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Energy Exploration

Faculty Dr. Tim Carr Dr. Tom Kammer Dr. Dick Smosna Dr. Jaime Toro Dr. Tom Wilson Adjunct Faculty K. Lee Avary Dr. Kathy Bruner Dr. David Oldham

3D model of the structure of basement in the Hope Basin, offshore NW Alaska.

• Faculty in the energy focus area are involved in fundamental and applied research relevant to the exploration and development of energy resources.
• Our students have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of petroleum exploration and to acquire practical experience in the context of their research.
• Specialty areas include Petroleum Geology, Stratigraphy and Sedimentation, Structure and Tectonics, Geophysics, GIS and Remote Sensing.
• We use both traditional field and subsurface research methods, as well state-of-the-art software tools including Geographix, Kingdom Suite, Genex, and 2DMove.
• Several faculty have experience working for major oil and gas companies.
• The breadth of course and research efforts in the program provide opportunities for undergraduate involvement in faculty-guided research projects resulting in senior theses and NASA Scholarship awards.
• Students receive quality education and research training: Students authored or co-authored 23 journal publications and 31 meeting presentations in the last 5 years.
• Current graduate enrollment (2004): 21 M. S. students and 7 Ph. D. students.
• The masters degree is the professional degree in demand by the energy industry. We annually graduate more than 2% of the masters degrees awarded nationwide in geology.
• 100% of our M. S. and Ph. D. graduates have found employment as professional geologists.
• Current Externally Funded Research: An intelligent systems approach to reservoir characterization ($104,000, NETL); Evolutionary success in marine invertebrates ($83,000, NSF); Regional characterization of a carbon sequestration pilot site with implications for enhanced oil recovery ($35,000, NETL); Geophysical characterization of NETL pilot carbon sequestration sites ($60,000, NETL/ORISE); Geochemical properties of the Pennsylvanian coal section in within the Appalachian Coal Basin (USGS, WVGES); Occurrence, distribution, mobility of selenium in the mountain-top removal region of Southern WV (USGS, WVGES); Basic science of retention issues, risk assessment, and measurement, monitoring and verification for geologic CO2 sequestration (Pending, NETL/ZERT).
• Other Current Research: Natural gas exploration associated with Alleghenian thrust faults in the Greenbrier Formation, Southern West Virginia; Structural Evolution of the Hope Basin, AK.
• Strong industry commitment to our education program through more than $2 million in energy related software donations.
• Comments in our recent Board of Governors review highlight:
  • Commendable record of placement (100%)
  • National record in Petroleum Geology
  • Graduate program has always been strong in quality of research contributions
  • The program continues to address research needs of the state related to fossil fuels and the environment

Dr. Richard Smosna and his students conduct research in stratigraphy and sedimentation, especially as these relate to petroleum geology. Since the mid-1970s he has collaborated with colleagues and students to better understand the stratigraphy of Paleozoic formations in the Appalachian region. Because a number of the rock formations serve as petroleum reservoirs, the research has always generated great interest among petroleum companies in West Virginia and surrounding states. In particular, these companies provide geological data and financial support for such studies, including 20 MS and 5 PhD theses since 1980. Understanding the stratigraphy, sedimentology, petrology, and diagenesis of reservoir rocks is critical in evaluating petroleum reserves, thus significantly aiding future exploration efforts. As a consequence of this research program, most of Dr. Smosna's students have secured permanent positions within the petroleum industry.

Dr. Thomas Kammer and his students conduct research in the subdisciplines of marine paleoecology and sequence stratigraphy. These two subdisciplines are part of the 'tool kit' used by exploration geologists to predict the occurrence of oil and gas deposits by reconstructing the depositional environments of petroleum source rocks and reservoirs. The successful discovery of petroleum reserves depends on the integration of data from several subdisciplines including sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleoecology, structural geology, and geophysics.

Dr. Jaime Toro is interested in the coupled structural and thermal evolution of foreland basins and thrust belts. He and his students have used structural analysis, based on both field and reflection seismic data coupled with low-temperature thermochronology, to study such far-flung areas as the Verkhoyansk fold belt of Siberia, the foothills of the northern Andes and the off-shore basins of Alaska. These three areas are exploration frontiers that have large hydrocarbon potential. Dr. Toro's research has been supported with either data or funding by Exxon-Mobil, Ecopetrol, and other energy companies. A new project, to be carried out collaboration with Drs. Tom Wilson and Shahab Mohaghegh (P&NGE) and funded by the DOE (NETL), is a methodological study aimed at improving the prediction of reservoir properties through the integration of 3D seismic, VSP, and well data with artificial intelligence.

Dr. Tom Wilson is an applied geophysicist with interests in regional tectonic and local reservoir characterization. Recent geophysical studies include seismic characterization of reservoir heterogeneity within the Appalachian basin, Paleozoic evolution of central Appalachian foreland, gravity modeling of an incipient plate boundary in central Japan, and geophysical assessments of pilot carbon sequestration sites in New Mexico, West Virginia, and Texas. Students currently conducting research with Dr. Wilson are involved in NETL sponsored multidisciplinary studies in the Delaware Basin of southeastern New Mexico. These studies incorporate 3D seismic analysis and regional subsurface correlation using geophysical logs into detailed reservoir characterization studies and regional assessment of carbon sequestration potential.