plume 30 &mber 3 · Energy Industry Paramithia, George P. Mitchell ..... 15 Geo-Events and Calendar. ..... 19 Committee News ..... 24 Exploration Summary, Edited by Bill Eisenhardt

November, 1987

plume 30 : &mber 3

HGS NOVEMBER CALENDAR NOVEMBER 9,1987 (Dinner Meeting) NOVEMBER 6-7,1987

"The Vanishing Frontiers in Offshore United States" HGS School L. W. Funkhouser, President of AAPG "Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of Seismic, WeU and Social Period 5:30 PM, Dinner and Meeting 6:30 PM. Outcrop Data" Westin Oaks Hotel. 5011 Westheimer Ramada Northwest, 12801 Northwest Freeway Reservations made by name only, telephone 771-8315. Must be made or cancelled no later than noon Friday. November 6.

NOVEMBER 18.1987 (Dinner Meeting) HGS INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATIONISTS "Exploration Techniques in Fold and Thrust Eklts" Steven H. Lingrey, Exxon Production Research, Houston Weetin Galleria Hotel, 5060 Alabama. 5:30 PM

NOVEMBER, 1415.1987 HGS Field Seminar "Recent Sediments of the Northwest Gulf Coastal Plain"

NOVEMBER 14,1987 HGS Environmental Committee Field Seminar "Gedogy of West Harris County"

Purchase tickets by Monday. ~ o v e m b 4 r 16. NOVEMBER 21.1987 NOVEMBER 23, I987 (Luncheon Meeting) HGS Schod

"New Insights on Salt Diapirism from the Great Kavir, "Impasse and Your Career" Central Iran" Ramada Southwest, 6855 Southwest Freeway M.P.A. Jackson, UT Bur. of Econ. Geology, &in Social Period 11:30 AM, Luncheon and Meeting 12 noon. Doubletree Hotel, 400 Dallas Reservations made by name only, telephone 771-8315. Must be made or cancelled by noon Friday, November 20.

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HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 691 6 Ashcrof t Houston. Texas 77081

(71 3) 771 -831 5

Volume 30 Published monthly September through June

. EXECUTIVE BOARD . President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan L . Smith. Texoil 652-5741 President-Elect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dietmar (Deet) Schumacher. Pennzoil Co . 546-4028 Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed (Ted) McFarlan. Jr.. Consultant 529-41 3 4 Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Thornhill. Wing Corp . 658-9673 Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tammy Braun. Lignum Oil 659-1 634 Executive Committeeman ('89) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lynn Williams. Phillips Pet . 669-741 9 Executive Committeeman ('89) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Hefner. Independent 468-9495 Executive Committeeman ('88) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E . Stuart Hastings. PetCons & Assoc . 774-4091 Executive Committeeman ( '88) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerry A . Watson. Consulting Geologist 556-0806

- COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN - Academic Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hans Ave Lallemant. Rice University 527-4889 Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . D . (Don) Neville. Consultant 367-5970 Awards and Student Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Kronman. Amoco 556-4452 Ballot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert L . Johnson. Champlin Pet . 654-3649 Boy Scouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Krapfel. Texas Eastern 759-3793 Computer Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ken Aitken. Pennzoil Co . 546-8759 Continuing Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cyrus Strong. Shell Western 467-621 1 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Ahlborn. Independent 376-0505 Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arlin Howles. Ground Water Tech . 680-1 51 5 Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt Bognar. GECO Geophysical Co . 596-1 579 Field Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gary W . Moore. Columbia Gas Co. 787-3571 Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lyman Dawe. Independent 821 -61 57 Historical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anne Frank. Gulf Coast Geodata 652-3879 International Explorationists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Emmet. Rice University 527-4880 Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evelyn Wilie Moody. Consultant 654-0072 Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert G . Raynolds. Arnoco 556-2232 Nominations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . R . (Chuck) Noll. Jr.. Frio Exploration Co . 621 -9558 Personnel Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beverly Fahlstrom. Money Financial Serv . 789-6669 Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dietmar (Deet) Schumacher. Pennzoil Co . 546-4028 Publication Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cheryl Miller. J . M . Huber Corp . 871 -4455 Public Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Donais. Energy Development Corp . 757-081 2 Rememberances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe E . Sullivan. Unocal 621 -7600 Research and Study Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marty Hall. Consultant 827-3858 Technical Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed (Ted) McFarlan. Jr . Consultant 529-41 34 Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Burns. Coastal Oil & Gas 877-7807

- SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES - Advisor. Museum of Natural Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Morgan J . Davis. Jr.. Consulting Geologist 993-9085 Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helen Sadik.Macdonald. Consultant 497-3622 GCAGS Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel L . Smith. Texoil 652-5741 GCAGS Alternate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dietmar (Deet) Schumacher. Pennzoil Co . 546-4028 AAPG Delegate Foreman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert L . (Bob) Peters Transco 439-4006 AAPG-DPA Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerry H . Clark. Cenergy 739-051 1 AAPG Group Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara & John D . Bremsteller 751 -0259 Memorial Scholarship Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . R . (Chuck) Noll. Jr.. Frio Expl . Co . 464-6730 HGS Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merrill Haas. Consultant 468-1 906 Engineering Council of Houston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claudia Ludwig. Consultant 723-1436

- HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL AUXILIARY - President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mrs . Richard (Edythe) Bishop 467-8706 President-Elect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mrs. John (Pat) Hefner 468-9495 First Vice President (Social) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mrs . Hugh M . (Elinor) Macmillan 861 -9445 Second Vice President (Membership) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mrs. Elsworth (Mildred) Tonn 729-5352 Third Vice President (HGS Rep.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mrs . Tommy M . (Anna Mae) Thompson 774-5302 Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mrs . James B . (Kathryn) Bennett 781 -6829 Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mrs. James C . (Theresa) Barker 782-2754

- BULLETIN - Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marilyn Gruebel. Enron Corp . 853-5961

The Houston Geolog~cal Soclety Bul le t~n IS published monthly September through June by the Houston Geolog~cal Soclety . 6916 Ashcroft . Houston, Texas 77081 Subscrfpt~on to the Bulletin 1s ~ncluded In membership dues($15.00 annually) Subscr~ption prlce for non-members w ~ t h ~ n the contlguous U.S IS 51 5 0 0 per year and $30.00 per year for those outs~de the contlguous U S S~ngle copy prlce IS $2.50 Subscr~pt~ons recelvedafter March 1 w ~ l l be appl~edtorhe rernamderofthe f~scalvear(end~ng wlth theJune ~ssue)andalsoto thefollowtng year

1 Houston Geolog~cal Soclety Bullet~n. November 1987

"Support those who support our Society." b

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Houston Geologml Socletv Bullettn. November 1987 2

HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

BULLETIN VO~. 30, NO. 3 CONTENTS November, 1987

BU LLETl N COMMITTEE

Editor: Mardyn Gruebel, 853-5961 Enron Corp.

Assoc. Editor: John W. Saurl, 496-1475 Independent Geologist

Asst. Editors: Bill Eisenhardt, 774-6669 Consulting Geologist

Karen Lanning, 951-5677 Amerada Hess

Kirk Rovang, 951-5614 Amerada Hess

M~ke H. Hoffman, 820-0333 TGX, Inc.

Virglma Pendleton, 840-4459 Occ~dental Petroleum

Ann Turpin, 840-4341 Occ~dental Petroleum

Donna Davis, 961-5660 X372 Petroleum Information

Manuscripts, ~nquirles, or suggestions should be directed to Marilyn Gruebel, Edltor, 3706 Lmkwood, Houston, Texas 77025 (713) 853~5961. Deadline for copy IS six weeks prlor to publication. All copy must he typewritten and double-spaced on standard white paper. Line drawlngs and other illustrat~ons must be photo-ready. Inquines concerning adverbsing should be directed to W D. (Don) Neville, Advertising Chairman. (713) 367 5970.

The Houston Geological Society was founded in 1923and lncorporatedln 1975. The soc~ety'sobjectives are to stimulate Interest and promote the advancement of Geology In thls area, to dissemlnate and facilitate discuss~on of geological ~nformation and to enhance profess~onal interrelat~onships among geologists. The soclety includes nearly 5,000 members locally and publishes a monthly Bulletin (September through June) in addition to spec~al scientific publications. The HGS also provides student scholarships and continuingedu- cation programs for profess~onal geologists.

REGULAR FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President's Comments 5

Editor'sNotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Society Meetings

The Vanishing Frontiers in Offshore United States, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. W.Funkhouser 10

New Insights on Salt Diapirism from the Great Kavir, Central Iran. M.P.A.Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Exploration Techniques in Fold and Thrust Belts,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven H. Lingrey 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . International Explorationists 12

Guest Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . Energy Industry Paramithia, George P. Mitchell 15

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geo-Events and Calendar. 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Committee News 24

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exploration Summary, Edited by Bill Eisenhardt 28

COLUMNS Digital Digest

Oil and Gas Computing Group is Formed, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Gossett and Dennis McMullin 17

Environmental Update Debate Over Proposed Houston Ship Channel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Improvements, Robert S. Lee . 20

MISCELLANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Members 27

HGS Schools and Field Seminars . . . . . . . . . . . . Recent Sediments of the NW Gulf Coastal Plain 4

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Impasse and Your Career 10 Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seismic, Well and Outcrop Data 18 Other

Remote Sensing for the Petroleum Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arthur J. Pyron and Allen M. Feder, PhD 23

OUR COVER PHOTO SAR SYSTEM@ radar image of the

heavily vegetated Kalimantan, Indonesia interior, an area dominated by folded, possibly "overthrust" structures. Courtesy of Aero Service Division, Western Atlas International, Inc., Houston, Texas.

"If I were alive today, I'd place my ad in the HGS Bulletin"

Col. Edwin L. Drake

PRICE SCHEDULE- NOVEMBER MEETINGS

Westin Oaks Hotel, November 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dinner. $18.00

Doubletree Hotel, November 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luncheon $14.00

International Meeting Westin Galleria Hotel, November 18

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dinner $20.00

RESERVATIONS POLICY

When purchasing dinner or luncheon tickets a t the door, names will be checked against a reservation list. Those with reservations will be sold tickets immediately and those without reservations will be asked to wait for available seats. All who d o not honor their reservations will be billed for the price of the meal.

We realize that activities come up which keep members away from the meetings. If a reservation cannot be kept, may we suggest that you send someone in your place.

3 Houston Geological Soclety Bullet~n. November 1987

"Support those who support our Society."

THE HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Proudly announces publication of the long-awaited Volume I1 of Typical Oil and Gas Fields of Southeast Texas.

90 field reports including maps, cross sections, type logs, text, production data, and more

synopsis of regional geology

more than 400 pages of information

To order your copy, send check or money order for $60.00, or credit card information, to: Earth Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 672, Austin, TX 78767. Texas residents add 8% sales tax. Please call (512) 345-3007 if you have any questions.

SHIP TO:

ADDRESS:

CITY/STATE: ZIP

TYPICAL OIL AND GAS FIELDS

O F SOUTHEAST TEXAS

VOLUME I1 G. K. BURNS, Editor

@ Published by the Houston Geological Society, 1987

HGS FIELD RECENT SEDIMENTS OF THE

NORTHWEST GULF COASTAL PLAIN Rufus LeBlanc

FIELD TRIP: Saturday and Sunday, November 14 & 15, 1987. Trip begins at 6:45 AM on November 14. Meet at the Rice University Commuter Parking Lot #F12, entrance #12 at the 1600 block of Rice Blvd.

SCOPE OF COURSE This two-day field trip will focus on the Brazos and

Colorado River Valleys and deltas, the Sargent trans- gression, and the Galveston barrier island complex.

INSTRUCTOR Rufus LeBlanc taught clastic sediments to Shell geolo-

gists for 21 years. He is a lifetime honorary member of the AAPG, SEPM, GCAGS and Houston Geological Society.

In June 1986, LeBlanc retired from Shell after 38 years. He recently opened the Rufus 3. LeBlanc School of Clastic Sediments so he could continue to share his knowledge and experience with explorationists.

SEMINAR REGISTRATION FORM

RECENT SEDIMENTS OF THE N.W. GULF O F MEXICO

All field trip registrations must be received by November 10,1987.

Field trip enrollment limited to first 45 registrants.

Check one Field Trip (2 to a room) $160 - Field Trip (1 to a room) $180 -

Field Trip includes: guidebook and notes, lunches Sat. & Sun., breakfast Sun., lodging Sat. night at Bay City, refreshments Sat. & Sun., and transportation.

NAME:

PHONE:

ADDRESS: Make check payable to: Houston Geological Society

and return this form to: Houston Geological Society

6916 Ashcroft Houston, Texas 77081

Houston Geologtcal Society Bulletm. November 1987

PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS

Whew!!! It's finallyhere. After years of struggling, the "Typical Fields ofS.E. Texas, Volume II" is now on your desk, or soon will be when you orderyour copy from Earth Enterprises. At least three and possibly four of the pastpresidents of HGS thought they would be associated with the coming out-party. Chuck Noll turned out to be the lucky winner, but the publication wasnot actually delivered until September. It isa remarkable production, the resultof toilby many of our members and associates. '

The volume would have been out last March, but was delayed when a lastminute change in the publishing company was made to save money. It remindsme of a geologist I once knew who ordered a book from a large publishingcompany and several weeks later received the following letter: "Many thanksfor your recent letter. We wish we could fillit at once, but improvements in ourprocedure willmean a delay in shipping." We on the Executive Board thankyou for your patience. Many of the delays were necessary in order to produce aquality product for the lowest price.

Volume I was published 25 years ago in 1962, and contained 66 fields.Volume II has 93 fields covering a broad geographical area. The fields purposelyrepresent an excellent cross section of traps indigenous to the Gulf Coast andspan the entire stratigraphic column. The publication willbe an importantreference source to virtually everyone in the petroleum industry, includinggeologists, geophysicists, engineers, landmen, and managers.

Chuck Noll, Howard Kiatta and Claude Rust supplied me with someinteresting information. The Field Studies Volume II was conceived in 1977-78and has been actively worked on since 1981 when Bill Bishop appointed ClaudeRust to get it moving. Claude did a tremendous job in formulating publicity anddeveloping a format that was workable. This resulted in the first 23 field studiesbeing initiated, a few of which were published in the Bulletin. By the time DickMcLeod took over the project in 1983, eleven papers were ready. Dickappointed a committee consisting of: Howard Kiatta, who was in charge of fieldselection; BillRoberts, III, who worked with individual contributors; DickHolland, who put together 5 study groups; Dave Witter" who handled drafting;and Bill Deas, who cross-referenced and finalized the drafting. Bob Appelbaumplayed a major role in helping'to direct the study groups which contributed 20papers. Individual contributors submitting three or more fields included Jim'McCarthy, Neil Fisher, Pete Hawkins, Howard Kiatta, Bob Dollison, JesseFowler, Dave Fontaine, J. F. Greiner, Lane Horstman and Victor Lahti. JimRagsdale was the editor responsible for putting the publication in high gear.Last year, due to pressing business, Jim turned that job over to Greg Burns,who along with Dick, brought the prize home. Every past HGS President fromDean Grafton and Jeff Morris, to Bill Fowler, Chet Baird, BillBishop, PeggyRice, Matt Daura, Gerry Cooley, Mac McKinney and Chuck Noll madeimportant contributions. Pat Gordon has done a yeoman's job in presenting anoverview of some of the papers to several groups, including HGS and SIPES.

Clearly, this work is the result of thousands of hours spent by manydedicatedHGS members. Approximately $56,000 was spent, but I think youwillagree that it is worth every penny. The study is the largest sing1eeffort everattempted by our society, and will serve as a model for all other geologicalsocieties.

As mentioned at the beginning, you can order your copy from EarthEnterprises in Austin, who has a publication sales contract with HGS. Theirorder form, which lists HGS publications, often appears in our Bulletin. EarthEnterprises is owned and operated by Bob Boyer and Birdina Schroeder whohave been associated for 30 years with the Department of Geological Sciencesat the University of Texas. Since 1980, Bob has been Dean of the College ofNatural Sciences. Earth Enterprises furnishes us with a quarterly reportdetailing the inventory and sales of our books. For a small fee per publication

5 Houston Geological Society Bulletin. November 1987

sold, they warehouse all HGS books, handle shipping, and represent us at all appropriate conventions. Our publications are also available at the HGS regular meetings. Cheryl Miller chairs the Publication Sales Committee. She and her committee members can always be found at the display table next to the ticket takers.

* * * * * * * * * *

GeoTech '87 was a huge success, thanks to general chairman Chuck Iglehart and his hard working committee members. If you attended, you are wiser in computer applications to geology and related disciplines. I remember when the first commercial computer was installed at MIT in 1957. That year I was a student at "The University" and could not have possibly dreamed of the explosion in technology that was to follow. That first computer was an IBM 704 and was considered a giant because of its 64,000 bytes of memory and $2 million cost. Early users worked into the wee hours, stacking hundreds of IBM cards that were compiled into FORTRAN programs, just to have access to the "incredible power" of this machine. Now, 30 years later, we have desk top machines that provide the user with 3.5 million bytes of memory - nearly 55 times the power of that first monster that took up a large room.

My first introduction to computer applications in geology was in 1962, which had to be among the first attempts in utilizing a machine in exploration for oil and gas. Guess who my supervisor was? - Chuck Iglehart. In approximately nine months time I did a regional study of the Upper Cretaceous covering six counties in southwest Texas. We designed a program to handle forty pieces of information from 5,000 wells, everything from structural tops and sand thicknesses to unconformities and faults. We used an automatic plotter to generate 140 regional maps, including structure, isopach, isolith, lithofacies, paleo-bathymetric and paleo-geologic maps. We experimented with automatic contouring, but I insisted on hand contouring the maps. The head draftsman contended that I was causing the ruination of his department. The study resulted in recommendations to purchase acreage and drill wells on 4 prospects. Another 42 leads were defined. Soon after its completion, I was transferred to another state and completely lost track of the results of that study.

I learned an important lesson to which I still subscribe. Those machines enable the geologist to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. But in no way do they provide a substitute for the creativity that is required in generating a prospect that will lead to new reserves. Prospects still, and always will be, "created in men's minds". The subjective and creative reasoning that is so critical to the generation process is beyond the ability of a computer. Yet the tremendous speed with which large amounts of data can be processed is causing a revolution in exploration. The successful oil finder of the future must learn to use computers to be more efficient and comuetitive.

I commend Chuck and his team for a job well done. HGS leads the way through the success of the GeoTech conference, which will undoubtedly be repeated in subsequent years.

* * * * * * * * * *

Houston Geological Society Bulletin, November 1987

Some of you may not be aware that we have a very active Geological Auxiliary. If your spouse is not a member, encourage her to join. The application form appears in the Bulletin nearly every month along with announcements of upcoming events. It has come to my attention that many wives never get to see the Bulletin. Let's change that. Take your copy home every month for your spouse to read. It might just create more interest in HGS activities on your part as well.

The Auxiliary, under the very capable leadership of President Edie Bishop and 1st Vice President Elinor Macmillan, have planned a busy year of activities. The annual couples party is scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 1988, at Rice University. The theme will be "Mardi Gras and All That Jazz". The Auxiliary has supported us in many ways, including major donations to the scholarship funds. We intend to provide support and help them build a strong organization. * * * * * * * * * *

Chock the front of the Bulletin for the schedule of meetings this month. The dinner meeting at the Westin Oaks on November 9 will feature Larry W. Funkhouser, Presidest of AAPG. He will talk on "The Vanishing Frontiers in Offshore United States". The Continuing Education Committee will put on three schools. November 6th and 7th will be "Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of Seismic, Well and Outcrop Data". Peter Vail, a leader in this field, will be the instructor. The second school on November 14th and 15th will be a repeat of Part I1 in the Clastic Sedimentology Series. This is a school and field trip titled "Recent Sediments of the Northwest Gulf Coastal Plain", and will focus on the Brazos and Colorado River valleys and deltas. The instructor is Rufus Leblanc. This is an excellent opportunity to benefit from this great man's experience, knowledge, and wit. The third school is a four day course titled "Impasse and Your Career". This workshop begins on Saturday, November 21, and will continue for three separate evenings in December. The Environmental Committee will stage its field trip covering the "Geology of West Harris Co~*rlty" on November 14. Please note that this is the same date as Rufus Leblanc's trip to the Brazos and Colorado Rivers. The two activities coincide because alternate dates are not available. Your society is providing numerous opportunities for excellent short courses and field trips. Scheduling separate activities on the same date is inevitable due to the large size of HGS.

DANIEL L. SMITH

HGS DEER HUNT December 11 -1 3

Call Dave Lazor at 728-0917 for reservations

Cost: 8200

HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL AUXILIARY

The "Afternoon of Tea" at the River Oaks Country Club ushered in the autumn season on September 23,1987. The Tea is a nostalgic renewal of a tradition of the Auxiliary. Many of our charter members as well as new members attended. Our thanks to chairmen Patt McNamee, Geneva Quigley and Mikki Ledbetter-Wunderle, who did an out- standing job. It was a day to remember!

AAPG CONVENTION, MARCH 1988. Watch for the convention brochure - Chairmen Carol Threinen and Jean Guillory are in charge of spouse activities at the 1988 convention in Houston next March. Committees have been planning an exciting schedule. Marilyn Harrison and Norma Jean Bacho are in charge of the hospitality center. Registra- tion will be handled by Glenna Floyd and Sandra Fleming. Suzanne Howell and Gwinn Lewis will do the publicity. The luncheon will be chaired by Lydia Newitt and Peggy Richardson. Jean Moore and Linda Ciriacks will be in charge of tours. There will be a craft center under the direction of Jeanette Laurent. An enrichment program will be led by Carolyn Holland and Pat Hefner. Volunteers are needed for registration, hospitality, and for all the activities. Be sure to be in on these special events.

The Auxiliary extends special thanks to the Houston Geological Society for sponsoring its 1987 membership drive. This was an extensive endeavor and we appreciate your support. Millie Tonn and Frances Burke and their committee worked very hard, and we've enrolled many new members.

The Winter Luncheon will be held December 9th at The Junior League. The A.D. Players will present "Haloes and Holly". Sherry Anderson, Marion Hawkins and Jan Stevenson will co-chair this party honoring our charter members.

ANNA MAE THOMPSON

CABOT DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR LECTURE

The University of Houston Department of Geosciences

and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

are pleased to present DR. KENNETH J. HSU

speaking on OIL & GAS POTENTIAL IN CHINA

On Thursday, November 19, 1987 at 4:30 p.m.

in ROOM 116, Science & Research Building I on the University of Houston Campus

In addition to his lecture on the oil and gas potential of China, Dr. Hsu will give another talk: "IS Darwinism Science?". While he concludes that it is science, he sheds light on the foundations of Dar- winism and the meanings commonly drawn from it. This lecture will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20, also in ROOM 116, Science & Research Building 1, on the University of Houston campus. The general public is cordially invited to attend both of these presentations.

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Houston Geolog~cal Soc~ety ~ u l i e t ~ n , November 1987

The American Institute of Formation Evaluation Co.

PRACTICAL DST INTERPRETATION AND APPLIED HIDRODYNAHICS'

A. I.F. E. i s o f f e r i n g a course e n t i t l e d " P r a c t i c a l DST I n t e r p r e t a t i o n and App l ied Hydrodynamics ". The course i s designed t o p r o v i d e a b a s i c background i n DST i n t e r p r e t a t i o n and pet ro leum hydrodynamics f o r geo log i s t s , geophysi- c i s t s and pet ro leum engineers. It i s o f f e r e d i n t h r e e day format. A b r i e f o u t l i n e i s as f o l l o w s :

TOOL ECHANICS - A summary of t e s t types, downhole c o n f i g u r a t i o n s and mechanics, su r f ace equipment and an overv iew o f recen t advances i n t e s t i n g techniques such as c losed chamber t e s t i n g , r e a l t i m e p ressure m o n i t o r i n g and h y b r i d l o g g i n g / t e s t i n g t o o l s .

CHART INTERPRETATION - Q u a l i t a t i v e t e s t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n based upon downhole DST char ts . Th is bas i c e v a l u a t i o n t o o l i s emphasized w i t h a d e t a i l e d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n guide designed t o p rov ide a p r a c t i c a l a b i l i t y i n de te rmin ing mechanical success, permeabi l i t y , recovery na tu re , f o rma t i on damage and recogn iz ing r e s e r v o i r anomalies. A methodology i s g i ven f o r t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f phone-faxes, h i s t o r i c a l DST1s and scout data.

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS - Basic t heo ry i n t r a n s i e n t p ressure a n a l y s i s and c u r r e n t a n a l y t i c a l techniques.

DST DESIGN

HYDRODYNAMICS - The hydrodynamic s e c t i o n c o n s i s t s o f a sho r t course on c u r r e n t t h e o r i e s and concepts o f f l u i d f l o w i n sedimentary bas ins accompanied by a d e t a i 1 ed documentation on procedures used i n hydrodynamic eval ua t i on . Eva1 u a t i o n techniques emphasized i n c l u d e f l u i d g rad ien t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n on p ressu re /e l eva t i on and pressure/depth graphs, p ressure systems mapping, p o t e n t i o m e t r i c sur face mapping, p ressure d e f l e c t i o n and pressure depth r a t i o mapping and f l u i d chem- i s t r y mapping. Carbonate and c l a s t i c models a re ill u s t r a t e d f o r mature sedimentary basins.

The cos t o f t h e three-day course i s $300.00 U.S. which i nc l udes a t e x t t h a t prov ides complete documentat i o n w i t h examples, problems and se lec ted re fe ren - ces. There w i l l be two courses he ld i n t h e f a l l o f 1987: October 20, 21, 22 i n Denver a t t h e Embassy Suites, and November 17, 18 and 19 a t t h e H y a t t Regency -- Katy Freeway West i n Houston. For f u r t h e r i n f o rma t i on , p lease c a l l Gordon Yeomans a t (303) 830-6913.

Houston Geolog~cal Soctety Bulletin. November 1987 8

EDITOR'S NOTES .....

WELL-SERVICING RIGS, PRODUCTION & RELATED EQUIPMENT

July 19 & 20-9 AM (CDT) Each Day

A notice likely to strike terror in the oil patch, but one not often seen of late. A couple of years ago, this ad (and too many others like it) meant the demise of yet another company involved in drilling wells or providing other services to the petroleum industry. That time is apparently coming to an end. The latest reports on market-ready drilling rigs indicate that they are becoming more expensive and difficult to acquire. The recent mini-surge in drilling explains the increasing demand for rigs and service equipment. But what happened to all those stockpiled rigs of two or three years ago?

The weekly active rig count reached an all-time high of 4,530 near the end of 1981. Since that time, this number has plummeted to 663 in early 1986 and since recovered to over 1,100 in the fourth quarter of 1987. Revised predictions are that the active rig count will reach 1,300 by the end of the year.

The latest censuses on market-ready rigs are about a year old. In August, 1986, Reed Tool Co. found 3,993 "available" land and offshore rigs. By October, 1986, a study conducted by another group identified only 3,417 "market- able" rigs.

Increased demand will be the telling factor in how many

of these rigs are actually in good condition and ready for drilling. Although an acute shortage of rigs is possibly several years away, a representative of Superior Auction- eers warns that bidding is becoming more competitive and equipment supply more scarce. He feels that the shortage will begin to be felt when the weekly active rig count reaches 1,500.

So, what has happened to all those unused rigs? As could be expected, some of the older ones have been scrapped. Some of them sit in rig "graveyards", scavenged for parts to keep other rigs running, bare skeletons of the equipment they were in 1981. But there is a more surprising answer to the question. The next time that your company needs a rig, it may find that new names have been added to the list of rig owners and operators while, unfortunately, seemingly well-established companies are no longer in business. Several years ago when rig and service equipment prices were at rock bottom, young entrepreneurs began to cash in on the oil industry's misfortunes. Often using venture capital money supplied from the northeastern part of the United States, this new generation of oilmen quietly purchased serviceable rigs and equipment in anticipation of the next "boom".

These entrepreneurs realize that they may have a while to wait. But as they work 18-hour days and drive second- hand cars to make ends meet, they keep an eye on a rig count that is gradually climbing upward. And they look forward to the day when Rolls-Royces and executive jets become facts of life once again.

A new publication:

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GEOLOGY OF SOUTH TEXAS 1986.. .

. . .48 papers by 40 authors

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. . . Color radar and satellite imagery

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Please make checks payable to: South Texas Geological Society D- 100 Petroleum Center San Antonio, Texas 78209

Regional studies Trends

Field studies . Methods

Remote sensing . New concepts in sedimentation .

Stratigraphy . Structure

Houston Geological Society Bulletin. November 1987

MEETINGSDINNER MEETING-NOVEMBER 9, 1987LAWRENCE W. FUNKHOUSER-Biographical Sketch

Larry Funkhous-er, current President of theAmerican Association ofPetroleum Geologists, re-ceived his AB. degree inGeology from OberlinCollege in 1943. After ser-vice with the U.S. Air Forcein World War II, he receiv-ed his M.S. degree in Geol-ogy from Stanford Univers-ity in 1948.

Funkhouser joinedChevron, then known asStandard Oil Company ofCalifornia, as a geologist in

the Gulf Coast area in New Orleans, Louisiana. He wasnamed Division Exploration Superintendent for The Cali-fornia Company, Chevron's Gulf Coast subsidiary, in 1956,and became Division Exploration Superintendent in Mid-land, Texas, for Standard Oil Company of Texas, anotherChevron subsidiary, in 1961. In 1963, he was appointedVice-President, Exploration, for Standard Oil Company ofTexas in Houston.

In 1966, Funkhouser was appointed Vice-President,Exploration, for Western Operations, Inc., Chevron's WestCoast operating subsidiary in San Francisco. He assumedthe position of Corporate Vice-President, Exploration, in1968 and was elected a Director of Standard Oil Company

of California in 1973.Funkhouser was named Director and Vice-President of

Exploration and Production for Chevron Corporation in1976 and retired from that position in 1986.

In addition to his honorary membership in the AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists, Funkhouser has alsobeen awarded honorary membership in the NorthernCalifornia Geological Society and the Pacific Section of theAAP.G. He is a member of the Geological Society ofAmerica and serves as a Trustee of the G.S.A Foundation.He is an All-American Wildcatter, holds membership in theSociety of Exploration Geophysicists and has served bothas a member and as Chairman of the Earth SciencesAdvisory Board at Stanford. He has been active in theAmerican Petroleum Institute and is a past chairman ofAP.I.'s Committee on Exploration. He has served on theNational Research Council's Board on Mineral and EnergyResources and is currently a member of the NRC's Com-mission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources.

THE VANISHING FRONTIERS INOFFSHORE UNITED STATES

Production and reserve trends indicate that importedoil willaccount for more than 50% of the U.S. supply in theearly 1990's, setting the stage for another 1970's-styleenergy crisis. The next crisis willbe potentially more seriousbecause the possible frontier resources of the U.S. havebeen severely downgraded. The reasons for failure invarious frontier plays will be reviewed. Remaining frontierpotential willbe examined.

HGS EMPLOYMENT WORKSHOPIMPASSE AND YOUR CAREER

IMPASSE AND YOUR CAREER

REGISTRATION FORMFee $40(on-site registration$50)

WORKSHOP:Saturday, November 21, 1987,9:00 AM -5:00 PM

Ramada Hotel, 6855 Southwest FreewayTuesdays, December 1,8, 15, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Hilton Southwest, 6780 Southwest FreewaySCOPE OF COURSE

This four day course is for those members who arestuck or at an impasse in their search for new employ-ment. The course is specifically designed to provide itsparticipants the following:. Increased clarity on career direction. The knowledge and ability to produce greater job

search results with less effort. The skill to break out of comfort zones and exceed

beyond self-imposed job search limitations.INSTRUCTOR

Tim Marvin received his B.A and J.D. degrees fromthe College of Williamand Mary and Oklahoma Univers-ity, respectively. He has over ten years of <2onsultingexperience. as a trainer and workshop leader. He hascoached hundreds of unemployed Houstonians to suc-cessful re-employment as a Senior Associate with King,Chapman and Broussard, Inc., Houston's largest pro-fessional outplacement firm.

Name:

Phone:

Company Affiliation:

Address:

Enclose check payable to: HOUSTON GEO-LOGICAL SOCIETY and return with this form to:

Houston Geological Society6916 Ashcroft

Houston, Texas 77081

Substitutions can be made at any time. Pleasecomplete a separate registration form for each partici-pant.

Houston Geological Society Bulletin, November 19B7 10

LUNCHEON MEETING-NOVEMBER 23, 1987MARTIN P. A. JA(;KSbN--'-Biographical Sketch

Martin Jackson isSenior Research Scientistat the University of Texas'Bureau of Economic Geol-ogy in Austin. Born andeducated in Zimbabwe, hereceived a B.Sc. in Geologyfrom London University in1968 and a B.Sc. Hons. in1969 for a thesis on lunargeology. In 1972, after twoyears in mineral explora-tion with Cominco in south-ern Africa, Martin joinedthe Precambrian ResearchUnit of the University of

Cape Town, South Africa. Martin received a Ph.D. fromCape Town in 1976 for a study of a Proterozoic high-gradegneiss terrane in Namibia, and joined the faculty of theUniversity of Natal, South Africa, where he taught andcarried out Quaternary and Archean research.

In 1980Martin joined the Bureau of Economic Geologyand began research on salt diapirism. He and S. J. Senireceived the 1985 AAP.G. Sproule Award for their syn-thesis of the kinematics of diapirism in the East Texas Basin.In 1984 and 1986 Martin carried out centrifuge experimentson diapirism under varying conditions of sedimentaryloading at the Hans Ramberg Tectonic Laboratory inUppsala, Sweden.

Dr. Jackson is an associate editor of the AAP.G.Bulletin and a member of the AAP.G. and the GeologicalSociety of America.

NEW INSIGHTS ON SALT DIAPIRISMFROM THE GREAT KAVIR, CENTRAL IRAN

The Great Kavir is the largest salt desert in Iran. Morethan 50 salt diapirs are exposed along its northern fringe inthe foreland of the Elburz Orogen. The Kavir diapirs arelarge, abundant, superbly exposed, and have correlatablestratigraphy within them. These qualities provide an unrival-ed opportunity for detailed analysis of diapir emplacement.

The talk summarizes research on this topic by aninternational team. Field data collected in the 1950s isintegrated with remotely sensed data to produce structuralmaps which are interpreted kinematically and dynamicallyin three dimensions. Our interpretation makes use ofcentrifuge and analytical modeling scaled directly to theGreat Kavir. Some novel discoveries are: mushroom-shaped diapirs with peripheral pendant lobes, some ofwhich are coiled in v.ortices, and a salt canopy comprising 12laterally fused diapirs. Despite being among the largestexposed diapirs in the world, the Kavir diapirs are ano-malously closely spaced. Tight clustering is explained byunusually low viscosity contrasts between two Tertiaryevaporite units - a feature that also accounts for thepeculiar growth of mushroom-shaped diapirs in the Kavir.Both diapirism and regional folding began only about 5 Maago; both types of deformation continue today.

Similar conditions that encourage the formation ofmushroom diapirs and salt canopies may be present in theouter continental shelf and slope of the northwestern Gulf ofMexico.

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11 Houston Geological Society Bulletin, November 1987

INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATIONISTS

Houston Geological Society's International Explora- tionists Group aims to share the exploration experience from basins around the world through talks by industry personnel and academia during its evening meetings. The topics presented by our speakers address both the international and domestic explorationist; they are mostly on overseas structural and sedimentary plays which have analogs to domestic exploration efforts. Thus, I encourage members of the Houston Geological Society to attend our meetings.

Last year we had speakers from industry and academia who gave pertinent talks on a variety of exploration concepts in various parts of the world. The diverse topics included seismic stratigraphy of West Texas (Peter Vail of Rice University), basin analysis in the Magallanes basin of South America (Kevin Biddle of Exxon Productin Research Company) and exploration with balanced cross sections in the Apennines fold and thrust belt of Italy (Albert Bally of Rice University). The talk by Vail broke all attendance records for the International Group and shows the level of interest for a variety of exploration techniques regardless of the location of the exploration play example. The talks are of topical interest and these areas have analogs in the domestic exploration target regions.

This year's program is very diversified and will include areas from the Gulf of Mexico to the Far East. It is well known that rift basins not only offer omortunities for larqe oil fields but also pose signifiEant probiems of stratigraphy and structure. James Rine addressed this problem in September with "Evolution of a Miocene Fan Delta - a Giant Oil Field in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt". Exploration in rift settings offers both opportunities for large oil fields and particular challenges in unraveling stratigraphic and structural controls. The'Gulf of Suez is an active exploration area and this talk was timely for a lot of members.

Exploration in passive basin margins is a great favorite due to the local analog. We have several talks scheduled later in the year on passive margin settings, which have always provided excellent prospecting around the world. Hydrocarbons in these basins comprise a major percentage of world reserves. These areas have direct analogs to the Gulf of Mexico. Last month, local favorite James Lee Wilson, formerly at Rice University and now retired to New Braunfels, Texas, from the University of Michigan, discuss- ed the "Tectonic Controls of Carbonate Platform-basin systems". He showed examples from eastern and northern Mexico and compared them to carbonate plays in the Mediterranean and Middle East.

The speaker this month will address the problems of interpretation in fold and thrust belts. More than 11% of the total world's reserves occur in fold and thrust belts. Steven Lingrey of Exxon Production Research Company wili talk on "Exploration Techniques in Fold and Thrust Belts". He will address the well known interpretive challenge brought about by the complex structure and poor data.

In January, we return to exploration in rift basins. Thomas Schull of Chevron USA-Denver will address "Oil

Exploration in Non-Marine Rift Basins of Interior Sudan". Chevron has operated in Sudan for many years and as a primary player is able to integrate the extensive studies by the Duke University Group with contributions from almost all major oil companies. Schull will also discuss the political situation in Sudan.

For the February meeting, we will introduce a new type of presentation. Rather than discussing traditional methods of oil and gas exploration, we are going to hear about a non-traditional exploration method. John Costano (Con- sultant, Houston) will give a presentation titled "Siljan Well, Sweden: Drilling for Non-Biogenic Gas in an Impact Structure".

For the remainder of the year we have scheduled several talks pending company releases, ranging from "Hydrocarbon Habitat of the Middle East - Syria, Jordan and Iraq", "Exploration in Southeast Turkey", and "Drilling in the Caribbean" to "Seismic Stratigraphy in the South China Sea". I will keep you up to date as the programs are finalized.

If you would like to present a paper or know of someone who would be willing to address our group, please contact me at: Exxon Production Research Co., P.O. Box 2189, Houston, Texas 77001. Phone: 966-6033.

PINAR 0 . YILMAZ Technical Program Coordinator

INTERNATIONAL GROUP MEETING INFORMATION Westin Galleria Hotel, November 18

Dinner (5:30 PM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 Admission to all International meetings is by advance

ticket purchase only. Tickets may be purchased from representatives in the International departments of most companies or by sending a check for $20.00 and a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

Houston Geological Society 6916 Ashcroft Houston, Texas 77081

Ticket distribution and receipts are handled by Chris Nicholson (629-6600, X3903).All inquiries should be directed between 8 AM and 4 PM.

INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATIONISTS GROUP COMMITTEE Chairman:

PETE EMMET, Rice University . . . . . . . . . . . 527-4880 Technical Program:

PINAR YILMAZ, Exxon Prod. Res. Co. . . . . 966-6033 Finances:

DENISE STONE, Amoco International . . . . 556-4207 Ticket Reservations:

CHRIS NICHOLSON, Marathon Int'l . . . . . 629-6600 X-3903

Audio-visual/Arrangements: GEORGE TAPPAN, Consultant . . . . . . . . . . 358-4061

Houston Geological Society Bulletin. November 1987 12

INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATIONISTSGROUP EVENING MEETINGNOVEMBER 18, 1987STEVEN H. LlNGREY-Biographical Sketch

Steven H. Lingrey re-ceived his M.S. in 1979from the University ofSouthern California and hisPh.D. in 1982from the Uni-versity of Arizona. His dis-sertation concerned thestructural geology and tec-tonic evolution of the north-east Rincon Mountains,Pima and Cochise Coun-ties, Arizona. While study-ing at USC, he was employ-ed with Shell Oil Companyin Houston as an interngeologist (1974-1975). He

held several teaching assistantships at the University ofArizona, teaching structural geology classes and fieldcourses. Dr. Lingrey worked as a consulting geologist withG. H. Davis (University of Arizona) on a regional tectonicanalysis of Utah and eastern Nevada in 1979.He also workedwith Peter Coney (University of Arizona) as a researchassistant on synthesis mapping of metamorphic core com-plexes in California, Nevada and Utah, and on the construc-tion of a tectonic map for parts of California, Nevada andUtah (1979-1980). Dr. Lingrey was employed by ExxonProduction Research Company, Houston, in the BasinFramework Section in 1981.

At the present time Dr. Lingrey is a senior researchspecialist in the Structural Geology Section with responsi-bilities in the research of foreland thrust and fold belts,tectonic analysis of specified exploration areas, and trainingof Exxon personnel in company-run structural geologyschools. As a lecturer, Lingrey has taught "Fundamentals ofStructural Analysis", "Basin Tectonics", and "AdvancedCompressional and Extensional Tectonics", both in-houseand on-site (France, Australia, Turkey). He has led fieldtrips through the Canadian Rocky Mountains, northeastSpain, southeast France, Jura and the Alps.

Dr. Lingrey's research i'nterests are structural geologyand regional tectonics with emphasis on geologic maprelationships, low-angle normal faults, metamorphic tec-tonites and mylonites, geometric and kinematic analysis,Cenozoic evolution of southwestern North America, thrustfaults, and balanced palinspastic reconstructions.

Dr. Lingrey has published numerous papers in structur-al geology in various geological bulletins and in Exxoncompany reports. He is a member of GSA, AGU, and AGI.

EXPLORATION TECHNIQUES INFOLD AND THRUST BELTS

Foreland fold and thrust belts are linear or curvilinearbands of folded and thrust-faulted sedimentary rocks that liealong the external margins of orogenic belts. Typically apassive margin sequence has been detached from itsbasement, compressed, and displaced toward the craton.Clastic foredeeps (foreland basins) develop synchronouslyin advance of the thrust deformation.

The structural geometry of fold and thrust belts showsconsistent patterns of faults, folds, and imbrication. Thrustfault trajectories occur in two common modes: (1) as listricor inclined-planar surfaces of sledrunner shape, and (2) asirregular surfaces of staircase shape, in which the fault isalternately parallel and oblique to bedding. Flexural-slipfolding is. dominant in foreland fold and thrust belts,commonly exhibiting chevron style (kink domain) shape inprofile. Folds are rootless and have developed as a directconsequence of fault displacements. Thrust systems displayimbricate overlapping of thrust sheets above a basal decolle-ment. Where intermediate levels of detachment occur,duplex zones can develop a special type of imbrication thataffects only a specific stratigraphic interval bounded atbottom and top by flat-lyingdetachments.

Palinspastic restoration is a useful aid for testing thegeometric viabilityof a structural interpretation. Restorationis also useful for reconstructing pre-tectonic and syntectonicimages of the developing fold belt. Provided the timing ofmajor structural development is known or can be estimated,the construction of intermediate (syntectonic) stage resto-rations allows the timing and magnitude of tectonic burial bythrust faulting to be deduced. Intermediate restorations alsopermit evaluation of the sequential development of syn-tectonic sedimentary foredeeps at the leading edge of thrustdeformation, relationships only rarely preserved from sub-sequent erosion.

The generation of hydrocarbons is a function of timeand temperature. In fold and thrust belts, the thermalhistory is principally a function of burial, by tectonic as wellas depositional events. Palinspastic restorations make itpossible to estimate both the magnitude and the timing ofburial along a profile. Applying a time-temperature model ofoil generation, the maturation of organic source beds canthen be modeled on the restorations.

Additional authors of the paper entitled "Evolution of aMiocene Fan Delta - A Giant Oil Field in the Gulf of Suez,Egypt" which was presented at the International Explo-rationists Group Meeting on September 16, 1987, are asfollows: L. Shiskevish, STRATCO, Houston, and A. B. H.Hassouba, A. A. Shafi, G. Azazi, H. Nashaat, A. Badawy,and Z. El Sisi, Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company, Cairo,Egypt.

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ENERGY INDUSTRY PARAMITHIA

Guest Opinion/George P. Mitchell

My parents were Greek immigrants, and when I waslittle they would tell me fanciful paramithia, grandmothers'tales. Here are a half-dozen paramithia about the currentenergy situation.

The free market in oil is working so don't tamperwith it. Market forces do, of course, influence the pro-duction and price of oil. But today's cheap oil does notequate to a free market. By and large, governments controlthe world's oil. Inexorably, the pendulum is swinging backtoward circumstances that will give the big oil producingnations - particularly the Persian Gulf states - increasingopportunities to use oil in seeking political, economic andmilitary ends. The 1973Arab oilembargo is a ready exampleof governments tampering with markets; another involvedthe United States, which, back when itwas a big exporter,withheld oil supplies from both Britain and France duringthe Suez Canal crisis in 1956.

Even if the free market argument held water - which itdoesn't - we're not talking about just another commodity;oil is vital to our economy, our standard of living and oursecurity. We must do what we have to do in order to insurethat adequate supplies are available and that the price is nottoo high. And remember, the price may not just be indollars. Ifthe United States had been concerned about an oilcutoff, for example, would the retaliatory bombing strikes'against Libya have been carried out?

The difficultyour nation has had in coming to grips withits energy problems is, in some measure at least, attributableto the lack of a perceived clear and imminent danger.Somewhat like Nero, Unele Sam has fiddled while itsdomestic oil industry was devastated. Now, as the threat toour economic security becomes more clear, I hope we as anation can begin to get our act together and do somethingpositive. Repeal of the windfall profit tax would be a goodstart toward repair of the oil industry - but only a start,more symbolic than helpful auhis stage. Serious considera-tion of Senator Bentsen's peril point bill would be anexcellent means of airing out the economic and militarysecurity threats inherent in fallingU.S. oil production. Withtwo-thirds of the free world's oilsupplies in the most volatilepart of the world, we're being nothing short of foolish ifwedo not take action to stem this nation's growing energyvulnerability.

Decontrol of natural gas will give a big boost tothe natural gas industry. Natural gas prices should bedecontrolled because they warp the market in a part of theenergy industry where there is adequate domestic supply.But the main ben~ficiaries would be th~ major oilcompanies,which own most of the gas that would be affected; decontrol

will do little for, and it might even hurt, the independents,which drill nine out of every 10 wells in the United States.Although industry critics probably would resurrect theirprice "fly-up" objection to decontrol, the effect on con-sumers would be minimal, particularly during this period ofsurplus deliverability. By the same token, decontrol would'not revive drilling for natural gas, which was down one-thirdlast year.

Nineteen-dollar oil is a fair compromise betweenthe $25 level when the price slide started and the $8.50low reached last year. American oil companies canproduce and sell already-discovered oilat $19 and still makemoney. But they can't afford to look for oil at that price. Astudy by th~ accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co.showed that the average cost of finding and producing oil inthe United States from 1981 through 1985 was more than$15 per barrel. By contrast, Saudi costs, including trans-portation, are only one-fifth as much as ours. SellingAmerican oilfor $19 is equivalent to liquidating the domesticindustry.

Quit worrying. The United States really is energy-rich. We're very rich in coal and quite rich in natural gas.Assuming better incentives become available, we've gotenough oil - supplemented by a large increase in naturalgas production - so that we caonsupply 70 percent of ourneeds for a while. Even though we are the Saudi Arabia ofcoal, environmental and other costs will prevent that fuelfrom taking the place of oil and gas until there is greattechnological advance in controlling acid rain and otherpollution problems. The government needs to invest farmore than it does in research aimed at fully developing ouroil and natural gas resources in order to see us through the15to 20 years before coal's problems are defeated and otherfuels are made more practical.

A half-billion barrels in the Strategic PetroleumReserve insulates America from any significantsecurity problems. Don't set national policy based on thathalf-fact. True, if we went to war, our own domesticproduction plus that available from friends and from theSPR would provide for military and, to some extent, civilianneeds. That assumes a short, polite war, with conventionalweapons. But the confrontations in the Middle East couldlead to all sorts of military and economic problems involvingU.S. security, and I find it ironic that we have adopted anaggressive military posture in the Persian Gulf and apathetically weak stance on domestic energy issues. Twoother points about security: First, under the Agreement onan International Energy Program, the United States isobligated during a supply disruption to share its oil with

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Houston Geological Society Bulletin. November 1987 16

other nations, so there's less in our pot than you might think; and second, the long-term impact on our already- critical balance of payments deficit of importing 8 million or 9 million barrels of oil daily, at steadily increasing prices, is a painful prospect.

Don't worry - OPEC will never get its act together. OPEC will be the winners in spite of themselves. At present, the world's excess production capacity is about 12 million barrels daily, and if that were all that matters, we'd have nothing to worry about. But two-thirds of that excess capacity rests in the Persian Gulf Mini-Cartel of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the productive capacities of other oil nations, OPEC and non-OPEC alike, are gradually shrinking and worldwide consumption is increasing. It's clear then that in just a few years all the excess capacity except that within the Mini-Cartel will be sopped up, and skyward will go prices. Look for oil to be between $30 and $45 per barrel in 1990 and 1991. Look for gasoline lines to start re-forming. And that's no paramithee.

George P. Mitchell is Chairman of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., The Woodlands, Texas.

*

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DIGITAL DIGEST

OIL COMPUTING

By David Gossett and Dennis McMullin

Background of Oil and Gas Computing Recent economic pressures have been creating dra-

matic changes within the petroleum industry. Fortune will favor, as it has throughout the history of the oil industry, companies which enhance productivity and efficiency with computerized systems designed to facilitate collection, processing, evaluation, and storage of information.

In general, industry professionals are finding it necessary to become more aware of the effect the computer is having or could have on their work. Those in line-positions such as explorationists, engineers, and economists are what are commonly referred to as users of computer systems. To these workers the ability to efficiently access, organize, and incorporate information from various sources and disciplines yields more and higher-quality oil and gas leads in a shorter time, and eventually more production at a lower cost per barrel. In this respect computer systems are an important addition to - not a replacement for - the working professional's technical skills and talents.

Beyond this, however, the design, development, and implementation of these computing systems requires the active participation of knowledgeable professionals with new, creative, and innovative approaches. Within software development, it has long been recognized that the best, most useful, and longest lasting products are designed and created not by pure computer scientists but by those who thoroughly understand the discipline that the product is to serve. If one wants to build a system to serve a professional user it is imperative to have the best possible understanding of that individual's needs and methods.

The creation of good computer software also requires a profound knowledge of specific computer subjects such as hardware, software engineering techniques and programming. Most important projects will require the participation of a number of individuals with complementary skills. Some will probably be computer specialists, but others will likely come from the ranks of those having some experience on both sides of the fence. These interdisciplinary professionals will form an essential link, contributing a combination of practical professional experience and computing skills to the design and development of functional software tools.

Special Interest Group Formed It is important for these individuals to have a functional

organization that provides a forum to encourage and facilitate the exchange of ideas, information, and methods. In an attempt to fill this need an Oil and Gas Special Interest Group (OIL & GAS SIG) has been organized within the

AND GAS GROUP IS FORMED

Houston Area League of PC Users (HAL-PC). The OIL & GAS SIG is an interdisciplinary organization

open to all individuals interested in computer developments and applications in petroleum engineering, well log analysis, geoscience, economics, and environmental science. In addition to providing for the exchange of information, a further goal is to represent those interested in oil and gas computing.

On Thursday, August 20, 1987, the OIL & GAS SIG held its first meeting at HAL-PC headquarters in Houston. Those in attendance at this organizational meeting included individuals with interests in exploration and development geology, geophysics, petroleum engineering, software development/computer programming, artificial intelligence/ expert systems, graphic design/computer-aided draftng, and economics. Half of those present were geologists, with the others evenly divided between geophysicists and engineers.

Future Direction Discussion at the meeting centered around the struc-

ture and direction of the OIL & GAS SIG. Projects of interest include a software library and catalog, a newsletter, a computer bulletin board, hardware/software reviews and a reference list of users of particular software packages.

Future SIG meetings will incorporate a featured speaker along with vendor presentations and informal discussions. Speakers will include software developers, researchers in areas of interest, user case histories and authorities in computer technology. An initial questionnaire filled out by the meeting participants indicated that many were interested in applications software for the independent operator.

The OIL & GAS SIG meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 P.M. in the M.D. Anderson Hall at the University of St. Thomas. NOV. 4 Brian Shaw, BHP Petroleum

"Preliminary Report of AAPG Standard Format for Exchange of Geological Data"

DEC 2 Tom Smith, Seismic Micro-Technology "Seismic Reservoir Evaluation on a Micro- computer"

For more information contact either of the OIL& GAS SIG coordinators, David Gossett (668-8548) or Dennis McMullin (523-3853), or call the HAL-PC INFO LINE at 524-2572.

David Gossett is a geological computer programmer and served a s Registration Chairman for Houston GeoTech '87.

17 Houston Geolog~cal Soc~ety Bullet~n. November 1987

GULF COAST SECTIONISEPM FOUNDATION Adam's Mark Hotel Eighth Annual Research Conference Houston, Texas, December 6-9, 1987

SPEAKERS AND TOPICS eCLARENCE ALBERS: Soma reflectlorn on the d u -

llon d Gulf Cast tonminiferal biostratlgraphy eRMERK) LOUREIRO AMUNES. M A W CARMINAm,

NEWTON TAKAnlRO SONOKl AND CARLOS MARTINS CELSO: The Enchova P.kocanyon (Ofhhon Cam- pa Batin. Brull): An Integrated bio- and sol.- mostratlgraphk approach

0 J. ARMEMROUT: Intergratlon d blortratlgraphy and dunk rtratlgnphy: PIio-fIahtocana, Gulf of Mexlco

e G E W R BAUM AND PETER R. VAIL: S.qwnco dmignphy, .Immbnphy. wotop. dm%!nphY and bidratigraphy: Putling It dl together In the Atlanlk and Gulf Paloogene

eW. A BERGGREN AND KENNETH G. MILLER: Cenozdc W h y d and .by.ul benthic foramlnlferal tocutbn l W. A BERGGREN: Whyal knthlca - back to barla 0 BRUCE E. BOMN AND BERNAW) L W F E R : The

holistic .pproach to Gulf PlbPh1rtocu-10 u qm- rtntisraphy l JAMES C. BROWER: Satiation d biortratigmphlc data eY. Y. WEN, R. CUNNINQHAM AND R C. WRIGHT:

p . f y n d s c i e s a n ~ d t h e E l w ~ ( L c m J u n r - rk). Dorwt. England

.DORIS M. CURTIS AND DOAOTHY J. ECHOCS: Pndldion d und. In lumhnd vndg.r, wlcg bio- M i g w h y

eE. H. DAVlES AND J. WAk P.troieum explomkm .pplk.tlon d the p.lynoloakal auambhga rucc*.- 8hr In U u flexure trend, Gulf d Mexlco

0DOAOW J. ECHOLS AND DORIS M. CURTIS: A p plMlom d geochronology to dratlgmphlc interprets- Ikn and comlatlon

eLEONARD N. FORD. JR AND DAVID K GOODMAN: Ecortratigraphic Mslyrh d dinoflagdlate data from the Nanbmoy Formatlon (YpnJan) d Mqinnd

eANTHONY C. GARI: N m approaches to pakoWhy- nwlrk d.tenninatlons

eANTHONY C. GARY AND LEE A. MOMS: Palnwn- vironmenW monrtrucllon via morphometrk analysis of bmthk t m i n i f u a l -binges

eCHARLO1TE E. GLENN: Use of the HallockGienn Tri- angle In psleoenvironmantal analysis d Forarninlfera in Cenozoic carbonates: A test on modem assem- binges

eFEUX GRADSTEIN: Time in sequence stratigraphy *ARMAND0 TERUO HASHIMOTO, RICARDO L K DE

AZAMDO AND DlMAS DIAS-BRITO: Marine Crda- ceom palynoiogy from Campor k i n . Bnzil: Inte- grated biortraligraphy wMh d w e o u r nannoplankton and foraminifera and p a l d o g l u l lnmtlgatlon

.NANCY HEALY-WILLIAMS AND ANTHONY C. GARY: Ertablirhment of morphomnsr in gradually .rotwing lineages: Sphmdinellopeb-Sphmroidinella

eNAWCY HEALY-WILLIAMS: (1) Application of imaging tuhnlquer to foraminifen; (2) Environmental contrdr on the distrlbullon of k n t h k fonminlferal bbtackr on the Texas-Louldana shelf dope

*EDWARD J. JOYCE. LEONARD A. C. TJALSMA AND GARRY D. JONES: High resolution dable iwtotop. dratigraphy for ODP sne 6256% ~orthmst GUU of M.xlco

eMCHAEL KAMlNSKl AND FELIX GRADSTEIN: Pdwbkgwgraphy d Paleogeno flyach-typo foram- I n W e8semM.g.r In the North Atlantic

OM. EPPLER: Wrcotlgraphk applMions of a voice. aclctlvaled computer data barr

eMAFITIN 6. LAOOE: b n t h k forarninlfd didrlbutiins .uon an Eocana bu ln margin, CaIHom*: An d u n - tlon d p.*obathymelrk models

.ERNEST A. MANCINI. LAURA A WATERS AND BARRY H. TEW: Uu d Foraminifera In mapping Uppw E o w m C a m Oligocene (Rlabonian-Rupellan) hcla in the W e m Gulf Catal Plain aria

eDAWD H. M E m Bidackr and oatracod. bMratigraphy of the PennoCarkmlferous d Cmtral and NorthC.ntral Texas

eKENNETn G. MILLER. A. N. BAOWER, D. V. KENT. MARIE-PIERRE AUBRY, L BYBELL. R. 2. POORE. M. FEIGENSON AND R. K OLSSON: Integrated mag- naoltratlgmphy. Modratigraphy, and stable hotope stratigraphy: Tying the deep-sea and continental margin mords

REGISTRATION

.SUSAN J. MORRIS AND REECE T. DE GRAFFEN- RIED: Wilwx-Midway biorlratigraphy, Live Oak Coun- ty, Texas

OR. K OLSSON AND A J. MELILLO: Forminlferd blofaclea and paleoalope modeling in the Miocene of the U.S. Middle Atlantic Margin

eWILLIAM PRECHT AND WILLIAM HOM: Distribution and dsvelopment of i ngood patch r e . Notlhem shelf, Belize, Cmtrat Amerlca

eWILLIAM R. RIEDEL AND UNDA E. WAY: Application of non-pfocadural programming languages in bloatrat- lgraphlc interpr.latlonr

.USA L ROBBINS AND NANCY HEALY-WILLIAMS: In- tegration d protein blogeochemidry, quantltathn mor- phology and iwtop. geochemistry u a potential bb- rtratigraphk t d

@CLAUDIA J. SCHROOER AND MICHAEL KAMINSKI: En- vironmental analyris of d w p u agglutinated foraminbra: Can ws dlstingulrh tranquil from dir- turbed environments?

eH. SMFRIED, A ASTOROA AND C. CALVO: So- quenco rtratlgraphy of dwp and shallow W e r dopails from an .voMng bland arc. Uppor Cntuous and Tertbry d touthem Central Amerlca

eBERNARD L SHAFFER: Th. neglected potenthl of Pllo- Pkidourn calcareous n a n ~ i l s for q n k - ing PIbPlelrtocane climatic cycles and wqwnca boundark. on the .hen

.MICHELLE WHEATLY-DOYLE: Bonom character d the Gulf d Mexico imaged by remote nnsing and photographk nmthod5

.THOMAS MCKENNA, DOUGLAS F. WILLIAMS, IAN LEACHE AND WIUIAM FUIL auantnati approaches to stratigraphic coneiatlonr and chemkd ctraligraphy

wMXKiLAS F. WILLIAMS AND DWIGHT TRAINOR: In- tegrated chemical rtratigraphy d dwpwater frontiir arena d the northern Gulf of Mexico

eJ. WINSEMANN, H. SCHMIDT AND H. W R I E D : So- quence stratigraphy and Mofacles analysis d Tertiary rillcklastlc nerltk wdimenlr of M a Rica

eRICHARD P. ZINGUU: Sample proc-ing tuhniquec

C~nference registration is $195 through October 31, 1987 and includes two lunches, two evening buffets and program wi th i l lustrated and extended abstracts. After October 31, 1987 registration fee is $250. No refund for conference cancellations received after November 15, 1987 will be made. All approved refunds will be made after December 15, 1987 and will be subject to a $25 processing fee.

A limited number o f student registrations will be available at $50 each.

For more information and registration forms contact: Charles L. McNulty, (8 1 7) 273-2979 or 265- 181 5

HGS SCHOOL SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION OF SEISMIC, WELL AND OUTCROP DATA

INSTRUCTORS: Peter Vail and John Sangree

SHORT COURSE: Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, 1987, 8:00 AM - 5:15 PM, Ramada Hotel Northwest, 12801 Northwest Freeway, Houston.

SCOPE OF Stratigraphic interpretation of high quality seismic data tied to well control has provided a THE COURSE: means to subdivide a stratigraphic section into genetic chronostratigraphic depositional units

bounded by physical stratigraphic surfaces that can be recognized and correlated globally. Application of sequence stratigraphy to hydrocarbon exploration provides a detailed physical chronostratigraphic framework for mapping depositional environments and lithofacies patterns.

........................................................................................................................................................................................................ - REGISTRATION FORM - SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY - Course Fee: $125.00

I NAME:

I ADDRESS:

PHONE (home & work): Enclose check payable to HOUSTON GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, return with this form to:

Houston Geological Society, 6916 Ashcroft, Houston, Texas 77081

Houston Geolog~cal Society Bulletin. November 1987 18

NOV.

SUNDAY

Recent Sediments 01 N W Gulf Coastal

Plain

MEETINGS

MONDAY

H G S D I N N E R 9 M E E T I N G

L.W Funkhouser Westin Oaks

4APG SHORTCOURSE Credtwr Explordt~rm

23 H G S

L U N C H E O N M.P.A. Jackson

Doubletree

CALENDAR of EVENTS TUESDAY WEDNESDAY

11 I 12 1 H G S 13 1 ENVIRONMENTAL1 4

4

OIL & GAS SIG

THURSDAY

H G S I N T L SIPES

H G S SCHOOL DINNER MEETING I h e o n / L t ? / Impasseand

Westin Galleria IJH C d h t Your Career Scholar Lw lure

5

U H Gcnl Al~imni ASSO' l unt heon

\APG SHORT COURSE 011 & Gas

Property Evduat~on

GEO-EVENTS Doubletree Hotel. 11:30 AM. November 23.

FRIDAY

IN HOUSTON OIL & GAS SIG, M.D. Anderson Hall, Univ. of St.

Thomas, 7 PM, Nov. 4. HGS Dinner Meeting, "The Vanishing Frontiers in

Offshore United States", L. W. Funkhouser, Westin Oaks, 5:30 PM, Nov. 9.

UH Geological Alumni Association Luncheon, Petroleum Club, 11:45 AM, Nov. 11.

SPE Luncheon, White Hall Hotel, 11:30 AM, Nov. 12. GSH Luncheon, Stouffer's Greenway Plaza Hotel,

1 l:3O AM, November 16. Friends of the Mesozoic Luncheon, "Petrography

and Diagenesis of Lower Cretaceous Travis Peak/Hosston Formation, East Texas", Shirley Dutton, Bureau of Eco- nomic Geology, Doubletree Hotel, 11:30 AM, Nov. 17.

HGS International Dinner Meeting, "Exploration Techniques in Fold and Thrust Belts", Westin Galleria, 5:30 PM, November 18.

SIPES Luncheon, "Coping With a Rudderless Energy Policy", Dale Steffes, Petroleum Club, 11:30 AM, Nov. 19.

UH Cabot Scholar Lecture, Room 116, UH Science & Research Bldg. I, 4:30 PM, Nov. 19.

AIPG Luncheon, "Shoreline Processes - Beach Res- toration Texas Gulf Coast," Mike Kieslich, U.S. Corp of Engineers, Marriott Brookhollow, 11:30 AM, November 20.

HGS Luncheon, "New Insights on Salt Diapirism from the Great Kavir, Central Iran", M.P.A. Jackson,

SATURDAY

6 H G S S C H O O L

Sequence Stratigraphic lnlerpretation of

Seismic, Well and Ourcrop Data

SPE Luncheon

A

UH ~ e o l o g b ~eminar'series, Room 315, Science &

7

* C O M M FIELD TRIP

Geology 01 West H a r m County

H G S FIELD SEMINAR

Research Bldg. I,-3 PM, Nov. 6, 13, 20. AROUND THE COUNTRY

API Annual Meeting, Chicago, November 8-10. University of Alabama 1987 Coalbed Methane

Symposium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, November 16-19. ASA Fall Meeting, Miami, November 16-20.

AROUND THE WORLD 32nd Annual Geophysical Symposium, Dresden,

East Germany, November 1-6. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, "Work-

shop to Develop Scientific Drilling Initiatives in the Caribbean", Runaway Bay, Jamaica, November 17-21.

SCHOOLS AND FIELD TRIPS IN HOUSTON

HGS School, "Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of Seismic, Well and Outcrop Data", Peter Vail, John Sangree, Ramada Northwest, 8 AM - 5:15 PM, Nov. 6-7.

AAPG Short Course, "Exploration Techniques:", November 9, 10, 11, 12.

HGS Environmental Committee Field Trip, "Geology of West Harris County", November 14.

HGS Field Seminar, "Recent Sediments of the North- west Gulf Coastal Plain", Rufus LeBlanc, Nov. 14-15.

HGS School, "Impasse and Your Career", Tim Marvin, Ramada Southwest, 9 AM - 5 PM, November 21.

19 Houston Geolog~cal Soc~ety Bullet~n. November 1987

---

ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE

DEBATE OVER PROPOSED HOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL IMPROVEMENTS

By Robert S. Lee

The Houston Ship Channel (HSC) was dredged to its present dimensions in 1964. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had deemed the 40'~400' channel adequate to accommodate the vessels of up to 40,000 dead weight tons (DWT) expected to navigate the channel to the year 2008.

Today, oil tankers and grain ships of 80,000 DWT routinely navigate the Channel. In 1982, one ship in twenty exceeded 100,000 DWT. In 1967, the House Committee on Public Works authorized a study of navigation projects in the Galveston Bay System. Under this authority, the Galveston District of the Corps of Engineers released in August, 1986 the five volume Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement/Galveston Bay Area Navigation Study. In it, the Corps explored a wide variety of alternatives for the years 1995 to 2045 including dredging the ship channel to 50' deep by 650' wide. Costs and benefits were weighed in terms of economics, navigational safety, and environmental impact. The option adopted by the Corps of Engineers was designated as Plan HG50.

HG50 calls for 1) a 50'x600' channel from Bolivar Roads to Boggy Bayou, 2) a 40'~400' channel widened intermittent- ly from Boggy Bayou to Clinton Is!and, 3) bend easing at the intersection of the HSC with the Intracoastal Waterway, and 4) the development of two confined emergent, and seven unconfined subaqueous disposal sites in Galveston Bay for dredge materials. Initial cost of the project is estimated at $355 million, of which two-thirds would be borne by the Federal Government and one-third by local sponsors. Operation and maintenance costs are estimated at $3.2 million annually in constant 1986 dollars. The Federal Government would pay three-fourths of these costs.

Among the many alternatives studied, HG50 ranked first in improved economic efficiency, but sixth in environmental considerations. Although the principle motivation for enlarging the Ship Channel is economic, the Corps is concerned about the increased risk of a major oil spill in the absence of widening. The Corps of Engineers cited a total of 684 vessel casualties in the ship channel system from 1978 to 1982. These included 108 collisions, 51 rammings of moored vessels and 65 rammings of other fixed objects including bridges and docks. Total damages to vessels and property were estimated at nearly $70 million.

Hazards also arise from the mix of traffic on the channel. Eighty percent of the 100,000 vessel trips per year are made by tugboats, barges and smaller craft. The Corps likens the situation to "horses and buggies on interstate highways". Without improvements, the Corps warns, future increases in vessel size and traffic will result in increased casualties. With this, the probability of a major collision resulting in a catastrophic oil spill increases as well. The

Corps estimates that HG50 will reduce the risk of vessel casualties by 12 percent. increased casualties. The probability of a major collision resulting in a catastrophic oil spill will increase as well.

Under the HG50 plan, nearly 110 million cubic yards of material would be dredged over an eight year period beginning in 1991. Material taken from Morgan's Point to Clinton Island will be disposed of at five land sites already receiving maintenance dredging spoils. Materials taken from Morgan's Point to Five Mile Cut will be placed in two emergent levied disposal sites of about 500 acres each.

The 56 million cubic yards of material taken from the 16 mile stretch between Five Mile Cut and Bolivar Roads will be deposited adjacent to the Channel in seven unconfined subaqueous spoil piles totalling 11,300 acres. Of these, 2,450 acres are already used for maintenance dredging. After construction, 3,500 acres will continue to receive maintenance materials. Total converted bay bottom is estimated at 3.7% of open water acreage in the Galveston Bay system. The plan assumes the proposed Texas City Channel improvements will be in place, resulting in the loss of 944 acres of bay bottom habitat.

In unconfined disposal, dredged materials will be placed in 4' thick layers adjacent to the channel. Recovery of the benthic community is expected to be slow on these inorganic virgin clays. The Corps projects "meaningful recovery" to begin about six months after dredging stops. In three to ten years, as settling and reworking occurs, and organic materials settle out of the water column, the Corps believes the the areas will recover to "predisturbance productivity levels". Species composition and diversity may differ in recovered areas, but whether the net effect will be harmful or beneficial to the bay's fishery resources is not predictable.

Because they are immobile, oysters are particularly sensitive to dredging operations. The U S . Fish and Wildlife Service recommends that no disposal operations be located within one mile of an existing reef. Silting of reefs has been documented as far as 6,000 feet away from dredging operations. HG50, however, proposes some disposal areas within 2,000' of "some of the smaller, fringe reefs". The Corps cites data indicating that total suspended solids decrease by 98 percent within 200' of discharge points, and concludes there should be virtually no "meaningful impact from sedimentation".

A second area of concern is changes in the bay's hydrology. Deepening the channel will alter salinity patterns, allowing salt water to intrude further into the estuary. Although oysters are tolerant of salinities ranging from 5 to 30 ppt, their major predator, the oyster drill snail, becomes

Houston Geolog~cal Soclety Bu l le t~n, November 1987 20

most active at salinities above 15 ppt. Landward movement of the 15 ppt isohaline will prompt reefs to migrate in that direction. However, substrate suitable for reef development is less available near shore. Furthermore, proximity to the mouths of tributaries will subject oyster reefs to destruction by fresh water and suffocation by sediment during floods. The adverse effects of salinity are most pronounced on oyster harvests during periods of low fresh water inflow. This could be exacerbated by increased use of surface water by Houston and other communities along the bay's tributaries. 6,842 acres of oyster reefs are now certified as harvestable in Galveston Bay. 2,184 acres, or 33.7% are within the predicted area of movement of the 15 ppt isohaline. The Corps expects average annual losses to the bay's oyster fishery to be 8.4% while the Fish and Wildlife Service predicts losses of 60 to 80 percent.

To offset the estimated $1.3 million loss annually to oyster fisheries, the Corps plans t o spread oyster shell from Louisiana in areas of existing scattered reefs to establish new harvestable reefs. Dividing the estimated economic value of oyster reefs ($3,335 per acre per year) into the projected annual dollar losses, the Crops estimates that 407 acres of harvestable reefs need to be added at an estimated cost of $40,000 per acre. This constitutes 4.5% of the total project cost. The Fish and Wildlife Service is not convinced the Corps of Engineers' plan will work, and due to their own higher projected losses for oyster fisheries, the Service feels remediation measures contained in HG50 would be inade- auate even if successful.

Another serious threat to bay water quality is the remobilization of contaminants in channel sediments. Main- tenance dredging has been ongoing since the Houston Ship Channel was first constructed in 1873. HG50 will increase open bay disposal of shoal material from 668,000 cubic yards per year (cy/yr) to 835,000 cy/yr from Bolivar Roads to Five Mile Cut. From Five Mile Cut to Morgan's Point, dredging will increase from 1,098,000 cy/yr to 1,371,000 cy/yr, but this material would be placed in confined disposal sites so open bay disposal would actually decrease.

The Corps concluded from chemical testing and bio- assay data that open water disposal of maintenance dredging materials would not cause "significant contanimant related impacts". The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service argues that the tests used by the Corps are inadequate. The elutriate testing method used by the Corps on dredged materials predicts only "short term accumulations of very soluble contaminants". Complex hydrocarbon compounds are not detected, while simpler hydrocarbons have volitized from sediment during dredging and disposal operations prior to testing.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is also concerned with in bay confined disposal. Spoils placed in levied areas will be subject to drying and oxygenation. Subsequent weathering would allow periodic releases of potentially harmful levels of contaminants such as arsenic into the water. While data on the biologic uptake of many contaminants is lacking, the U.S.F.W.S. cites preliminary reports on a recent "toxic runoff" from the east side of Atkinson Island which suggest that repopulation by intertidal vegetation and clams is retarded after an area has received "unconfined dredge material or fugitive particulate matter from nearby confined and semi-confined areas".

Assessing the environmental impacts of a project like

HG50 is not an exact science. Conclusions drawn reflect the assumptions and extrapolations of investigators. Thus, the two government agencies whose work is cited in this article arrive at dramatically different assessments of the project, while using essentially the same data base.

The Corps believes that the negative impacts to fishery resources will be proportional to the amount of habitat lost or converted. Since 892 acres of deep channel expansion accounts for 0.251% of the open bay environment, the Corps predicts that 0.251% of fishery resources will be lost, excluding oysters. Calcualtion of losses to oyster fisheries are somewhat more complicated, but basically reflect the proportion of commercial reefs exposed to elevated salinities over a given critical time period. HG50, combined with all previous habitat alterations, should reduce the open water bay bottom habitat by some 30,500 acres, or 8.6% of the total. Cumulative losses to the benthic community can be estimated proportionately. Against these losses, the Corps weighed the potential economic gains from increased efficiency in shipping and reduced risk from a major oil spill. The Corps evaluated HG50 as having the most favorable benefits to cost ratio. In spite of intense human activity in and around the bay and its tributaries, Galveston Bay continues to be a extremely productive estuary.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on the other hand, is concerned that continued alteration of aquatic habitats and salinity patterns by dredging and in bay disposal of dredged materials, combined with past pollution and future decreases of fresh water inflow, will overstress the bay beyond its capacity. For this reason, the Fish and Wildlife Service recommends a "cumulative environmental impact statement be made which evaluates the synergism of all past and reasonably foreseeable future water development projects."

The author gratefully acknowledges assistance in pre- paring of this article from Mr. Mike Kieslich and Mr. Charles R. Harbough of the Corps of Engineers, and Mr. Frederick Werner and Mr. Dale Hall of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. All were very generous with their time and knowledge.

Statements and figures were taken from Draft Feasili- bility Report and EnvironmentalImpact Statement/Galves- ton Bay Area Navigation Study, August, 1986 prepared by the Corps of Engineers and from the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Report/Galveston Bay Area Navigation Study, October, 1986 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY OF WEST HARRIS COUNTY

November 14,1987 8 AM-4PM Departure will be by bus from the parking lot of

Northwest mall (Hempstead Hwy. and Mangum). Field clothes and boots are recommended. Please bring your lunch. Refreshments and guidebook will be provided.

Make $20 check payable to: Houston Geological Society. Mail to:

H. Sadik Macdonald 3403 Chadwell Glen

Houston, Texas 77082 (Phone: 497-3622)

Houston Geolog~cal Soclety Bullet~n. November 1987

TERRA RESOURCES, INC.

GULF COAST REGIONAL OFFICE F FIVE GREENWAY PLAZA, STE. 300

HOUSTON, TEXAS 77046

(7 13) 960- 1040

JACTIVE AND GROWING IN THE GULF COAS7

Pet rop hysics. I

Services for

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0 Synthetic Seismogram Service 0 Custom Log Digitizing

Regional klocity Data 0 Pseudo Sonic Generation 0 Software For Microcomputers

Joe H. Smith, President 2141 W. Governor's Cr., Ste. A Houston, Tatas 77092 (71 3) 956-1 286

I PROSPECT ACQUISITIONS Houston based independent exploration company seeks t o purchasc quality. well defined prospects requirtng lease acquisition andlor seismlc support funding. to augment its own inhouse generatwe capacity, for lncluslor into a 1986-87 drilling program.

Oil and gasopportunities.ranging fromexploratory todeveloprr~ent extension! are solicited. exclusively In the Gulf Coast States.

We offera combtnation of cashand assigned override incentivesto access you well documented prospects.

Please send brief description of your prospectsor contact A.B.(Derry) Copland Vice President-Geology.

YUMA PETROLEUM COMPANY 1100 Louisiana, Suite 3140

Houston, Texas 77002 (713) 951-0750

EGIONAL PALE0 AND STRAT STUDIES D Offshore Louisiana and Texas (4000+ wells)* B Onshore Southern Louisiana (2500+ wells)* D Other digital well files available B Custom computer files built and mapped

*Available in hardcopy or digital form

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13405 Northwest Frwy., Suite 222 Houston, TX 77040 (713) 939-1 I66

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REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE DATA PROCESSING

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including RADON ANALYSIS

Mary Michael Page Regional Manager, Houston

I1 Greenspoint Park 16800 Greenspoint Dr.

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JACK FOTO (713) 789-8877

iuite 425 Colonial Savings Tower 6200 Savoy Drive Houston, Texas 77036

Houston Geological Soclety Bullet~n. November 1987

REMOTE SENSING FOR THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY Arthur J. Pyron and Allen M. Feder, PhD

The use of remotely sensed data (RSD) in locating hydrocarbon reservoirs is gaining increasing acceptance and wider application in the oil and gas industry. This technology, heightened primarily by the easy accessibility of the federal government's Landsat data, has spread from the major companies to small independents over the last 15 years and is responsible for discoveries of new hydrocarbon reservoirs. RSD have also been used for rapid and inexpen- sive evaluation of wildcat areas, and have contributed substantially to several exciting exploration plays.

RSD, by definition, are those data which are acquired by methods that d o not require physical contact with the examined object. In our example, the earth is the examined object, and the methods used to evaluate it involve the use of satellite, space shuttle o r airborne detectors designed for one or more investigative purposes.

By comparison, all other methods of exploration more familiar to i ~ d e p e n d e n t s (i.e., seismic and other geophysical methods, surface mapping, geochemical studies, and, of course, drilling) involve physical contact with the earth; these methods are also more expensive. RSD are best used in combination with other investigative techniques. After highlighting one or more interesting features by remote sensing, other methods can be used to further define and test the given feature. This process allows the more effective use of capital in developing areas with prospective potential.

In particular, RSD are less expensive than other exploration techniques, and offer more information per unit cost than any other exploration method. For example, Landsat data formerly sold by the U.S. qovernment and now by - EOSAT, are generally processed on a n approximate scale of 1:250,000. This is the same scale a s the USGS's 1 by 2 degree topographic sheets. As a further generalization, one standardized Landsat scene would cover approximately 1.5 topographic sheets, or roughly 13,000 square miles. Differ- ent types of data could be obtained from one survey. Geograph~cal culture, and geoinorphology could be interpreted from the ~nitial analysis. Tectonics, surface geology, structure identification. tonal anomalies. and mineralization could be interpreted by more detailed analysis, sometimes involving the use of computer processing techniques. The cost of materials could easilv be under $500.00. In the authors' experience, the use of Landsat data for reconnais- sance prior to detailed analysis, even rudimentary studies like field surveys, allows a more efficient exploration program. The entire exploration program, including drilling, is less expensive to the investor,.!client because investment capital is used more prudently.

Types of Remotely Sensed Data Remotely sensed techniques have been used in evaluat-

ing the earth since the early 1800's (Feder, 1984). Application of the techniques to the exploration for hydrocarbons can probably be said to have started in the years immediately following World War I . when aerial photographs were used bv Tobin and others in the Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas. Louisiana, and Arkansas. The major impetus in the use of RSD can be attributed to the advent of the United Sta tes space program. As NASA released more data from its Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle programs, in addition to information from other domestic and

international satellites, more direct applications of those data were made. By the advent of the Landsat program, explorationists began to develop models that synthesized the information derived from remotely sensed sources and allowed the application of those data to their hydrocarbon exploration programs.

There are several different categories of RSD. Each category is unique and very often can be the source of distinct types of data. The discussion that follows will not only identify the particular type of remote sensor, but will also mention some applicability of the technique.

Photogeology Photogeology involves the interpretation of photographs

of the earth taken from some airborne or space shuttle base. In the United States, the source for these photographs has commonly been the federal and sometimes more local governments, although there are several private commercial companies involved in this process a s well. The federal government, through the EROS Data Center (EDC), has a historic file of unclassified aerial, satellite, and space shuttle photographs available for purchase.

Application of these photographs to an exploration program involves relatively little time and expense. Photo- geology data can be used to determine geographical culture, structural geology, surface lithology, and topography, particularly when used in stereographic analysis. Additionally, photogeology can be extremely helpful in locating well sites and access to those sites. Finally, aerial photographs are also used quite frequently during surface mapping studies.

Sonic Sensing Sonic sensing, better known by the acronym SONAR

(for Sonic Navigation and Ranging), involves the monitoring of sound waves to determine geologic characteristics. The theory states that sound waves should be emitted and returned to a detector at a calculated amount of time in a known medium. A disruption in the travel time implies a potentially significant change in the travel medium. By using a constant sound source and monitoring changes in the rate and intensity of return, imaging of the object can be accomplished.

Side-looking SONAR is used primarily in the remote sensing of submarine terrains, particularly on continental margins. Several commercial systems are available. Feder (1985) notes that the current use of SONAR type systems involves geologic mapping of submarine structures and obtaining geotechnical information which aids in the emplacement of offshore drilling platforms.

Potential Field Sensors This category of remote sensing devices can be describ-

ed a s airborne non-seismic geophysical devices; the most prominent sensors include airborne magnetometers and airborne gravity meters. Millions of line miles of aeromagnetic data have been collected by oil and service companies since the technique was applied to exploration after World War 11. Aeromagnetic data can be processed to reveal structural geology and gross basement lithology factors to depths ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 ft (3,000 to 15,250 m).

Continued on page 26

2 3 Houston Gealoy~cal Sactety Builel8n November 1987

HGS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND Patrons and Donors Remembered

Earl P. Burke, Jr. Jack Colle Dean Grafton Merrill W. Haas Billy Hagan Michael T. Halbouty George C. Hardin, Jr. Bonnie Heath

Arco Oil & Gas Ashland Explor. Co. Austral Oil Co. Champlin Pet. Co. Drlgmud Co. Enron Corp. Forney Oil Corp. Hamilton Bros.

The Memorial Scholarship Fund thanks the following patrons and Donors, who, since its inception, have contributed to the Fund as of August 1, 1987

FOUNDER Warren L. Calvert

Thomas W. Blake W. Bryan Brasel John D. Bremsteller Richard Brewer Ira H. Cram Morgan J . Davis (deceased) Ross E. Dawson Henry C. Dean Donald P. Degan Lane H. Dixon Byron F. Dyer Lonnie D. Ferrin William E. Gipson P. K. Goodrich C. V. Hagen (in memory of

W. K. Clark) Dorothy Harbison C. Mark Hinton R. L. Hunt J . B. Jamar

Houston Geological Soc~ety Bullelon. November 1987

PATRON

Wayne V. Jones Howard Kiatta Robert Liner Brian E. Obrien Jack M. Oswald James I. Riddle James W. Roach Robert J . Schrock

COMPANY PATRON

Highland Resources Horizon Explor. Co. Houston Geol. Soc. (in memory of

Wallace Pratt) Houston Geological Auxiliary HGS Remembrance Comm. Midcon Services Mesa Pet. Co.

DONOR

Merida Jones (in memory of Wayne V. Jones 11)

J . G. Joyce Howard Kiatta (in memory of

G. H. Clark) W. B. McCarter (deceased) C. E. McCarter James A. McCarthy Russell McFarland William McKain (deceased)

W. N. McKinney, Jr. George L. McLeod R. B. Mitchell G. M. Nevers I. K. Nichols Tom Purcell John K. Rabenold (in memory of

Carl Van Wormer) M. L. Randall David Rapp

Robert J . Schrock (in memory of Reeves Jackson, Jr.)

David Sheridan Marvolene Speed-Bennett (in memory

of Carlton Speed, Jr.) J . E. Werner Leighton F. Young, Jr. Robert L. Zinn

Mobil Explor. Co. Panhandle E. Trunkline Prairie Prod. Co. Sandefer 0 & G Stratagraph, Inc. Tenneco Oil Co. Transco Explor. Co. Unocal

R. R. Rieke Thomas D. Rush A. L. Selig (deceased) Robert J . Schrock (in memory of

V. Neuhaus) Robert J . Schrock (in memory of

A. V. Hargis) Elgean C. Shield Fred L. Smith, Jr. B. A. Taylor (deceased) A. M. Tolbert (in memory of

W. Z. Burkhead) Wade W. Turnbull Peter R. Vail George F. Watford 0 . D. Weaver Chas. Weiner (in memory of

S. E. Dunham) R. D. Woods

Continued on next page

Continued from previous page

COMPANY DONOR

Big 6 Drilling Co. Cities Service (Oxy) Core Laboratories Dibler Seismic Service Dow Chemical Embree 0 & G Corp. Enstar Petroleum Home Petroleum Keplinger & Assoc. Maralo Inc. Mitchell Energy N L Baroid North Central Oil Paraffine Agency Acct. Petroleum Information

Quest Exploration Shubuta Oil Sierra Prod. Co. Spartan Exploration Tejas Gas Corp. Texas Eastern Trans. Texas Gas Transmission Texoil Co. Total Petroleum Tricentrol U.S. United Texas Trans. Walter 0 & G Corp. Weaver Exploration Williams Exploration

Patrons are those whose donations have amounted to $500 or more; Donors $100 or more: Contributors less than $100. There have been 38 Individual Contributors and 7 Company Contributors. These smaller contributions are greatly appreciated and will be acknowledged at a later date. Since its inception in December, 1974, the Fund has awarded 25 sizeable scholarships to help worthy, needy students of economic geology to obtain Masters degrees and Doctorates.

DIRECTORY OF OIL COMPANY N A M E CHANGES O N DISK

On a trial basis, Houston Geological Society is offering the Directory of Oil Company Name Changes on 5-1/4" 360 KB floppy disk for IBM and compatible personal computers in ASCII format. By request, the Directory can also be furnished in MultiMate, Wordstar, Honeywell OAS, Wang OIS/VS, Wang PC, IBM DCA, and GSA DIF formats. This electronic version will be current as of date of shipment.

Single User - $8 Multi-user - $35 The dlsk may be ordered from the Houston Geological Society at:

Houston Geological Society 6916 Ashcroft


Name

Company

Address

City, State, Zip

Single user copies $

Multi-user copies $

Total $ --

Sales Tax @ 8.00% $ --

Grand Total $

EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION CENTER

The H.G.S. and SIPES have joined together to provide an Employment Information Center at the 1988 AAPG Convention.

Jerry Watson, Committee Chair- man, is currently sending out letters to numerous personnel departments to promote representation at the convention and to encourage on-site re- cruiting.

In this employment area, bulletin boards will be available to anyone wishing to post their resume.

On Sunday, March 20th two employment seminars will be presented free of charge:

1) SIPES will present "Business of Being an Independent", (2-112 hours).

2) HGS will present a Specialty Services Seminar which will consist of a board of specialists (i.e. hydrologists, geophysicists, paleontologists, etc.) discussing their jobs, how they got their experience, and possible future employment in their fields, (2-112 hours).

If you are interested in more information, contact Jerry Watson at (713) 556-0806.

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

The Environmental Committee hopes to sponsor a more detailed, first-hand presentation of the Environ- mental Update column found in this month's HGS Bulletin. Representa- tives of the Corps of Engineers and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service would be available to discuss more fully the proposed Houston Ship Channel improvements. This event has been very tentatively scheduled for December 10. See the December HGS Bulletin for details.

Houston Geolog~cal Soc~ety Bu l l e t~n November 1987

REMOTE SENSING Continued from page 23

Gravity meters have been operationally flown in high altitude, stable aircraft, such as the Lockheed C-130, but primarily they are helicopter-borne at low altitudes. They can provide rock density information where such data are critical to exploration, as in a diapir province. Gravity meter operations are usually more expensive and time consuming than aeromagnetic operations.

Current digital processing operations permit the construction of two dimensional gravity and magnetic interpretations. By using Landsat scenes of the geological structures, two dimensional aeromagnetic and gravity interpretations can be compared.

Potential field (gravity and magnetic) data are available at relatively low cost from the U.S. government, and from industry sources such as speculative data sales libraries. Other workers have presented further descriptions of the application of these sensors, including case histories in which the potential field data have proven to be critical in certain exploration situations (Feder, 1986).

Electromasnetic Sensors ~ l e c t r o k a ~ n e t i c (EM) sensors have had increased

applicability in hydrocarbon exploration. There are several categories of EM sensors; each deals with a particular physical property exhibited by the earth. Taken in combination, the individual sensors can be used to reveal the geological potential of a given prospect.

The simplest EM sensor is a gamma ray spectrometer; it measures the natural radioactivity of the earth. The comparative intensity of various earth materials as measur- ed by the gamma ray sensor can be used to identify lithology or individual phases within a given rock type (Thomann, Pyron, and Ray, 1983).

Ultraviolet (UV) reflectance measurements are also ~,

useful in identifying lithology. In particular, calcium rich rocks, like limestones and dolomites, are particularly reflect- ive of ultraviolet radiation. Additional a ~ ~ l i c a t i o n s of UV in . . the exploration for calcium-bearing minerals and structural mapping may exist, but these have been somewhat limited.

Infrared sensors are used to detect relative differentials in temperature, both on the surface and in the shallow subsurface. The various types of detectors vary from the near visible (imaging solar reflectance) to the far infrared (imaging thermal emissions) portions of the spectrum. Near infrared can be used to image vegetation stresses related to hydrocarbon microseepages. Far infrared imaging can reveal subtle changes in temperature associated with certain geological features and conditions, like buried stream channels or permeability barriers (Feder and Vixo, 1987). Infrared detectors are often used with other detectors to produce definitive interpretations.

Operating at greater EM wavelengths than the infrared are the various radar devices. Radar supplies its own illumination, so it can collect data day or night. Because of the long wavelength, radar can collect data through cloud cover. It is therefore invaluable for mapping in areas that are characterized by constant cloud cover.

Radar has been used for the detection and mapping of many geological features; the principle product used in these efforts is the precision mosaic. Mosaic and carto- graphic maps, geomorphological maps, and soils maps have been generated from precision mosaics and radar imagery.

One significance of radar imaging is that the active illumination can be used to accentuate subtle relief features. primarily through a shadowing effect. One such feature is the lineament. Lineaments are the terrain surface expression of fractures, jointing, and other linear geological phenomena that occur at depth in a given area.

The photograph on the cover of this HGS Bulletin is an example of the good structural information available in radar imagery. The area of coverage is the heavily vegetated Kalimantan, Indonesia interior. The area is dominated by folded, possible "overthrust" structures. In spite of the overgrowth, the radar image provides details of the topography and microstructure (locations A and B), a hog-back like feature (location C ) and steeply dipping rocks (southeast of location A) which stand out on the image because of the high resolution and low aspect angle. Still more subtle linear images are seen at location D.

An additional example is a study performed in an effort to locate faults and other structural phenomena in the low relief terrain around Matagorda Bay in the Gulf Coast area. Radar imagery reveals numerous lineaments in the area. Although the topographic features themselves are very subtle, the radar image shows each relief expression with varying prominence.

Radar imagery, such as that demonstrated here, is available for areas within the United States from federal sources at reasonable prices. Such imagery is available for both domestic and international areas from at least one service company's speculative data library. Radar imagery has been applied to hydrocarbon exploration by other workers, and case histories are available for further evaluation (Feder, 1986).

Remote sensing is an innovative technique, useful and economical for applications in the hydrocarbon industry. Applications range from exploration, development and production to distribution (Feder and Vixo, 1987). The ready availability and successes of remote sensing make it a particularly valuable technology for the petroleum industry, and its economy makes it even more valuable for employment by smaller independents. The use of Landsat imagery (the subject of a future HGS Bulletin article) in combination with other remotelv sensed data and available borehole information can be a powerful exploration technique.

References Feder, Allen M., 1984, Contemporary Remote Sensing

for Hydrocarbon Exploration and Development, OGJ, Sept. 17.

Feder, Allen M., 1985, Offshore Exploration and Plat- form Siting by Imaging Sonar, Aero Service, Houston, Tx.

Feder, Allen M., 1986, Integrated Interpretation for Hydrocarbon Exploration with Case Histories and Costs, NCPI Conference, Tulsa, OK.

Feder, A. M. and Vixo, D. L., 1987, Remote Sensing Applications in Drilling and Production, World Oil, March.

Thomann, W. F., Pyron, A. J. , and Ray, D. R., 1983, Distribution of Uranium, Thorium, and Potassium in Pro- terozoic Igneous Rocks, Franklin Mountains, Texas, CIM Bull, V. 76, No. 850, pp. 91-95.

Arthur J. Pyron is an independent consulting geologist in Dallas, Texas. Allen M. Feder is Senior Staff Scientist for Aero Service Division, Western Atlas International, Houston, Texas.

Houston Geolog~cal Soc~ety Bullet~n. November 1987 2 6

BAKER, GEORGE F Geologlst Stone & Webster 011 C o 1100 Mdam #3434 Houston, Texas 77002 658-0351

BALLY, RAPHAELE C Assocldte Geophystclst Elf Aqultame Petroleum 1000 Lou~siana Houston, Texas 77002 739 2347

BARRIE, KATHLEEN A Asst Vlce Prestdent Copeland, W~ckersham, Wdey C o 52 Vanderbdt Ave #I600 New York, New York 10017 (212) 370 9470

BOLE. GEORGE R Sr Expl Sys Supv Amoco Produr t ~ o n P 0 Box 591 Tulsa. Oklahoma 7410" (918) 581 3161

BOWLIN. RONALD A Stdff Geologist Woodward Clyde Consultants 7330 Weslwew Dr Houston Tends 77055 6889111

BREIMAYER, JAMES R ST Expl Geologlst Tenneio 011 G C D P 0 Box 2888 Houiturr Texas 77001 583 47:X

BU rKIlS TIMOTHY A Reg~onal Explorat~on~st Axem Resource Inc 7800 E,iit Unlon Avr #I100 Denier Colorado 80237 (303) i 4 0 9000

BYRD PHILLIP E Geoloq>bt Amem dn Explorat~on C o 4500 Repuhl~c Bank Center Hous tm. Texas 77002 237 OX00

DAUGHERTY. PATRICK Sr G e d u g ~ c a l Engmeer Burk Rc,yalty C o P 0 Box BRC Wlrhitil Falls. Texas 76307 (817) 322 5421

Dl GIOVANNI. MARCEL Geolog~st C ~ t i e s Serwie 011 & Gas P 0 Box 27570 Houstor Texas 77227 840 4552

EGBER I . ROBERT M Sr Geologist Standard Oil Production C o 5151 S.lr, Felipe Houston Texds 77210 552 3316

FAUDHY RAY E Mgr Explr Br New Ventures A G I P Petroleum C o 688 6281

FOLZENLOGEN. STEPHEN J Geologist Pel Tex O i l C o 5 P a t Oak Park #I530 Houston. Texas 77027 439 1530

FORD MICHAEL E Core Andyst Geologist Petroleum T ~ s t i n g Service 4350 W 12th St Houston Texas 680 2268

NEW ACTIVE MEMBERS FORREST, MICHAEL C. President Pecten lnternat~onal C o P 0 Box 205 Houston, Texas 77001 556-4500

FOX, ROBERT L., JR Exploration Scout Exxon Company USA 233 Benmar #lo77 Houston, Texas 77252 775-2180

FRIERSON, TATIANA Energy Analyst V R F lnc 14432 M ~ t y Meadow Houston, Texas 77079 497-0290

HEDBERG. JAMES D New Ventures Manager Exxon C o lnternat~onal P 0 Box 146 Houston. Texas 77001 973 3240

KEEFE. CYNTHIA M Geological Eng Shell Western E & P P 0 Box 576 Houston. Texas 77001 870 3436

LAND. J O H N P President J P Land Assoc~ates Inc 7211 Regency Square U213 Houston, Texas 77036 975-0188

L E E C H . DIETER K Development Geolog~st Chevron USA P 0 Box 36366 Houston, Texas 77236 754 5154

LINK, ARTHUR J Independent Consultant RFD 1. Box 240 Wallls, Texas 77485 (409) 478 6796

LYDAY, J REED Mer~dlan 011 400 N Belt East Houston. Texas 77060

McMICHAEL. WILLIAM J Consultant 10003 Inwood Houston. Texas 77042 952 6244

MITCHELL. MICHAEL D., SR Tech Sales Mgr Petroleum T e s t ~ n g S e r v ~ c e 12051 Rwera Rd Santa Fe Sprmg. Calliornla 90670 (213) 698-0081

MOHN, KENNETH W Geolog~st T G S Geophys~cal 1200 T r a m MOO Houslon. Texas 77002 951-0853

NOWAK, GREG Geolog~st Rambow Mmerals Inc 811 Dallas #I419 Houston. Texas 77002 658 9167

OLSON. ROBERT K Geochem~st Amoco Productton C o P 0 Box 3092 Houston, Texas 77253 556 2423

O'NEILL, BRIAN E Resewon Geologist Core Laboratories 5295 Holl~ster Rd. Houston, Texas 77040 460 9600

PELKA, GARY J Geologtcal Mgr. Alaska/Paclhc Standard 011 P~oduct ion C o 5151 San Fellpe Houston, Texas 77210 552-8541

PICKERING, C. GERALD Pennzoi Co. P.O. Box 2967 Houston, Trxas 77001 546 8437

RAILSBACK, RICKARD R lndewndenl Geolog~st P 0 Box 72891 Corpus C h r ~ s t ~ , Texas 78472 (512) 852 11.32

REESE. WIL.LIAM L. XRD Analyst Core Laboratones 5295 Hollister Road Houston, Texas 77040 460-9600

RICHARDS TRENTON H Petroleum Geologlst Merldlan 011 Inc 400 N Belt E U1200 Houston. Texas 77060 360 1195

RING. CHRISTINE L Appllcatlons G e o p h y s ~ c ~ s t Landmark Graphlcs Corp 333 Cypress Run a100 Houston. Texas 77094 579 4700

SHOURD. MICHAEL R Advanced E>.plorat~on~st Penmoll C o P 0 Boy 2Sh7 Houston. T e a s 77252 546 8300

SIVON, PAUL A Geulog~st Exxon C o USA 233 Benmar Hailston, Texas 77252

SNYDER, PEGGY G 011 Scout Dw~ght 's Energy Data Inr 6575 W Loop S Ste 120 Bellare, Texas 77401 667 4776

STERKENBURG, PAUL M. Geologlst Mitchell Energy Corp 2001 T n b e r l o c h Woodlands. Texas 77381 363-5739

TALTY, DALE D 2751 Wallmgford #2911 Houston, Texas 789 9429

TERWILLIGER. J O H N F Chairman & President Cambridge Od C o 6200 Savoy Dr -4740 Houston, Texas 77036

TILLEY. BILL D Expl Mgr Conoco P 0 Box 21% Houston. Texas 77252 293 1302

TINL, TERESA J. Geologtst Amoco Product~on C o P . 0 . Box 3092 Houston, Texas 77253 556-2808

TUDOR, M. KYLE Independent 2232 Sleepy Hollow Rd. Conroe, Texas 77385 367-4693

WARREN, LESLIE L. Od Scout Dwights Energy Data 6575 W Loop S. #I20 Bellatre. Texas 77401 667 4776

WATKINS, HENDERSON H Reservo~r Geologlst Core Laboratories 5295 Holl~ster Houston. Texas 77040 460-9600

NEW ASSOCIATE MEMBERS BOUDREAUX. GERARD Sales Rep Data Log Inc P . 0 Drawer P La Place. Louisiana (504) 536-4143

FUHRMANN, RODNEY W Salesman Data Log Inc 2123 E Settler's Way The Woodlands. Texas 77380 937 4118

KLIBERT, RUEBEN J , SR C h a r m a n of The Board Data Log lnc P 0 Drawer J La Place, Loulsldna 70068 (504) 536-4143

NICHOLS, RANDY H Land Manager Perid Ore~lle 011 & G a s C o 1100 Mdam #I3700 Houston. Texas 77002 658 8308

REAGAN, CHUCK L lndependent 5847 San Felipe 111280 Houston, Texas 77057 789 3426

REAVIS, HENRY CLAY. JR Sales Engmeer Anadr~ll/Schlumberger 100 Macco Blvd Sugarland Texas 77478 240 6400

SCHROEDER, CHERYL E Sales Manager Core Laboratones Inc 5295 Holhster Rd Houston, Texas 77040 460 9600

SMITH. SUSAN E 1618 Ronson Houston, Texas 77055 465-0793

2 7 Houston Geolog~cal S o c ~ e t y Bullet~n. November 1987

EXPLORATION ACTIVITY REV1 EW National Rig Count: September 14-1 108; Year Ago-740

ONSHORE GULF COAST Texas Gulf Coast

Corpus Christi Oil & Gas has staked location for a 4000' Yegua wildcat 2-112 miles southwest of Hockley (Jackson) production at Sixto Field in Starr County. The #1 Resendez-Rodriguez Unit is about 1-114 miles east and downdip from a 3012' dry hole (Ely #1 Perez) which logged numerous porous, but wet, sands. Structure at the Yegua horizon is slightly irregular regional east dip.

Farther north, in Duval County, Union Texas Petro- leum will drill a 10,500' Queen City test l-3/4 miles northwest of Jackson and Yegua production at Peach Orchard Field. The #1 Cantu Gas Unit is also 3 miles east of nearest Queen City production at South Realitos Field. At the Yegua horizon the wildcat spots on the distal south flank of an east plunging, broad, faulted nose, and downthrown to several down-to-the-southeast faults.

Two Wilcox tests are scheduled for La Salle County. Chanoco corporation will drill the #1 Nunley to 6100' 8 miles west of lower Wilcox gas production at Marguellitos Field. The Hillier #1 Nunley, about 500' southeast, encountered generally thin reservoir quality sands in the Reklaw and lower Wilcox. At the lower Wilcox horizon the wildcat spots on southeast dip and upthrown to a down-to-the-southeast fault.

In extreme west-central La Salle County, Lightning Oil has scheduled a 4600' Wilcox test, the #1-128 Light Minerals, 3 miles north of lower Wilcox gas production at Artesia Wells West Field. At the Olmos horizon the wildcat spots on the northeast flank of a large, subtle southeast plunging structural nose.

Sonora Exploration will drill a 12,500' lower Frio test 2 miles west of Miocene production at Matagorda Bay Field in Calhoun County. The #1 State Tract 87 is 2-112 miles northwest of an 11,500' dry hole (Texas #1 Amerada Unit) which logged predominantly shale in the Frio, with a few thin sands near total depth. At the base Miocene horizon the wildcat spots on northwest dip, fault-separated from and downthrown to Matagorda Bay Field.

Farther north, in Jackson County, Bill Fenn has staked a 12,000' Yegua wildcat 3 miles southeast of shallow Catahoula and Miocene production at Cordele and Cordele SE Fields. The #1 Shackelford is about 7 miles northeast of nearest Yegua production (gas) at Bright Falcon Field, with no deep control in the immediate area. At the Tex w a r r e n i horizon the new test spots on south dip and downthrown to a nearby down-to-the-coast fault.

Sandefer Petroleum has scheduled a 12,000' wildcat 2-314 miles north of Frio and Miocene production at Danbury Dome in Brazoria County. The #1 Smith should reach the base Frio and probably the Vicksburg, and is 2-314 miles east of the Union Texas #1 Garbett dry hole which encountered only shale with a few very thin sands from 9900' to total depth at 11,027'. Structure at the N o d o s a r i a b l a n p i e d i horizon is southeast dip into a rim syncline north of Danbury Dome.

Two 13,500' wildcats have been staked by Pelto Oil in Jefferson County, 4 miles and 5-112 miles southwest of Hackberry gas production at Sabine Lake North Field. The

#1 State Tract 25 and #1 State Tract 29 will be evaluating deep Frio sands. A 13,807' dry hole northeast of the new tests (Standard of Texas #1 St. Tr. 16) encountered very little Hackberry sand development. Structure at the C a m e r i n a 'A'(top Frio) horizon appears to be south dip with minor local nosing.

South Louisiana Headington Energy will drill an 11,900' Anahuac test in

extreme southwestern Acadia Parish 1-112 miles northwest of Anahuac and Frio production at Riceville Field in Vermilion Parish. The #1 Texaco-Alston Fee is about 3500' west of the operator's #1 Contran, drilled unsuccessfully to 11,360' last year. At the Marg inu l i na i d i o m o r p h a horizon the wildcat spots on south dip and upthrown to the northernmost fault transecting the Riceville anticline.

In Terrebonne Parish, an 11,000'Amphistegina 'E' (upper Miocene) test has been staked by Sun Exploration & Production about a mile southwest of upper Miocene production at Mosquito Bay Field. The #1 SL 12656 is about 3000' from each of two similarly downdip tests, both unsuccessful. At the B i g e n e r i n a 'B' horizon the wildcat spots on a south plunging nose and is fault-separated from Mosquito Bay production.

Farther east, in L a f o u r c h e Parish, Amoco has scheduled an 18,500' wildcat 1-114 miles south of middle Miocene (Big '2 ') production at Bay Courant Field. The #1 SL 12782 will be evaluating deep T e x t u l a r i a 'W' sands, productive 7-314 miles northwest at Bayou Jean Lacroix Field. At the B i g '2' horizon the new test spots on the southeast flank of a small southwest plunging nose and downthrown to a local down-to-the northeast fault.

Quintana Petroleum will drill a 13,200' directionally- drilled Miocene wildcat, the #1 SL 12720, to within 1-112 miles (northeast) of Pliocene through middle Miocene production at Lake Hermitage Field in Plaquemines Parish. Several middle Miocene wildcats have been drilled north of the Lake Hermitage salt dome, but none have found commercial quantities of hyrocarbons. Structure at the T e x t u l a r i a 'W'horizon is fairly steep southwest dip into a salt-withdrawal syncline northeast of Lake Hermitage dome.

MESOZOIC TREND East Texas

Cities Service Oil & Gas has staked a 10,750' Glen Rose wildcat 5 miles northeast of Glen Rose production at Alabama Ferry Field in Houston County. The #1 Potter Estates A is two miles northwest of the Cambridge #1 Potter, a 10,100' dry hole which recovered shows of oil and gas on a drill stem test in the Glen Rose "B". Structure at the top Glen Rose "B" zone is regional southeast dip.

In Bowie County, Murphy Oil USA will drill a 9400' Smackover test 2-1/2 miles northeast of Glen Rose and Rodessa production at Simms Field. The #1 Raney is 5 miles northwest of the McBee #1 Wall, an 8959' dry hole which logged some thin porous streaks near the top of the Smackover but reported no cores or tests. Top Smackover structure is regional south dip.

Houston Geologcal Soc~ety Bullet~n, November 1987 2 8

South Arkansas Samedan Oil will drill a 9500' Smackover test 4 miles

west of abandoned Cotton Valley production at the one-well Norman Lake Field in Lafayette County. The #1 Burton is about 3500' northwest of the Pennzoil #1 Lester which was abandoned at 10,144' after recovering porous oolitic lime with salty taste and no shows in a Smackover core. Slnackover structure is southwest regional dip with local nosing.

In adjoining Miller County, Zadeck Energy Group has completed the #1 Davis Farms as a new Smackover gas discovery 3 miles northwest of Pettet and Smackover production at Paup Spur Field. Flow rate was 1,800 MCFGPD and 16 BCPD from 5771-80'. Smackover structure here is south regional dip with local broad subtle nosing. Alabama

Southern Union Exploration has reported a new Smackover oil discovery 4 miles south of Smackover production at Appleton Field in Escambia County. The #1 Huxford flowed 297 BOPD through perfs at 12,618-636' in the upper Smackover after an unsuccessful attempt to complete in the lower Smackover.

Farther west, in adjoining Baldwin County, a significant northwest extension to Blacksher Field has been reported by Hughes Eastern. The #I International Paper Company 20-5 flowed 1,123 BOPD and1,340 MCFGPD from the Smackover at 15,564-576'. The Blacksher Field structure appears to be related to a basement ridge along which several other fields are located. OFFSHORE GULF COAST

Increased drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico over the past few weeks has resulted in a utilization rate of over 57%, with fewer than 100 idle rigs reported for the first time since February 1986.

Diamond Shamrock Offshore Partners will drill a wildcat to an unspecified depth on Eugene Island Block 334, offshore south-central Louisiana. The #3 OCS-G-5519 is 7 miles southwest of major Pleistocene oil and gas production at Block 330 Field.

A little farther south, on Eugene Island Block 356, Chevron USA will drill the #1 OCS-G-5522. This 11,000'test is 6 miles southeast of South Marsh Island Block 142 Field, a Plio-Pleistocene reservoir.

Farther east, in the South Timbalier Area, Marathon Oil has scheduled a 12,989' (TVD 12,500') wildcat on Block 280. The #1 OCS-G-5639 is about 18 miles due south of Block 176 Field, another Plio-Pleistocene reservoir. In the same area, Chevron USA will drill an 8600' test on South Timbalier Block 259. The #2 OCS-G-5631 is about 14 miles southeast of Pliocene production at Block 185 Field.

A 17,000' wildcat has been scheduled by Amoco on Mississippi Canyon Block 356, off the Mississippi delta. The #1 OCS-G-5837 is 5 miles southwest of West Delta Block 152 field, a Plio-Pleistocene reservoir.

Off southeastern Mississippi, Texaco will drill a 15,500' test on Main Pass Block 214. The #1 OCS-G-6821 is about 26 miles due east of Miocene production at Main Pass Block 120 Field.

Offshore data provided by Dwight's HOTLINE Energy Reports. BILL EISENHARDT Consultant, Geol. Representative-Geomap Co.

4

Union Texas Petroleum Houston

1330 Post Oak Boulevard

Houston, TX 77056 71 3/623-6544

Denver Midland 14001 E lliff 4000 N Big Spr~ng Su~te 500 Suite 500 Aurora, CO 80014 Midland, TX 79705 303/695 8778 915/684 0600

I

Spending your time searching for oil, or searching for information? Petroleum lnformation has the answer in Houston.

Research materials include: Logs - Hard copy and microform

Completion cards - Base and Lease maps RRC field maps Drllllng Reports Production reports Reference materials Per~od~cals l\rvo locations to serve Other publications you:

Southeastern Texas and Lou- - State Data on M~crof~lrn slana coverage ava~lable at (Rocky Mtn States & California only) 4150 Westhe~rner Road

Houston TX (77027) Joln Pl's Geological lnformation (713) 961 5660 Centers as a full member (with Total ,, coverage nlap and log discounts) Or, Use available at the centers on an hourly or daily Americana Bldg

basis. 811 Dallas St Ste 615 Houston TX 77002 (713) 658 9573

Geologicd Information Centers petruleurn lnformat~on

E3 rr-d lhcMk-Capourn

Houston Geological Society Bullet~n, November 1987

addlttonal lnforrnatlon plem.s'oont.ct: Barry Eutlpnd/Davld ~ ~ h l n g t o n 713/861-0863

ONSHORE GEOPHYSICAL COMPANY 1200 TRAVIS SUITE 900 HOUSTON , TEXAS 7 7 0 0 2

" AVAILABLE NOW ! " TEXAS GULF COAST AREA COVERAGE

1000 miles of excellent quality data in the prolific Wilcox-YeugaTrend of South Texas now available from TGS Onshore. This data has the same high quality as the 80,000 miles TGS has available offshore Louisiana and Texas. Program VI is now being shot in Dewitt County and Program V is in the final planning stage. Both programs supplement past programs.

For additional information contact Marv Sager/Norm Meador/Bill Field at (713) 951-0853.

3 1 Houston Geolog~cal Soctety Bullet~n. November 1987


R. P. AKKERMAN Geologist EXPLORATION Engineer

CONSULTANT Revlaw of Subsurlace Data

3425 Bradford Place 668-4327 Houston, Texas 77025

BILL BAEHR CONSULTING GEOPHYSICIST

BUS. (713) 2n-9131 8302 BRAESVIEW RES. (713) m-4812 HOUSTON. TEXAS 77071

I Richard S. Barnett

CROSBIE-MACOMBER DALEONIOL061CAL LARORIIORY NC

Wm. A. Brantley, Jr.

Sutte 4 2705 Dtvlsion Street

AAPG OROUP INS[,RANCE PROGRAM SEG OROUP ~NSURANI'E PROORAM

JOHN D. BREMSTELLER BARBARA BREMSTELLER

1013 SAN JACINTOBLTY; HOUSTON TX 77003

EARL BURKE

FWE POST OAK PARK

SUITE 1530

HOUSTON TEXAS 77027

7 1 3/439- 1530

T. WAYNE CAMPBELL PALEO-DATA. INC.

CONSULTING PALEONTOLOGIST AND GEOLOGIST

6619 FLEUR De LIS DRIVE NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA 70124

(504) 488-371 1

~aird wtrophygcal

Group.. RALPH W. BAlRD

"Seismic for Geologists" 3 M O Walnut Bend Houston. Texas 77042

(713) 975-8088 Telex 794577

PAUL H. CARTER. JR EXPLORATlON MANAGER

MC COM EXPLOMFON Co Iml r m SUIT€ 1% (113) 19960) HOUSTON. TEXAS 17ml HOKE (713) 711.138.

JACK COLLE JACK COLLE 81 ASSOC. Consubng Geolog~sts 5 Paleontolog~sts

91 1 Walker. Su~ le 321 - Houston. Texas 77002 (71 3) 228-8221

Jack Colle 1622.9555) J G Ward (497.7298)

GENEOS PETE COKINOS PRROLEUM AND OKKOOlCAL

ENOINEERINO CONSULTANT

947 HAZEL ST BEhIIMONT. TX 77701

W. F. COOIE, JR. PTltSIOEN7

d c c o OIL 4 GAS CO.

aoo TULLY, SUITE 2 0 4

HOUSTON. TEXAS 7 7 0 7 9 (713) 5 3 1 - 9 2 9 0

CHARLES J . CORONA Conanllanl Pelrolrnn Geologwt

il;lTE 9210 . f i ls POYDRAS NEW ORLEANS, LA 70119

Marilyn Crane Consulting Paleontolog~st

Forammilera & Orascoder Jurrsrx to Recent Spec!alm MI Gulf Coast and Offshore Atlantx

KENNETH E. DAVIS GEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT

10806 Archmont Houslon. Texas 77070 R e s . 71 3/469-8727

011 8 Gas Exploration Well Log Analys~s Fteld Development Wellstle Serwces

P O Box 722123 Houston. Texas 77272

DAVID L. D U N N Consull~ny Geolcgtst and Paleontolog~sl

B8oslraiqaphy Paleoecolopy

6103 Old Oak Crrcte Sugar Land Texas 77479

BARRY W. EASTLAND

Geophysical Consul tant

P.O. Box 492 Madison. CT 06443 (203) 245-0440

PAUL,FARREN Geophysical Consultant

Geodala Bu~ldtng 667-3317

5603 S R ~ c e Ave (77081)

James W. Fowler Geolog~st

171M Bufle Creek Suite 154 Hou310n. Texas 77090

on 713156&15UO Res 71 31444.4209

R. T. Garcia & Co.. lnc. P~rr~,/erdrn En,q~neenn# Munu,qrmenr C<,nsulrrr~,q

JOHN GREEN JOHN W. GREEN CO.

Geophysical Consulting and Management

27 Americana Buiidmg I I Dallas Street Officc: (713) 757-1 19

Houston. Texas 77002 Home: (713)465-211

Houston Geo logm Society Bullet~n. November 1987


408 HFYMANN BLVO OFFlCE(3181234 3379 P 0 BOX51858

I GEOLOG1ST AND PETROLEUM ENGINEER

CHAI64MAN OF THE B O A R 0

I HICWLL T UILBOUTI E N E W G I CO

THE HALBOUT" CEHTL-

3100 WLSTHEIHER ROAD TCL 1131 S Z Z 1130

HOUSTON T E I A 5 77056 T W I 9 1 0 1 88, a599

John E. Hankay Prssldent

Hmnkay 011 Compny 850 First Western Bu8Mrq

1300 Msln

Hou~ton Texas 77W2

CIUde E Harmon CONSULTING GEOLOGIST

SUITE 780 (713) 6584115 ONE ALLEN CENTER CERTIFIED PETROLEUM GEOLOGIST HOUSTON. TEXAS 7700:

PETCONS & ASSOCIATES P F T R O I L l M CONIC I T A h T \

STUART HASTINGS < H A I R M A Y

M o n f r o r n e and M ~ c r r

D o t o B o s e A p p l ~ c o t l o n

P r o g r o m m i n ~

13314 Tosco Lone

JOHN H. HEFNER H o u s t o n l e x a s 77075 Computer C o n s u i t a n t (713) 468 949:

9039 VAN FREEWAY 171) 465-4134 BUILDING2W. SUITE219 CERTIFIED PETROLEUM GEOLOOIST UOUSTON.TEXA8 77024 PROCESII(ONAL ENGINEER

BERTON W. HOYT - GEOPHYSICAL CONSULTANT -

13006 South Jennywood - Cyprebs. Texas n429

Ting-Chang Huang Consu l t~ng MlcropaleontoloQlsl

(Calcareous Nannoplankton)

J. R. JACKSON, JR. Petroleum Consultant

6 3 5 R A M B L E W O O D R D

H O U S T O N TEXAS 7 7 0 7 9

( 7 1 3 4 9 7 1861

LARRY L. JONES PRESIDFNT

11771 KATY FRWY

SUITE ROO SPARTAN PkTROI EUM HOLlSTON TEXAS 11070

CORPORATION 113;40! 10?2

B ILL K A L l L

- -- INDEPENDENT

PETROLEUM GEOLOGIST

Geo log~ca l Exp lo ra f~on Consul t ing Development

Victor R. Lahti GEOLOGIST

IUOILockeLane Heuston Tar.. 77077 (713) 4S236Q

THE RUFE LeBLANC SCHOOL OF CLASTlC SEDIMENTS

R u b J. LeBlanc, Sr., Ownor 3751 Untkwood St, Houston, Texas 77025

013) 660-56S

1 3 0 0 M a ~ n S t ree t

S u ~ l e 1442 (7131 739-1520 B u ,

H o u s t o n T e x a s 77002 (713) 462-8215 Re:

N. B. McCARTER & C . E. McCARTER, INC

PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS

2522 HAZARD S T R E E T

H O U S T O N . TEXAS 7 7 0 1 9 6796 ( 7 1 3 ) 5 2 3 - 5 7 3 3

(71 3 ) 529 1881

I. DON McCLELLAND

0 GEOLOGIST

.-. ... P 0 BOX 1 lSS

BOERNE TEXAS 78036 Tel 5122493095

REYMNCE San Antona 51 2698-1 266

&em 512-755-4535

PETROLEUM EVALUATION SOFTWARE

R . L . M c C O Y

.echn~cal and 17535 Pnewood F o r e

; c ~ e n t ~ f ~ c Programm~ng S p r ~ n g . T e x a s 773 B A S I C / F O A T R A N ) (713) 370-25 '

E D W A R D McFARLAN. JR. GEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT

RESIDENCE OFFICE

10631 GAWAW LANE 3131 w ALABAMA. SUITE 531 HOUSTON. TEXAS '7024 HOUSTON. TEXAS 77098

(713) 464-0396 (713) 529-4134

PETKOPHYSICAI. SERVICES INC. WE1.I. 1.W: I N T E H I ~ K E T A ' T I O V S - S t : M I Y A K S

1051 1 t1OI.LY S P K I N O

71,li?*Y-*O:Kl I I O I ' S T O N T E X A S 7 7 0 ,

H o u s t o n G e o l o g ~ c a l Soclety Bu l le t ln November 1 9 8 7

- ---


EVELYN WlLlE MOODY

CONSULTING GEOLOGIST OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION

SUBSURFACE STUDIES TECHNICAL PAPERS

956 THE MAIN BLDG. OFF. 713-654C072 1212 MAIN ST RES 713-789-5999

Morris Geological Enterprises S ~ h r e g l o n o l Srudres Prospel 1 Evoluarror,

Srrorrgraphv P a l e o n r o l o g ~ ~

SUSAN J . MORRIS C o n s u l r r n ~ Geologrsr

Kenneth E. Nelson C o n s u l t i n g Geophys i c i s t

(713) 461-8402 1210 Wisterwood Houston. Texas 77043

I. K. NICHOLS PETROLEUM GEOLOGIST

I t STILL FOREST DRIVE HWSTON. TEXAS 77024

k Consult~ng Petroleum Natural Gas 8 Geological Eng~neer

Harry E. Otell, Jr. P~ l ro leum Consultant

5347 Oueenslorh Houston Texas 77096

LEO PUGH

G u l f Coas t G e o D a t a Co rp

S e ~ s m l c - G r a v ~ t y D a t a

1100 AMERICANA B L D G

Hous ton . Texas 77002 (713) 652-3879

I.J. "PETE" PITRE CONSULTING GEOPHYSICIST

3511 TAMARISK LANE MISSOURI CITY. TEXAS 77458

JOSEPH O. PUTMAN ,111

18002 Kempton Park

370-2241 Sprina. Texas 77379 658-0601

C.M. QUIGLEY. JR Gd0pi.r - WM.1

RAYMOND D. REYNOLDS Geologist

409/295-5506 P.O. BOX 6665 W1 NORMAL PARK HUNTSVILLE. TEXAS 77340 SUITE 204

Cecil R. Rives RIMH(X:K EXPI I )HAI IOY ( X M W K A l ' I O N

SUITE 905 JNE ALLEN CEN'FCR

JAMES W. ROACP PETROLEUM GEOLOGIST

.Rum=", JWR EXPLORATION. INC

2929 8111AI)CI~K. SUITS 314 OFF 71 3-784-4080 HOUSIOW. T I X I . 77042 HOME. 792-9704

I .-- \

HYDREXCO HYDROLOGY APPLIE D T O H Y D R O C A R B O N E X ~ L O R A T t 0 N

ANUDkVELOPMENT

W H ( B I L L ) HOBERTS Ill AIPGCERT PROFESSlONALGEOLOGlST

AAPG CERT PETROLEUM GEOLffilST

1 13 15 BOTHWELL ( 7 1 31 0 6 5 3899 HOUSTON TEXAS USA 77024 (713 ,465 3331

Exploral~on Development

- -

Management Evaluat~on

B.C. ST. MARTIN. JR. Petroleum Geology

10602 Zeus Cove Auslln Tx 78759

011 51213351222 Res 51213354825

G ~ l o g l s t Energy Consultant Envlronmentallst 011

MARTIN M. SHEETS 1973 W. Gray, Suite 4 Houston, Texas 77019

Sulmldence Active Suriacs Faulting

DOMESTIC FOREIGN

LEO SHlSHKEVlSH STRATCO

MICROPALEONTOLOGY 12422 PERTHSHIRE PALEOECOLOGY HOUSTON, TEXAS 77024 REGIONAL GEOLOGY (713) 464-4794

CONSULTING GEOLOGIST

CRAMON STANTON .IISJIOIHT

-- ~p

E. H. STORK, Jr. Consul t rng Geologist & Paleontologist

Special izing i n B i o s t r o t ~ g r a p h y

Paleoecology - Geolog ic In terpretat ions

E H. Stork . , J r & Assoc's.

2190 N. L o o p W e s t

off. Ph. (713) 956-5026 Sui te 308 Res. Ph. (713) 466-9064 Hous ton , TX 77018

CHARLES E. TROWBRIDGE CONSULTING GEOLOGIST

1221 L A M A K SL'ITE 1540 O m I C E 17131 658.50'3R HOUSTON. TEXAS 77010 REslDrucr: 468-3161

LOYD TUTTLE PALK) CoNlEoL IWC.

Houston Geolog~cal Soc~ety Bullet~n. November 1987


BARRY K VAN SANDT PE M B A

VAN S A N M & ASSOCIATES. INC. Petmkum E n g l n c r m g Consuhants

and Ftnancml Analysts

VV WALTER O I L & GAS CORPORATION

J C Walter. Jr Presldenl

9525 Katy Freeway Sulte 138 Off 7 13/465 3792

Res 713467 7256

GENE VAN DYKE I ONE GREENWAY PLAZA HOUSTON. TEXAS 77046

PRESIDENT (7131 877-8544 VAN DYKE ENERGY COMPANY TELEX 792066

LACHUN M VA5S cp) RIsbl

17911 Fall River Cncle Houslon. Texas 77090

240 The Maln Buddmg. 1212 Maln Street Houston. Texas 77002 (7131659-1221

George F. Watford -Invertrnentr-

700 Cltlcorp Center 1200 Srnlth Street

Houston T c x v 77002

JERRY A. WATSON CONSULTING GEOLOGIST

12843 ASHFORD CHASE HOUSTON, TX 77082 (713) 496-7526

LOYD W L E PALEO CONTROL, INC.

CONSULTING PALEONTOLOGISTS

AUGUSTUS 0. WILSON SAKER GEOLOGICAL SERVICES

CIr.BO**TE OEOLOG" 331 WEST 3310 ST EXLLORlTlON AND ?~WDUCTION HOUSTON TEXAS 77018

Walter H. Wornardt Ph. D.

Ymwdent and C hwf (.rologln

CPGS 2583

ROLAND F WRIGHT CONSULTING PALEONTOLOGIST

Dornesttc and lnternat~onal M~cropaleontology

5510 Verdome i n Housfon TX 77092

GULF OF MEXICO TEXAS AND LOUISIANA

ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE INTERNATIONAL

MICROPALEONTOLOGY DRILLING WELLS AND REGIONAL STUDIES 7025 W. TIDWELL RD. H-1 1 1

FORAMINIFERA AND NANNOPLANKTON HOUSTON. TEXAS 77002 (713) 600-4255

LOWER MIOCENE AND OLIGOCENE I REGIONAL PALEO STUDIES I

SOUTH LOUISIANA 1 BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC TOPS AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATIONS

I OVER 2 5 0 WELLS ALL NEW DATA OVER 35 CROSS SECTIONS

CONTACT

MIKE STRATTON

PALEO CONTROL. INC. 7025 W. TIDWELL RD. H-111

HOUSTON. TEXAS 7 7 0 9 2

(7 13) 690-4255

FRJO PALEO STUDIES SIOSTRATIGRAPHIC TOPS AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATIONS

ALL NEW DATA 3 4 5 WELLS 59 CROSS SECTIONS

MATAGORDA GALVESTON JEFFERSON

BRAZORIA CHAMBERS ORANGE

CONTACT

MlKE STRATTON

PALEO CONTROL, INC. 7025 W. TIDWELL RD. H-11 1

HOUSTON. TEXAS 77092

(7 13) 690-4255

3 5 Houston Geolog~cal Soccety Bullet~n. November 1987

"Support those who support our Society." -

ADVERTISERS American Institute of Formation Evaluation Barringer Geoservices Inc. Celeron Oil and Gas Company Core Lab Core Service Inc. A l Curry Edge Petroleum Corporation Ethyl Corporation Jack Foto Four Star Printing co. GECO GeoMap Company Geomasters. Inc. Gibbs & Tibbs, Inc. ln tegratd Exploration Services, Inc. lnternational Oil & Gas Corporation L. A. Martin & Assoc., Inc. The McKenzie Interests, Inc.

Western Geophysical

10 001 R ~ c h r n o n d Avenue P 0 B o x 2469 H o u s t o n . Texas 77252-2469

71 3 789-9600 Telex 762406

Jack Gibbs 810 N Fulton Wharton. Texas 77488 Off (4091 532-5018

Dennis Tibbs 27350 Blueberry HIII, # 13

Conioe. Texas 77385 O f f (713) 367-0768

& qbbS ibbs, inc.

Wireline Logging and Completion Planning Supervision Interpretation Management

CORPUS CHRIST1 884 -0683

HEBBRONVLLE 52 7-4051 VICTORIA

573 -4202

- Morris, Gips, de Graffenried Mosbacher Energy Company Norcen Explorer, Inc. Omni Petroleum Services, Inc. Paleo Control, Inc. Petroleum Information Petrophysics, Inc. ResTech lnc. Schlumberger Teledyne Exploration Terra Resources Inc. TGS Offshore Geophysical Company Tooke International Union Texas Petroleum Vance Usher Western Geophysical James A. Whitson, Jr. Yurna Petroleum Company

The McKen* Interests, Inc. Q 5847 San Felipe Road Sute 4300

Houston, Texas 77057 (713) 783-4300 Telecopier (713) 781-7809

Michael McKenzie C. Pat Ellis Steven D. McKenne Jack Logan Timothy S. McKenzie J. C. Haines Billy J. Neal Joel Pasernan Albert Haertlein Lanny Fraz~er

CASH FOR OVERRIDING ROYALTY

Capital budget to purchase producing royalties, production from 500 mcf gas or 4 0 barrels oil per day and up. In house evaluation staff for quick response. Contact AL CURRY at 713-228-8888 or write to 10014 Balmforth, Houston, Texas 77096

"NOW Serving The Houston ~ r e a "

C A R R l Z O SPRINGS 8 76 - 5217

S AN ANTONIO 8 24.-6081

HOUSTON (7131457-851

Houston Geological Society Bulletin. November 1987 3 6

"Supm h e who suppon ow Sociccy."

bb GEOMAP COMRCINY 3701 Kirby Drive, Ste. 750


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P A I D Hourton, Texan kmdt No. 8254

Documents

plume 30 &mber 3 · Energy Industry Paramithia, George P. Mitchell ..... 15 Geo-Events and Calendar. ..... 19 Committee News ..... 24 Exploration Summary, Edited by Bill Eisenhardt