Mowry Symposium
1717 Denver West Marriott Blvd
Golden, CO 80401
Tickets
2026 RMAG MOwry Formation Symposium
Thursday November 5, 2026
Denver West Marriott
One Day. One Formation. The Sharpest Minds in Unconventional Geology.
The Mowry Shale is quietly becoming one of the most important unconventional plays in the Rockies — and the science behind it is moving fast. This one-day symposium brings together the geologists, geochemists, engineers, and economists driving that progress for a single, focused day of talks spanning the full life cycle of the play: from source rock deposition to the drill bit to the balance sheet.
Whether you're mapping sequence stratigraphy in the Powder River Basin, chasing biogenic silica signatures across the Western Interior Seaway, or modeling stress-dependent permeability in the lab, this is where the Mowry conversation is happening.
14 talks. 4 technical themes. 1 day.
Why Attend
- See the whole play, top to bottom. From depositional systems and sequence stratigraphy through petrophysics, reservoir engineering, drilling operations, and economic impact — one agenda, no silos.
- Hear from the people doing the work. Speakers from operators, national labs, and universities across Wyoming, Utah, and beyond, presenting original core, log, and geochemical data.
- Get the regional picture. Talks span the Powder River, Green River, Wind River, and Bighorn basins — ideal for comparing plays and de-risking new areas.
- Network where it counts. The day wraps with a Happy Hour — bring your business cards and connect with others working in the space.
Agenda At A Glance
Time |
Session |
| 7:45 AM | Welcome |
| 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Stragigraphy & Regional Geology |
| 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM | Break |
| 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Stratigraphy & Regional Geology & Petrology/Petrophysics |
| 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM | Reservior Engineering |
| 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM | Break |
| 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Operations & Economic Geology |
| 5:00 PM | Happy Hour |
Program
Time |
Author |
Title |
| 7:45 AM | Welcome | |
| 8:00 AM | Jeffrey May, Geologic Consultant & Colorado School. of Mines | The Mowry Shale of the Powder River Basin: Interpretation and Evaluation of a Mudrock Reservoir in a Sequence |
| 8:30 AM | Brent Greenhalgh, Wexpro Company | Proximal-to-Distal Facies Trends and Laramide Tectonic influence in the Mowry Shale, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming |
| 9:00 AM | Mark Nell, Wexpro Company | Depositional Trends in the Mowry Formation and Implications for Unconventional Play Elements |
| 9:30 AM | Jane Hearon, USGS | New Stratigraphic and Geochemical insights into the Mowry Shale in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana, USA |
| 10:00 AM | Break | |
| 10:30 AM | Katherine French, USGS | Delineating silica sources in Cretaceous marine sedimentary systems |
| 11:00 AM | Callum Thurley, Kimmeridge | Petroleum Systems Modelling of the Mowry in the GGRB – from Burial History to Hydrocarbon Charge |
| 11:30 AM | Alexa Socianu, Colorado School of Mines | Geochemical Insights from Low-Temperature Hydrous Pyrolysis using Mowry Shale Core Samples from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming |
| 12:00 PM | Michael Lewan, Lewan GeoConsulting Corporation | Field and Geochemical laboratory criteria for evaluating and collecting unweathered outcrop samples of Mowry Shale source rocks |
| 12:30 PM | Lunch | |
| 1:30 PM | Ephraim Kakra Owusu-Banahene, University of Wyoming | Nanoconfined Hydrocarbon Phase Behavior and Pore Criticality in Mowry Shale: Implications for Unconventional Reservoir Evaluation |
| 2:00 PM | Nijat Rustamov, University of Wyoming | Interpretable Pressure-dependent Permeability Modeling for Mowry Shale |
| 2:30 PM | Ifeanyi Valerian Nwankwo, University of Wyoming | Permeability Evolution in Mowry Shale: Experimental Investigation of Stress Sensitivity, Gas Slippage, and Flow Regime Transition |
| 3:00 PM | Break | |
| 3:30 PM | Kam Ng, Univeristy of Wyoming | Influence of Drilling and Stimulation Fluids on the Mechanical Behavior of Mowry Shale |
| 4:00 PM | Tawfik Elshehabi, University of Wyoming | Drilling the Bentonite-Bearing Mowry Shale: Engineering Swelling Inhibition and Drilling-Fluid Formulation |
| 4:30 PM | Timothy J. Considine, Univeristy of Wyoming | Estimating the Economic Returns and Regional Impacts of Improved Resource Recovery through Integrated Drilling and Production Forecasting |
| 5:00 PM | Happy Hour | |
Save Your Seat
Seats are limited for this single-track, single-day event. Join geologists, geochemists, and engineers from across the basin for a full day on the formation everyone's watching.
Registration Details
- $300 for RMAG Members
- $400 for Non-Members (not a member of RMAG? Join today!)
- $50 for Student Members (enrolled in undergradute or graduate program and not a student member? Email Staff@rmag.org for a complimentary registration)
- Speaking in the program, email staff@rmag.org
Registration for the November 5 Symposium closed on October 26th.
Full Refunds for the November 5 Symposium are available until September 15th. Between September 15 and October 5th half of registration funds can be refund. October 6th and later registration funds are transferable to another attendee or forfeit.
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