ALBERT

Description: A 300-m (1000-ft)-thick succession of shallow- and warm-water carbonates has been studied in well cores from the southernmost Barents Sea, offshore north Norway. These upper Paleozoic strata contain numerous zones of moderate to high porosity, including a wide range of depositional facies, despite moderately high burial temperatures and the absence of petroleum charge. Most porosity appears to be either primary or created during early (eogenetic) diagenesis. Negative correlation between porosity and both bulk-rock alumina content and stylolite frequency reflects the influence of phyllosilicate minerals in localizing stylolitic dissolution. This provides part of the explanation for the overall correlation between porosity and the platform's stratigraphic evolution. The early stage of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate deposition has low porosity because of extensive chemical compaction in aluminous beds. The following siliciclastic-poor stage shows upward-increasing porosity associated with aggradation of muddy buildups and wackestones, followed by the progradation of a more proximal facies belt of thinly bedded dolomitic mudstones. Maximum porosity development occurs in the overlying, little-dolomitized grain-shoal facies belt, which shows upward decrease in porosity because of a transgressive trend that developed progressively lower energy depositional conditions, favoring the occurrence of stylolite-prone shaly laminations. A general porosity-favorable factor is the presence of a stratified column of high-salinity brine, enforcing a closed diagenetic system during burial. Limestones and dolostones comprising this platform have very different proportions of low and high porosity values. Limestones have positively skewed frequency distribution (many samples 〈5% porosity), whereas dolostones have higher average porosity with symmetric distribution (few samples 〈5% porosity). The low limestone porosities result from cementation by coarse calcite-spar in grain-dominated samples and matrix compaction and cementation in muddy facies, features that are less common in dolostones possibly because of lesser propensity for stylolite development and the resistance of early-dolomitized matrix to compaction. Steve received a Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1978. He works on sandstone and carbonate petrology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy.

Description: Reservoir characterization, modeling, and simulation were undertaken to improve production from Womack Hill field (eastern Gulf Coast, United States). This field produces oil from Upper Jurassic Smackover carbonate shoal reservoirs. These reservoirs occur in vertically stacked, heterogeneous depositional and porosity cycles. The cycles consist of lime mudstone and wackestone at the base and ooid grainstone at the top. Porosity has been enhanced through dissolution and dolomitization. Porosity is chiefly interparticle, solution-enlarged interparticle, grain moldic, intercrystalline dolomite, and vuggy pores. Dolostone pore systems and flow units have the highest reservoir potential. Petroleum-trapping mechanisms include a fault trap (footwall uplift with closure to the south against a major west-southeast–trending normal fault) in the western area, a footwall uplift trap associated with a possible southwest-northeast–trending normal fault in the south-central area, and a salt-cored anticline with four-way dip closure in the eastern area. Potential barriers to flow are present as a result of petrophysical differences among and within the cycles, as well as the presence of normal faulting. Reservoir performance analysis and simulation indicate that the unitized western area has less than 1 MMSTB of oil remaining to be recovered, and that the eastern area has 2–3 MMSTB of oil to be recovered. A field-scale reservoir management strategy that includes the drilling of infill wells in the eastern area of the field and perforating existing wells in stratigraphically higher porosity zones in the unitized western area is recommended for sustaining production from the Womack Hill field. Ernest A. Mancini is regional director of the Eastern Gulf Region of the Petroleum Technology Council, director of the Center for Sedimentary Basin Studies, and professor in petroleum geology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama. His research focus is on reservoir characterization and modeling, petroleum systems, and the application of stratigraphic analysis to petroleum exploration.Tom Blasingame is an associate professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in petroleum engineering. He is a distinguished member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and a member of the Society for Exploration Geophysicists and AAPG. Rosalind Archer holds a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Stanford University. Her research interests are in reservoir characterization, well testing, and reservoir simulation. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. She is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. Brian Panetta is a research associate in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama. He received a B.S. degree from the University of South Carolina, an M.S. degree from the University of Kentucky, and an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. His research interests are in reservoir characterization and geologic modeling. Juan Carlos Llinás obtained his B.A degree from the National University of Colombia in 1995 and his M.S. degree in 2003 from the University of Alabama, and he is currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama. He works in geologic modeling of oil fields with siliciclastic and carbonate reservoirs using well-log, core, and seismic data. Charles D. Haynes is a businessman and educator with degrees in mining and petroleum engineering. He was an independent petroleum producer before joining the faculty at the University of Alabama. He continues his professional practice through minerals-related research, consulting, and joint ownership of an independent oil-producing company. He serves on the State Board of Licensure for Engineers and Land Surveyors. Joe Benson is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama. His research interests lie in carbonate sedimentology and sedimentary petrology. He received a B.A. degree from the College of Wooster and an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati.

Description: The 87Sr/86Sr compositions of formation waters that were collected from 71 wells producing from a Pennsylvanian carbonate reservoir in New Mexico display a well-defined distribution, with radiogenic waters (up to 0.710129) at the updip western part of the reservoir, grading downdip to less radiogenic waters (as low as 0.708903) to the east. Salinity (2800–50,000 mg/L) displays a parallel trend; saline waters to the west pass downdip to brackish waters. Elemental and isotopic data indicate that the waters originated as meteoric precipitation and acquired their salinity and radiogenic 87Sr through dissolution of Upper Permian evaporites. These meteoric-derived waters descended, perhaps along deeply penetrating faults, driven by gravity and density, to depths of more than 7000 ft (2100 m). The 87Sr/86Sr and salinity trends record influx of these waters along the western field margin and downdip flow across the field, consistent with the strong water drive, potentiometric gradient, and tilted gas-oil-water contacts. The formation water 87Sr/86Sr composition can be useful to evaluate subsurface flow and reservoir behavior, especially in immature fields with scarce pressure and production data. In mature reservoirs, Sr isotopes can be used to differentiate original formation water from injected water for waterflood surveillance. Strontium isotopes thus provide a valuable tool for both static and dynamic reservoir characterization in conjunction with conventional studies using seismic, log, core, engineering, and production data. Roger Barnaby has conducted stratigraphic studies of carbonates and siliciclastics in outcrop and subsurface for 15 years. He holds a Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. degree from East Carolina University. Barnaby has worked on sedimentary successions of the Gulf Coast, Permian basin, Alaska North Slope, Middle East, and Caspian region. He maintains interests in carbonate diagenesis and geochemistry.Gregg Oetting received an M.A. degree in geology in 1995 from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of six publications concerning geochemical and strontium isotopic variations in Edwards aquifer groundwaters. For the past seven years, Oetting has traded energy futures for leading merchant energy concerns. He works for an independent consulting business in Houston, Texas. Guoqiu Gao received his B.S and M.S. degrees in geology from Central-South University, Hunan, China, and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Texas at Austin. He works for a major oil company in Houston, Texas. His current interests lie in the field of geoscience computing.

Description: In the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, Upper Jurassic Smackover inner ramp, shallow-water thrombolite buildups developed on paleotopographic features in the eastern part of the Mississippi Interior Salt basin and in the Manila and Conecuh subbasins. These thrombolites attained a thickness of 58 m (190 ft) and were present in an area of as much as 6.2 km2 (2.4 mi2). Although these buildups have been exploration targets for some 30 yr, new field discoveries continue to be made in this region. Thrombolites were best developed on a hard substrate during a rise in sea level under initial zero to low background sedimentation rates in low-energy and eurytopic paleoenvironments. Extensive microbial growth occurred in response to available accommodation space. The demise of the thrombolites corresponded to changes in the paleoenvironmental conditions associated with an overall regression of the sea. The keys to drilling successful wildcat wells in the thrombolite reservoir play are to (1) use three-dimensional seismic reflection technology to find paleohighs and to determine whether potential thrombolite reservoir facies occur on the crest and/or flanks of these features and are above the oil-water contact; (2) use the characteristics of thrombolite bioherms and reefs as observed in outcrop to develop a three-dimensional geologic model to reconstruct the growth of thrombolite buildups on paleohighs for improved targeting of the preferred dendroidal and chaotic thrombolite reservoir facies; and (3) use the evaporative pumping mechanism instead of the seepage reflux or mixing zone models as a means for assessing potential dolomitization of the thrombolite boundstone. Ernest A. Mancini is regional director of the Eastern Gulf Region of the Petroleum Technology Council, director of the Center for Sedimentary Basin Studies, and professor in petroleum geology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama. His research focus is on reservoir charactertization and modeling, petroleum systems, and the application of stratigraphic analysis to petroleum exploration.Juan Carlos Llinás obtained his B.A degree from the National University of Colombia in 1995 and his M.S. degree in 2003 from the University of Alabama, and he is currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama. He is studying Smackover oil fields associated with microbial reef buildups and genetically related depositional facies using well and seismic data. William Parcell is an assistant professor in the Department of Geology at Wichita State University. His research integrates sequence stratigraphy, microbial sedimentology, and soft-computing techniques in stratigraphic modeling. He received his B.S. degree (1994) from the University of the South (Sewanee, Tennessee), his M.S. degree (1997) from the University of Delaware, and his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama (2000). Marc Aurell received his B.A. degree (1985) and his Ph.D. (1990) in geology from Zaragoza University. He is currently working at Zaragoza University as a professor. Most of his work in the last 20 years has been concentrated on facies and sequence-stratigraphic analysis of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic carbonate platforms developed in the Iberian basin and in the Pyrenees (Spain). Beatriz Bádenas obtained her B.A. degree (1991) and her Ph.D. (1999) in geology at Zaragoza University, where she teaches courses in stratigraphy and sedimentology. Her major research interests include facies and sequential analysis of carbonate sediments in shallow platform settings. She is currently studying the application of high-resolution sequence stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy to Upper Jurassic carbonate platform strata of the Iberian basin. Reinhold Leinfelder, paleontologist, carbonate sedimentologist, and basin analyst, specializes in Jurassic reef systems. He received his Diploma degree from the University of Munich in 1980 and his Ph.D. in 1985 and a postdoctoral habil degree in 1989 from the University of Mainz. He was an associate professor at the University of Stuttgart (1989–1998), and he is now a full professor at the University of Munich. Joe Benson is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama. His research interests lie in carbonate sedimentology and sedimentary petrology. He received a B.A. degree from the College of Wooster and an M.S. degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati.

Description: The high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) areas of the central North Sea constitute an important hydrocarbon province. This includes the deep, Mesozoic reservoirs in United Kingdom quadrants 22, 23, 29, and 30. This study was undertaken to better understand oil and gas compositional histories in HPHT hydrocarbon systems and to help identify new exploration opportunities. The Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation has been the source for both oil and gas over the entire area, with additional gas charge from the humic coals of the Middle Jurassic Pentland Formation in the western graben areas. The southern Forties Montrose high, with its southward-plunging Mesozoic terraces, is host to numerous oil and gas fields with temperatures ranging from 90 to 180°C and formation pressures whose gradient to the surface exceeds 0.8 psi/ft (0.192 MPa/m). Several of these oil accumulations have undergone in-reservoir thermal cracking, resulting in a lighter, single-phase fluid, together with a pyrobitumen residue in the pore volumes. With several traps at or near their leak-off pressure, the likelihood of top seal failure and gas leakage is prevalent. Such top seal failure is intermittent and, in some instances, is associated with gas chimneys. The main causes of pressure increase in Mesozoic sediments are thought to be volume increases associated with gas generation from source rocks, clay dehydration, and thermal cracking of oil. Top seal failure because of pressure buildup by salt diapirism and the buoyancy of large hydrocarbon columns has resulted in a series of compositionally fractionated oils and gases. A new technique is presented, whereby the geochemical character of a shallow (Tertiary) oil reservoir that has undergone fractionation can help lower the risk of detecting the presence of hydrocarbon at depth in potential, deep (Mesozoic) reservoirs. Gary Isaksen coordinates geoscientists and technical programs in ExxonMobil's Upstream Geoscience companies. Isaksen holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees and a Ph.D. from the University of Bergen, Norway. Since he joined Exxon in 1985, he has worked on hydrocarbon system analyses in numerous sedimentary basins worlwide as well as the application of petroleum geochemistry to development and production.

Description: The Cerro Toro Formation in the Torres del Paine National Park, southern Chile, contains a series of deep-water channel complexes deposited in an elongate Andean foreland basin during the Late Cretaceous. This stratigraphic interval represents an essentially continuous depositional record of migrating, leveed-channel complexes. Collectively, the channel-fill units in the study area form a belt approximately 5 km (3 mi) wide and several hundred meters thick. Within the study area, four sets of channel complexes are identified. This paper focuses on the best exposed of these channel-complex sets (channel-complex set 3). The channels are filled by bedded conglomerate and amalgamated sandstones interpreted to represent the deposits of high-concentration turbidity currents and debris flows. Large-scale cross-beds in some of the conglomerates indicate significant bed-load transport of gravel- and cobble-forming bars in the channels. Channel axis to margin facies changes between clast-supported conglomerate and either (1) thick-bedded sandstone or (2) matrix-supported conglomerate are observed. Channel-fill facies lie on erosional surfaces that cut into adjacent interchannel facies. Beds thin and onlap these surfaces toward the channel margins. Shale or siltstone drapes of the channel cuts are uncommon and laterally discontinuous. Bed continuity between channel and adjacent, interchannel facies is not observed. The interchannel strata are interpreted to represent levee successions that bound the channels. Stratigraphy in the levee units is defined to include (1) basal, sandy lobe deposits comprised of medium- to thick-bedded turbidites and (2) overbank facies consisting primarily of packages of fining- and thinning-upward, fine-grained, thin-bedded turbidites. This vertical succession is transitional. Distal levee facies include mudstones with thin-bedded, laterally continuous sandstones. Proximal levee facies include mudstones with both thin- and thick-bedded sandstones; however, the thick-bedded sandstones have lower lateral continuity. The proximal levee facies have a higher sandstone percentage than the distal levee, but also have greater depositional and postdepositional complexity, with sand-filled crevasses, erosional truncation, and slumped beds. Field observations suggest that these leveed channels formed in stages that are represented by depositional and/or erosional events. In chronological order, these are (1) an initial stage of relatively unconfined, sand-rich deposition; (2) aggradation of a mud-rich, confining levee system resulting from overbank deposition as turbidity flows bypass the area; (3) erosion as the channel becomes entrenched or as the channel migrates; and (4) filling of the channel-margin relief by onlap of channel-fill sediments. These stages appear to have repeated several times during the formation of a series of channel complexes. In these ways, the Cerro Toro Formation appears analogous to leveed-channel systems observed in late Pleistocene submarine fans and subsurface examples. Rick Beaubouef earned a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Houston in 1992. Since then, he has worked as a geologist for Exxon and later, ExxonMobil. He was previously a senior research specialist at ExxonMobil Upstream Research Co. (formerly Exxon Production Research Co.) involved in investigations of a wide range of depositional environments and basins using seismic data, well logs, core, and outcrops. However, most of his work has focused on the stratigraphy and depositional facies of deep-water reservoirs. Since 2002, he has been a stratigraphy advisor for ExxonMobil Geosciences. In this role, he is responsible for stewardship of technologies related to deep-water reservoir characterization and is involved in a wide range of exploration, development, production, research, and training activities on a global basis.

Description: Seismic data from the Angolan margin and laboratory experiments on brittle-ductile models are used to study thin-skinned deformation above the salt at margin scale, which is characterized by extension upslope and contraction downslope. The initial geometry of the salt basin was wedging out, both landward and seaward, and the salt was entirely covered by sediments at the onset of gravity-driven deformation. Downslope contraction is accommodated by upslope extension. The upslope extensional domain is subdivided into three subdomains with (1) sealed tilted blocks, (2) growth fault and rollover systems, and (3) extensional diapirs. We interpret this particular arrangement of extensional structures as directly resulting from variations in mechanical coupling between brittle (sediments) and ductile (salt) layers. The downslope contractional domain is subdivided into three subdomains with (1) diapirs squeezed at late stage, (2) polyharmonic folds and thrust faults developed at early stage, and (3) folds and thrusts developed at late stage. This structural zoning results from the initiation of contraction at a distance from the salt toe and further migration of contraction immediately downslope and upslope. Xavier Fort earned an M.S. degree in geology (1998) and a Ph.D. in geology (2002) from the University of Rennes 1, France. His thesis topic concerned salt tectonic processes of the Angolan margin. He is now working as a consultant for Norsk Hydro and extended his interest in salt tectonics to Canada, Gulf of Mexico, and Brazil.Jean-Pierre Brun is a professor of tectonics at University Rennes 1, France. His research mainly concerns structural geology, basin development, and lithosphere deformation, with application to the European Variscides, Aegean, Atlantic passive margins, and the North Sea. Through analog modeling, he is especially interested in the mechanics of brittle-ductile systems, with particular application to salt tectonics. Francois Chauvel received his postgraduate degree in geology from the University of Rennes in 2001. He then went on to specialize in petroleum geoscience and graduated in 2003 with an M.Sc. degree from the French Petroleum Institute (IFP) in Paris. In 2003, Francois joined ExxonMobil, and he currently works as a production geologist on the Beryl field in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Description: Chip Feazel is principal carbonate stratigrapher for ConocoPhillips, with worldwide responsibility for interpreting carbonate depositional and diagenetic histories to predict reservoir properties. Following undergraduate studies at Ohio Wesleyan University, he received his M.A. degree and his Ph.D. in geology from Johns Hopkins University. In 29 years with Phillips, subsequently ConocoPhillips, he has enjoyed a variety of technical and managerial assignments in the United States and overseas in field development and technology teams.Alan Byrnes has been a research geologist at the Kansas Geological Survey since 1997, where he works on lithologic controls on rock petrophysical properties, CO2-enhanced oil recovery, reservoir characterization, and modeling. Alan received his B.S. degree in geology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his M.S. degree in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago. He has been a research geologist at the Institute of Gas Technology, Marathon Oil Company Research Center, Core Laboratories, and Tetra Tech, and for 13 years, he owned and operated GeoCore, a special core analysis laboratory in Colorado. With more 30 years in the oil and gas industry, Jim Honefenger has worked in virtually every segment, starting in 1972 with Elliott Company, a turbomachinery manufacturer. He held senior management positions for Scientific Software Intercomp, Intera, Energy Systems, GeoQuest Schlumberger, Western Atlas, Landmark Graphics, GeoNet Services, and Veritas Exploration Services, developing the market for geophysical, geological, petrophysical, reservoir engineering, and pipeline simulation products. More recently, he sold the intellectual assets of (RC)2 and founded his own company, Consulting Assets, representing oil and gas industry-consulting firms located throughout the world. Honefenger is an active Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) member and has held various positions in both the international and local groups. A cofounder of the Houston Energy Council (a professional organization comprising board members from Houston Geological Society, Geophysical Society …

Description: A detailed analysis of Oligocene Frio Formation intraslope, growth-faulted subbasins in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area indicates that deposition during relative lowstands of sea level was the main initiator, or trigger, of growth faulting. Lowstand depocenters on the low-gradient, upper continental slope comprising basin-floor fan facies, slope-fan systems, and prograding lowstand delta systems exerted sufficient gravity stress to trigger major sections of outer shelf and upper slope strata to fail and move basinward. The faults sole out deep in the basin, and rotation of hanging-wall blocks mobilized deep-water muds and forced the mud basinward and upward to form mud (shale) ridges that constitute the basinward flank of intraslope subbasins overlying footwall fault blocks. Sedimentation associated with third-order relative falls of sea level produced load stress that triggered a major regional syndepositional growth-fault system. Subbasins on the downthrown side of each arcuate fault segment that constitute a regional fault system are filled during the lowstands of sea level. Consequently, genetically similar but noncontemporaneous lowstand depositional systems filled each successive growth-faulted subbasin trend. The subbasin stratigraphy becomes younger basinward because the subbasin development and fill process extended the Frio shelf edge stepwise into the Oligocene Gulf of Mexico Basin, coinciding with relative third-order sea level cycles. The subbasins have been prolific petroleum targets for decades and are now the focus of prospecting for deep gas. Lowstand sandstones are principal reservoirs, and synsedimentary tectonics produced anticlinal and fault traps and associated stratigraphic pinch-out traps on the flanks of the structures. Understanding the origin of the faulted subbasins and their chronostratigraphic relationships and depositional processes provides a perspective that can improve deep gas exploration. Frank Brown received his B.S. degree in geology and chemistry from Baylor University in 1951 and his M.S. degree and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1953 and 1955, respectively. Frank worked for Standard Oil of Texas (Chevron) in 1955–1957, the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) in 1957–1960 and 1966–1989, and as an international consultant in 1989–1999. From 1960 to 1966, he was associate professor at Baylor University. He was professor of geological sciences at the University of Texas at Austin in 1971–1989 and emeritus professor in 1989–1999. Since 1999, he has been a research professor at BEG, where he continues his studies of the sequence stratigraphy of the Gulf Coast of Texas and Mexico.Robert Loucks is a senior research scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, working on siliciclastic and carbonate reservoir characterization. He was the recipient of the 1999 AAPG Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award for Best Paper, the 1982 SEPM Excellence of Presentation Award, and the 1991 SEPM Excellence of Poster Presentation Award. Bob served as the Mideast AAPG Dean A. McGee International Distinguished Lecturer in 1999. Ramon Treviño received his B.S. degree in geology (Texas A&I University, 1983) and his M.S. degree in geology (University of Texas at Arlington, 1988). He worked for Mobil from 1988 to 1992 and received an M.B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1994. Since 1995, he has worked on sequence-stratigraphic reservoir characterization at the Bureau of Economic Geology. Ursula Hammes obtained her diploma in geology from the University of Erlangen, Germany, in 1987, and her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1992. She spent 10 years in industry and joined the Bureau of Economic Geology in 2002 as a research associate. Her main research focus is in clastic and carbonate sequence stratigraphy, depositional systems, and image analysis.

Description: The Fruitland Formation of the San Juan basin is the largest producer of coalbed methane in the world. Production patterns vary from one well to another throughout the basin, reflecting factors such as coal thickness and fracture and cleat density. In this study, we integrated conventional P-wave three-dimensional (3-D) seismic and well data to investigate geological controls on production from a thick, continuous coal seam in the lower part of the Fruitland Formation. Our objective was to show the potential of using 3-D seismic data to predict coal thickness, as well as the distribution and orientation of subtle structures that may be associated with enhanced permeability zones. To do this, we first derived a seismic attribute-based model that predicts coal thickness. We then used curvature attributes derived from seismic horizons to detect subtle structural features that might be associated with zones of enhanced permeability. Production data show that the best producing wells are associated with seismically definable structural features and thick coal. Although other factors (e.g., completion practices and coal type) affect coalbed methane production, our results suggest that conventional 3-D seismic data, integrated with wire-line logs and production data, are useful for characterizing coalbed methane reservoirs. Iván Dimitri Marroquín is a Ph.D. student of geophysics at McGill University, Canada. He received his B.Sc. combined degree in physics and geology from the Université de Montréal in 1994 and his M.Sc. degree in geophysics from École Polytechnique in 1998. His current research includes characterization of conglomerate and coalbed reservoirs by 3-D seismic-based means.Bruce Hart holds a Ph.D from the University of Western Ontario. He held positions with the Geological Survey of Canada, Penn State, and the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources prior to joining McGill University in 2000. His research interests focus on the integration of 3-D seismic data with other data types for reservoir characterization programs. He has been an associate editor of the AAPG Bulletin since 2000.