American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2014 - 31

TECHCONNECTIONS
PTTC Offers
Array Of Training
Opportunities
Although I have been out of school for more years than I care
to remember, I still feel as though summer represents a special
time of year that is different from the rest. For many, this means
taking a vacation or adding an addition to the house. For others
it means working on that old Mustang in the garage or heading
to the lake to catch the one that got away last year.
Travel and fishing are definitely on my list as well. However, this year I have decided to spend some time accomplishing one
thing that I can take with me into the fall. I am committing myself to training; specifically, training outside my area of expertise. Summer is a great time for this type of exploration, and in the
oil and gas industry, the more one knows, the more effective he
can become.
For example, I organized and attended a geology field trip in
Northwest Arkansas, led by Walt Manger from the University of
Arkansas. The area of study was the Mississippian geology of that
region. I found it interesting that while the bus was filled with geologists, there were at least two engineers onboard. When I asked
one why he decided to attend the trip, he simply said he wanted
to see the formation that he was spending so much time designing methods to produce.
As I have mentioned previously, training opportunities abound
in the oil and gas industry these days. In fact, there are so many
sources for training that sorting through them all can be a daunting task. If anyone is thinking about adding a workshop to his
schedule this summer, my advice is to explore interests outside
one's area of work, and to look for opportunities with solid topics and credible speakers. When doing this, one should look for
opportunities near his location, and that possibly feature talks about
the play he may be working in-or better yet, the one he would
like to work in.
One organization has been offering this type of training for more
than 20 years; the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council was
established as a nonprofit with the sole purpose of providing those
working in the industry with access to training, technology, and
best practices to make them more successful and ultimately increase hydrocarbon production in the United States.
I will admit that I am biased since I serve in a leadership role
for PTTC. However, when I accepted the position to help lead
PTTC, it was because of its links with independent operators as
well as with the majors. I found PTTC to be serving the needs of
operations around the country and in the backyards of folks doing the work. Finally, I found that because PTTC worked with industry to help design and lead its training, its offerings were among
the very best in the industry.
PTTC has more than 20 training opportunities scheduled for
this summer. Chances are there is at least one in everyone's area.
One of the highlights PTTC is bringing to industry this summer is a course being held in Pittsburgh called "Applications of
Stable Isotope Geochemistry in the Petroleum Geosciences." While
the name may sound a little intimidating, this course will provide
an accessible overview of the tools, methods, and terminology related to stable isotope geochemistry as it applies to exploration

"In the oil and gas industry, the
more one knows, the more effective
he can become.

and production.
Another opportunity this summer will be a course in Midland,
titled "Permian Basin: Wellbore Integrity." This course will focus on casing design and cementing, and how these two critical
steps can impact the total life of the well.
Finally, the Rocky Mountain PTTC Region is hosting "Source
Rock 101" in Golden, Co. This short course is scheduled in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists' annual meeting.
In the coming months, look for topics related to waterflooding, drilling engineering essentials, and lithology from logs for
geologists.
There are many opportunities to find just what anyone is looking for in training this summer, and while there are many sources
of that training, I encourage everyone to check the new PTTC website at PTTC.org to find one near them. Simply click on the training and events button, find a date and location that work for you,
and you are halfway there.
Stay cool this summer and enjoy the many opportunities for
training and development.
❒

JEREMY VISCOMI is the

executive director of technology transfer for PTTC. He
also is director of technology
transfer for the University of
Kansas Tertiary Oil Recovery
Project, and has more than a
decade of experience organizing technical conferences and
special events.
JUNE 2014 31

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2014

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