Training and Presentations

PZI teaches a series of introductory and advanced petrophysical training courses which are tailored for the unique problems and conditions we need to understand to be successful in evaluation of hydrocarbon reservoirs. We emphasize practical solutions to real-world problems that may not be addressed adequately, or at all, in petrophysical textbooks. California has presented us with many difficult reservoirs which feature as examples in our courses.  We have successfully applied the methods we developed here to reservoirs worldwide.

The methodologies we teach in our log analysis training are based on petrophysical principles grounded in laboratory data and tool theory, implemented in workflows and methods that we developed for reservoir projects in our consulting practice. The results of our work are frequently used in modeling. As geological and reservoir modeling has become more sophisticated, we perceive that there is a need by the teams performing this modeling for better understanding not only of the petrophysical analysis process, but of the interactions between petrophysics and the other disciplines. To meet this need , we developed our new Master Class in Reservoir Characterization, designed to take attendees through all the steps of preparing the database, constructing a geomodel, planning and executing a petrophysical field study, using the results of the study to populate the model with reservoir properties, and estimating resource volumes. Methodologies and workflows are presented for integrating geological, geophysical, petrophysical, and engineering data into the development of a reservoir model.
Course Pricing

5-day training classes are $4,250 per attendee; those of fewer days are priced as listed. These prices assume that in-person courses will be taught in Bakersfield, California and a minimum of 10 attendees are required.  For live webinar format, a minimum of 4 attendees are required.

All courses can be customized for in-house presentation by focusing on topics of particular interest to the client, and/or by utilizing company-supplied data to generate class examples. For a private course, pricing starts at a minimum of 5 attendees, and is negotiable depending on the number of attendees, the location of the course, and the degree of customization required.

Please contact Deborah Olson if you are interested in attending a training class.

Available Courses

 

New for 2020! PZI now offers all training courses as live webinars. We are also planning to offer selected courses in a lecture series as on-demand streaming video. Check back here for updates and announcements when courses are released in streaming format.  

Logs and Log Analysis For California

Successful operations today requires current state of the art petrophysical evaluation that properly addresses the complexities of partially-depleted fields, low-permeability zones, thermal projects in sands with lower oil saturations, identifying bypassed pay in older wells, and more.  Dated, simplistic interpretation methods designed for simple reservoirs are misleading and can be very costly in terms of missed opportunities or money spent for resources that are not really there.  The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the models and workflows required to generate practical solutions to problems unique to California.  The goal is to provide attendees with sufficient knowledge to:

 - Select the appropriate logging suites and coring programs
 - Utilize previously-acquired log and core data
 - Assist in developing a charaterization plan for existing reservoirs and new discoveries
 - Select the correct services provided by the petrophysical support team   

Who Should Attend: Geologists, engineers, reservoir modelers
This course is a prerequisite for the Shaly Sand Analysis course

Cost: $850/attendee. This 1-day course is taught by Deborah M. Olson
 
Shaly Sand Log Analysis

Conductive clays in a reservoir interval have the effect of causing the water saturation to appear higher than it really is in a resistivity-based log analysis.  This problem can become acute in a fresh-water sand where the clays may be more conductive than the formation water.  With increasing costs of operations, it becomes important to characterize reservoir properties accurately as a basis for sound business decisions.  We have taught this course many times over several decades, and have modified it for this year to include more California problems and examples.  Since all serious formation evaluation is now done on computers, classroom exercises are set up in petrophysical software which will be provided for use by attendees.  Topics include:

 - The nature of reservoir clays and the computation of clay volume from log indicators
 - Total and effective porosity and how to calculate accurate values for sands, shaly sands, and siliceous shales
 - Theory and practice of calculating resistivity-based water saturation from the Dual Water model
 - Introduction to calculation of water saturation from capillary pressure data
 - Workshop for attendees to bring their own log examples for question and answer

Attendees need to bring a laptop running Windows 7 or higher for the classroom exercises.  A prerequisite for this course is our Logs and Log Analysis for California course, or basic understanding of logging tools, methods, and log responses.

Cost: $2,250/attendee.  This 3-day course is taught by Deborah M. Olson

Old Electric Logs

We have presented this course several times and it is always popular.  Old electric logs (E-logs) were standard from the first days of wireline logging through the early 1960's, and are still run today in water wells.  They are found in older fields worldwide and may be either a significant source, or the only source for field data.  E-logs are not the same as modern logs and it is necessary to understand how they are different so that they can be used correctly.  However, there is a significant amount of information in these logs and they can provide valuable insight into reservoir conditions decades ago, or indicate possible bypassed pay.  Course topics include:

 - Electric logging tools and theory
 - How to interpret correctly the responses of the various curves
 - Examples of electric log interpretation

Cost: $850/attendee.  This 1-day course is taught by Thomas M. Howard

Speakers Available!

Our staff often give presentations to local chapters of professional societies, at annual meetings, and occasionally in other locations also.  If your group is interested in one of our speakers, please contact us.  Links to the slide sets for some current and past presentations are located on the Current Research page. 

Master Class in Reservoir Characterization

Through work on various PZI consulting projects over several decades, it has become evident that the key to success in comprehensive reservoir characterization and accurate estimation of resource volumes is better integration of petrophysics with geological/geophysical and engineering data among project team members. Each team member needs to know what data to provide to and expect from other disciplines. This requires that everyone have a good working knowledge of the workflows for all elements of the reservoir characterization.

There are a number of effective training resources available which address the individual components of a reservoir characterization, but few which provide practical guidance for building a structured, comprehensive workflow to produce a reservoir model and resource estimate that incorporates all available data and is compliant with PRMS (Petroleum Resource Management System) guidelines. To fill this need, PZI has adapted some of its existing courses and developed new ones, which together comprise our Master Class in Reservoir Characterization. In the course cycle, attendees will plan and execute a reservoir characterization project.

This Master Class is designed to be presented as a series of four modules, each including 5 training and workshop days, which will be conducted over time to allow for attendees to work on skills development tasks consisting of individual elements of the project. The modules of the Master Class are each devoted to a significant aspect of data integration for reservoir characterization and modeling. Individual modules of the Master Class are described below, and can be taught separately. If all four are taken together as the Master Class, two additional training days are included at no extra charge, one as an introduction to the class, and one at the end as a summary of learnings from the training.

As a prerequisite to the Master Class or any of its modules, it is assumed that attendees have an adequate working knowledge of their individual disciplines.

The overall goals of a reservoir characterization and resource estimate project include:

 - Definition of the geological framework, including structure, faulting, and stratigraphy for all reservoir units and     non-reservoir confining units using integrated, multi-disciplinary data and skillsets
 - Definition of flow units, reservoir limits, and reservoir connectivity
 - Rock and reservoir properties of each flow unit and rock type, including lithology, porosity, permeability, and fluid types and saturations under original and current conditions
 - Distribution of petrophysical and other geological/reservoir properties through the reservoir
 - Identification of reservoir drive mechanisms and their influence on production volumes and migration of fluids within the reservoir
 - Estimates of volumes of hydrocarbons in place and where they are located
 - Estimates of uncertainty in properties, property distribution, and results of the study

The products of this study form the basis for reservoir development and reserves estimates. The Master Class is focused on workflows and methods for improving the accuracy and completeness of a reservoir characterization/volumetric estimate by better sharing and utilization of data among geologists/geophysicists, petrophysicists, and engineers.

Master Class modules are described in more detail below. All modules are 5-day courses which include a mix of formal lectures and workshop time. If feasible, the preferred presentation style for the modules is to spread the class meetings over several weeks to allow attendees time to complete a step of the project for discussion at the next meeting. The Master Class can be presented as an in-person course or through videoconferencing.


MODULE 1: Data Preparation and Analytical Methods for Petrophysical Field Study Modeling

Single-well log analysis and multi-well petrophysical field studies share some elements in common, but a number of additional steps beyond the single-well workflow are required for effective planning and execution of a field study. The focus of this module is a detailed discussion of the workflow and individual tasks required to prepare for and conduct a petrophysical field study. A deterministic shaly-sand model is used for class examples, but the workflow presented in the course is applicable to any type of petrophysical methodology. Course topics include:

 - The initial task is to define:
    - Why the project is to be done
    - What the questions are to be answered
    - What the problems are that need to be solved
    - What the project scope should be
    - The ultimate use of the results (i.e. resource estimates, staging from exploration to appraisal or development, development/redevelopment/EOR planning, well planning, defining reservoir variability)
 - Types and sources of data needed (in addition to digital well logs)
 - Verifying and compiling project data for efficient use
 - Quality control of project data and understanding of data accuracy and quality
 - The importance of project tracking spreadsheets 
 - The role of geological data, including the use of stratigraphy, structure, and lithology in calibration of the petrophysical model (this topic is covered in more detail in Module 2)
 - Incorporating core data and core analysis into petrophysical analysis and modeling, calibrating the model to core data
 - The role of engineering data, including well completions and operations, historical production and test data, reservoir pressure, and reservoir fluid type and properties (discussed further in Module 3)
 - Preparing and setting up digital well log data for analysis
 - The critical role of log normalization to obtain consistency and accuracy of the petrophysical model results, and procedures for developing a normalized database
 - Identification criteria and selection of key wells and other sources of ground truth for model calibration
 - Preliminary choice of petrophysical model elements and application to key wells; iteration and refinement of the model to match ground truth
 - Best practices for application of the refined model to all project wells
 - Verification of results and subsequent additional model refinement
 - Inclusion/exclusion of old and low-information wells, and methods to extend the field study model to include these wells where they are needed
 - Further QC of model results in geological mapping system (this topic is covered in more detail in Module 2)
 - Understanding of uncertainty in input data and the petrophysical analysis based on that data, and the impact of this uncertainty on the application and use of the petrophysical results

MODULE 2: Geological and Geophysical Data Input for Petrophysical Field Studies and Utilizing the Results in Geomodeling

G&G work provides critical data for petrophysical field study modeling, and also utilizes the results from the log analysis for the mapping of reservoir properties data. In this course, the types of geological and geophysical data input to the petrophysical model are discussed, along with the application of log analysis results to G&G tasks. Course topics include:

 - Definition of the scope and purpose of the project, which influences the choice of the G&G and the petrophysical models that will be constructed
 - Geological and geophysical data that are required (or helpful) for a petrophysical field study, and why they are necessary, including 
  - Core data, routine core analysis (PKS) and special core analysis (SCAL)
  - Seismic interpretation and seismic stratigraphy, definition of seismic facies/reservoirs/reservoir limits/possible seals, and seismic attributes
  - Sequence stratigraphy
  - Well log data, interpretation and correlation, depositional correlations
  - Lithological and mineralogical data
  - Facies definition and description, relationships between geological facies (as from core descriptions) and petrophysical facies (upscaled for use in modeling)
 - Workflow for using G&G data in setting up and calibrating a geological conceptual model (deterministic or stochastic), and its use in controlling development of the petrophysical field model
 - Review of seismic data and interpretation, tying seismic interpretation to wells, using seismic surfaces together with well correlations to construct structural models
 - Using stratigraphic information from wells and cores with seismic stratigraphy to identify seismic features and refine the geomodel
 - Identifying petrophysical facies, relating them to geological facies or sequence stratigraphy, and using them in geological modeling
 - Review and quality control the results from the petrophysical analysis in map and cross section view, using the geological model type selected for the project (deterministic 2D model, or 2D/3D review of petrophysical data in 3D geocellular stochastic model)
 - The use of petrophysical results for better understanding and refinement of geophysical attributes modeling
 - Upscaling petrophysical results for use in mapping and modeling, upscaling methods, and the impact of upscaling on geomodel results
 - Considerations for the use of analysis results in petrophysical properties mapping and geocellular modeling
 - Assessing the model results against the scope and purpose of the project
 - Final report: a structured format for the report and included digital products

MODULE 3: Integrating G&G, Engineering, and Petrophysical Results into Reservoir Characterization and Resource Volume Estimates

The final product of the G&G, petrophysical, and engineering work is a reservoir characterization, which may be presented in different forms depending on the data available for the study and on the purpose of the project. The principal topic of this course is how to build a workflow which brings together the work products of the multidisciplinary team into a coherent characterization product that provides the basis for further reservoir studies, development planning, and resources/reserves estimation. The workflow is applicable to different types of reservoir characterization datasets and models, several of which are discussed. Course topics include:

 - Guidelines for conducting a review of the project scope and purpose before final modeling on the basis of G&G, petrophysical, and engineering work performed, to determine if the project is meeting its goals
 - What is a reservoir model? Basic elements of a reservoir characterization model
 - Types of reservoir models, choice of model, and suitability of different model types for the purpose of the project and for the available data
    - Deterministic vs stochastic models and choice of platforms
    - Is a 3-D geocellular model appropriate for the dataset and project goals, or is a 2-D model preferable?
 - The roles of each team member in model design and construction
    - Understanding the importance of frequent communication between team members to understand their workflow, results, and requirements.
 - Workflow for constructing a reservoir characterization model meeting project goals while honoring the constraints of data availability and time
 - Discussion of deterministic vs probabilistic stochastic models and results
 - The application and use of engineering data in development of the petrophysical field model and reservoir model. Engineering data required (or desired) for the reservoir model includes:
   - Fluids data such as production history, DST test analysis, fluid typing and PVT analyses
   - Well completions and operations
   - Pressure history
   - Capillary pressure
 - Hydrocarbons in place: workflow for developing reservoir volumetrics and resource estimates. 
 -  Calculating mid-case, high case and low case resource estimates deterministically or probabilistically for current and/or original hydrocarbons in place and as surface products
 -  Workflow for creating the inputs to a dynamic flow model if that is a desired project deliverable, including reservoir inputs, petrophysical model results, 2-D or 3-D grids
 -  Workflow for upscaling static model for use in dynamic flow modeling, verification of upscaled parameters and grids
 -  Uncertainty analysis of interim and final results

MODULE 4: Incorporating PRMS Guidelines into Reservoir Characterization and Resource Evaluation

Various international groups have attempted, starting in the 1930's, to set standards for defining petroleum resources. These efforts gradually converged into a comprehensive document, the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS), a joint project by several petroleum-related professional organizations including SPE, AAPG, SEG, SPWLA, WPC, and EAGE. It was first published in 2007 and updated in 2018. A supplemental document laying out guidelines for the application of PRMS principles was released in 2011. The PRMS is a consistent set of standards for defining petroleum resources and reserves which has been adopted worldwide by operators, regulatory agencies, and banks. Therefore, it is necessary for any reservoir characterization model and associated resource estimates and reserves volumes to be consistent with the PRMS. In this course, PRMS standards and the guidelines for their application to reservoir work and resource estimates are discussed. Reserves definition is beyond the scope of the course. Course topics include:

 - Overview of the PRMS and the Guidelines for Application of the PRMS documents
 - PRMS resource definitions and categories
 - Approved PRMS methodologies for defining reservoir size and configuration
 - Application of methodologies to various reservoirs, depending on the type, amount of available data, and the status of the project (exploration, appraisal, development, redevelopment, EOR, etc)
 - Classifying resource volumes into PRMS categories: developing consistent and defendable guidelines for assigning classifications based on reservoir data
 - Costs, timelines, shortcuts, and credibility: when there is no time to do the work correctly, what is required for a meaningful "quick look"
 - An overview of the PRMS concepts of reserves, and the relationship of contingent resources to reserves