Analytics, Machine Learning, AI for Independent Petroleum Geologists and Independent Oil & Gas Companies,
Successful Case Study: Rodessa Oil Pool, Martinville Field, Simpson County, Mississippi
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Where: The Petroleum Club of Shreveport, 15th floor
Cost: $20, Children 10 and under $8
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Biography
Bill Fairhurst,
President/co-Founder, Riverford Exploration, LLC
Riverfordexpl.com
bfairhurst@riverford-resources.com
Riverford Exploration, LLC manages a portfolio of non-operated, producing oil & gas assets onshore in the U.S. and provides consulting services.
Bill was recently Manager and Principal Investigator (PI) of the Tight Oil Resource Assessment (TORA) Consortium at the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, and Manager of Industry Engagement for several Bureau Consortia.
Previously, he was employed at Discovery Resources & Development, Nearburg Producing, Hilcorp, and Petro-Hunt serving those organizations in various roles including President/COO, Vice President Land & Exploration, and Manager/Chief Geologist after fifteen years with Marathon Oil Company as a geologist and manager
Bill has been a pioneer in the many U.S. resource plays. He is credited with the economic discovery of the WolfBone play in the southern Delaware Basin and placing his company in Elm Coulee (Bakken) Field before discovery, the largest onshore U.S. discovery in 56 years. He and his teams have discovered several dozen new fields in conventional plays in the Rocky Mountains, Williston, and Permian Basins, ArkLaTex-Mississippi Salt Basins, South Texas, South Louisiana, offshore Gulf of Mexico and has worked and led exploration programs on six (6) continents.
Bill graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Geology, Economic-Management, the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Master in Geology, and from the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston with a Master of Business Administration in Finance. He has provided Expert Legal testimony involving geology, engineering, and economic evaluation; provided and managed professional testimony before nine state Industrial Commissions; published and spoken nationally and internationally in technical, business, and policy forums. Bill is a Certified Petroleum Geologist by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; a licensed Professional Geologist in the state of Texas; a Qualified Reserve Evaluator by the Canadian Securities Administrators, and member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Houston Geological Society, and former member (over 25 years) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Current and Recent Publications (2019-2021):
· West Texas (Permian) Super Basin: Exploration, Discovery, and Development of Unconventional Resource Plays, (expected publication: Spring, 2021) American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, Giant Field of the Decade 2010-2019.
· Tectonics, Structural Development, Sedimentation, and Petroleum Systems of the U.S., West Texas (Permian) Super Basin, (expected publication: Spring, 2021) American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin.
· Analytics, Machine Learning, and A.I. for Independent Petroleum Geologists and Independent Oil and Gas Companies: Successful Case Study, Rodessa Oil Pool, Martinville Field, Simpson County, Mississippi, (September 2020) Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Journal, p. 93-114.
· The Perfect Unconventional Resource Portfolio, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference Paper 2940, July 2020, similar to the publication of the same title (2019) Houston Geological Society Bulletin, v. 62, n. 2, p. 35-43.
Abstract
Petroleum geologists have knowledgeably and successfully applied geostatistics and other analytical tools for decades as one of their many skill sets. Geologists’ knowledge and practiced, successful implementation and use of these tools have them well-placed for involvement in current oil and gas industry transformation into the broader use of analytics, machine learning, and AI (Artificial or Augmented Intelligence).
This example of the Rodessa Oil Pool, Martinville Field, Simpson County, Mississippi, provides insight into the use of descriptive statistics to advance geologic insight and discovery using machine learning to define and distinguish separate reservoir productivity when completed in non-segmented multiple reservoirs and from multiple wells. This smaller, well-controlled data set provides an excellent example of and learning set for the powerful discovery using descriptive statistics and the predictive strength of simple, more advanced analytic methodologies.
The statistical models are defined and tested using standard, normal statistics, sample sets, replacement in this case and addition of new data, and review of the validity of the models developed. These tools and methodologies are consistent with current practice in petroleum geology. Discovery of variables and integration of multidisciplinary research will continue to take an ever-increasing role in the work and practice of petroleum geologists.
