Hello guys and gals.
This is Jay Leeper with The Oil Patch Post. I have as my guest for today Mr. David
Cromwell, Geologist with BC Operating and Incoming President of the West Texas
Geological Society. Mr. Cromwell has
been a geologist in the west Texas area for close to 40 years and was nice
enough to sit down with me to offer some insight in the Oil & Gas Field. I knew his schedule was very busy and was
appreciative that he took time to visit with me late into the day. I also appreciate that he took an educational
perspective to his approach of the business.
It appealed to the Educator in me and resonated the value of a person
taking initiative to seek self improvement.
I hope you enjoy the interview.
JL: Dave, would you
like to say “Hi” to everybody?
DC: (With a wave) Hi!
JL: As we get started, would you mind telling everybody a little
about yourself and maybe some of what you've done in the field?
DC: This is Dave
Cromwell. I got my undergraduate from
the University of California in 1969.
Spent 3 years in the Army. Got
out and went to graduate school in Oklahoma.
After 2 years, I got my masters and started in 1974 with AMOCO in
Houston. I started working the Permian
Basin with AMOCO then started working the Permian Basin for the next 40
years. I came to Midland in 1976 with Bass
Enterprises and Production Company. I've
worked with several companies and have been laid off twice in my career. Some of those times were pretty long in
between jobs but always worked my way back in.
Always been in the business. I've
been on the fringes sometimes doing mud logging, chasing core, whatever I could
to keep active out here. I’ve seen
several cycles come and go. I’ve enjoyed
it. This is a great time for the oil
industry and a great time to be involved.
JL: Very cool. I know
you’ve been in the industry for a long time.
What characteristics do you believe helps make a geologist successful in
this industry?
DC: Well, basically ,Jay, I consider 4 criteria to be a good
geologist. The first is a good
technical, sound background in the science.
The second is a personality that is optimistic. Thirdly, a personality that is creative. Fourthly, you have to have a little
luck. Those first three criteria kind of
define who you are and how you go about this business. Staying technical is very critical. As I’ve gotten along in my experience the
terminology has changed, new ideas have come and gone, the science has improved
considerably but if you don’t stay technical you’ll find yourself in a lot of
hot water. I don’t mean technical by
becoming savvy with just the computer. I’m
talking about in the science itself. One
of the main venues to keep you technical is to join the societies that are
available to us. For us, that’s the West
Texas Geological Society (WTGS) and the Permian Basin Section of the SEPM that
are both local here. Also, to be
involved in the regional as well as the South West Section of the AAPG and even
going to the national meetings every once in a while. The basics for us in a provincial sense are
the local societies that offer continuing education, field trips, and a monthly
meeting. All are good in keeping our
minds active in what’s going on in the Permian Basin.
JL: Didn’t you just get back from the Nationals?
DC: I just got back from Pittsburg this week. A lot of the talks there were centered on
shale. I enjoyed it although the talks
were somewhat regionalized.
Marcelles. Bakkin. There were some good posters and information
on the Permian Basin. It was good to
visit with those people. Like I’ve often
said, you know, I’ll often go to Pittsburg or Houston to meet people from
Midland. It’s always good to meet old
friends and visit with new ones. I met
with a friend of mine that I worked with at Energen and had lunch
together. That’s just an example of
keeping up with people as well as keeping abreast of the technical side of
things which is important. I think
things have changed for the geologist since I started working nearly 40 years
ago. For one thing communication has
been very much to the betterment of the geologist and what’s happening
on-site. With the satellite radios and
telephones today communication is just wonderful. You get to take a look at the mud logs in almost
real time whereas before that you were lucky if you got to see a mud log once a
week because of snail mail. As a mud logger,
I had to go into town and fax at the local truck stop twenty years ago. Before that even talking to the rig was
nearly impossible with the dead areas going on.
Then they came out with the special phones and then bag phones so there’s
been a progression that’s improved dramatically your ability to find out what’s
going on out on the rig. Now, computers
have played an important part in the improvement of the geologist because you
have so much data that’s being entered into the computer whether it be well
logs or mud logs or scout ticket data that’s accessible at your fingertips as
well as the services that you can subscribe to to get that data that helps you
to do your job. You can use the data to
generate structure maps, isopack maps, or whatever in between maps you’re
interested in. I think, that being said,
I don’t think there is any substitute for a geologist contouring his own map
and adding the geological bias he feels is prevelant in that particular area
and what’s going on. To me, a computer
map is a regional generated map that can help you in a broad sense but the nuts
and the bolts of everything are depending on you as the geologist to make your
interpretation to contour your map accordingly.
So, those two things have dramatically have improved the ways us
geologists have moved forward in the almost 40 years I have been involved in
the business. I feel very fortunate that
I have been around to experience that.
JL: What are some of
the differences you have seen between the generations of oil professionals?
DC: Well, I mentioned that computers have changed the way we
do the business, and to a certain extent I feel the young professionals rely on
the computer too much. They’ll get the
data output from the computer and think it is the gospel so to speak. Basically, you have to remember that the
computer is only as good as the data that was put into it. If you get bogus data in then you’re going to
get misinterpretation of the information.
I think it’s incumbent of the younger geologist to take a second look
at the data that’s generated and verify
that data by hand checking their wells to see if they agree and also to double
check some of the surrounding wells. Correlations
are very complicated especially in a stratographic basin where the lithologies
are changing between the limes and shales and sands so that it makes correlating
difficult. There are some good services
that have done a admirable job to make correlations reasonable but I think it’s
incumbent on the geologist to A) double check their work especially after an
initial map has been generated so that they understand what the data represents
and like I mentioned earlier B) go in and fine tune the map into a smaller area
so that you contour it yourself adding your bias and interpretations. If you’re correlating deep water sands
perpendicular to the strike line and you know your sands are meandering into
the basin so that you need to understand that near shore parallax systems where
the sand lines are parallel to the strike line.
There’s a big 90 degree difference on how that sand body can be interpreted. If you understand the nature of the sands for
example is the Turberdite then it’s going to flow into the basin, bifurcate as
it gets into the basin further down slope and where you are losing your
differential energy and it helps you to understand that you need a bias on the
isopack maps to reflect your interpretation.
A computer may or may not do that.
Some programs can add a little bit of bias to it but can’t substitute
what you think it should be and how you think those contours ought to go.
JL: So how is a new professional to get better at what they
do?
DC: Well, like I mentioned, they need to get current on the
new technologies coming out and they also need to understand other disciplines
as well. Everyone is talking about the
team concept now where you’re working with land men and engineers, geophysists,
as well as management to get your point across.
I think it’s important for a geologist to be in communication and
understand the other disciplines that others have that compose your team. Not necessarily to know their details but to
have a general understanding of what everyone can bring to the table. It’s also important to remember that the
whole business is price driven.
Unfortunately we don’t control the price. So you’re in a situation where you’re in a
reactionary mode. Like I said, I’ve been
laid off twice in my career; both times after a bust. I think the current status here is that
things are going good and personally I feel that the Wolfberry Play, for
example, is a valid play that has a lot of technical merit to it. You’ll see it move forward. I also think that if you see oil get below
$70 a barrel and it stays below that where the hedges start wearing off
companies will start moving their hedges around I think you’re going to find
things will slow down here considerably.
That’s just my personal opinion on the Wolfberry. I think it’s more price sensitive that say
the Wolfbone, Bonespring, or Wolfcamp formation play that you have going on in
the Delaware. I think it’s a little more
economic than the Wolfberry play. But
when you’re spending $8-$10 million for a lateral well it takes a lot of
reserves to recover that and so reserves are dollars and dollars are what
drives the business. I think this play
is going to go on for quite a while.
This is kind of a different play because everyone is using the term “resource”
play. What does “resource” mean? Does that “resource” mean provincial everywhere?
No. There are going to be sweet spots in
every resource play. This is Mother
Nature you’re dealing with. Lithologies
change, the Earth is a dynamic system. I
was taught that 3 things define a reservoir and that’s source, seal, and
trap. Right now with a resource play,
your source is your reservoir. You got
rock that you’re looking at that’s very low in porosity and permeability that you’re
trying to get the oil out of. With the
new techniques like horizontal drilling and high horsepower, high volume frack
jobs are able to access the nano-pores (if you will) to recover quite a bit of
the oil in place. From a Permian Basin
perspective, I think the economy is here to stay for quite a while. It’s encouraging to see the US become less dependent
on the foreign oil reversing the depletion trend that has been going on up
until the last 4-5 years. Since I’ve
been involved in the business, we are just now seeing resource plays
contributing to the trends.
As the evening wore down I could see the enthusiasm and
passion that seem to be a common factor for those who seem to be successful in
this line of work and showed no signs of dimming even as the time passed. You could tell that Dave loves what he does
and still has a lot to offer. Part of me
wondered if this is what the young professional could take; to love the work
and not be in it for the pay. I keep
liking a geologists job to that of a detective in a novel. How do you take the information you have and find
something you can’t see in a place you can never go? It’s amazing to the layman.
Thank you for taking time to read my little blog. If you would like to contact David Cromwell,
his email is DCromwell@BCOperating.com. He would be glad to answer any questions and
clarify. I consider him an excellent
resource for people to reach out to if you have questions or want advice.
Take care, all, and I hope to see you somewhere on The Oil
Patch!
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