~ THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 ~

REGISTER HERE

Jeff Requarth                  and                      John Morris

"Perseverance and Technology: Exploration Success at Winchester North & South Fields, Wayne County Mississippi"

ABSTRACT

Discovered in 2006, North and South Winchester Fields located in Wayne County, Mississippi are currently producing at a combined rate of over 4,000 barrels of oil per day and 11 million cubic feet of gas from 10 wells.  The two Smackover “salt wall” fields are situated along the steeply dipping east flank of the North-South trending Winchester salt ridge.  The “salt wall” trap places upper Smackover reservoir against Louann Salt, which serves as an effective lateral seal.  The vertical seal is provided by Haynesville evaporites.  The final components of the petroleum system include a world-class source rock in the lower member of the Smackover Formation and extensively dolomitized grainstones of the upper Smackover serving as the reservoir compartment.

Winchester Field, which lies between and within one half mile of both North and South Winchester Fields, was discovered by the LL&E #1 Jordan well in 1968.  The authors drilled a successful offset to this field in 1989, followed by four development and exploratory dry holes  in the Winchester area.  It was not until 2005, when a 43 square mile 3-D shot to image the steep flanks of the Winchester Salt Ridge (20 - 60º) that the authors were able to accurately map the Smackover structure and locate the discovery wells.  Although both North and South Winchester Fields are small in size, both less than 300 acres, they are expected to recover over 11 million barrels of oil equivalent.

This talk will review the Jurassic “salt wall” play in the Mississippi Salt Basin.  The geology, geophysics, and engineering of North and South Winchester Fields will be covered.  Finally, we will chronicle the persistence of the “lone prospector” and how much smarter we all appear with the help of properly acquired and processed 3-D seismic.

BIOS

Jeff Requarth earned his BS in Geology from the College of Wooster and his MS from Bowling Green State University.  He began his career with Amoco Production Company in Houston, TX.  Through the 80’s and early 90’s, he worked for and managed a number of small exploration companies.  In 1996, Jeff and his partners John Morris and Mike Moore, formed Savannah Oil and Gas, where he serves as President.  Savannah has concentrated on exploration, development, and property acquisition in the Southeastern states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  Jeff is a member of AAPG, HGS and OEI.  He is a Certified Geologist through AIPG and Registered Professional Geologist in the State of Mississippi.

John Morris earned a BS in Geology from Long Island University.  He began his career with Damson Oil Corp. in Houston.  He later spent a number of years with Weeks Exploration Co. and eventually Santos USA.  In 1996, he formed Savannah Oil & Gas, L.L.C. with partners Jeff Requarth and Mike Moore.  Savannah has primarily concentrated its efforts on exploration and production in the Southeaster states.  John is a Registered Professional Geologist with the State of Mississippi and a member of HGS and AAPG.

SEATING IS LIMTED but you can register online or call B.K. Buongiorno at 713 651-1639, fax 713 951-9659,  e-mail bkspee@aol.com, or mail your reservation to Mrs. B.K. Buongiorno at 1001 McKinney, Suite 801, Houston, TX 77002 by August 19, 2008 - PAYMENT IS STILL REQUIRED BY REGULAR MAIL. 

REGISTER ONLINE

Registration by September 16th is $30 for Members and Affiliates and $35 for guests and non-members.  Registration after September 16th is $40.  Registrants who do not cancel by September 16th will be billed regardless of attendance.  SIPES Lunch talks count toward the 15 Professional Development Hours required annually for Texas Licensed Geoscientist licenses.

The SIPES-Houston Monthly Newsletter by Editor PAUL BRITT can be downloaded here.

SIPES CALENDAR

August 27-28 - Summer NAPE, a SIPES co-sponsored event at the George Brown Convention Center, Houston.

September 18, 2008 - SIPES Luncheon:  "Perseverance and Technology: Exploration Success at Winchester North & South Fields, Mississippi", Jeff Requarth & John Morris (Savannah), Petroleum Club

September 25, 2008 - SIPES Continuing Education Seminar - ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES - 2008; Marathon Auditorium

October 16, 2008 - SIPES Luncheon, Petroleum Club

UPCOMING HGS EVENTS

September 8-10 - HGS / PESGB African Conference

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

The Board approved Limited Membership status in the Houston Chapter for the following persons:

Paul Babcock

Jack Kranberger

Gary Griffith

Our sympathies go out to the family of SIPES Member Joe Putman III who passed away recently. He will be remembered and a donation will be made to the SIPES Foundation in his name by the Houston Chapter.

HOSPITALITY SPONSOR

Be sure and attend our social and networking period before each monthly meeting to keep up with what's happening in Houston.   The sponsor for August was Orexco. If you would like to be a sponsor please contact our Hospitality Chairman Duncan DuBroff.  Cheers....

GEOLUMINATI

Chuck Weiner and Burt Bowen                                                            B.K. Buongiorno and Steve Hartzell signing in attendees

Mark Roach and Paul Babcock                                                                                                                              John Tub

Representatives for Judge Hughes and Subsurface Consultants

Pat Shannon (center) with Midland guests Lewis (left) and Robert Manning

David Wood, Mark Helsinger and Steve Jackson

 Jim Grubb and Joan Swetlick                                                                    Chairman Jim Norris and Bob Bell

SIPES SCHOLARSHIP - HOUSTON CHAPTER

The Houston Chapter of SIPES has been successful and has been fortunate enough to be able to give something back to the geoscience community.  The Houston Chapter's Scholarship Committee (Mark Gregg and Phil Martin)  chose 4 outstanding geoscience students at the University of Houston who were awarded $500 scholarships: Weiguo Li, Yijie Zhu, Damayanti Mukherjee, and Shenghong Tai. 

Please contact Mark Gregg (713 266-3820) or Phil Martin (281 664-7000) for information on the upcoming scholarships for 2009.

The National SIPES Foundation also sponsors a "Scholarships in the Earth Sciences" program.  Any currently enrolled upper-division or graduate student majoring in any earth science, such as Geology, Geophysics, or Petroleum Engineering may apply if they have a GPA of 3.5 or better and U.S. citizenship.  Three $2,000 scholarships and five $1,250 scholarships are available.

MAPS IN SCHOOLS:  A TAPESTRY OF TIME AND TERRAIN

SIPES is helping to distribute this beautiful surface geology map "Tapestry of Time and Terrain" (USGS) to area schools in an attempt to stimulate interest in the earth sciences at an early age.  These maps will be given in exchange for a $20 contribution to be used either in our 2008 University of Houston Scholarship Fund or towards the Houston Chapter's annual donation to the SIPES National Foundation.  Or if you know of a school that would like to display the map please let us know and we will make one available at no cost.

MEMBERSHIP

We have Junior Member and Chapter Affiliate categories for persons who do not qualify for regular SIPES membership.  Contact Membership Chairman Jim Grubb with questions, names of candidates or suggestions for attracting new members in any category.

CONTINUING EDUCATION SEMINAR BOOKS & CD'S

There are a few Seminar Books (nice ring-binder with color exhibits) and CD's.  If you are interested in this valuable publication please contact Steve Hartzell at 713 651-9100 or sphartzell@sbcglobal.net . The cost of printing and handling is only $10.

 NEW SHORT STORY

Check out the new short story "A Blast from the Past" by Jim Richards.  It is probably the best chronicle of the University of Texas "Longhorn Alumni Band" you can find. It's a fun read regardless of your alma mater.

VIEW SIPES PRESENTATIONS

You can now access many SIPES Presentations online.   If you miss a SIPES Presentation or want to go back and refer to one that you particularly liked, go to our Presentations page and view or download presentations whose authors have graciously agreed to share.  Depending on your connection speed downloads may take minutes.

The latest offerings are Leslie Hains' "Bridging the Gap: From E&P Idea to Capital" and Dr. M. Ray Thomasson's incredible research thesis  "Global Climate Change - A Geologist's View - What the Data Tell Us".  Please wait for each file to download and open.

POST YOUR BUSINESS CARD ON THE WEB

SIPES members - send your business card and a check for $24 made out to SIPES to the SIPES office (1001 McKinney, Suite 801, Houston, TX 77002). Your card will be scanned and displayed on our web site.

HOUSTON CHAPTER

Houston is the fastest growing SIPES Chapter.  Our National Constitution, By-laws and Code of Ethics can be downloaded here.

DEAL BUYERS LIST

The Houston Deal Buyers’ List is free to Houston Chapter members, by email or in printed form, and $5 on diskette. Please send updates, new entries or other requests to Mike Jones, Chairman of the Deal Buyers List Committee.  You will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement for this list which is provided exclusively  for Houston Chapter SIPES members. For your copy you can also contact B.K. Buongiorno at 713-651-1639 or bkspee@aol.com. 

REFERRAL FOR CONSULTANTS

Become a SIPES member to get exposure for your expertise and areas of experience as a geologist, geophysicist or engineer.  The National SIPES organization maintains a referral list for distribution to companies, individuals and governmental agencies.   Information is available at www.sipes.org .

FORMS FOR CONSULTANTS

 SIPES has developed, in conjunction with the DPA of AAPG, useful professional model contracts for independent geoscientists.  A Model Confidentiality Agreement form and a Contract for Geoscience Services form are now available at no charge at the national SIPES web site at www.sipes.org and are widely used and accepted in the industry.

2008 HOUSTON CHAPTER OFFICERS

Chairman:  Jim Norris                                          713 376-9361

Chairman Elect:  Mark Gregg                             713 266-3820

Secretary:  Glen Pankonien                                   713 654-0080

Treasurer:  Stephen P. Hartzell                             713 651-9100

Past Chairman:  Patrick Shannon                         713 785-2599

2008 COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN

Continuing Education:  Robert Hickman             713 868-3559

Deal Buyers List:  Mike Jones                               713 654-0080

Hospitality:  Duncan D. Dubroff                             281 664-7000

Membership:  James M. Grubb                               713 591-1155

Newsletter:  Paul Britt                                              713 651-0004

Political Affairs:  Dan L. Smith                               713 759-6095

Public Relations:  Jeff W. Lund                              713 960-0971

Technical Program:  Paul Babcock                         832 242-9650

Website:  Phil Martin                                                281 664-7000

NATIONAL DIRECTORS

National Director:  Pat McKinney                          713 828-2183

National Director:  Phil Martin                               281 664-7000

OFFICE MANAGER

Office Manager:  B.K. Buongiorno                           713 651-1639