James Cearley delivered an outstanding talk on the scope and potential of the deepwater Wilcox oil play at the HGS General Dinner on November 9, 2009. HGS President-Elect John Tubb was pleased to announce to the crowd that turnout for the evening totaled nearly 200 geoscientists, according to Treasurer-Elect David Meaux. Vice President Art Donovan welcomed Cearley, who is General Manager of Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Exploration for Chevron North America Exploration and Production Company.Cearley told the audience that the emerging Lower Tertiary Wilcox Trend of the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico is the latest exploratory trend since the deepwater sub-salt Miocene trend was ignited 10 years ago with large discoveries like Thunder Horse and Tahiti. The deepwater Miocene has delivered over 8 billion BOE to date, and the Lower Tertiary Trend has delivered over 3 billion BOE so far, with much of the trend yet to be explored. The Lower Tertiary Wilcox is a 300-mile-long, primarily sub-salt, trend in the ultra-deep water targeting some of the oldest and deepest clastic reservoirs yet developed in the Gulf of Mexico. In the Wilcox trend, the oil fields discovered to date have been very large with significant pay thickness. However, these discoveries have flow rate challenges created by lower permeability rocks and low mobility hydrocarbons. Cearley discussed some of the geological surprises found by the Wilcox drilling including strange gumbo and rock inclusions inside salt, overturned beds and repeat sections of the Lower Tertiary above the main target, and the incredible challenge of drilling wells with up to 12 strings of casing in 8,000 feet of water. The HGS audience actively participated in a question and answer session with Cearley after the talk.
Pictured from left: Art Donovan (HGS VP), James Cearley (speaker), and John Tubb (HGS President-Elect)
Cearley's Wilcox talk drew a crowd of nearly 200 geoscientists.
Pictured from left: Oliver Geisler (Terrasys) and David Meaux (HGS Treasurer-Elect).
Pictured from left: Art Donovan (HGS VP), John Tubb (HGS President-Elect), and Richard Bishop (HGS Past President)