Biography:

Dr. Steven Tedesco has thirty-four years of experience in the resource business involving all aspects of petroleum exploration and production with additional experiences in coal and precious metal mining, ranching and farming. Dr.Tedesco is a high achiever who has a history of successful business management and money raising and is looking to serve on the board for a company with the right assets, vision and organization.

Abstract:

Surface geochemistry is an integral part in finding petroleum reservoirs when used in conjunction with subsurface and seismic data. Surface geochemical methods presented here are micro-magnetics, iodine and soil gas results that detailed regional and specific areas for further exploration and delineation by subsurface and seismic tools. The use of surface geochemical methods is based on the concept that vertically migrating hydrocarbons migrate from a reservoir to the surface along micro-pores, micro-fractures and micro-unconformities. The petroleum fluids migrate as the result of simple physics whereby they move toward an area of ever decreasing pressure. The petroleum compounds eventually enter the soil substrate and react with existing oxides, carbonates, metals, plants, bacteria, water and clays. They can cause changes in Eh, pH, deposition of or removal of radioactive, halogen and carbonate minerals. Petroleum compounds, such as methane and ethane will escape into the atmosphere. One of the pressing questions for an explorationist is whether a target defined by subsurface geology, 3D or 2D seismic contains hydrocarbons. The presence or absence of a surface geochemical anomaly determines if exploration should stop or move forward. The lack of a surface geochemical anomaly, as defined by actual drilling case histories, there is a 95% chance it will result in a dry hole, marginal or uneconomic well. The presence of a surface geochemical anomaly, strong or weak, definitive or chaotic in shape, does not predict a productive discovery. Based on published articles from last 80 years the use of surface geochemistry can increase drilling success from 10% to 60%. Surface geochemistry has proven to be a very successful exploration tool when integrated with subsurface and seismic methods. These methods can be used to find conventional reservoirs in any basins in the world such as the Assam, Krishna Godavari and Cauvery basins in India. The Assam Basin which has several producing structures related to a wrench fault system. Several structures are not productive. The basin would benefit from surface geochemistry in that it could screen areas to determine if there is hydrocarbons present or not prior to shooting 3D seismic and drilling.  A similar situation can be found in identifying productive stratigraphic areas in the deltaic system in the Krishina-Godavari Basin. Presented here will be onshore case histories utilizing surface geochemistry with seismic and subsurface geology from the Denver, Williston, Cherokee and Forest City basins, USA; Michigan basin, Canada and the Zuunbayan and Unegt basins, China.

 

Biography:

Daniel J. Soeder is director of the Energy Resources Initiative at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City, SD, USA.  He joined SD Mines in May 2017 with eight years of experience as a research scientist at the Morgantown, WV campus of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory, where he investigated the environmental risks of unconventional oil and gas development, and 18 years as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studying groundwater contamination on the U.S. east coast, and nuclear waste isolation in Nevada.  Prior to joining the USGS, he spent a decade with the Gas Technology Institute in Chicago, researching hydrocarbon production from unconventional resources.  He also worked as a DOE contractor collecting and characterizing Eastern Gas Shale Project cores.  He holds a BS from Cleveland State University, and an MS from Bowling Green State University (Ohio), both in geology

Abstract:

The National Ground Water Association in the United States hosted workshops in 2014 and 2017 to bring together a group of nearly 100 prominent North American hydrology researchers to assess the current understanding of potential risks to groundwater quality from hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and unconventional oil and gas development. 

The consensus from both meetings was that fracking poses two main risks to groundwater quality: 1) stray gas migration, and 2) potential contamination from chemical and fluid spills.  Risk assessment is complicated by the lack of pre-drilling baseline measurements, limited access to well sites and industry data, the constant introduction of new chemical additives to frack fluids, and difficulties comparing data sets obtained by different sampling and analytical methods.  Specific recommendations to reduce uncertainties and meet science needs for better assessment of groundwater risks include improving data-sharing among researchers, adopting standardized methodologies, collecting pre-drilling baseline data, installing dedicated monitoring wells, developing shale-specific environmental indicators, and providing greater access to field sites, samples, and industry data to the research community.