Technical Lunch@ Pellazzio

(New Omni Palace) ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rock Physics SIG 2@ CGG Veritas

PotentialFields SIG

@ Hess Club

Date: Wednesday,Nov.11,2009Time: 7:00a.m.Social 7:30a.m.Presentation 8:00a.m.Q&ALocation: Fugro 6100Hilcroft,Suite100 Houston,Texas77274RSVP to: LizIvieatFugro 713-369-5863or livie@fugro.comTitle: “Wide Azimuth Seismic Acquisition: Examples of Subsalt Imaging in the Deepwater GOM”Speaker: Dennis Yanchak, BP, Geophysical AdvisorAbstract: The ideaofusingmultipleazimuthsurveystoimproveimaging is not a newconcept. Shell’s 1988experimentoverBullwinklein the Gulf of Mexicoshowed the benefitsof multiple shooting directions. BP’sThunderhorseFieldiscoveredbynumerous3D surveys shot in different azimuths andalso has reaped the benefits of improvedimagingfrommulti-azimuthsurveys.BP’swide azimuth towed streamer (WATS)acquisitionwasabreakthroughthatopenedthe doors to wider application of wideazimuthacquisition.Initially, in2004and

NEWSLETTERVOL. 44, NO. 3 November 2009

President’s Column continued on page 7.

President’s Column

MulticomponentSIG....................... 10RockPhysicsSIG1........................ 11RockPhysicsSIG2........................ 11ScenesfromTennisTournament. 12-13StatementofOwnership................. 18Calendar........................................ 20

Announcements............................... 3MembershipReport.......................... 3HoustonPetroleumAuxiliaryNews.... 3GSH/SEG2010SpringSymposium.. 5Scenesfrom2009GeoscienceDay... 8PotentialFieldsSIG........................ 10

By Bob Wegner

TheGeophysicalSocietyofHoustonNewsletter(ISSN1082-0817)ispublishedmonthlyexceptinJulybytheGeophysicalSocietyofHouston,14811St.Mary’sLane,Suite250,Houston,TX77079.Subscriptiontothispublicationisincludedinthemembershipduesof$30annually.PeriodicalspostagepaidinHouston,Texas.

POSTMASTER:SendaddresschangestoGeophysicalSocietyofHoustonNewsletter,14811St.Mary’sLane,Suite250,Houston,TX77079.

NOVEMBER 2009 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

Technical BreakfastTechnical LuncheonSAME TALK

TWO LOCATIONSNote Change of Days for Locations

Date 1 Date: Tuesday,Nov.17,2009Time: 11:30a.m.-1:30p.m.Location 1: PetroleumClub 800BellSt.(43rdFloor) Houston,Texas77002 DowntownHoustonDate 2Date: Wednesday,Nov.18,2009Time: 11:30a.m.-1:30p.m.Location 2: Pellazzio(NewOmniPalace) 12121WestheimerRd. Houston,TX77077Register Online:www.gshtx.orgCost: $25/memberspre-registered $30/membersnonregistered $35/non-members

Title: “Techniques for Semi-automatic “True” Volume Interpretation of Structure and Stratigraphy”

Speaker:Geoffrey A. DornTerraSpark Geosciences, L.P.

How are we doing?

Aperennialquestion e a c h B o a r d

addresses is how wellare we functioning asa Society. Basically,how are we meeting the needs of themembership?Aneasyquestiontoask,butadifficultquestiontoanswer.Whatfactorsshouldweconsider,andhowshouldweratethosefactorstoderiveananswer?Beforeproceedingfurther,stopandaskyourself,howwouldIanswerthisquestion?

Some factors that I would consider:

Attendance at technical meetings.When considering attendance, I wouldconclude this is a positive indicatorsupporting the value of the Society.Technical breakfasts have the largestsingleattendanceofanymeeting,andthenumbersshowprogressiveincreasesovertime.Technicallunchesarenowheldattwo locations,and the totalattendanceis the largest for any meeting. WhileSIG attendance has been a constantovertime,membershavebenefitedfromthe reorganization of the SIG areas tobetterreflectthechanginginterestsand

Technical Breakfast continued on page 17.Technical Luncheon continued on page 7.

Inside This Issue

GSHBoard

Meeting

Technical Breakfast@ Fugro

~~~~~~~~~~~~Multicomponent

SIG @WesternGeco

HappyThanksgiving

HappyThanksgiving

Rock Physics

SIG 1@ CGG Veritas

Technical Lunch@ PCH

Don’t ForgetHPAC LuncheonFriday, Dec. 4th

DaylightSaving

Time Ends

2 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009 November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 19

GEOPHYSICAL SOCIETY OF HOUSTONSandra Babcock, Office/Business Accounts Manager • 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77079 • Office Hours 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Phone: (713) 463-9477 • Fax (281) 679-5504email: office@gshtx.org • website - http://www.gshtx.org

GSH Board of Directors = GSH Executive Committee + SEG Section Representatives

_______________________________________________ Phone___________ Fax/Other________ EmailPRESIDENT___________________ MikeGraul____________ 713-465-3181_____________________ mgraul@texseis.com CorpRelations____________ FrankDumanoir_______ 713-594-2371(cell)_________________ dumanoir@swbell.net Historian_________________ ArtRoss______________ 281-360-9331_____________________ artross@airmail.net Museum___________________________________________________________________________ Nominating_______________ MikeGraul____________ 713-465-3181_____________________ mgraul@texseis.com Outreach_________________ LisaBuckner__________ 713-609-4256___ 713-609-5666____ lbuckner@hess.com ScholarshipLiaison________ ArtRoss____________ 281-360-9331_____________________ artross@airmail.net

PRES-ELECT__________________ BobWegner__________ 713-899-9023_____________________ bobwegner@sbcglobal.net AcademicLiaison__________ SteveDanbom________ 713-937-7530_____________________ steve.susan.danbom@sbcglobal.net EmploymentReferral_______ SamLeroy____________ 281-556-9766___ 281-556-9778____ earthview@aol.com Office____________________ DaveAgarwal_________ 281-920-4450___ 281-920-1576____ dave0836@aol.com Volunteers________________ HamzatErogbogbo____ 713-465-3181_____________________ herogbogbo@texseis.com

FIRSTVP_____________________ ScottSingleton________ 713-273-1426_____________________ s.singleton@rocksolidimages.com FirstVPElect_____________ DaveCarlson__________ 281-509-8139_____________________ dave.carlson@BikeSweden.com ContinuingEducation______ DaveCarlson__________ 281-509-8139_____________________ dave.carlson@BikeSweden.com Speakers_________________ ScottSingleton________ 713-273-1426_____________________ s.singleton@rocksolidimages.com TechBreakfasts ___________ MarvinTaylor_________ 713-369-5864___ 832-367-3837(c)__ marvintaylor@fugro.com TechLuncheons___________ ScottSingleton________ 713-273-1426_____________________ s.singleton@rocksolidimages.com

SIGS DataProcessing___________ SteveCole____________ 713-369-5883___ 713-408-9405(c)__ SCole@fugro.com _________________________ MartaWoodward______ 713-689-6153_____________________ marta.woodward@slb.com PotentialFields____________ GregJorgensen_______ 435-313-1950_____________________ greg_jorgensen@flatirons-geophysics.com RockPhysics______________ AyakoKameda________ 281-544-4354_____________________ Ayako.Kameda@shell.com _________________________ RonnyHofmann__________________________________________ Ronny.Hofmann@shell.com _________________________ EzequielF.Gonzalez ___ 713-245-7841_____________________ Ezequiel.Gonzalez@shell.com Multi-Component__________ JohnDai_____________ 713-689-6173_____________________ jdai@houston.oilfield.slb.com _________________________ MarkLee_____________ 713-689-2479_____________________ hlee3@houston.westerngeco.slb.com _________________________ TonyJohns___________ 713-689-6633_____________________ johns5@houston.westerngeco.slb.com

SECONDVP__________________ MarcSbar____________ 281-804-8912_____________________ marcsbar@gmail.com SecondVPElect___________ PaulSchatz___________ 713-975-7434_____________________ Paul.Schatz@int.com AnnualMeeting___________ JimMoulden__________ 832-636-8665___ 832-636-5824____ jim.moulden@anadarko.com AwardsBanquet___________ SteveDavidson________ 713-202-7838(cell)_________________ steve@flamingoseismic.com GolfTournament__________ DennisSump_________ 713-917-6772_____________________ sump@dawson3d.com SaltWaterTournament____ BobbyPerez__________ 281-240-1234___ 281-240-4997____ r_perez@seismicventures.com SportingClays____________ SteveMitchell_________ 281-275-7650_____________________ smitchel@fairfield.com TennisTournament________ MarvinTaylor_________ 713-369-5864___ 832-367-3837(c)__ MarvinTaylor@fugro.com

SECRETARY__________________ TomRiley ____________ 713-369-0377___ 713-201-0941___ Tom.Riley@ihs.com GSHMembership_________ DavidHammer________ 713-973-5772___ 832-545-5044(cell) dhammer@3dimaging.net HPAC(Auxiliary)Liaison____ NancyFrye___________ 713-461-7189_____________________ NanEd.Frye@sbcglobal.net OTCRep.________________ RoyE.Clark,Jr.______ 281-654-5651___ 281-654-5891____ roy.e.clark@exxonmobil.com SEGMembership__________ DavidHammer________ 713-973-5772___ 832-545-5044(cell) dhammer@3dimaging.net

TREASURER__________________ CarmenComis________ 713-393-4833_____________________ carmen.comis@pdgm.com Finance__________________ PeterEick ____________ 281-293-3387_____________________ peter.eick@conocophillips.com

EDITOR______________________ GlennBear___________ 713-431-6583___ 281-250-4013___ glenn.w.bear@exxonmobil.com Photography______________ JohnSumner _________ 713-666-7655_____________________ sumnergeo@earthlink.net Publicity__________________ ScottSechrist_________ 281-856-8029___ 281-856-7445____ acoustic@airmail.net WebsiteCoordinator_______ GlennBear___________ 713-431-6583___ 281-250-4013___ glenn.w.bear@exxonmobil.com

PASTPRESIDENT_____________ FrankDumanoir_______ 713-594-2371(cell)_________________ dumanoir@swbell.netPRIORPASTPRES.____________ GeorgeMarion________ 713-408-0147_____________________ george@seisborg.comSEGSECTIONREPS___________ LeeLawyer __________ 281-531-5347_____________________ llawyer@prodigy.netALTERNATESEGREPS________ BillGafford___________ 281-370-3264_____________________ geogaf@hal-pc.org _________________________ ArtRoss_____________ 281-360-9331_____________________ artross@airmail.net _________________________ HaynieStringer________ 281-491-2045___ 877-552-0178____ haynies@promoconnection.net _________________________ RoyE.Clark,Jr.______ 281-654-5651___ 281-654-5891____ roy.e.clark@exxonmobil.com

18 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009 November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 3

Announcements

2009 GSHNewsletter Deadlines

Issue ....................December 2009Deadline.............. November2,2009Issue ....................... January 2009Deadline.............. December1,2009

Editor’s Note: To ensure your informationreachestheGSHsocietymembersinatimelymanneritmustappearin the appropriate newsletterissue. Please note the followingdeadlines and plan your function’spublicitystrategyaccordingly.Itemsmustbereceivedonorbefore thecorrespondingdeadlinedate.Pleasesend any obituary or memorialarticles of recently deceasedmembers toGlennBear,editor,atglenn.w.bear@exxonmobil.com.IfyouhaveanyquestionspleasecallGlenn Bear at 713/431-6583.

ROCK PHYSICS SIGMon.,Nov.2,2009

TECHNICALBREAKFAST

Wed.,Nov.11,2009

MULTICOMPONENT SIGWed.,Nov.11,2009

TECHNICAL LUNCH (1)Tues.,Nov.17,2009

TECHNICAL LUNCH (2)Wed.,Nov.18,2009

ROCK PHYSICS SIGWed.,Nov.18,2009

POTENTIAL FIELDS SIGThurs.,Nov.19,2009

Houston Petroleum Auxiliary Council News

Attention HPAC Members

TheHolidaySeasonwillbeherebeforeweknowitandHPACwantstosetthetonefortheholidayswithourLuncheononFriday,December4th.Bringaguest

andenjoythewonderfulentertainment.

Friday, December 4, 2009Entertainment: King’s Men Chorus

Lakeside Country Club100 Wilcrest Drive

10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.CommitteeChairmen:NancyFrye,KathyDuncan

CommitteeMembers:BernadineBillard,PhyllisCarter,LindaDobbins,SusanGraul,ElinorMacmillan,DonnaParrish,SandraPezzeta,NanPye,

LindaSteen,HelenThomas,&JoanMosesCost:$29.00

Mark your calendar today!

Biography:Per Avseth is a geophysical adviser atOdin Petroleum in Bergen, Norway,and a consultant to oil companieswithin the field of quantitative seismicinterpretationandrockphysicsanalysis.Heisalsoanadjunctprofessorinappliedgeophysics at Norwegian Universityof Science and Technology (NTNU) inTrondheim, Norway. Per received his

M.Sc.inAppliedPetroleumGeosciencesfrom NTNU in 1993, and his Ph.D. ingeophysics from Stanford University,California, in2000.Hiscareer includesone year at Norsk Hydro ExplorationinOslo,Norway,as seismic interpreter,andfiveyearsatNorskHydroResearchCentre in Bergen as a researchgeophysicist.Hehasextensiveworldwide

experience in applying quantitativeseismic interpretation methodologiesin North and South America, Africa,andEurope.PerAvseth is thecoauthorof the book, Quantitative Seismic Interpretation – Applying Rock Physics Tools to Reduce Interpretation Risk(CambridgeUniversityPress,2005).

Seismicamplitudeanomaliesareinterpretedin terms of pore pressure, lithology, rocktexture,fluidcontent,andporosity,focusingon establishing a rock properties-basedseismic interpretation framework and de-riskingtheexplorationopportunities.Theoverallpracticalgoalofthismethodologyistogenerateacatalogofseismicresponsesofpotentialexplorationsuccessandfailurescenarios,tosupportbusinessdecisionsandrecommendations.Examplesfromfrontierbasinswillbepresented.

Biography:MarioA.GutierreziscurrentlyaPrincipalGeophysicist at BHP Billiton Petroleum,working primarily on the application ofseismic-androckphysics-basedmethods,evaluating and risking the presenceof reservoir rocks and hydrocarbons,to support business decisions andrecommendations on exploration oil &gasprojectsworldwide.Previously,Marioheld applied research and operationalroles at Shell, Ecopetrol, and various

seismic contractors, working on avarietyofprojectsincludingrockphysicsmodeling & seismic attributes studies,reservoircharacterization,shallowhazardevaluations,velocity-basedporepressureprediction, and seismic acquisition.Mario is member of SEG, GSH, andAAPG.HeholdsaB.S.inGeologyfromUniversidad Nacional de Colombia, andM.S. and Ph.D. degrees in GeophysicsfromStanfordUniversity.

Rock Physics 1 continued from page 11.

Rock Physics 2 continued from page 11.

GSH Membership ReportAsofOctober1,2009

Active 896 Associate 199 Emeritus 58 Students 9 Honorary 29 Lifetime 30 Total 1221

Biography:Rob graduated from the University ofToronto with a B.Sc. in physics andmathematics and completed a Ph.D. ingeophysics at Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology.HehasbeenemployedwithChevronOilFieldResearchCompanyinLa Habra, California; Arco ExplorationandProductionResearchCentreinDallas,Texas; Chevron Geosciences Co., andVeritasSoftwareLtd.,Calgary.RobwasaprofessorofgeophysicsattheUniversityof

CalgaryandheldtheChairinExplorationGeophysics from1987-1997. He isalsoPresidentofGENNIXTechnologyCorp.,ageophysicalconsultingcompany.

Rob received the Canadian SEG’sHonorary Membership Award in 2004for “distinguished contributions in thefield of geophysics” and the SEG’sLifetime Membership Award in 2006for “exceptional meritorious service to

the Society.” In 2007, he was inductedasFellowInternationalintotheExplorersClubofNewYork. InAugust,2008hejoined the University of Houston as aprofessor of geophysics, Cullen Chair inExploration Geophysics, and Directorof Allied Geophysical Lab. He hasled geophysical expeditions to CentralAmerica to imageMaya ruins aswell astheHighArctic toparticipate inNASA’sHaughton-MarsProject.

Multicomponent SIG continued from page 10.

Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation for the United States Post Office.

4 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009 November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 17

Dave Agarwal -- Les DenhamGeophysical Interpretation on Workstations

Exploration & Development -- Worldwide 2D/3D1500 CityWest, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77042 Tel. 281-920-4450

iit@IIandT.com http://www.IIandT.com

4 Geophysical Society of Houston SEPTEMBER 2008 SEPTEMBER 2008 Geophysical Society of Houston 25

To reserve youradvertisement space

or for rateinformation contactLilly Hargrave at:713-463-9477

To reserve your advertisement space or forrate information contact Lilly Hargrave at:

713-463-9477

Here’s MyCard . . .

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overlapping functions—to communicate and echolocate.

For years PGS has been communicating closely with operators in exploration basins world-

wide to help locate new prospects, to expand production from existing ones and to lower find-

ing and development costs. Recent significant successes from our depth imaging teams are

giving geoscientists clear images by using state-of-the-art migration algorithms and advanced

velocity model building workflows. To find out more about the bottom line benefits of PGS

data processing, please contact Frank Dumanoir at (281) 509-8354.

A clearer image www.pgs.com

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for rates and information at713-463-9477

2005, WATS was used ondevelopment assets likeMadDog, Puma, and TubularBells, butwas too expensiveforlargerexplorationsurveys.Spurred by the success ofWATS, the geophysicalindustrybegantooffermulti-client seismic surveys, muchlarger in areal extent atthe expense of being morecoarsely spatially sampled,but sampledwell enough forexplorationpurposes.Theseexploration WATS (XWATS)surveys started in late 2006and now cover a largeportion of the deep watercentral and eastern Gulf ofMexico. Improvements insubsurface image qualityover older narrow azimuthacquisitionhavebeen readilydemonstrated and have leadtoexplorationsuccess.

Biography:Dennis Yanchak began hiscareerintheoilbusinessin1977working for Gulf R&D nearPittsburgh,PA.Whileworkingat Gulf, Dennis completed hisMS inPhysics fromCarnegie-Mellon University. In 1985he joined Amoco, working intheir International TechnologyGroup in Houston. WithinAmocoandBP,hehasworkedaroundtheworldinexploration,development, and production;both land and marine. Hisexperiences cover domesticassignmentsinDenverworkingproduction in the overthrustand Houston working inimaging R&D to internationalassignments inEgypt asChiefGeophysicist for GUPCO andmost recently Senior AdvisorinTNK-BP based inMoscow,Russia.Heiscurrentlyworkingon wide azimuth seismic intheGulfofMexicoDeepwaterExplorationgroup.

Technical Breakfast continued from page 1.

November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 516 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009

November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 156 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009

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Biography:MygeologicalcareerstartedatKeeleUniversity (UK) where I got myBSc. Following my undergraduatestudies, I was lucky enough to behiredbyARCOBritishlimited.In1999theysponsoredmetotakeaMScatRoyalHollowayUniversity,London.FollowingtheeliminationofARCObyBP,IstayedatRoyalHolloway to work with CindyEbinger and Ken McClay on myPhD.TowardtheendomydoctoralstudiesIworkedasaconsultantforSerica EnergyUK, and then tooka Post-Doc with Trond Torsvik &CarmenGainaatNGUinNorway.FromthereIsidesteppedtoStatoilwhere I stayed for 3 years. InFebruary2009ImovedtotheUSAwithStatoil toworkintheGulfofMexicoexplorationteam.

Potential Fields SIG continued from page 10.Here’s My Card

November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 714 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009

*

Here’s My Card

Place your Business Card inThe GSH Newsletter, Call Lilly Hargrave

for rates and information at713-463-9477

Abstract:Interpretationofaseismicvolumeforstructureanddepositionalsystemscanbeaverytime-consumingprocesswhenconductedusingtraditionalinterpretationtechniques.Traditionalsystemsrelyontheinterpretationofstructure(salt,canyons,andfaults)and stratigraphy (channels, fans, progrades, meander zones,etc.) on inlines, crosslines, and time- or depth-slices in theseismic volume. These systems typically include some 3-Dautomationintheformofhorizonautotracking.A new workflow and new interpretation techniques havebeen developed to enable “true“ volume interpretation - theinterpretation of structural stratigraphic features as complete3-Dsurfacesintheseismicvolume,whereanentiresurfaceisinterpretedatonce.Theworkflowincludesthefollowingsteps:

* Structural Interpretation: o Imaging and extraction of complete 3-D salt bodies andcanyons o Automatic extraction of fault surfaces from fault probabilityvolumes o Predictivehorizonsurfaceinterpretation* Stratigraphic Interpretation: o Creation of a stratal volume, removing all structural deformationfromthe3-Dseismicvolume o Imagingandsemi-automaticextractionof3-Dboundaries ofdepositionalsystemsinthestratalvolume o Inverse transformationof theextracted featuresback to thedomainoftheinputseismicvolume

Automatically interpretinghorizons,saltboundaries,canyons,andfaultsascomplete3-Dsurfacesinthevolumesignificantlyreducesthecycletimeinstructuralinterpretation.Thedomaintransformationofthevolume,removingallstructureincluding3-Dfaultdisplacementtocreateastructure-freestratalvolume,providesanidealviewofthedataforidentificationandextractionof depositional features as 3-D bounding surfaces. Many

depositional systems and features that would be completelymissed in the input seismic volume become visible andinterpretableinthestratalvolume.Theinversetransformationofthesedepositionalfeaturesintotheoriginalseismicvolumeallows all aspects of the interpreted geological structure andstratigraphy to be integrated into one view, leading to muchmorerapidandcompleteidentificationofprospectswithintheseismicvolume.

Biography:Dr.Dorn receivedhisPh.D. in exploration geophysics (Engi-neeringGeoscience,1980) from theUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley. He joined ARCO Exploration and ProductionTechnologyinthefallof1980.From1982to1987hedirectedtheinteractiveinterpretationresearchgroupatARCO,leavingmanagementinJanuaryof1987topursuetechnicalresearchinterestsin3-Dseismicinterpretationandvisualization.HewasnamedanARCOResearchAdvisorin1993forhiscontributionsintheseareas.Returningtomanagementin1997,heformedanddirectedARCO’sVisualizationTechnologygroup.AftertheacquisitionofARCObyBP,Dr.DornarrangedBP’sdonation of ARCO’s Visualization Technology center to theUniversityofColoradoatBoulder(CU)formingtheBPCenterforVisualization.HewasDirectorof thisresearchcenter,aswellasaResearchProfessorintheDepartmentofGeologicalSciencesfrom2001-2005.InJanuary2006,hecompletedaspin-outoftheBPCenterforVisualizationfromCU,formingTerraSparkGeosciences,LP.

Dr. Dorn was the Spring 2002 SEG Distinguished Lecturer,speakingon3-DVisualizationappliedtoresourceexplorationand development. His interests include 3-D visualization,3-D/4-D seismic interpretation, and geophysical reservoircharacterization.HeisanactivememberoftheSEG,EAGE,AAPG,andACMSIGGRAPH.

Technical Luncheon continued from page 1.

technicalchallengesofbusiness.Consideredasawhole,Iwouldconclude technicalmeetingattendance shouldbeviewedasapositiveindicatorofSocietyvalue.

Attendance at non-technical events. TheSportingClaysevent,theGolfTournament,andtheFishingtournamentarealwayswellattended.ForyearstheseactivitieshavebeenstalwartsoftheSociety.Theyprovidenetworkingopportunities,andthecompanysponsorshipsgenerateanetincomethatgoestoourscholarshipfund.TheseactivitiesagainaddvaluetotheSociety.

Lets now consider the total number of members. Hereasteadydeclineinmembershipnumbersovertimemaysuggestthatmembershipneedsarenotbeingmet.Clearly,acontinuingnegativetreadwouldresultintheSociety’sdemise.

Finally, let’s consider donations and financial support.Money is a difficult subject to discuss, for much can be read

betweenthelineswhenmoneybecomesthetopicofconversation.Yet,simplystated,wehavesomewonderfulsupportersofSocietyevents,buttheyarefewinnumberwhenconsideringHouston’sstatureastheenergycapitaloftheworld.Wheredoesthisleaveusinreachinganoverallassessment?Happily,weseemtobeservingthemembershipwithabroadrangeofactivities.Buthowwellarewedoingthis…whereisthebarsetforsuccessandhowdowejudgeourplacerelativetothebar?Thisisnotaneasyquestiontoanswer.Whatwouldyouconclude?

AsaBoardmember,Iampleasedwithwhatweareofferingthemembership.Yet,Icannotbecomplacentinwhatwearedoing.Mywishistoseekadditionfinancialsupportfromthebusinesscommunityandturnaroundthedecliningmembershipnumbersandshowgrowth.AsIseeit,theseareourSociety’schallengesandthisiswherewecouldfocusattentiontoaddvalue.Bydoingthis,wefurtherenhanceadynamicSocietythatsupportsabroadrangeofmembershipneedsandinterests.

President’s Column continued from page 1.

November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 138 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009

Thanks To OurSponsors

Geoscience Day2009 Was A

Huge Success!

On behalf of the GSH Tennis Tournament, we would like to thank the following sponsors for supporting this year’s event held at the Houston Racquet Club on September 11, 2009

Laura McAllan • Maureen Iglesias • Eva Garza

Theirpresenceprovidedawholesomeatmosphereduringtherainportionofthetournamentandinsured

thatwewillhavealargereventnextyear!

BasinGeophysicalLLCDawsonGeophysical

DeltaGeophysicseSeis

GravityMapServiceDivideandConquerGeophysical

FugroMultiClientServicesFugroGravityandMagnetics

Fugro-JasonHunter3D

Geokinetics,Inc.GeoxInternational

IHS,Inc.IAGC

KMSTechnologiesLexco

PolarisE&EServices,Inc.Petro-Hunt.LLC

PGSSeabirdExplorationTritonDataServices

SystemDevelopment,Inc.WeemsGeophysical,Inc.

WilsonGeophysical

“A” First Place DougDawson•ChristopherBetz

“A” Second PlaceAndyWu•MarkHelsinger

“B” First PlaceDavidDietz•BjornJanke

“B” Second PlaceJohnWalker•SusanLeach

Marvin Taylor, Tournament ChairLiz Ivie, Tournament Co-Chair

November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 912 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009

5701 Crawford St., Suite HNew Orleans, LA 70123Phone: (504) 731-2995information@seiscoinc.comwww.seiscoinc.com

2D Seismic Data  • Exploration Studies  • Aeromagnetic Surveys

A SEISMIC EXPLORATION INFORMATION SERVICES COMPANY- Since 1992 -

Scenes from2009 GSH

Tennis Tournament

November 2009 Geophysical Society of Houston 1110 Geophysical Society of Houston November 2009

ROCK PHYSICS SIG 1Date: Monday,November2,2009Time: 5:30p.m.-6:30p.m.Location: CGGVeritas 10300TownParkDr.,Houston,TX77072 (VisualizationCenter,3rdfloor)Speaker: Per Avseth,Geophysical Adviser, Odin Petroleum AS, Bergen, Norway and Adjunct Professor, NTNU, Trondheim,Norway Topic: “Mind the Gap in Seismic Reservoir Prediction: How Rock Physics Can Bridge the Gap between Qualitative Geology and Quantitative Geophysics”Abstract:

POTENTIAL FIELDS SIG

Wemightthinkofcurrentseismicexplorationasadiscussiondominatedbylongitudinal(loud)waves.But,theshear(shy)waveshavesomegoodpointstoo!Multicomponentrecordingandanalysisofthefullseismicmotion(usingbothwaves)hasshowngreatpromiseasasubsurfaceexplorationtechnique.Themethodhasalsodeliveredspectacularly insomecases(lesssoinothers).Thispresentationprovidesashorthistory- and extended future - of the multicomponent (full-wave/vector/elastic) seismicmethod. Thegoalof themethod istomorefullygenerateandrecordcompletevibrationsintheearth;then,usetheserecordingstoenhancetraditionalP-wavearrivalsandcreatecomplementaryshear-andsurface-wavepictures.Oftheadditionalwavetypesrecorded,theconverted

Date: Thursday,November19,2009Time: 5:30p.m.Location: HESSClub 5430WestheimerRoad,HoustonSpeaker: Dr. Philip Ball,Senior Geologist GoM South Deepwater Global Exploration (GEX) North America StatoilHydroTopic: “Constraints On Continental Break-Up Within The Great Australian Bight From Seismic Reflection, Gravity and Magnetic Data Analyses”Abstract:Weaklymagmaticpassivemarginsrecord largeamountsofextensional strainprior tobreakup,but the roleofmagmaintrusion and the along-strike variability of strain remainpoorlyunderstood.Thisstudyutilizedexistingonshoreandoffshoregravity,magnetic,seismicreflection,andwelldatato probe the evolution of rifting, continental breakup, andseafloor spreading across the Australo-Antarctic margins.Continental rifting along the largely non-volcanic southernmarginofAustraliaoccurredduringtwodiscretephases,Syn-rift1(165-140Ma)andSyn-rift2(100-83Ma),butexistingdataaretoosparsetomaptheirspatialextent.Thecrustal thicknessandstructureonshorevariesbetweentectonic domains, thinning from 35-40 km onshore toapproximately 10 km beneath the magnetic quiet zoneoffshore.Eulerdeconvolutionsolutionscalibratedwithseismicreflection data reveal two discrete sub-parallel rift systems.RiftStructuresofthewesternriftsystemoverlapthatofthe

easternriftsystem,buttheyareseparatedbyapproximately200km.Eachsystemterminatesatorneartotheboundaryof theGawler craton, suggesting that the craton servedasan obstacle to rift propagation. The Ceduna sub-basin,whichcontainsupto15kmofprimarilypost-riftstrata,liesbetweenthetworiftzones.DuringSyn-riftII,anewriftzonedevelopedoceanwardoftheSyn-RiftIalongthewesternriftzone. Minor magmatism and possible mantle exhumationisobservedduring thesecond rifting stageandwithin~10Mypriortothefirstwell-definedseafloorspreadinganomaly.The asymmetry of the conjugate Australian and Antarcticmarginsmaybeexplainedbythealong-axispropagationoftwospatiallyseparatedriftsthateventuallylinkedviaaNW-strikingsystemoffaults,orthroughdiscreteriftjumpstotheNEwithin therift-overlapzone. Usingobservationsof thelocation and distribution of basement related structures, arevisedmodelforbreakupbetweenAustraliaandAntarcticaisproposed.

THE SEG AND THE GSH, THROUGH THE ROCK PHYSICS SIG, ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE...

The field of rock physics represents the link betweenqualitativegeologicparametersandquantitativegeophysicalmeasurements. Increasingly over the last decade, rockphysics stands out as a key technology in petroleumgeophysics,asithasbecomeanintegralpartofquantitativeseismic interpretation. Ultimately, theapplicationof rockphysics tools can reduce exploration risk and improvereservoirforecastinginthepetroleumindustry.

Traditionally,rockphysicshasfocusedontheunderstandingofhowseismicsignatureschangeasafunctionofhydrocarbonsaturation,porosity,andpressure;withgreatbreakthroughsmade in laboratoryexperimentsand theoreticalmodeling.Today, rock physics has extended its turf and plays animportant role in the basin scale characterization of thesubsurface, being an integral part of both well log andseismic data analysis. This lecture shows the importanceand benefit of linking rockphysics to geologic processes,

including depositional and compactional trends. It furtherdocuments that lithology substitution can be as equallyimportant as fluid substitution during seismic reservoirprediction. It is important in exploration and appraisal toextrapolate away from existing wells, taking into accounthowthedepositionalenvironmentchangesaswellasburialdepthtrends.Inthiswayrockphysicscanbetterconstrainthe geophysical inversion and classification problem inunderexplored marginal fields, surrounding satellite areas,orinnewfrontiers.

Thepresentation includespracticalexamplesandaNorthSea case study to demonstrate a best-practice workflow,together with limitations and pitfalls, where rock physicsmodelsarecombinedwithwelllogandprestackseismicdata,sedimentologic information, inputs from basin modeling,and statistical techniques topredict reservoir geology andfluidsfromseismicamplitudes.

Date: Wednesday,November18,2009Time: 5:30p.m.-6:30p.m.Location: CGGVeritas 10300TownParkDr.,Houston,TX77072(VisualizationCenter,3rdfloor)Speaker: Mario A. Gutiérrez,BHP Billiton Petroleum (Americas) Inc.Topic: “Rock Physics-based Workflows for Exploration in Frontier Basins”Abstract: Quantitative seismic interpretation techniques have beenapplied with consistent success to predicting lithology andfluidsinareaswithhigh-qualitylocal-wellcontrol.Bycontrast,the application of the same techniques is problematic infrontierbasinswherethenearestwellcontrolissomedistanceaway.Whenrockpropertymodelsareextrapolatedoutsidetherangeofcalibration,seismicresponsescannotbealwaysreliablypredicted.

Hereweintroduceanintegratedmethodologyforexplorationin frontierbasins thatcombinesrockphysicsmodelingandseismic-basedevaluationtechniques,allowingtheinterpretertoreliablyextrapolate,predict,andquantifyseismicresponses

for several geologic scenarios. This method includesexamination of depositional and diagenetic processes tounderstand the predominant geological and geophysicaleffects on the seismic properties and their variations fromdistantwellcontroltoprospectlocations.Thismethodologyusesstate-of-the-artrockphysicsmodelsthatareintegratedeffectively with existing thermal, burial, and reservoirqualitypredictionmodelsbasedonregionalbasinmodelingand petrographic analog data. These models link theelasticpropertiesof rock to theirbulkproperties (porosity,lithology), physical conditions (pressure, temperature, andporefluidproperties)andgeologicalcharacteristics (textureandcomposition).

ROCK PHYSICS SIG 2MULTICOMPONENT SIG

Potential Fields SIG continued on page 15.

Rock Physics 1 continued on page 18.

Rock Physics 2 continued on page 18.

Date: Wednesday,November11,2009Time: Social:5:30p.m.-6:00p.m.•TalkandQ&A:6:00p.m.-7:00p.m.Location: WesternGeco•QAuditorium 10001RichmondAvenue,Houston,TX77042Speaker: Prof. Robert R. Stewart, Cullen Chair in Exploration Geophysics, Director, Allied Geophysical Lab, University of HoustonTopic: “Multicomponent Seismic Exploration: A More Complete Conversation With Loud Waves and Shy Ones”Abstract:

wave(P-to-Sonreflection)hasfoundthemostuseinresourceexploration (including imaging through gas volumes, sand-shale discrimination, and fracture assessment). Acquisitionhasprogressedwithmanynewland(e.g.,MEMS)andmarinesystems(cablesandnodes). Processinghasalso improved,withnovelmigrationandanisotropyproceduresmakingmuchbetter images. Commercial software for multicomponentanalysis and interpretation has helped create a cascade ofinnovativeusesandcasehistories.Asthedemandformorecrisp and informative subsurface imaging grows, so doestheneed formulticomponent seismicapplication. Agoodconversationofteninvolvesintroducingboththerobustandsubtlepoints. Multicomponent SIG continued on page 18.

2009 Europe Honorary Lecturer