STANDARD COMPETENCIES:

 

 1. Discuss how coal, shale, and sandstone are formed.

 2. Recognize and classify shale, sandstone, and coal and explain how each of these rock types is utilized in the oil and gas industry.

 3. Describe oil and gas in the context of sedimentary basin formation and burial history.

 4. Explain and identify oil and gas stratigraphic and structural ‘traps’ in the subsurface.

 5. Identify on a map the major sedimentary basins within the lower 48 United States.

 6. Identify on a map the major sedimentary basins associated with oil and gas production in Colorado.

 7. Describe basic exploration practices used to find oil and gas.

 8. Describe basic drilling practices used to extract oil and gas.

 9. Explain how oil and gas wells are drilled according to the surface grid method: Township and Range coordinates.

 10. Identify the location of at least one oil and gas area in Colorado in the field and/or on a geologic map.

 11. Explain the geology and production of at least one oil and gas area in Colorado (e.g. Denver Basin).

 TOPICAL OUTLINE:

 

 I. Introduction to rocks

 a. Definition of minerals

 b. Definition of rocks

 c. The rock cycle

 d. Identification of sedimentary rocks

 II. Coal

 a. Formation

 b. Identification

 c. Relation to oil and gas

 III. Sandstone and shale

 a. Formation

 b. Identification

 c. Relation to oil and gas

 IV. Sedimentary basins

 a. Hydrocarbon formation mechanisms

 b. Regression and transgression

 c. Basin formation (sedimentary rocks, structural events that form basins)

 d. Porosity and permeability

 e. Stratigraphic and structural “traps”

 f. Sequence stratigraphy

 g. Major sedimentary basins in the United States

 h. Major sedimentary basins associated with oil and gas in Colorado

 V. Oil and gas production

 a. Business structure of an operation company

 b. Techniques used to locate oil and gas

 c. Basic drilling techniques

 d. Contour mapping

 e. Well logs

 f. Surface grid method:  Township & Range coordinates

 VI. Oil and gas area(s) in Colorado:  case study

 a. Source, reservoir, and seal rock units

 b. Geologic basin history/development through time

 c. Mineral and surface rights

 d. Drill spacing using Township & Range coordinates

 e. Overview of drilling operations