Neil Watson

Injector(s) of the Week – Induced Seismicity had to start somewhere I feel the earth Move Under my feet I feel the sky tumbling down I feel my heart start to trembling When you shake the ground (With apologies to Carole King, composer of the actual song.) Evidence of the importance of understanding and mitigating seismicity induced by industrial applications was provided by last week’s GeoConvention. By my count, there was one session with 7 talks dedicated to induced [Read more]

“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.” Ian Fleming – Goldfinger It has been a very long time since I have posted an article in the Well of the Week series. But fear not, faithful readers, I have been keeping a list of topics for when I have time to return to the WotW project. This hiatus is not for a lack of subject material but instead has been due to two reasons. The first is that my available time for such pursuits has been absorbed by the need to [Read more]

Phoenix: (in classical mythology) a unique bird that lived for five or six centuries in the Arabian desert, after this time burning itself on a funeral pyre and rising from the ashes with renewed youth to live through another cycle. Phoenix - Oxford Languages The previous post in this Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week series on geothermal energy development in western Canada considered a geological setting far removed from what is typically seen by geologists in the oil [Read more]

In the land of Mordor British Columbia, in the fires of Mount Doom Meager, the Dark Lord Sauron Bright Geologists forged in secret investigated, with government support, a master ring the Geothermal Research Initiative.... One ring project to rule them all influence others… And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand forty years, the ring project passed out of all knowledge. With apologies to The [Read more]

The last time the Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week considered the importance of geothermics was back in 2018 with Some Like It Hot.  The focus at that time was on the effect subtle variations in geothermal gradient (GTG) had on the viscosity of shallow heavy oil production. At the time, the development of geothermal energy as a stable baseload source of electricity and heat was just getting started in western Canada. It is an understatement to say that a lot has changed in 6 [Read more]

Once again, the Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week celebrates the spirit of exploration. Sometimes you find a massive field and sometimes, you add to the knowledge base (aka a “science well”). Even efforts that are, perhaps, a bit misguided deserve a mention. Such is the case with Duncan Exploration Inc.’s Moyie #1 well. Whether it is the first oil well in western Canada or a gas well in one of western Canada’s largest gas fields, companies have experienced a lot of success [Read more]

You must admit that, given the current industry focus on CCUS, geothermal, resource plays, SAGD and other endeavours, geomechanics is having a bit of a moment (again). Additionally, for readers cognizant of the geomechanical focus of Enlighten’s President, choosing 100/15-09-074-04W5/00 as the first Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Well of the Week for 2024 and focusing on image logs but not geomechanics might seem off brand. In fact, this article was conceived as a follow-up to the [Read more]

Now whip it Into shape Shape it up Get straight Go forward Move ahead Try to detect it It's not too late To whip it Whip it good Devo: Whip it In the spirit of Christmas, today we offer up two Petro Ninja – Enlighten Geoscience Wells of the Week.  The first, 100/14-29-109-08W6/00 is kind of like getting socks from your grandmother for Christmas.  Pretty much a dry hole but there were hints of a Keg River reef and a dipmeter was part of the log suite.  The second, [Read more]

Let us start with a bit of housekeeping, shall we?  While this column is called the Well of the Week, I realize that the publishing interval has not always lived up to that expectation. I could cite work, vacations or any other of life’s vagaries as reasons. And sometimes you just need a break. Now, one might expect the series to be renamed but for two reasons.  It already has a good if inaccurate name and I really like alliteration.  So, notwithstanding any publishing date dilation, The Well [Read more]