On Tuesday, March 17th, representatives from Newfield Exploration came to campus to offer students a one-of-a-kind learning experience, where students were presented with data on Newfield’s West Caney Creek field.  The students started off the exercise with the same structure map that was used to originally evaluate this field in 2002.  There were three wells in the field;  one that was downdip and wet, one on structure with pay but completion complications which prevented good production, and one well high on structure with little sand.  Students were given the well logs and asked to: 1) correlate the sands using the structure map 2) decide if the thin well was due to shaling out of the sand or due to faulting using the logs and select seismic lines, and 3) asked if they would drill this prospect and if so, where would they drill.  They were then given the logs from some of the 16 wells that Newfield drilled on the structure and were able to discuss the results (sand vs. no sand) and talk about the drilling complications and well performance issues.  

The session was wrapped up with one of the Newfield representatives showing a regional Wilcox structure map with structures similar to West Caney Creek. The students were asked by a show of hands if they’d drill the structures and asked why or why not. Some students were told they could retire with their big discovery, and others were told maybe next time. It was a fun real-life situational exercise that helped students understand the challenges they will face as a geologist employed in the oil & gas industry.