Grapevine

SEG 96 Calgary to Denver Lowest Airfares Offered by MacdonaldCole Inc.

We know attending conventions can be expensive, so MacdonaldCole Inc. are continually looking at ways in which we can help SEG delegates reduce some of these costs. For the fourth consecutive year, we, together with JarvisfWoodside Travel, are offering the lowest airfares to Denver. For information, contact Steven MacDonald. Phone: 403-271-6908 Fax: 403-278-6892 or email - MacdonaldCole@cia.com.

SIS Introduces Radon DMO 3D

The increasing demand for high fidelity in both structural and stratigraphic integrity in 3D seismic spurred the development of a new way to do 3D DMO. Many 3D surveys are irregularly and sparsely sampled in offset, often with a wide range of azimuths. This is especially true for land, OBC and increasingly so for multi-steamer marine operations. Superior results have been demonstrated on numerous 3D survey.

Radon DMO 3D is available for ProMAX or as a SEG-Y stand-alone form on a variety of platforms. DMO in the RADON domain is developed by Vector Seismic Data Processing Inc. and is marketed world wide by Seismic Image Software Ltd.

GAC-MAC Joint Annual Meeting – Ottawa 1997

The Joint Annual Meeting of the Geological Association of Canada (GAC) and the Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) will be held May 19-21, 1997 at the Ottawa Congress Centre. In less than a year, geoscientists from all over the world will be gathering in Ottawa to hear about the latest research in geoscience and to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Geological Association of Canada.

For further information on this joint annual meeting contact the Conference Seceretariat at Ottawa '97, Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario KIA OE8, Phone: (613) 947-7649, Fax: (613)947-7650, E-mail: ottawa97@ernr.ca, or visit our web site at http://www.ernr.ca/~ottawa971.

Technology Profession Celebrates Twenty-Five Years of Service

The Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists (CCTT) is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this year. Incorporated on September 1, 1972 as the Canadian Council of Engineering Technicians and Technologists, the Council has become a dynamic federation of provincial Constituent Member Associations representing the interests of more than 37,000 Certified Engineering and Applied Science Technologists and Technicians across Canada.

Please join us in celebrating this special occasion. If you would like further information on CCTT (the current president of which is an Albertan!), on ASET, or on technicians and technologists in general, please feel free to contact the ASET office in Edmonton at (403)425-0626 or Fax (403)424-5053, or Toll Free in Alberta at 1-800-272-5619, or Email at asetadmin@worldgate.com. Our home page address is http://aset.worldgate.com.

GAC-MAC-APGGQ Joint Annual Meeting – Quebec 1998

The joint meeting of the Geological Association of Canada (GAC), Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC) and Association professionnelle des Geologues et des Geophysiciens du Quebec (APGGQ) will be held May 18-20, 1998 at the Quebec Congress Centre. For more information contact: Mme Agathe Morin, Departement de geologie et de genie geologique, Universite Laval, PavilIon Adrien-Pouliot, Sainte-Foy, Quebec GIK 7P4 or Telephone: (418) 656-2193/Fax: (418) 656-7339, E-mail: quebec1998@ggl.ulava1.ca. Internet: http://www.gg1.ulavIa.calquebecl998.html.

MEOS 97 – 10th Middle East Oil Show & Conference

The 10th Middle East Oil Show & Conference - MEOS 97 will be held March 15-18, 1997 in Bahrain. With global demand for oil projected to rise by 17 million barrels per day by the year 2010, a 23% increase, much of this growth can only be met by Arabian Gulf producers. This is clearly good news for Canadian companies in the oil patch seeking to find new markets or to expand on existing ones.

Sponsored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, The 10th Middle East Oil Show & Conference – MEOS 97, which for nearly two decades has been one of the most important oil shows in the Middle East, provides the opportunity for market access.

Joint SEG/ASE First Azerbauan International Conference

The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and the Azeri Society of Exploration Geophysicists (ASE) are pleased to announce their joint sponsorship of the First Azerbaijan International Conference on Geophysics. "Petroleum Systems in Rapidly-Subsiding Basins" in Baku, Azerbaijan, October 911, 1996. This Joint Conference will be held immediately following the International Research Symposium addressing the same technical subject from the Geological perspective. That Symposium will be jointly organized by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Azerbaijan Society of Petroleum Geologists, October 6-9, 1996 in Baku.

For further information or to register for this Conference, contact David Yowell, Director, International Conferences & Expositions, SEG, Phone: (918) 497-5500 ext.511, Fax: (918) 4975577, or E-mail: 76622.3727@compuserve.com.

Advanced Horizontal Well Technology Seminar

A three-day seminar instructed by Sada D. Joshi, Ph.D. and 1. Kevin Hall will be held September 17-19, 1996 at the Delta Bow Valley Hotel, Calgary. Reservoir, Drilling and Production Engineers, and Geologists, Geophysicists, and Managers wishing to broaden their knowledge of horizontal well technology and become familiar with PC based evaluation techniques will benefit from attending this three-day seminar. They will be presented with a broad range of horizontal well topics, supplemented by case histories from throughout the world. You will learn how to: estimate oil and gas reserves for horizontal wells; calculate the horizontal well drainage area; evaluate the horizontal well pressure transient text; estimate steady state and pseudo-steady state horizontal well rates and rate-time forcasts; perform objective comparisons of vertical, vertical fractured and horizontal wells; and, estimate critical rate and post-water breakthrough performance for horizontal and vertical wells.

For further information contact Joshi Technologies International, Inc., 5801 East 41st Street, Suite 603, Tulsa, OK 74135 or Phone: (918) 665-6419.

Delta Epsilon Instruments Introduces Portable Borehole Logger

Delta Epsilon has expanded its range of portable loggers with the introduction of the 300 series. When combined with the 1000AM integrated weatherproof acquisition system or a standard PC, they form what is said to be the most compact, economical, portable, digital loggers available. A comprehensive range of measurements with multiple function digital probes are offered for groundwater, geotechnical, and mining applications.

Western Geophysical Sets New World Record for Streamer Length by Towing an 8800-Meter Streamer

Western Geophysical's super-seismic vessel R/V Western Spirit has established a new world record for streamer length by towing an 8800-meter (5.5 mile) streamer in the Gulf of Mexico, breaking the Company's previous world record for far-offset recording from a single vessel by 1200 meters.

This extraordinary feat occurred in early June during parameter testing for Western's ULTRA Survey^SM, a 3-D spec survey of 925 OCS blocks currently underway in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For the ULTRA survey, Western's seismic vessels are using multiple 8000-meter, reduced-diameter 24-bit streamers.

Seismic Manufacturing Firms Merge to Form Sercel-Opseis Inc.

Two of the world's leaders in the manufacturing of seismic equipment, Houston-based Sercel and Tulsa-based Opseis Inc., have announced plans to merge operations and create a new entity, Sercel-Opseis Inc.

According to the letter of intent, Sercel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Compagnie Generale de Geophysique, will acquire 100 percent of Opseis' outstanding shares. Opseis also will consolidate its North American sales and customer service operations with Sercel in Houston and will maintain its Tulsa manufacturing and engineering operations.

Upon completion of the transaction, Sercel-Opseis will offer the digital, cable telemetry systems of Sercel with the radio telemetry seismic data acquisition systems of Opseis. According to Robert Albers, executive vice president for Sercel, the new company will provide oil companies and contractors with a choice of seismic data acquisition equipment depending on the terrain, population levels and evasiveness of oil and gas deposits.

RockWare Web Site Features Free Software

The RockWare, Inc. Internet Web site now includes an unlockable trial software version of LogPlot, the log plotting software package for Windows. The trial version can be downloaded and used as a fully functioning software product for a specific number of sessions. The RockWare Web site also includes: product information on RockWare's 200+ geoscience software products; a free, downloadable volcanic eruption program and gree geoscience utilities; current pricing information; special product sales; and international dealer listing; and more.

Download the free demo from the RockWare Internet Web site at: http://www.rockware.com/rockware.

Call For Papers – SAGEEP

The Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS) is sponsoring the 10th Annual Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems (SAGEEP) from March 23-26, 1997, to be held at John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel, Reno, Nevada.

It is the goal of EEGS to promote discussion between professionals on capabilities and limitations of current geophysical technology (case histories), new developments in equipment and software, and to facilitate technology transfer from research to practical applications. EEGS also aims to promote dialog between geophysicists, geologists, engineers, environmental scientists and others who may utilize geophysics. Abstracts are now being requested for all sessions and should be sent to Dr. John Louie, c/o Dr. James Taranik, Desert Research Institute, P.O. Box 60220, Reno, NV 89506, Fax: (702) 673-7421, or E-mail: Louie@seismo.unr.edu.

SEG Appointments

Paul E. Hummel, Associate Director for Programs and Shared Services of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), has been named the organization's Deputy Executive Director. He will assume the leadership of the Society's Tulsa-based Business Office in mid-1997 upon the retirement of the current Executive Director, F. Don Stoddard.

Another major change in the SEG Business Office is the appointment of Jack L. Ingram, CPA, as Associate Director for Administration and Finance. This position had been vacant since the promotion of Don Stoddard to Executive Director in 1995.

Photon Announces Organizational Changes

Effective July 1, 1996, Photon Systems Ltd., a Canadian subsidiary of CogniSeis Development Inc., made several organizational changes designed to improve the company's ability to deliver user-oriented earth modeling software to both the Calgary and global petroleum industries. The development of Photon's seismic interpretation product, SeisX, will be moved from Calgary to Boulder, Colorado. Bouder has been identified as the location for all the Corporation's earth modelling development including various CogniSeis interpretation products. The main reason for the move was to encourage communication between product development teams, and to facilitate development of cross-product integration.

Photon Support and Sales staff will remain in Calgary and will continue to provide the Calgary user community with the best possible products and client support. There will be direct communications between support and development in Boulder to ensure that the requirements of the Calgary user community are still met.

Colombia – Key Location for Exploration & Production

Interest is growing rapidly in this important petroleum country. Colombia has been an oil producing nation for years, but recent finds of substantial reserves of high quality crude and the facility of doing business in Colombia have major international oil companies looking again at this new net exporter of oil.

At the recent annual convention of the American Society of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the event's 4,500 delegates were able to visit Colombia's booth and speak with key representatives of ECOPETROL, the country's state oil company. This was the first time that Colombia has participated actively in an international event of this kind and visitors flocked to the booth to gather information on Colombia's oil industry.

Colombia offers an enormous potential in the oil sector, a potential confirmed by the discovery of the Caño Limón and Cusiana-Cupiagua fields, with reserves amounting to 1 billion and 1.5 billion barrels of crude respectively. In addition, the petroleum extracted in the more recent finds boasts exceptional qualities – high API gravity (36° on average in cusiana and 29.7° in Caño Limón) and low sulphur content – enabling it to claim an important position in the international market.

Colombia contains a sedimentary area of approximately 887,000 km², distributed in 13 basins, of which 86% is open for exploration. Based on preliminary studies, the potential petroleum reserves to be discovered are estimated at 15 billion barrels. This potential has encouraged almost 60 petroleum companies world-wide to undertake exploration activities in Colombia.

Colombia in fact offers a unique combination of ingredients hard to pass up large reserves, an efficient mechanism for participation and a rapidly developing country able to provide investors with modern infrastructure and a stable economic background.

Roy O. Lindseth, C.M., Appointed to the Order of Canada

He is a world renowned geophysicist whose pioneering work on seismic signal processing has had a significant impact on petroleum exploration and development. The author of numerous scientific publications, he has also served with distinction in many professional organizations including the Canadian Geoscience Council and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Created July 1, 1967, the Order of Canada is the centrepiece of our national honours system, which includes orders, decorations, medals and heraldic devices. The Order is a fraternity of merit that recognizes significant achievement in important fields of human endeavour. There are three levels of membership: The companion level recognizes international service or achievement or national pre-eminence; the Officer level recognizes national service or achievement; and the Member level recognizes outstanding contributions at the local or regional level or in a specialized field of activity. Each level of the Order has the corresponding post-nominal letters: C.C., O.C. and C.M., respectively.

3rd International Petroleum Environmental Conference Albuquerque, New Mexico

The 3rd International Petroleum Environmental Conference: Environmental Issues and Solutions in Exploration, Production and Refining will be held September 24-27, 1996 at the Albuquerque Hilton in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For information on this Conference contact Barbara Derby, The University of Tulsa, Continuing Engineering Education, 600 South College Avenue, Tulsa, OK 741043189, Phone: (918) 631-3088, Fax: (918) 631-2154 or E-mail: contedcee@tulsa.edu.

CogniSeis and Cray Team-Up

CogniSeis Development, Inc. and Cray Research recently announced that they are working together to optimize, market, and sell CogniSeis' Focus software on the CRAY T3E system, Cray's latest scalable parallel supercomputer capable of more than a trillion calculations per second (teraflops). The two companies said that this combined solution is expected to bring a significant advancement in compute technology to the oil exploration market, where companies image the earth's subsurface in search for oil and improved methods of extraction.

Focus software is used for interactive and batch processing for 2D and 3D seismic processing applications to improve oil and gas exploration. A powerful imaging technique, 3D pres tack depth migration, is designed to construct better seismic images to lower the risk of "dry wells", explorations that are unproductive. 3D prestack depth migration techniques have been implemented by major oil companies and seismic contractors, but as proprietary solutions. Now this same technology is added to the Focus software system and is available commercially as a combined solution from CogniSeis and Cray.

$5 Million Software Donation a Boon to Geophysics

A major donation from the Landmark Graphics Corporation of Houston, Texas, has bolstered the computing capabilities of U of C-based geophysics research projects and the Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Landmark donated software worth more than $5 million (Can.) to the U of C through CREWES (the Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology) and the Foothills Research Project. The donation includes 10 seats each of ProMax 3D, ProMax VSP, SeisWorks/3D, StratWorks and various other programs. These programs will be run on a cluster of 10 UltraSPARC workstations.

Western Atlas Acquires Acutec Logging Services, Inc.

Western Atlas Inc. (NYSE:WAI) recently announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Acutec Logging Services, Inc.

Acutec has developed an innovative shear and compressional, monopole-dipole acoustic logging service that has been successfully operated in both openhole and cased hole wells for major oil companies. The technology is capable of providing the customer with reliable shear and compressional information across the spectrum of environments, both difficult and challenging soft rock formations and rugose boreholes.

New Basic Environmental Program Guide

CAPP's (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers) Basic Environmental program was created to help petroleum companies develop Environmental Management Systems that meet regulatory requirements, demonstrate due diligence, and improve their environmental performance. It has been drawn from established industry practices, and national and international standards set by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and the International Standards Organization (ISO).

ISO14000 is currently being developed by the International Standards Organization as a standard for Environmental 18 CSEG Recorder September, 1996 Management Systems. Although EMSs are not a regulated requirement at this time, they are expected to be widely embraced in the same way Total Quality management and IS09000 were adopted. CAPP's Basic Environmental Program provides a comprehensive and highly cost-effective guide to creating an EMS specifically for the oil and gas industry.

Western Atlas Acquires Leading Integrated Reservoir Description Services Company

Western Atlas Inc. (NYSE:WAI) recently announced that it has acquired U.K.-based EnTec Energy Consultants Ltd., a world leader in the growing market for integrated oil and gas reservoir description services. EnTec has pioneered the development of techniques to integrate seismic, geological, and well data to produce high-resolution reservoir description volumes that enable oil companies to better evaluate complex hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Western Atlas Acquires Reservoir Imaging Technology

Western Atlas Inc. (NYSE:WAI) recently announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Reservoir Imaging, Inc. The activities of the Stafford, Texas-based reservoir technology developer will be integrated into the Western Atlas Logging Services division.

Reservoir Imaging has developed proprietary crosswell seismic technologies that enable customers to identify and map reservoir unit continuity between wells. This "connectivity mapping" method uses seismic sources and receivers in open or cased boreholes to map the distribution of the geological and petrophysical properties of the reservoir that control the fluid flow between wells. The technology helps portray the reservoir with the detail necessary to improve the productivity of existing fields. Connectivity mapping also leads to better locations for infill wells, better placement of wells for secondary recovery programs, and better direction of recompletions into bypassed zones.

World Petroleum Congress Comes to Calgary

Canada will host the 16th World Petroleum Congress (WPC) to be held in the year 2000 in Calgary.

The WPC, to be held in conjunction with the National Petroleum Show, will attract more than 3,000 senior international businesspeople. This is an opportunity for representatives from more than 70 countries to discuss the application of scientific advances in the industry, technology transfer, petroleum finance, economics, management and environmental issues, and the use of the world's petroleum resources for the benefit of mankind.

The Congress is held every three years, and the 1997 meeting will be held in Beijing, China.