence the search was on for an indigenous oil supply. The U.K. government issued a contract to drill 6 wells in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Scotland. Little information exists as to why the particular locations were chosen although it is easy to infer that a combination of petroleum seeps and geological structure guided these early explorers. The first well to be drilled was at Hardstoft in the parish of Tibshelf in the county of Derbyshire. “Oil in quantity was struck in Hardstoft No 1 well of May 27th, 1919” (Wade, 1928). Success was also had at D’Arcy Farm near to Dalkeith in the Lothians of Scotland. There are few data available for either of these wells and those that do exist are of dubious quality and open to differing interpretation. Hardstoft No.1 was the first successful oil exploration well ever drilled in the U.K. It found light oil in a fractured sandy limestone unit at the top of the Lower Carboniferous Limestone at a depth of 3,070 ft. The well was completed and produced about 7bbl/day for many years before a subsequent work-over doubled the production rate to about 14 bbl/day. Two further wells were drilled on the structure in the 1920s, but no additional oil production was obtained, although some gas was found at a higher level in sandstones within the Coal Measures succession and was used to power the site for several years The total production between 1920 and 1946 was about 30,000 bbl. The aim of this paper is to tell the story of Britain’s first oil well, its subsequent production and attempts at continued development. We also re-examine the history from a modern perspective, report on new analyses both of the oil and of the trap in order to evaluate the potential for redevelopment. In 1911, Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and during his time in office he took the strategic decision to power British Naval ships with oil and phase out the use of coal. It was a strategic decision based upon improving the performance of the naval fleet. It worked and during the First World War the Royal Navy outperformed their German counterparts. However, Britain relied on importing oil from its colonies and dependencies with Trinidad and Persia supplying the lions share. This made the UK vulnerable and as a consequence the search was on for an indigenous oil supply. The U.K. government issued a contract to drill 6 wells in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Scotland. Little information exists as to why the particular locations were chosen although it is easy to infer that a combination of petroleum seeps and geological structure guided these early explorers. The first well to be drilled was at Hardstoft in the parish of Tibshelf in the county of Derbyshire. “Oil in quantity was struck in Hardstoft No 1 well of May 27th, 1919” (Wade, 1928). Success was also had at D’Arcy Farm near to Dalkeith in the Lothians of Scotland. There are few data available for either of these wells and those that do exist are of dubious quality and open to differing interpretation. Hardstoft No.1 was the first successful oil exploration well ever drilled in the U.K. It found light oil in a fractured sandy limestone unit at the top of the Lower Carboniferous Limestone at a depth of 3,070 ft. The well was completed and produced about 7bbl/day for many years before a subsequent work-over doubled the production rate to about 14 bbl/day. Two further wells were drilled on the structure in the 1920s, but no additional oil production was obtained, although some gas was found at a higher level in sandstones within the Coal Measures succession and was used to power the site for several years The total production between 1920 and 1946 was about 30,000 bbl. The aim of this paper is to tell the story of Britain’s first oil well, its subsequent production and attempts at continued development. We also re-examine the history from a modern perspective, report on new analyses both of the oil and of the trap in order to evaluate the potential for redevelopment. Panel_14265 Panel_14265 2:15 PM 2:30 PM
2:30 p.m.
Angola's Oil Industry — Celebrating a Century of Progress in Exploration and Production
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
The year 2015 celebrates a full century of oil exploration and production in Angola. A variety of wide-ranging, high potential plays have led to a dramatic surge in Angola’s oil production. A decade ago, Angola was producing approximately 750,000 bopd (barrels of oil per day) and now production of almost 2.0 million bopd has been achieved. In the late 1700’s Portuguese colonialists discovered oil seeps and asphalt deposits at Libongos, about 60 km north of Luanda and shipped some of the oil to Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro to be used a caulking material to prevent water leakage into their ships. First-ever drilling for oil was in 1915 about 40 km northeast of Luanda. Dande-4 drilled in 1916 was tested at 6 bopd and was subsequently abandoned but it signified the first flow of oil in Angola. In 1956 the Benfica oil field, near Luanda, went on production representing the beginning of oil production in Angola. The first offshore oil field in Angola, Malongo, was discovered in 1968 in the Angola province of Cabinda by the American company, Gulf Oil. In 1996 Elf Petroleum discovered the Girassol oil field on Block 17 in 1,300 meters of water about 140 kilometers off the coast of Angola. Additional drilling by Elf proved Girassol to be a giant-size oil field, with the oil bearing reservoir located in clastics of Oligocene age which were deposited as turbidites. This led to many more such discoveries. As a result, about 75% of Angola’s current production now comes from such reservoirs. In 2011, 11 deepwater to ultra-deepwater pre-salt blocks in the Kwanza and Benguela Basins were awarded by Sonangol to a number of operators. Since that time, very encouraging pre-salt oil discoveries have been drilled by Maersk and Cobalt. In 2013 the LNG plant at Soyo, in northern Angola commenced production at 5.2 million tonnes per year. On an energy-equivalent basis, this amounts to about 200,000 barrels of oil per day. The first shipment of LNG was to a Petrobras LNG deliquification plant in Rio de Janeiro and thereafter 4 shipments of LNG from Angola were delivered to customers in Asia. The year 2015 celebrates a full century of oil exploration and production in Angola. A variety of wide-ranging, high potential plays have led to a dramatic surge in Angola’s oil production. A decade ago, Angola was producing approximately 750,000 bopd (barrels of oil per day) and now production of almost 2.0 million bopd has been achieved. In the late 1700’s Portuguese colonialists discovered oil seeps and asphalt deposits at Libongos, about 60 km north of Luanda and shipped some of the oil to Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro to be used a caulking material to prevent water leakage into their ships. First-ever drilling for oil was in 1915 about 40 km northeast of Luanda. Dande-4 drilled in 1916 was tested at 6 bopd and was subsequently abandoned but it signified the first flow of oil in Angola. In 1956 the Benfica oil field, near Luanda, went on production representing the beginning of oil production in Angola. The first offshore oil field in Angola, Malongo, was discovered in 1968 in the Angola province of Cabinda by the American company, Gulf Oil. In 1996 Elf Petroleum discovered the Girassol oil field on Block 17 in 1,300 meters of water about 140 kilometers off the coast of Angola. Additional drilling by Elf proved Girassol to be a giant-size oil field, with the oil bearing reservoir located in clastics of Oligocene age which were deposited as turbidites. This led to many more such discoveries. As a result, about 75% of Angola’s current production now comes from such reservoirs. In 2011, 11 deepwater to ultra-deepwater pre-salt blocks in the Kwanza and Benguela Basins were awarded by Sonangol to a number of operators. Since that time, very encouraging pre-salt oil discoveries have been drilled by Maersk and Cobalt. In 2013 the LNG plant at Soyo, in northern Angola commenced production at 5.2 million tonnes per year. On an energy-equivalent basis, this amounts to about 200,000 barrels of oil per day. The first shipment of LNG was to a Petrobras LNG deliquification plant in Rio de Janeiro and thereafter 4 shipments of LNG from Angola were delivered to customers in Asia. Panel_14266 Panel_14266 2:30 PM 2:45 PM
2:45 p.m.
Rodi Avila Medeiros, Outstanding Stratigrapher, Mentor and Teacher
Four Seasons Ballroom 1
Rodi Avila Medeiros (1935-1998) was a prominent geologist who spent most of his professional life teaching, lecturing, and mentoring many generations of geologists in stratigraphy, sedimentology and basin analysis. Born in Pelotas, Brazil, he graduated in Agronomical Engineering in 1958, and immediately joined the group that would be the first petroleum geologists in Brazil. Determined to make up a national work force, the newborn (1954) Petrobras established an internal school in Salvador, where tens of professionals aimed at the oil & gas industry would graduate in 1960-61. Only after the graduation of this first group of geologists that teaching effort could be discontinued. Rodi started working with surface and subsurface geology in the Paleozoic Parana Basin, and was soon sent to Troy, NY, to perform advanced studies in sedimentology with Gerald M. Friedman. As a consequence, his masterpiece, Sedimentary Facies, was published in 1969, co-authored by Friedman and Hannfried Schaller. He was a pioneer in facies analysis in Brazil, introducing modern sedimentology concepts in the Brazilian oil industry and in many of the Nation universities. He worked as a full-time teacher and mentor for hundreds of geologists involved in graduated studies, both in Petrobras and in many universities, up to the very end of his life, collaborating in hundreds of scientific papers, Theses, field mapping in the search for oil, and was the core reference in the foundation of a number of graduated courses in sedimentology and stratigraphy. Well ahead of his time, Rodi soon realized the need to correlate thick periglacial paraconglomerates with only one thin bed in a rhythmite succession 20 km away. He was also aware, in the early 70s, to the dynamic character of stratigraphy that would give birth to Sequence Stratigraphy many years later. Rodi performed an outstanding job as a field trip leader in tens of sedimentary basins in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and other countries. Many of his maps and stratigraphic schemes, field trip guides, and the application of those concepts to the petroleum geology, are still very influential for the analysis of several Proterozoic, Paleozoic, and Cretaceous Rift basins in Brazil. His influence is still felt today, by those who were happy to have known and respected him. Rodi Avila Medeiros (1935-1998) was a prominent geologist who spent most of his professional life teaching, lecturing, and mentoring many generations of geologists in stratigraphy, sedimentology and basin analysis. Born in Pelotas, Brazil, he graduated in Agronomical Engineering in 1958, and immediately joined the group that would be the first petroleum geologists in Brazil. Determined to make up a national work force, the newborn (1954) Petrobras established an internal school in Salvador, where tens of professionals aimed at the oil & gas industry would graduate in 1960-61. Only after the graduation of this first group of geologists that teaching effort could be discontinued. Rodi started working with surface and subsurface geology in the Paleozoic Parana Basin, and was soon sent to Troy, NY, to perform advanced studies in sedimentology with Gerald M. Friedman. As a consequence, his masterpiece, Sedimentary Facies, was published in 1969, co-authored by Friedman and Hannfried Schaller. He was a pioneer in facies analysis in Brazil, introducing modern sedimentology concepts in the Brazilian oil industry and in many of the Nation universities. He worked as a full-time teacher and mentor for hundreds of geologists involved in graduated studies, both in Petrobras and in many universities, up to the very end of his life, collaborating in hundreds of scientific papers, Theses, field mapping in the search for oil, and was the core reference in the foundation of a number of graduated courses in sedimentology and stratigraphy. Well ahead of his time, Rodi soon realized the need to correlate thick periglacial paraconglomerates with only one thin bed in a rhythmite succession 20 km away. He was also aware, in the early 70s, to the dynamic character of stratigraphy that would give birth to Sequence Stratigraphy many years later. Rodi performed an outstanding job as a field trip leader in tens of sedimentary basins in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and other countries. Many of his maps and stratigraphic schemes, field trip guides, and the application of those concepts to the petroleum geology, are still very influential for the analysis of several Proterozoic, Paleozoic, and Cretaceous Rift basins in Brazil. His influence is still felt today, by those who were happy to have known and respected him. Panel_14267 Panel_14267 2:45 PM 3:00 PM
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