SYLLABUS Fall 2017

GEOL 404 Geology of Petroleum

Instructors: Dr. Juan Carlos Laya
Office: Halbouty Building, Room 263
Phone: (979) 845-7279
Email: layajc@geos.tamu.edu

Office Hours: Monday 2-5 pm Halbouty Building, Room 263

Lecture Schedule: MW 11:30am – 12:20pm

Lecture Location: Halbouty Room 101

Labs (A separate lab syllabus will be provided)

Lab Schedule
and Location: Halbouty Building, Room 66 (Computer Labs, Weeks 11/12)

GEOL 404 501 M 03:00 pm-05:50 pm Renjie Zhou

GEOL 404 502 W 03:00 pm-05:50 pm Adewale Amosu
GEOL 404 503 T 08:00 am-10:50 am Chia Pei (James) Teoh
GEOL 404 504 T 11:10 am-02:00 pm Chia Pei (James) Teoh
GEOL 404 505 R 11:10 am-02:00 pm Howard (Nate) Naylor
GEOL 404 506 M 06:30 pm-09:20 pm Renjie Zhou
GEOL 404 507 W 08:00 am-10:50 am Adewale Amosu
GEOL 404 508 T 05:30 pm-08:20 pm Howard (Nate) Naylor

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Geology of Petroleum (GEOL404) is a course for geoscience and engineering students.
Course objectives are to provide you with a basic understanding of the concepts and methods
in petroleum geology in use in today’s exploration and development programs. Among the
topics we will cover are sedimentary basins, origin, and migration of hydrocarbons,
reservoirs, traps, and seals, and geological methods used in exploration and development.
Laboratory exercises will supplement lectures and offer practical experience with methods
and concepts.

PREREQUISITE
GEOL 104 (required) and GEOL 312 (or CVEN 305), or approval of instructor.

RESERVED REFERENCES AND OTHER COURSE MATERIALS

No textbooks required for purchase. The following textbooks are put on reserve for the
course, in addition to online lecture notes and other reading materials:
Selley, R. C., 1998, Elements of Petroleum Geology: Academic Press, New York,
2nd Ed., 470 p., (not ideal but recommended if individual student prefers a purchase).
Magoon and Dow (eds.), The Petroleum System – From Source to Trap,
 GEOL 404 – Geology of Petroleum 2
AAPG Memoir 60, 1994.
Hunt, Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd. ed., 1996.
Chilingar et al., Geology and Geochemistry of Oil and Gas, 2007.

Additional reading assignments and lecture notes will be posted via ecampus

Although reading the text assignments is sufficient for basic understanding of the material,
students are expected to take notes in all classes, ask questions in class, and to be prepared
to offer expanded answers to questions posed by the professor. These activities will form
the basis for your participation grade – 10% of your total grade.

How Your Grades Are Determined

Midterm Examination ......................................................................................................... 25 %
Final Examination ............................................................................................................... 35 %
Lab Grade .......................................................................................................................... 30 %
Participation (Lecture) and Lecture homework ............................................................... 10 %
TOTAL = 100 %
Examination ‘Style’
Because of the large class size, exams will be a combination of multiple choice (computer-graded) and
questions/anwsers. Each student will need a # 2 or HB pencil and a scantron for the mid-term and final exams.
Letter Grade – Percent Score Equivalents (may be changed without notice)
A > 90; B = 89.99 to 80; C = 79.99 to 70; D = 69.99 to 60; F < 60

Important dates to remember:

October 4, Wednesday: Midterm Exam, (11:30am - 12:20pm) HALB 101

November 20-23: Thanksgiving break
October 9-11: No lecture – Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition
December 13, Wednesday: Final Exam (10:30am – 12:30pm); HALB 101

Course Rules and University Requirements (Marked with asterisk)

1. Students are expected to attend every class.

2. Cell phone use is not permitted during the lecture.
3. No Laptop use is allowed during the lecture.
4. Bring 2 or HB Pencils with erasers, pencil sharpening “cone”, colored pencils, ruler, and calculator for
labs.
5. Incomplete homework & laboratory exercises will not receive full grades.
6. Policy on Grading
a) Homework and exams will be graded by the instructor +/- help from the TA’s. Full credit will be
given only for complete and valid answers; partial credit, if given, is given at the discretion of the
instructor.
8. Policy on Re-grading
a) Exams may be re-graded only if an error by the professor or his assistants is detected. Partial
credit is not subject to appeal.
b) Illegible writing and illogical-but-correct answers will not receive credit unless the student can
provide clarification immediately following class when his/her graded papers were received. No-
shows for same day conferences forfeit the chance to clarify.
 GEOL 404 – Geology of Petroleum 3
9. Late Assignments
a) No credit will be given for assignments turned in past the required date and time.
b) Assignments are “late” if not turned in at the start of class on the due date. Persistent late or
missed work constitutes a basis for assigning a course grade of incomplete.

10. See Lab syllabus for more class rules.

11. Each student should review the University Regulations (see below marked with *) concerning
attendance, grades, and scholastic dishonesty. In particular, anyone seen (by professor or TA’s)
cheating on an examination or collaborating on an assignment where collaboration is not specifically
allowed will receive written warning copied to the appropriate department head or faculty adviser.
Second offense cheating on an exam will result in a failing grade for the course and a report to the
Scholastic Dishonesty office of the University.

Score and Grade Posting

By agreement from all students in the class, score and grade may be confidentially posted online where
the lecture notes are available, by using the last 4-digits of the UIN.
1. Midterm exam score will be posted after the exam.
2. Final letter grade together with individual scores on attendance, lab, midterm exam, and final
exam will be posted after the final exam.

Your lab score will be posted with the final exam score and please don’t ask your TA for your lab grade
before it’s ready.

Score and Grade Review

Attendance record, exam papers, lab work and quiz scores may be available for review with special
request. Team project individual evaluation is however confidential.

Note

The cutoffs for letter grades are based on curving and overall consideration of the class performance.

Many students want to get an A and even one point can change the percentile dramatically. Attendance is
not only important for a better performance on exams, but also important by itself , 10% of the total
score! The team project is important and everyone in the team has to contribute. Please see Lab syllabus
for details.

Historical example: A - cutoff: 90, 6%; cutoff : 89, 13%; cutoff: 88, 22%

It is discouraged to come back after the final exam for a grade change to get an A, B or C, just because of
one point or so.
 GEOL 404 – Geology of Petroleum 4

Scholastic Dishonesty Statement*** (Aggie Code of Honor)

The Honor Code, based on the long-standing affirmation that An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those
who do, is fundamental to the value of the A&M experience. Know the Code. Aggie Code of Honor: "An Aggie
does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do." http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor/

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement***

The following ADA Policy Statement (part of the Policy on Individual Disabling Conditions) was submitted
to the UCC by the Department of Student Life. The policy Statement was forwarded to the Faculty Senate
for information.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statute that provides
comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that
provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe that you have a
disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for
Students with Disabilities in Room 126 of the Koldus Building, or call 845-1637.

Coursework Copyright Statement***

The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By "handouts," this means all materials generated
for this class, which includes quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class materials, review sheets, and
additional problem sets. Because these materials are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy
them, unless you are expressly granted permission.

As commonly defined, plagiarism consists of passing off as one’s own the ideas, words, writings,
etc., that belong to another. In accordance with this definition, you are committing plagiarism if you
copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission
of that person.

If you have any questions about plagiarism and/or copying, please consult the latest issue of the
Texas A&M University Student Rules, under the section "Scholastic Dishonesty."
 GEOL 404 – Geology of Petroleum 5

Lecture Topics Reading Assignments

(Tentative/subject to change) (Selley book, 2nd Edition
& online reading materials)
1. Introduction to petroleum geology Chapter 1 & e-materials
2. Petroleum system overview e-materials
3. Plate tectonics Chapter 8 & e-materials
4. Structural geology Chapter 3 & e-materials
5-7. Depositional environments e-materials
8-9. Geophysical methods Chapter 3
10. Subsurface fluids & environments Chapters 2 & e-materials
11. Petroleum system Chapter 4
12. Sedimentary basin types Chapter 8 & e-materials
13-15. Source rock and petroleum genesis
Origin, maturation and migration of hydrocarbons Chapter 5 & e-materials
Kinetic modeling of thermal maturation e-materials
16. Source rock properties Chapter 6 & e-materials
17-18. Primary and Secondary migration e-materials
Unconventional Energy resources Chapter 9 & e-materials
19. Traps and seals Chapter 7 & e-materials
20. Guest lecture e-materials
21-22. Clastic Reservoirs, Petrophysics of shale Chapter 6 & e-materials
23. Risk analysis Chapter 10, e-materials
24. Frontier Exploration Ideas e-materials
25-26. Carbonate Reservoirs Chapter 6 & e-materials