The "Sneaky" Influence of Clay Minerals on Formation Evaluation
“Sneaky” detrital (transported) and authigenic (crystallize in place) clays occur in many conventional and unconventional reservoir rocks. Whether it is illite, chlorite, smectite, or kaolinite, the effect on logs or completion procedures can impact well economics. Calculating Vshale or Vclay isn’t sufficient to optimize reservoir character and production.
About the Presenter
DR. JOHN B. (JACK) THOMAS has more than 45 years of diverse work experiences in which he has conducted or worked on hydrocarbon projects in most of the active petroleum-bearing basins of the world. He is recognized as an expert in reservoir characterization of conventional and unconventional reservoirs including those in tight gas, coalbed methane, all types of siliclastic and carbonate reservoirs. He has presented seminars in more than 26 nations on aspects of these topics. He has authored or co-authored two books on applied and practical petrophysics plus numerous papers on the topic. His academic teaching experiences have been in the areas of petrology, petrophysics, and environmental geology. While the AAPG Geoscience director, he led a tenfold increase in titles published including digital and book releases. He has received honors for work on the local level in the Rocky Mountains, Canada, China, and the Middle East. He was recognized as a Society of Petroleum Engineer's Distinguished Lecturer in 1994-95 traveling Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United States focusing on the importance of rock-log calibration in reservoir characterization. Professional memberships include the AAPG, SPE, SPWLA, TGS, RMAG. He is past leader of the SEPM Clastic Diagenesis Research Group, Sigma Xi (Local), and Sigma Gamma Epsilon. He received BA and MS degrees from the Miami of Ohio University and a PhD from the University of Oklahoma.
