NPGS Monthly Dinner Meeting—Feb. 2—RSVP by TODAY (Jan. 31):
Bill Ehni—The Elko Basin in northeastern Nevada in retrospect of the results of Noble Energy’s recent drilling campaign
Nevada Petroleum & Geothermal Society
Monthly Dinner Meeting
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Ramada Reno Hotel
1000 East 6th Street, Reno, NV 89512
Cocktail Reception 6:30, Skyline Bar, 14th Floor
Dinner Served at 7:00 PM
NPGS Members $20, Non-Members $23, Students $10
Speaker: Bill Ehni, Geologist
Topic: The Elko Basin in northeastern Nevada in retrospect of the results of Noble Energy’s recent drilling campaign
Noble Energy drilled 4 wells in the Elko basin between September of 2013 and November of 2014. Two of the wells were completed as producing oil wells in the lower Tertiary Elko Formation. The wells are currently shut in after short production testing. The Humboldt M2C-M2-21B was perforated between 7967’ and 8142’ in the Elko shale and produced a total of 2782 bbls of oil over a period of 145 days. The Huntington K1L-1V well was tested in 2015 and has produced a total of 3,833 barrels of oil from the Elko shale from an interval between 8924’ and 9290’. The areal extent of the ancestral Lower Tertiary Elko basin is restricted primarily to Elko County, Nevada, and encompasses an area of nearly 8,000 square miles. The Elko oil shale was first recognized by R.M. Catlin in 1875. Ultimately, an oil retort was built and operated from 1917 to 1924 producing approximately 12,000 barrels of oil. Estimates of the in-place shale-oil resources are approximately 600 million barrels in the 7 square mile outcrop area surrounding the Catlin Retort (Moore and others 1983). The average pyrolitic oil yield of organic rich sections in the Elko shale are 25.4 gallons per ton and leaner shales yield 5 gallons per ton (Moore 1983, Pool and Claypool 1984, Solomon 1992). Serious exploration efforts to develop the Elko shale began in 1974 by Fillon Exploration. It was compared as an analog to producing oil fields in the Green River Basin of Utah and the Sheep Pass Basin in Nevada. However, this earlier exploration activity focused on conventional traps; whereas, Noble Energy used hydraulic fracturing (HF) to develop the resource.
Speaker’s Bio: After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Humboldt State University in 1975, Bill’s career in geology started in The Geysers, California. For the next 7 years he worked primarily in the geothermal industry. In 1982, he moved to Texas and worked for a geophysical company interpreting magnetotelluric surveys on several oil and gas projects in the western United States. One project involved some work in Railroad Valley, Nevada and he became intrigued with the geology and hydrocarbon potential of Nevada. In 1985, he moved to Carson City, Nevada, bringing with him his future wife (Vicki) who happened to be the data processing manager at the geophysical company where they both worked. In Carson City, they founded Ehni Enterprises, Inc., a geologic consulting company, in 1985. Shortly after arriving in Nevada, Bill and a small group of other people working in the oil and gas industry here in Nevada founded the Nevada Petroleum Society in 1986, which ultimately became the NPGS. During his career with Ehni Enterprises, Bill has been directly involved with over 40 oil and gas wells in Nevada, including the 4 wells drilled by Noble Energy in Elko County, Nevada.
Please RSVP for the Dinner Meeting by Jan 31, here.
If you find that you cannot attend, please email Vicki Ehni at vehni@aol.com or call at 775-720-6387.
NPGS will be charged for all no shows. Thank you for your consideration.