Education

Esso – Australia Distinguished Lecturer 2001
PESA members are again fortunate to have an opportunity to learn much from an Esso Distinguished Lecturer (EDL) in 2001. The EDL for 2001 is Dr Paul Weimer (Colorado School of Mines) and the focus of the EDL lectures and workshop will be exploration and development in deep water clastics. PESA applauds and thanks ExxonMobil for suppor-ting this valuable, annual training event.

At least one lecture and a 1½ day workshop will be provided to each PESA Branch. Descriptions of the lecture options and the workshop follow. Each PESA Branch Committee makes the selection of lectures locally. Please see table above for Paul Weimer's travel schedule.

The short course is titled 'Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of Turbidite Systems'.

The course will be in both lecture and workshop format. It will cover the sequence stratigraphic setting of turbidite systems; exploration successes using sequence stratigraphic concepts; 2D, 3D and wireline log characteristics of producing turbidite elements; high resolution bio-stratigraphy of turbidite systems; and petroleum system analysis in deep water exploration.

Lecture topics offered during Dr Weimer's EDL tour include:
• Sequence stratigraphy of intraslope turbidite systems: models for exploration and development. This is an update of his 1998-1999 AAPG Distinguished Lecture
• Overview of deep water depositional systems for exploration and development. This is a summary of the use of outcrops as reservoir analogs, sand modelling, and comparing 3D seismic with modern sea floor images.
• Petroleum systems of deep water conti- nental margins. Significant update of his 1998/99 AAPG Distinguished Lecture.
• Future petroleum potential of the ultra deep-water global play. This describes the concepts, problems and potential of the ultra deep water play, ie >8500 ft water.

Final timing and cost (per person) details will be determined and announced locally by each PESA Branch Committee.

EDL CV: Paul Weimer holds the Bruce D. Benson Endowed Chair in Petroleum Geology in the Depar-tment of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado. Paul also serves as Director of the Energy and Minerals Applied Research Center. He received his BA degree from Pomona College with Honours in Geology (1978), his MS degree from the University of Colorado (1980), and his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin (1989). Dr Weimer worked as an exploration geologist with Sohio Petroleum (BP) on the North Slope of Alaska, and as a research and exploration geologist with Mobil Oil. Paul has taught at the University of Colorado since 1990 and his research interests are in sequence stratigraphy, basin analysis, reservoir geology and the petroleum systems of continental margins. He has written more than 100 papers, co-edited seven books, and is currently finishing writing a book on the petroleum geology of deep water deposits for the AAPG. Paul is the founding member and President of OverCommitters Anony-mous, a geologic support group. Whenever possible, he plays banjo with the Hari Krishnas on the Hill in Boulder.

2001 PESA Post-Graduate Scholarship For Research In Geosciences
For a post-graduate student (already holding a BSc or BA) at an Australian Tertiary Education Institution, under-taking a research project with relevance to Petroleum Geology or Geophysics, eg. sedi-mentology, basin analysis, geophysical modelling, seismic interpretation, palaeonto-logy, petroleum geology, etc. etc.

Deadline for applications:
Friday, August 31st 2001

Selection:
The award will be made to the student with the best grades, record of relevant achievements and research most relevant to the petroleum industry. These factors are equally weighted.

Requirements:
The award will usually be made at a PESA Seminar Luncheon in the recipients city of residence, where the recipient will be asked to give a ten minute presentation of their research effort

Expenditure:
The award is made payable to the student to assist with their postgraduate studies. This may include university fees, subsistence, or project costs such as data, travel, and accommodation.

Submit your ONE-PAGE CV, academic record, and ONE PAGE outline of your project, signed or endorsed by your supervisor, and your contact address, telephone and fax details to:-

PESA Education Committee
c/o Barry Goldstein
Subject: PESA Post Graduate Scholarship - 2001
Email: barry.goldstein@santos.com.au
or Fax: 08 8 224 7710

Post:
PESA Education Committee
Att B. Goldstein
c/o Santos, 91 King William Street,
Adelaide SA 5000

The proforma that will be used to compare candidates and select the scholarship recipient follows.

PESA Education Committee Initiatives For 2001
By Barry Goldstein, PESA - VP and Chairman PESA Education Committee
Master of the obvious says:
• early and frequent communication is the key enabling planning activity;
• collaboration provides leverage.

PESA initiatives that aim to foster communi-cation and collaboration include:
• Instigation of a focus group for E&P training;
• Creation of an E&P training events calendar on the website;
• Early and frequent discussions with PESA members, SPE, ASEG (SEG), AAPG, the organisers of the annual Esso Distinguished Lecture and APPEA's Exploration Committee to ensure high priority, 'bang for buck' training events.

A synopsis of these initiatives follows.

Focus Group for E&P Training
PESA's Education Committee was instigated in 2000 to proactively align professional society training events with the needs of its members and key employers of PESA members. PESA's Education Committee includes (by design) consultants and representatives from all PESA Branches, and covers many of the largest employers of PESA members. The Education Committee members for 2001 are listed below:

Communication to Foster Collaboration
Visit www.PESA.com.au and click on Events.

This events calendar aims to:
• detail all PESA, SPE, ASEG/SEG, SPWLA, AAPG, SPWLA and other petroleum E&P events in our region;
• stimulate collaboration of professional societies and employers to minimise the chance for topic/timing overlaps, and to leverage costs, so that high priority training is delivered within PESA's value- target (<=A$200 pp per day).

PESA Australian Lecturer (PAL) in 2001
The PAL for 2001 is Dr Kevin Hill of the Victorian Institute of Earth and Planetary Science (VIEPS) and the University of Melbourne Department of Earth Science. He will focus on structure.
• 'Lessons learnt' will be the focus of the PAL luncheon lecture, titled: New Guinea – a structural kibosh with >40 Tcf gas; what have we learned?
• A 1-day PAL workshop will be offered, titled: Practical Interpretation of Extension, Inversion and Compression Structures; A Workflow.

PESA Visiting Lecturer (PVL) in 2001
The PVL for 2001 is Dr Les Magoon of the US Geological Survey. Les will focus on petro-leum systems and the future for oil as an energy source and is a highly regarded global expert for both topics.

A 2-day PVL workshop will be offered and will address petroleum systems and play assessment. See table on right.

• The PVL luncheon lecture is titled 'Are we running out of oil?' and will relate the views expressed in the USGS poster at http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of00- 320/. Discussions with government transport departments, automobile associations and the Bicycle Club of Australia will ensure a diverse audience for these lectures. This lecture will be offered during an extended break on the second day of the workshop in Brisbane, and on separate days at all other locations.

Esso Distinguished Lecturer (EDL) - 2001
Once again - Esso Australia has kindly agreed to support its distinguished lecturer program. PESA applauds Esso-Australia's support for these valuable training events. The EDL for 2001, Dr Paul Weimer of the Colorado School of Mines, will focus on deep-water plays.

A 1½ day short course will be offered, titled: 'Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of Turbidite Systems'. This course will cover the sequence stratigraphic setting of turbidite systems, exploration successes using sequence stratigraphic concepts, 2D, 3D and wireline log characteristics of producing turbidite elements, high resolution bio-stratigraphy of turbidite systems, and petroleum system analysis in deep water exploration.

• At least one additional lecture will be delivered to each PESA Branch – selected from the following:
• Sequence stratigraphy of intraslope turbidite systems: models for exploration and development. This is an update of his 1998-1999 AAPG Distinguished Lecture
• Overview of deep-water depositional systems for exploration and development. This is a summary of the use of outcrops as reservoir analogs and sand modeling, and comparing 3D seismic with modern sea floor images
• Petroleum systems of deep-water continental margins. Significant update of his 1998/99 AAPG Distinguished Lecture
• Future petroleum potential of the ultra deep-water global play. This describes the concepts, problems and potential of the ultra deep water play, i.e., >2590 m water.

Forward Planning for 2002
Needs analysis to establish priority-training topics for 2002 will kick-off in July 2001. Please contact your local PESA Branch committee directly to make suggestions. At this stage, the AAPG Visiting Lecturer(s) in 2002 will probably focus on siliciclastic reservoir prediction.

Experts ‘At Our Fingertips’
PESA aims to encourage 'local talent' to prepare desirable world-class training. Indeed, one key criteria for selecting PESA's PVL is that the imported skills fill a gap in the local talent pool. One concrete step will be the compilation of a training register that names those willing and able to reliably provide excellent E&P education within PESA's cost target (<=$200 per person per day) – given appropriate coordination and collaboration within the local market for petroleum E&P training. In this regard, PESA's Education Committee will welcome advice; who are the local leading lights that combine technical expertise with excellent communi-cation skills?

Win:Win
Affordable, high priority training is the vision. With this vision in mind, PESA has collaborated with industry and government organisations to create win:win leverage (spread costs) while delivering cost effective training to E&P professionals across Australia.

• Esso-Australia continues to be a linchpin for cost-effective training through the EDL program.
• In 2000, the CSIRO allowed Claus Otto and Jim Undershultz to conduct PESA's PVL tour (petroleum hydrogeology) that reached all PESA branches.
• In 2000, Woodside and Shell-Todd agreed to schedule in-house consulting from UK- based sequence stratigraphy experts (Dr Steve Flint and Dr John Howell – University of Liverpool), that enabled PESA-organised sequence stratigraphy courses in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. Timing and costs limited the scope of this tour.
• In 2001, Santos agreed to schedule in- house consulting and teaching by a rock physics expert from the USA (Gary Mavko – Stanford University), in a way that enabled PESA-organised rock physics courses in Adelaide and Perth. Timing and costs limited the scope of this mini-tour.

PESA applauds the approach taken by these organisations. In each case, early bi-lateral discussions between PESA and key employers of PESA members were the key enabling action. In each case PESA demonstrated it can deliver good education opportunities at modest costs – through volunteer inputs.

The PESA Education Committee aims to broaden and perpetuate that process of communication, so opportunities to leverage on incoming experts are taken at least twice per year (PVL and EDL) .

To further boost such win:win activities, PESA executives have discussed further formalisa-tion of this effort with a few major petroleum E&P companies who employ a significant number of PESA members. There appears to be a common belief that assistance from industry and other relevant institutions is required to underpin PESA's training initia-tives. As a consequence of these discussions, PESA has genuine hope that a buffer fund can be created to support worthy petroleum E&P training events in Australia. The organisations providing 'underwriting' funds would be rewarded with cost-effective training organised by PESA. We believe that by collaborating with cognate professional societies, industry and government organi-sations, PESA will be able to at least maintain and, hopefully further improve, the technical skill of our members to an international high standard for the benefit of all.

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