21 Unicorns in the Garden of Good and Evil: Part 2 – Coal 27 Shale Gas: Part 4 – Log Analysis and Shale Gas Petrophysics 38 Road to Recovery – Recovery 2011 Convention Update DECEMBER 2010 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 11 Canadian Publication Mail Contract – 40070050 RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2010 1 Since 1927... The difference between raw data and refined information? Focus, quality and value. We don’t build our reputation on volumes—instead, we earn it on the quality of the information we extract from that data. For more than 75 years, IHS has processed and analyzed vast amounts of raw data, concentrating it into the in-depth, actionable information that is used today to advance energy-critical business decisions. Energy information, refined. ihs.com/refined-information/cspg Since 1927... DECEMBER 2010 – VOLUME 37, ISSUE 11 ARTICLES Unicorns in the Garden of Good and Evil: Part 2 – Coal ................................................ 21 Shale Gas: Part 4 – Log Analysis and Shale Gas Petrophysics ........................................ 27 CSPG OFFICE #600, 640 - 8th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 1G7 In Memorium: Dr. Oscar A. Erdman, P.Geol., CSPG Honourary Member ................. 33 Tel: 403-264-5610 Fax: 403-264-5898 Web: www.cspg.org Notice of Election for Vice President for the Canadian Society of Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:00pm Executive Director: Lis Bjeld Petroleum Geologists .............................................................................................................. 36 Email: [email protected] Sponsorship & Outreach Coordinator: Alyssa Middleton Email: [email protected] Road to Recovery – recovery 2011 Convention Update ................................................. 38 Publications Coordinator: Caitlin Young Email: [email protected] Member Services Coordinator: Kasandra Klein DEPARTMENTS Email: [email protected] Registration Coordinator: Dayna Rhoads Email: [email protected] Executive Comment ................................................................................................................ 5 Convention Contacts: Convention Manager: Aileen Lozie Email: [email protected] Technical Luncheons ............................................................................................................. 11 EDITORS/AUTHORS Rock Shop ................................................................................................................................ 15 Please submit RESERVOIR articles to the CSPG office. Submission deadline is the 23rd day of the month, two months prior to issue date. (e.g., January 23 for the March issue). Division Talks .......................................................................................................................... 16 To publish an article, the CSPG requires digital copies of the document. Text should be in Microsoft Word format and illustrations should be in TIFF Inside the CSPG .................................................................................................................... 38 format at 300 dpi., at final size. For additional information on manuscript preparation, refer to the Guidelines for Authors published in the CSPG Bulletin or contact the editor. Technical Editors Ben McKenzie Colin Yeo (Assistant Tech. Editor) Tarheel Exploration EnCana Corporation Tel: 403-277-4496 Tel: 403-645-7724 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Coordinating Editor Caitlin Young, Publications Coordinator, CSPG Tel: 403-513-1227, Email: [email protected] ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries should be directed to Caitlin Young, Tel: 403-513-1227, email: [email protected]. The deadline to reserve advertising space is the 23rd day of the month, two months prior to issue date. The RESERVOIR is published 11 times per year by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. This includes a combined issue for the months of July and August. The purpose of the RESERVOIR is to publicize the Society’s many activities and to promote the geosciences. We look for both technical and non-technical material to publish. Additional information on the RESERVOIR’s submission guidelines can be found at http://www.cspg. org/publications/pubs-reservoir-submissions.cfm. 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The CSPG expressly disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user of information contained in this publication. Under no circumstances shall the CSPG and its officers, directors, employees, and agents be liable for any injury, loss, damage, or expense arising in any manner whatsoever FRONT COVER from the acts, omissions, or conduct of any third-party user. Ultramafic intrusion, Otis Mountains, Quebec.Thin-section image with quartz Design and Layout by Sundog Printing. Printed in Canada by Sundog Printing. wedge. Photo by John Bladek. RESERVOIR ISSUE 11 • DECEMBER 2010 3 Since 1927... GeoCarta The All New Exploration Workbench. Grab your passport and discover breakthrough exploration software tools that offer GIS integration, a simple user interface and multiple deployment options that take you where you need to go. Explore now. Learn more at geocarta.divestco.com 403-237-9170 [email protected] geocarta.divestco.com Since 1927... EXECUTIVE COMMENT A message from President John Varsek CSPG Renewal, So Far EXECUTIVE Your executive team has had a remarkable participation by members, corporations, and President year successfully developing and implementing students (Varsek, February 2010 Executive John Varsek • Cenovus Energy the renewal strategy! Our goal is to improve Comment in the Reservoir). [email protected] Tel: (403) 645-5417 services to help you succeed in an increasingly uncertain and volatile future. The strategic First, we agreed on a few ground rules about Vice President framework was outlined at the January 2010 h ow t h e E xe c u t i ve s h o u l d c o n d u c t i t s b u s i n e s s ; Kirk Osadetz • Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary AGM and has since resulted in 30 major that our methods need to be collaborative, [email protected] Tel: (403) 292-7022 projects of which 10 are completed, 14 are in respectful, visible, transparent, and certifiable. progress, and the remainder in various stages This meant not only acknowledging, but Past President of discussion and design. This great result is confronting the criticisms of our members Graeme Bloy • Canada Capital Energy Corporation especially noteworthy because the Society’s – such as when we published a response in [email protected] Tel: (403) 975-5784 Directors and office staff managed to deliver the Reservoir about shortcomings in roll- current programs at the same time. Before out of the digital Bulletin. Second, we were Finance director telling the story about renewal strategy, I’d to be member-facing and fact-based when Greg Lynch • Shell Canada Ltd. like to make a couple of remarks about our discussing strategic and tactical alternatives [email protected] Tel: (403) 691-3111 operating activities for fiscal year September to improve current programs. We tried to 2009 – August 2010. Yes, we ended with live the maxim “you can change what you assistant Finance director a surplus of approximately $220,000 that acknowledge.” Third, we recognized that Darren Aldridge • Baker Hughes essentially offsets our operating losses of renewal could not occur without building [email protected] Tel: (403) 537-3505 the prior three years. This outstanding the capacity necessary to sustain proposed result reflects the exceptional forecasting projects, such as agreements, financial Program director and attention to cost management by Lis tactics, and elevating the performance of Scott Leroux • EnCana Corporation Bjeld (Executive Director) and her team, directors, volunteers, office staff, and our [email protected] Tel: (403) 645-2000 Graeme Bloy (President 2009), Greg Lynch partners. Finally, we continually reminded (Finance Director), the program chairs, and ourselves that the CSPG’s main purpose is to assistant Program director CSPG’s leaders for GeoCanada 2010 (Mark be a hub for Canadian petroleum geology and Brett Norris • TransGlobe Energy Corp. Cooper) and AAPG ICE 2010 (Graeme [email protected] Tel: (403) 264-9896 to advance the awareness of our profession. Bloy) conventions. Full details of this surplus will be given at the Annual General Meeting For the March 2010 CSPG strategy session, serVice director in January 2011. Complete details about the directors and strategic-theme leaders Ayaz Gulamhussein • NuVista Energy Ltd. [email protected]