Join us for a hybrid lunch in June

WEDNESDAY, June 4, 2025 

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Talk Title: A Mass-Balance Organic Geochemistry Approach to Characterizing Hybrid Unconventional Plays: Examples from the Montney and Green River Formations

Speaker: William R. Drake, Kimmeridge Energy

Unconventional oil and gas plays range from true source-rock mudstones with little to no reservoir lithofacies to tight conventional reservoirs with little to no source rock potential. Most unconventional systems fall somewhere along this spectrum and can be considered hybrid plays. Quantifying the degree of self-sourcing and/or hydrocarbon migration are critical for spatially characterizing the variability of hybrid systems. Several mass-balance organic geochemistry techniques are employed here to quantify hydrocarbon generation for comparison to resource in place and to produced oils. Two disparate formations and basins are used as examples:  the Triassic Montney Formation (marine) of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and the Eocene Green River Formation (lacustrine) of the Uinta Basin. These case studies highlight the importance of correctly characterizing unconventional systems and suggest implications ranging from identifying migration pathways to horizontal well-placement strategy.

Biography:

William R. Drake is senior geologist with Kimmeridge Energy, focusing primarily on asset-scale to basin-scale characterization of stratigraphy, source rocks, and overall petroleum systems in most of the basins from Texas to western Canada. He holds a B.S. in geological science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.S. in Geology from the University of Northern Arizona, where he researched the extensional tectonics and stratigraphy of Baja California Sur and the southern Gulf of California. Before Kimmeridge, Bill worked for Pioneer Natural Resources, QEP Resources, and Jonah Energy.  Bill also served RMAG for five years as Executive Editor for the Mountain Geologist.

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Hybrid luncheon schedule:

• 11:15am: In-person check-in opens
• 11:30: Lunch service begins
• 12:00pm: Online event opens
• 12:15pm: Talk begins
• 1:00pm: Talk/Q&A session ends; Online event closes

Hybrid Luncheon costs:

• Member Lunch: $35
• Non-Member Lunch: $40
• Walk-in without Lunch: $15
• Member Online: $10
• Non-member Online: $20
• Student online: Free

Refund policy:

If you need to cancel an in-person lunch registration for any reason, you must do so by 4:00pm on the Thursday before the Wednesday luncheon. Refunds will not be available after 4:00pm on the Thursday before the luncheon. If you are unable to attend, your luncheon registration is transferable to another RMAG member, or if you are a non-member your registration is transferable to whomever you wish. Refunds will not be issued for online talk registrations.

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