A former Society of Exploration Geophysicists president recently told me that it takes years to become an accomplished geophysicist. But a new training program offered by Subsurface Consultants & Associates LLC (SCA) is focused on reducing years to weeks.

Called the “Geoscience Subsurface Interpretation and Mapping Certification Training Program,” this one-of-a-kind 12-week program is aimed at bringing new geoscientists into the fold as the older folks begin to retire. According to a press release about the program, “As the quest to find more oil and gas is expanding at unprecedented levels, the baby boomer geoscientists and engineers are retiring, creating a vacuum where experience once thrived. This vacuum, the prices of oil and gas, and industry expansion are creating a great demand for new hires from university or non-oil and gas disciplines to enter the upstream E&P industry.”

But if it takes years to gain this experience, how can these new recruits be of any help in the short term? That’s where this new training program comes in. It’s an attempt to “jumpstart” their new careers in an intensive and hands-on training environment that will not only teach them the fundamentals but also engage them in real-world activities. The program is for both new graduates in geoscience and people from other disciplines such as mining, environmental, coal, and other geoscience disciplines who are considering changing careers to enter the oil and gas industry.

The first six weeks of the course will be instruction, covering topics such as structural styles; petrophysics; multiple Bischke plot analysis; seismic survey design, acquisition, and processing; principles of seismic interpretation; geological mapping; reservoir engineering; and sequence stratigraphy. Then the real fun begins. Students will be given a project that has already been interpreted, mapped, and evaluated by an experienced team of geologists, geophysicists, and engineers. During the last six weeks of the class, students will work through four phases and then provide a report on their findings.

Phase 1 is the initial exploration phase. Participants will be divided into teams of two or three and will get an overview of the regional geology as well as producing fields in the region. Using seismic and well data along with industry-recommended practices, teams will begin their interpretation work, correlating well logs, interpreting seismic lines, and building one or more cross-sections. Based on their regional knowledge they will begin interpreting key faults and multiple horizons, ultimately recommending a drilling location.

“It’s very hands-on,” said Daniel Tearpock, chairman and chief executive officer of SCA. “There are no workstations. They’ll be correlating well log data, interpreting seismic sections, and making maps all by hand.

“The managers we’ve talked to love this. The students will make the maps by hand so that they understand the concepts from the grass roots up.”
If they make a discovery, they move on to Phase 2.

In Phase 2 they will develop the discovery by determining what additional seismic data might be needed. Using this new data along with information from the new well and available analog field data, the teams will assess the discovery in terms of whether or not it meets pre-drill expectations and on the depth, areal extent, estimated water contact, and estimated hydrocarbons in place. Based on their interpretation of these findings, the teams will propose a development plan.

Phase 3 has two parts. The first part involves the drilling of additional wells in the field. Results from these wells will be used to conduct a detailed evaluation and to create top and base of porosity maps, net sand maps, and net pay maps. They will then conduct a final volumetric estimate of in-place and recoverable hydrocarbons. In the second part of the phase, the teams will use all of their acquired data and understanding to look for additional prospects within the area.

Phase 4 takes a leap forward in time, providing teams with several years of production history with which they will evaluate the field’s performance compared to their estimates. At the end of the program students will give a project report and presentation of their results.

“There’s nothing like this in oil companies,” Tearpock said. “And there’s nobody offering it to the industry as a whole.”

Tearpock said the plan is to present the program once this year (Aug. 25-Nov. 14) and conduct two public programs next year as well as offering the course as an internal training program to specific E&P companies. Already there is considerable interest, both from potential students and from oil companies eager to get feedback on the first class. After all, if the program is at all successful, it could have serious and positive implications for the manpower shortage.

“If such a program were offered internally by an oil company, it would cost an individual company several hundred thousand dollars and take several years to complete,” Tearpock said. For more information, visit www.scacompanies.com.

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