New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Petroleum geoscience (including geology and geophysics) is quietly emerging as one of the exciting research fields in the geosciences, and the market for students trained in the field is heating rapidly. Several trends in the subdiscipline are adding to the excitement. First and foremost is the development of the multidisciplinary team approach. Geologists, geophysicists and engineers are now working in teams to solve problems, rather than working in isolation or (at times) competing. Undiscovered large reservoirs are increasingly rare in the Lower 48, and much of the current emphasis is geared towards enhancing production from existing fields (some of which are expected to produce 10 % or less of the oil in place with traditional production strategies). The geologist, geophysicist and engineer must pool their expertise in order to characterize the reservoir, and devise production strategies that maximize production. Three·dimensional seismic is one of the cornerstones of this approach. These data provide 100 % coverage of a portion of the subsurface, thus eliminating much of the ambiguity involved with traditional subsurface mapping. New techniques are being developed to determine reservoir properties (e.g., porosity) of inter-well areas directly from the seismic data. Modern computer graphics capabilities are being pushed by the needs of seismic interpretation teams to be able to rapidly visualize and interactively interpret seismic, log and other data. Subsurface maps (2-D) or reservoir models (3-D) are therefore being generated more quickly and more accurately (using all available data) than has previously been possible. Global demand for fossil fuels is rising more rapidly than our ability to bring new reserves on line. "Mature" petroleum provinces such as New Mexico are being re-examined to look for undiscovered reserves and to maximize production from existing fields. This new interest, combined with the importance of oil and gas to the economic well-being of this state (> 40 % of annual revenues are derived from the petroleum industry), should lead to significant new research possibilities in the field of petroleum geoscience.