Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) in association with the young professional team from Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Northern Emirates Chapter organised a geological field trip on 30 March 2019
Taking advantage of the last few days of the winter season, a group of 18 students and nine young professionals went to see Sharjah’s outcrops known for their complex geology.
The focus of the trip was to show the students and young professionals under the age of 35 who have just joined the industry on how geology plays a vital role in hydrocarbon exploration and development. Surface outcrops are crucial to compensate for the limitations of the sub-surface data and to understand the characteristics of a reservoir because detailed lateral and vertical scale observations can be made.
Lateral continuity, different facies and textures, type of porosity and important geological features (e.g. fault/fold) can be documented in detail and correlated with the sub-surface domain associated with high exploration costs due to the risk involved.
Siddharth Jain, field development team leader at SNOC, who currently leads the young professional activities for SPE Northern Emirates, said, “It is always interesting to have a look at geological outcrops as it gives direct access to the geological objects we are dealing with on our day to day operations. We find it is a good complement to our subsurface database, being able to literally touch the rocks gives us confidence in the understanding of these reservoirs”.
The field trip was led by Raffik Lazar, principal consultant at GeomodL International, who added, “This will benefit their understanding of geology and make them better petroleum engineers and geoscientists once they graduate”.
SNOC is currently undergoing exploration activities in Sharjah’s onshore acreage along with its partner ENI.
