Field Trips and Short Courses

There are a limited number of spaces available for both short courses and field trips. If you plan on attending either a short course or a field trip, please register early. If all short courses and field trips are full upon registration and you would like your name on the waiting list, check in at the registration desk starting at 7:00 a.m. on 16 September 2013.

The last day to make changes to or cancel your short course or field trip selection is 5 September 2013. If you will be unable to attend, you may send another registered student in your place. Please email student.expo.students@gmail.com as soon as possible.

Arrive early to your field trip or short course. Transportation will not wait for latecomers. Students who have not checked-in by starting time will be considered no-shows and their space will be made available to students on the waiting list.

Check the instructions on your short course or field trip summary as some have strict attire requirements.

Anadarko Drilling Rig Tour

We will spend a day in East Texas and go an active drilling location to tour a drilling rig. We will also have a classroom discussion about wellsite operations and field development. This is an exciting and essential part of the energy industry and petroleum geoscientists routinely; (a) use wellsite data to assist in development and exploration efforts, and (b) make decisions that affect current and future drilling operations. This tour will give you a great introduction to this facet of our profession.

This trip will depart on Monday, 16 September in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center near entrances D&E (by the sky bridge to the Hilton Americas hotel) at 7:30 a.m. and will return by 5:00 p.m. , in time for the Ice Breaker/Poster Session. If you are presenting a poster, please drop your poster off at the registration desk prior to departure. The cost to register for the trip is $25. Transportation and lunch are included. All participants are responsible for and will be required to wear steel toed boots and long pants. All other necessary safety equipment, instruction, and a guidebook will be provided.

University of Houston Coastal Trip

On this field trip we will examine the modern and late Quaternary environments along the East Texas coast. Sea level has been rising and falling fast enough during the late Quaternary that sedimentary sequences have been formed that are thin enough to be imaged with high-resolution seismic data but are thick enough to be preserved on the shelf. These sequences are excellent analogs to ancient deposits that may have been formed during periods of relatively slow sea-level change. The magnitude of sea-level change during the late Quaternary has been great enough to affect the entire shelf and form full sequences. Also, the processes controlling facies architecture (i.e., fluvial input, storm influence, etc.) are at work regardless of the rate of sea-level rise and fall. The East Texas coast and adjacent continental shelf is an ideal natural laboratory for sedimentological work.

During this field trip we will visit and/or discuss several depositional environments, and examine sediment cores and high-resolution seismic records from these and other offshore environments. See http://gulf.rice.edu/fieldtrip_coastal.html for photos from past trips. The objective is to understand the facies architecture of these environments, the distribution of these facies on the continental shelf during the last glacial-eustatic cycle, and their preservation potential.

Core Laboratories, Lab Tour

This afternoon field trip will give you the opportunity to visit the US based Advanced Technology Center of Core Laboratories. Core Laboratories is a leading provider of proprietary and patented reservoir description, production enhancement and reservoir management services for the global petroleum industry. These services enable our clients to optimize reservoir performance and maximize hydrocarbon recovery from producing fields. Our staff of geoscientists and engineers work in conjunction with clients to deliver solutions rather than simply data. Integration of the disciplines will reduce overall project cycle time and add value.

The tour will begin with a brief overview of Service Company career opportunities. We will show you what happens to a core when it is delivered to the laboratory and what tests can be run to evaluate this valuable data:

• Core layout
• Core processing and wellsite gear
• Routine core analyses
• Special core analyses
• Rock mechanics
• Petrography / Geology
• Petrophysics
• Reservoir Fluids

The Company has over 70 offices in more than 50 countries and is located in every major oil-producing province in the world. The company provides its services to the world's major, national and independent oil companies.

This trip will depart on Monday, 16 September in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center near entrances D&E (by the sky bridge to the Hilton Americas hotel) at 12:00 p.m. and will return by 4:00 p.m. , in time for the Ice Breaker/Poster Session. The cost to register for the trip is $25. Transportation and lunch are included.

Weatherford Labs

Geochemical Services Group is offering a morning tour, on 16 September, that will provide students the opportunity to visit our US based advanced geochemical laboratory complex where a large majority of North American geochemistry work is completed. In this extensive North American region and globally, Weatherford Labs is a leading provider of analytical and interpretive geochemistry. Our staff of geoscientists and lab technicians work together with our clients to provide useful interpretive support and guidance in addition to providing high quality data for clients. As a result, clients will better constrain relevant petroleum systems and identify production sweet spots. The tour will include an in-depth look throughout our laboratory facility where we will show you how the proper handling of oil, rock, and gas samples enable numerous yet reliable laboratory analyses to help evaluate plays and prospects.

Geochemical services include:

• Rock Geochemistry - total organic carbon (TOC), programmed pyrolysis, vitrinite reflectance
• Full range of detailed analytical services - mud gas composition, fingerprinting of rock extracts and oils, carbon isotopes, detailed biomarker assessments
• In addition we offer the following exclusive services
  • Compositional kinetics
  • Pre-test API
  • Viscosity
  • Pour point
  • GOR
  • Oil-water saturations predictions

We also offer applied research capabilities in organic geochemistry!

These services enable our clients to determine oil quality assessment and pay zone identification and confirmation prior to well completion. Assessment of reservoir continuity, production allocation, and EOR evaluation are also available using oil samples and require no well shut-ins. Interpretive services include: production risk assessments of unconventional shale reservoirs, hydrocarbon source, maturation, and migration identification, and much more!

We have 41 labs operating in 22 different countries and our focus is to increase recovery rates and enhance productivity through efficient technologies, innovative people, and a locally focused service structure.

This trip will depart on Monday, 16 September in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center near entrances D&E (by the sky bridge to the Hilton Americas hotel) at 8:30 a.m. and will return by 4:00 p.m. The cost to register for the trip is $25. Transportation and lunch are included.

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Monday Short Courses

Schlumberger/WesternGeco Technology Day

Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services company, is offering an offsite short course on Monday, 16 September. Our expertise in subsurface imaging and suite of services provided to our clients throughout the E&P cycle will be highlighted. In collaboration with our customers, we provide seamless, tailored solutions to every geophysical and geological challenge.

The course will be held at Schlumberger's local WesternGeco campus. WesternGeco is a leading geophysical services company, and the facility selected is one of the largest private commercial data centers in the world. The event is being organized by Bob Davis, a Schlumberger Scientific Advisor, and will be hosted by Anish Kumar, a Schlumberger Geology Domain expert. The course will feature presentations by selected PetroTechnical Experts, spanning our industry leading technologies in geophysical exploration, reservoir characterization and geological modeling using our Petrel software suite. A tour of the WesternGeco data center is also planned.

The final presentation list is yet to be determined, but may include:

• Geological Applications of Borehole Images
• Advances in Deep Water, Sub Salt, and Drilling Optimization
• Reservoir Characterization and Simulation of Tight Gas Sands
• Applied Schlumberger Geosciences Solutions for a Client Deepwater Project
• Petrel: 3D Geological Modeling
• Bringing Geology into Focus - Integrated Methods to Improve Seismic Images
• Applications of LWD and Well Placement

Schlumberger is currently active in over 80 countries, with 110,000 employees of over 140 nationalities. We are able to provide global expertise to our clients in the industry, and diverse challenges to our employees. We invite you to learn about our advanced technologies and career opportunities in the Geosciences.

This trip will depart on Monday, 16 September in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center near entrances D&E (by the sky bridge to the Hilton Americas hotel) at 8:00 a.m. and will return by 4:30 p.m. , with enough time to prepare for your evening activities. The cost to register for the course is $25. Transportation and lunch are included.

Lease Sale in the Gulf of Mexico

Presented by Shell

In oil and gas exploration the greatest competition is often associated with the acquisition of the lease or resource. Onshore or offshore the concepts are similar, develop your "play" or geologic concept to find and develop hydrocarbons, and then locate and acquire your leases. Twice a year, the United States Government holds a lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to encourage the discovery of new oil and gas fields and to increase domestic production. Oil companies compete aggressively to have the opportunity drill the most attractive of these exploration opportunities.

This short course will provide an excellent opportunity to improve your understanding of what really happens in offshore exploration and development. The lease sale officiators will illustrate how Shell's understanding of the Mars Field (one of the largest in the Gulf) evolved from the time before it was drilled to when it was fully developed, and give an introduction to geological risk. 

You will be invited to review three "undrilled" prospects in the Gulf of Mexico as a part of a team, form your own technical views, and participate in a simulated lease sale. Teams will compete against each other and will see the ultimate results of their technical and business decisions.

This will provide an excellent opportunity to improve your understanding of what really happens in offshore exploration and development and, more importantly, will give you a chance to outdo your peers in the race to be "the most successful up-and-coming energy company".

This short course will take place on Monday, 16 September from 1pm to 5:00 p.m. in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Please check on site for room number. The cost to register for the course is $25.

ExxonMobil "Integrated Basin and Play Analysis" (IBA)

Offered by ExxonMobil

The Imperial Barrel Award program is a student competition judged by industry experts. Winning teams have the opportunity for cash prizes for their school, networking, and travel. The course, Integrated Basin and Play Analysis, mirrors a student's experience in the AAPG student competition. This course will explore basin analysis and play as they relate to hydrocarbon exploration and development through lectures and exercises. Students will learn about the geological processes underlying the concepts of basin development. Students will also predict hydrocarbon play elements, to integrate the play elements to a play summary.

This short course will be taught by Bob Stewart, Global Geoscience Recruiting Supervisor, and other technical experts from ExxonMobil on Monday, 16 September from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Please check on site for room number. The cost to register for the course is $25. Lunch is included.

We Made a Discovery! What Now?

Offered by Noble Energy

Several short courses focus on play elements and acquiring acreage. But what happens after a wildcat makes a significant discovery? This course leads participants through some of the subsequent steps.

Using actual field data, you will work through the major processes in progressing from a discovery to an initial field development plan. You will be introduced to the discovery, receive a succinct summary of reflection seismology, and tie the wildcat well results to a 3D seismic volume. Reservoir mapping and seismic data analysis will quantify reservoir quality and lead to an estimate of recoverable reserves. Working in teams, you will decide total number of platforms and wells, and where each well should intersect the reservoir so as to optimize field development. A simple value versus cost analysis will reveal the profit (or loss) associated with your field development plan. For the final activity, each team will present their plan and amount of profit.

This is a "learn by doing" short course in which you will work the data 50% of the time. The data is limited to paper, but the gained skills are easy to transfer to computer-based analyses. Students will have to opportunity to acquire valuable knowledge and have some fun along the way.

This short course will take place on Monday, 16 September from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Please check on site for room number. The cost to register for the course is $25. Lunch is included.

Basic Open and Cased Hole Log Interpretation

Offered by Schlumberger

Introductory course into the measurement, reading, interpretation, and use of Wireline logs in both Open hole and Cased hole logging situations. Emphasis on reading log curves and getting usable data from traditional log formats.

This short course will take place on Monday, 16 September from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Please check on site for room number. The cost to register for the course is $25. Lunch is included.

Recruiter Panel Discussion

Bring your questions to the "Recruiter Panel Discussion". For all students not presenting a poster this year a panel discussion will be held during the closed portion of the poster session. This venue will provide students a chance to probe a panel consisting of an experienced geoscientist, a recently hired geoscientist, and a company recruiter. Come with any questions related to your future in the oil and gas industry! This will take place on Monday, 16 September from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

How to Get the Most from the Student Expo

Whether it is your last visit or your first, please join us for a discussion in tips and tricks on navigating the Student Expo. Here we will discuss what to do to maximize your experience before, during, and after the expo and how to get the most out of your time here. Topics to be covered range from securing interviews to interview etiquette and beyond! Industry professionals will be available to answer your questions, offer their advice, and share their experiences on what they did to land the job!

This will take place on Monday, 16 September from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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Tuesday Short Courses

How to Select an Employer and Evaluate an Offer

Presented by Shell

An insider's look... Let's talk frankly! You've spent years in college, visited recruiters and networked. You've sent out your resume, applied to multiple company web sites, and gone on a bunch of interviews. And now the moment you've been waiting for is here... You have job offers to consider. I will bet you didn't think making a decision would be this difficult, but this is serious business. The job you take now may be yours for a long time to come. Come join this discussion or ask any question about things worth considering when evaluating job offers.

*This short course will take place on Tuesday, 17 September from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Intro to Microseismic Frac Monitoring

Presented by Peter M. Duncan

Gas and oil shale plays are dominating E&P operations in the US these days. These plays, uneconomic just a decade ago, are now accounting for an increasing percentage of our reserve base. It's not that the rocks have changed, but rather horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and microseismic monitoring technologies have allowed for hydrocarbons trapped in these rocks to be extracted as never before.

This one hour lecture will introduce you to these shale plays and the technologies that have enabled this amazing development, with particular emphasis on the techniques of microseismic monitoring; data acquisition, processing and analysis.

About the instructor: Peter M. Duncan is President and CEO of MicroSeismic, Inc. a Houston based oil field service company. He holds a PhD in Geophysics from the University of Toronto. He began his career as an exploration geophysicist with Shell Canada before joining Digicon Geophysical, first in Calgary then in Houston. In 1987 he helped Digicon found ExploiTech Inc, an exploration and production consultancy. He was named President of ExploiTech when it became a subsidiary of Landmark Graphics in 1989. In 1992 he was one of 3 founders of 3DX Technologies Inc., an independent oil and gas exploration company where he served as Vice President and Chief Geophysicist. Duncan was 2003-04 President of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG). Duncan was the Fall 2008 SEG/AAPG Distinguished Lecturer speaking on the subject of Passive Seismic at 45 venues around the world. He is an Honorary Member of SEG, the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG), the Geophysical Society of Houston (GSH) and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE). He received the Enterprise Champion Award from the Houston Business Journal in 2010, the World Oil Innovative Thinker Award in 2011 and is the Ernst and Young Gulf Coast Technology Entrepreneur of the Year for 2013.

* This short course will take place on Tuesday, 17 September from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

** We understand that students may have interviews scheduled during this time frame and may need to come and go. This shouldn't prohibit you from attending this course.

Screening of Switch

Every energy resource — fossil, nuclear and renewable — is undergoing profound changes. And overall, we're gradually shifting from coal and oil to the energies of tomorrow. This sweeping transition is the subject of Switch. But rather than advocate for how it should happen, Switch travels the world to discover how it most likely will happen. Switch is also about a changing energy conversation. Today, it's polarized and unproductive. Switch focuses on practical realities and encourages a balanced understanding. Finally, Switch is about changing the way we use energy, to realize the many economic and environmental benefits of efficiency.

* This screening of Switch will play on Tuesday, 17 September between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The film is 98 minutes long; starting times are approximately 8:00 a.m., 9:38 a.m., and 11:16 a.m.

** We understand that students may have interviews scheduled during this time frame and may need to come and go. This shouldn't prohibit you from attending this course.

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