Robert S. Balch   

122 Stallion Circle -- Socorro New Mexico, 87801   

Work (505) 835‑5305 ‑ Home (505) 838-9120 ‑ Fax (505) 835‑6031   

Email: balch@prrc.nmt.edu  

 

 

 

Education:

 

·        1997 Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Science with Dissertation in Geophysics: 

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology - GPA 3.78/4.0

            Dissertation: “Earthquake Swarm Studies in the Central Rio Grande Rift: Specific and General Results”

·        1993 Master of Science in Geophysics:

            New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology - GPA 3.74/4.0

Independent Study: “New Constraints on the Socorro Magma Body Based on Improved Hypocenters”

·        1989 Bachelor of Science:

            The Evergreen State College.

 

Professional Experience:

 

Petroleum Recovery Research Center, New Mexico Tech - 07/04 to present

Directs research as head of the Reservoir Evaluation and Advanced Computational Technologies (REACT) Group. Administers research projects and supervises Staff and student members of the research group. Conducts research in soft computing technology applications to upstream oil and gas problems. Submits research proposals to competitive funding programs.

 

Petroleum Recovery Research Center, New Mexico Tech - 01/03 to 07/04

Directed research as interim head of the Reservoir Evaluation and Advanced Computational Technologies (REACT) Group. Completed work on existing funded project, supervised staff and student members of the research group, and acquired new competitive funding. 

 

Petroleum Recovery Research Center, New Mexico Tech - 10/97 01/03

Supervisor William W. Weiss. Conducted research as a member of the Reservoir Evaluation and Advanced Computational Technologies (REACT) Group. Work involved developing an Expert System to speed oil prospecting in the Delaware Basin using data at all scales -- from well-logs to regional geophysical surveys.  Other work included geostatistical evaluation of reservoir properties (EG porosity) using multiple regression and Neural Network applications with wire-line logs, 3d seismic data and seismic attributes as inputs. Trained in, and used, LandMark software: SeisWorks, Zmap, PostStack/Pal packages.

·        Post Doctoral Researcher:

            New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources - 6/97 to 9/97

Supervisor, Bruce S. Hart. Used Sun Workstations and Landmark software to interpret horizons for a carbonate reservoir and to relate seismic attributes to porosity from wire-line logs, in the Smackover formation, Appleton Field Alabama.

 

·        Graduate Research Assistant:

            New Mexico Tech - 9/92 to 5/97

Assistant to Dr. Allan R. Sanford. Used UNIX Workstations to perform research pertaining to rift processes and seismicity in the vicinity of Socorro, New Mexico, research funded by Los Alamos through IGGP Grants 349 and 349r.

 

·        Seismicity of the WIPP Site:

            New Mexico Tech - 3/91 to 9/92

            Supervisor, Dr. A. R. Sanford. Monitored seismic activity within 300 km of the WIPP site, Carlsbad New Mexico. Reduction of data for quarterly reports to Westinghouse Corporation.

 

·        Teaching Assistant:

            New Mexico Tech - 1991, 1992 and 1996

Instructed students in basic geophysical techniques including seismic refraction and reflection, gravity, and magnetic methods.

 

 

Honors and Offices Held:

 

·        AMOCO Fellowship:

Academic Year - 1990‑91.

·        Graduate Student Association officer:

            New Mexico Tech - 1990‑91, 91‑92, 92‑93, 93‑94, 94‑95, 95‑96 and 96‑97

            Served as Graduate Council representative. Oversaw development of a new constitution, separation of graduate student funds from undergraduate student association. Served as first Executive Chair under the new constitution.

·        Secretary/Treasurer New Mexico Tech Geophysical Society:

            Academic Year - 1992‑93

·        Judge, New Mexico State Science Fair:

Junior and/or Senior Earth and space Sciences - 1994 – present

·        National Dean's List:

            Academic year - 1994‑95

·        Chapter President Sigma XI:

New Mexico Tech - 2001-02 and 2002-03

·        Seismic Engineer:

Mine Emergency Operations Team (New Mexico) of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor - 1995-1997

Professional Affiliations:

 

·        Member:

            The Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics

            The Society of Petroleum Engineers

            Sigma Xi

            Roswell Geological Society

           


Major Projects:

 

The objective of this project is to create a user definable and customizable fuzzy expert system tool to dramatically speed local and regional play analysis and to reduce subsequent drilling risk. This general tool will not require significant knowledge of computer programming, and will guide users through the process of building a successful expert system to evaluate plays from field to basin scale using public and/or private data and their own or public data and knowledge. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the tool, a secondary objective of analyzing the Pennsylvanian play of SE New Mexico will be performed. Public data will be organized for analyzing this outstanding, bypassed-pay play, which will provide an example of the usage of the system while simultaneously providing a significant opportunity for identifying new reserves. Project Manager / Principal Investigator. Three year, $1.2 million contract awarded at end of 2004 by U.S. Department of Energy, commenced work January 2005.

 

Prior to drilling expensive oil wells, companies evaluate drilling risk and economic potential for oil production. Smaller oil companies often lack the human resources to sort through the incomplete and sparse data involved in such evaluations. The Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool, a fuzzy expert system developed to emulate human explorationists was successfully tested on two geologic formations, The Lower Brushy Canyon Sands of the Delaware basin, New Mexico, and the Siluro Devonian Carbonates of southeast New Mexico. The Tool uses unique fuzzy inference methods, and runs over the internet using a Java capable browser. Principal Investigator - final three years. $2.9 million contract awarded end of 1998 by U.S. Department of Energy, commenced work in March 1999.

 

Pending Consortia and Proposals:

 

The objective of this project is to use data mining to analyze large tight-gas data sets to determine if trends or interesting patterns exist between well completion/stimulation methods and well success. A multitude of completion and stimulation techniques have been used in tight gas reservoirs in northwest New Mexico, and though anecdotal evidence regarding the success or failure of various completion techniques exists, no objective examination of the data has been undertaken, though a recent survey of producers resulted in a long list of priorities in understanding completion/stimulation methods. Data mining has become a staple technology in many business sectors, yet scientific and engineering problems in the upstream oil industry have not benefited from this sort of analysis. The problem of identifying “best” completion/stimulation techniques over a large area, such as the San Juan Basin, encompassing multiple formations, a large number of completion and stimulation practices, over a substantial time with a large array of data types is a daunting task for which data mining is ideally suited. Similar scale problems in other industries demonstrate 10-15% efficiency increases.  Identification of “best” practices that lead to more produced gas from tight wells and savings on completions/stimulations could have a significant impact on the gas industry. Proposed Principal Investigator on 4.5 year $2 million proposal to U.S. Department of Energy. Proposal submitted March, 2005. A consortium is under development with Co-PI's Martha Cather and Tom Engler to pursue this research regardless of proposal success, building on current support from  IHS energy, Burlington, and BP.

 

The primary goal of this project is to increase the availability and ease of access to critical data on the Mesaverde and Dakota tight gas reservoirs of the San Juan Basin. Secondary goals include tuning well log interpretations through integration of core, water chemistry and production analysis data to help identify bypassed pay zones; increased knowledge of permeability ratios and how they affect well drainage and thus infill drilling plans; improved time depth correlations through regional mapping of sonic logs; and improved understanding of the variability of formation waters within the basin through spatial analysis of water chemistry data.  Proposed Co-Principal Investigator on three year, $1.3 million proposal to U.S. Department of Energy. Proposal submitted March, 2005.

 

Graduated Students:

 

1.      Schrader, S. M.: “Development, Testing and Application of an Expert System for Petroleum Exploration,” Ph.D. Dissertation, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, May 2004.

2.      Huang, X.: “Graphical Representations of the Results of the FEE Tool and Fuzzy Variable Definition System,” M.S. Independent Study, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, December 2004.

3.      Choudhari, G.: “Contributions towards the Development and Design of the Delaware Basin FEE Tool and the Devonian Carbonate FEE Tool,” M.S. Independent Study, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, April 2004.

4.      Koganti, M.K.: “Contributions to the Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool, M.S. Independent Study,” New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, November 2003.

5.   Subramaniam, V.: “Evaluation of Well Completion Opportunities in the Lower Brushy Canyon Using Neural Networks,” M.S. Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, December 2002.

6.      Gottumkkala, V.: “A New Method of Calibrating Wireline Logs with Carbonate Core Measurements to Recognize Pay Zones,” M.S. Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, August 2002.

7.      Du, Y.: “Optimization of Artificial Neural Network Design through Synthetic Datasets Analysis,” M.S. Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, May 2002.

8.   Liang, B.: “Cherry Canyon Well Logging Interpretation by Artificial Neural Network,” M.S. Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, May 2002.

9.      Hart, D. M.: “Evaluation of a Multi Layer Perceptron Neural Network for the Time-to-Depth Conversion of the Nash Draw “L” Seismic Horizon using Seismic Attributes,” M.S. Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, May 2001.

 

 

Papers and Publications:

 

  1. Balch, R. S., T. Ruan, W. W. Weiss, and S.M. Schrader (2003): “Simulated Expert Interpretation of Regional Data to Predict Drilling Risk,” paper SPE 84067, 2003 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibit, Denver, October 4-8. 
  2. Balch, R. S., T. Ruan, and S. Schrader (2003): “Automating Basic Exploration Processes using an Expert System: Applications to the Delaware Basin”, In: The Permian Basin: Back to Basics: West Texas Geological Society, Publication No. 03-112, p. 285-294.
  3. Schrader, S. M., R. S. Balch, and T. Ruan (2003): “Preserving and Applying Expert Knowledge: A Case Study for the Brushy Canyon Formation of the Delaware Basin”, In: The Permian Basin: Back to Basics: West Texas Geological Society, Publication No. 03-112, p. 295-304.
  4. Balch, R.S., W.W. Weiss, and T. Ruan (2002): “Simulated Expert Interpretation of Data to Predict Drilling Risk on a Regional Scale, Case Study—Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, New Mexico,” In: The Permian Basin: Preserving our Past – Securing our Future: West Texas Geological Society, Publication No. 02-111.
  5. Balch, R. S., D. M. Hart, W. W. Weiss, and R. F. Broadhead (2002): “Regional Data Analysis to Better Predict Drilling Success: Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, New Mexico” Paper SPE 75145, Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2002 IOR Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 13–17 April 2002, 8pp.
  6. Weiss, W. W., R.S. Balch, and B. A. Stubbs (2002): “How Artificial Intelligence Methods Can Forecast Oil Production,” paper SPE 75143 presented at the 2002 Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, April 13–17.
  7. Weiss, W. W., V. Gottumukkala, and R. S. Balch (2002): “A New Method of Calibrating Wireline Logs With Carbonate Core Measurements to Recognize Pay Zones,” paper SPE 77330 presented at the 2002 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibit, San Antonio, September 29.
  8. Weiss, W. W., B.A. Stubbs, and R.S. Balch (2001): “Estimating Bulk Volume Oil in Thin-Bedded Turbidites,” paper SPE 70041 presented at the 2001 SPE Permian Basin Oil & Gas Recovery Conference, Midland, May 14-17.
  9. Balch, R.S., W.W. Weiss, S. Wo, and D. M. Welch (2000): “Predicting Core Porosity Using Wireline Logs at Dagger Draw Field, Southeast New Mexico,” paper SPE 59554 presented at the 2000 SPE Permian Basin Oil & Gas Recovery Conference, Midland, March 21–23.
  10. Balch, R.S., W.W. Weiss, S. Wo, and D. M. Hart (2000): "Regional Data Analysis to Determine Production Trends Using a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool," In, The Permian Basin: Proving Ground for Tomorrow’s Technology, West Texas Geological Society, Publication No. 00-109 p. 195-196.
  11. Hart, D.M., Balch, R.S., Tobin, H.J., and Weiss, W.W. (2000): “Time-to-Depth Conversion of Nash Draw “L” Seismic Horizon Using Seismic Attributes and Neural Networks,” paper SPE 59555 presented at the 2000 SPE Permian Basin Oil and Gas Recovery Conference, Midland, March 21–23.
  12. Hart, B.S., and R. S. Balch (2000): “Approaches to Defining Reservoir Properties from 3-D Seismic Attributes with Limited Well Control: An Example from the Jurassic Smackover Formation, Alabama” Geophysics, Vol 65 no 2 March-April 2000 p. 368-376.
  13. Weiss, W.W., S. Wo, R. S. Balch, L. Scott, and R. P. Kendall (2000): “Assessing the Potential Redevelopment of a 1960's Vintage Oil Field,” paper SPE 59297 presented at the 2000 SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, April 3–5.
  14. Wo, S., W.W. Weiss, R. S. Balch, L. Scott, and R. P. Kendall, (2000): “New Technique to Determine Porosity and Deep Resistivity from Old Gamma Ray and Neutron Count Logs,” paper SPE 59553 presented at the 2000 SPE Permian Basin Oil and Gas Recovery Conference, Midland, March 21–23.
  15. Wo, S., W. W. Weiss, R. S. Balch, L. Scott, J. Roe, and R. Kendall (2000): “Producing GOR Used to Predict Permeability Distribution in a Tight Heterogeneous Reservoir,” paper SPE 56505 presented at the 1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference, Houston, October 3–6.
  16. Balch, R.S., B.A Stubbs, W. W. Weiss, and S. Wo (1999): “Using Artificial Intelligence to Correlate Multiple Seismic Attributes to Reservoir Properties,” paper SPE 56733 presented at the 1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibit, Houston, October 3–6.
  17. Weiss, W.W., S. Wo, and R. S. Balch (1999): “Integrating Core Porosity and Sw Measurements with Log Values,” paper SPE 55642 presented at the 1999 SPE Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting, Gillette, May 15–18.
  18. Balch, R. S., M. Hand, D. Carr, and C. Reuter (1998): “Natural Fractures in Gas Reservoirs: Detection and Prediction”, White Paper for Gas Research Institute, Contract No. 5097-210-3966. 45 pp.
  19. Balch, R. S., W. W. Weiss, and S. Wo (1998): “Correlating Seismic Attributes to Reservoir Properties Using Multi-Variate Non-Linear Regression”, In, The Search Continues into the 21st Century, West Texas Geological Society, Publication No. 98-105, p. 199-203.
  20. Balch, R. S., A. R. Sanford, H. E. Hartse, and K. Lin (1997): “A New Map of the Geographic Extent of the Socorro Midcrustal Magma Body” Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 87, 174‑182.

 

Invited Presentations:

 

  1. Balch, R. S. (2003): “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool,” West Texas Geological Society Lunch Talk, Midland, September 9, 2003.

 

Presentations, Abstracts and Reports:

 

  1. Ruan, T., R.S. Balch, and D. M. Hart (2005): “A Web-Based Fuzzy Ranking System and Application,” 9th World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, Orlando, FL, July 10-13, 2005.
  2. Balch, R. S. (2005): Final Project Review “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Tulsa, Oklahoma, DOE/NETL Office, April 20, 2005
  3. Balch, R. S., T. Ruan, and S. Schrader (2005): “Fuzzy Expert Systems in Oil Exploration”, SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, Orlando, FL, Feb. 12-15, 2005.
  4. Balch, R. S. and S. Schrader (2004): Devonian FEE Tool training session, Roswell, New Mexico, ENMU-R, Dec. 1, 2004
  5. Ruan, T., R. S. Balch, and S. Schrader (2004): “A Web-Based Database Management System,” IASTED International Conference on Communications, Internet and Information Technology, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, November 22-24, 2004.
  6. Ruan, T., R. S. Balch, and S. M. Schrader (2004): “The Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool,” Sixth IASTED International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, Honolulu, August 23-25, 2004.
  7. Balch, R. S., T. Ruan, and S. M. Schrader (2004): “Drilling Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool” presented at the 2004 American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Southwest Section Annual Meeting, El Paso, March 8-9.
  8. Project Review, “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wyndham Hotel, Oct. 29-30, 2003
  9. Balch, R. S. (2003): Delaware FEE Tool training session, Roswell, New Mexico, ENMU-R Aug. 27, 2003
  10. Balch, R.S.,  W. W. Weiss, and T. Ruan (2003): “Simulated Expert Interpretation of Data to Predict Drilling Risk on a Regional Scale, Case Study -- Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, New Mexico” Poster, SW Section AAPG Annual Meeting, Fort Worth, Texas, March 2-6, 2003.
  11. Balch, R. S., R. Lee, and A. Reisinger (2003): Project status report “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Tulsa, Oklahoma, DOE/NETL Office, January, 2003
  12. Project Review, “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Roswell, New Mexico, ENMU-R, Sept. 17, 2002
  13. Balch, R. S., D.M. Hart, W.W. Weiss, and R. F. Broadhead (2002): “Using Artificial Intelligence to Predict Drilling Success Using Regional Data, Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, New Mexico” Transactions, Southwest Section A.A.P.G Convention, Ruidoso, NM June 6-8, 2002.
  14. Balch, R.S., D. M. Hart, W. W. Weiss, and R. F. Broadhead (2002): “Using Artificial Intelligence to Predict Drilling Success Using Regional Data, Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, New Mexico,” Transactions, Southwest Section A.A.P.G Convention, Ruidoso, June 6–8, 2002.
  15. Project Review, “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Midland, Texas, Petroleum Club, Oct. 24, 2001.
  16.  Project Review, “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Hobbs, New Mexico, NMJC, Nov. 2, 2000.
  17. Balch, R.S., W. W. Weiss, and S. Wo (2000): "Core Porosity Prediction Using Wire-Line Logs, Case Study: Dagger Draw Field, New Mexico," paper presented at the AAPG 2000 Rocky Mountain Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 17-20.
  18. Hart, D.M., R. S. Balch, W. W. Weiss, and S. Wo (2000): “Time-to-Depth Conversion of Nash Draw “L” Seismic Horizon Using Seismic Attributes and Neural Networks,” paper presented at the AAPG 2000 Rocky Mountain Meeting, Albuquerque, September 17-20.
  19. Project Review, “Risk Reduction with a Fuzzy Expert Exploration Tool”, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wyndham Hotel, Sept. 9-10, 1999
  20. Balch, R. S., W. W. Weiss, and S. Wo (1998). “Correlation of Traditional Wire-line Logs to Vuggy Porosity from Tuned-to-Core Formation Micro Imager Logs, New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center Report 98-16.
  21. Balch, R. S.,  A. R. Sanford, L. H. Jaksha, H. E. Hartse, and L. S. House (1998)” “Subsurface Fault Delineation in Central New Mexico using Three Temporally and Spatially Related Earthquake Swarms” Seism. Res. Let., 69 no. 2.
  22. Hart, B. S., and R. S. Balch (1997): “Appleton Project Final Report – August 1997” Arm Project Report, Los Alamos National Lab, 30 pp.1997  
  23. Balch, R. S. (1997): “Earthquake Swarm Studies in the Central Rio Grande Rift: Specific and General Results” PhD Dissertation, 221 pp., New Mexico Tech, Socorro New Mexico.
  24. Balch, R. S., A. R. Sanford and H. E. Hartse (1996): “A New Map of the Geographic Extent of the Socorro Midcrustal Magma Body” Seismol. Res. Letters, 67 no. 2.
  25. Balch, R. S., A. R. Sanford, L. H. Jaksha, H.E. Hartse, and L. S. House (1995): “Subsurface Fault Delineation Using Focal Mechanisms from Three Earthquake Swarms in the Central Rio Grande Rift” abstract, fall 1995 American Geophysical Union meeting.
  26.  Balch, R. S., A. R. Sanford, L. H. Jaksha, H. E. Hartse, and L. S. House (1995): “Exotic Seismic Sources Observed in the Central Rio Grande Rift” Abstract, Seismol. Res. Letters, 66 no. 2.
  27. Sanford. A. R., R. S. Balch, and K. Lin (1995): “A Seismic Anomaly in the Rio Grande Rift near Socorro, New Mexico” abstract, Seismol. Res. Letters, 66 no. 2.
  28. Balch, R. S., A. R. Sanford, L. H. Jaksha, H. E. Hartse, and L. S. House (1994): “Non‑Double‑Couple Focal Mechanisms Observed in the Central Rio Grande Rift of New Mexico” EOS, 75 no. 44.
  29. Balch, R. S., A. R. Sanford and H. E. Hartse (1994): “Focal Mechanisms for Two Microearthquake Swarms beneath the Socorro Mountains, New Mexico, In May and July 1983” Seismol. Res. Letters, 65 no. 1.
  30. Sanford, A. R., R. S. Balch, J. A. Lakings, H. E. Hartse and L. S. House (1993): “A Link Between Listric Faulting and Recent Seismicity in the Central Rio Grande Rift of New Mexico: EOS, 74 no. 43.
  31. Sanford, A. R., R. S. Balch, and S. Delap (1993): “A Review of the Seismicity and Seismic Risk at the WIPP Site”, Geophysics Open‑File Report 68, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, New Mexico, 13 pp.
  32. Balch, R. S. (1993): “New Constraints on the Socorro Magma Body Based on Improved Hypocenter Estimates” M.S. Independent Study, 120 pp., New Mexico Tech, Socorro New Mexico.
  33. Sanford, A. R., R. S. Balch, L. Jaksha, and S. Delap (1992): “Location and Fault Mechanism of the January 1992 Rattlesnake Canyon Earthquake in Southeastern New Mexico” Geophysics Open‑File Report 70, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, New Mexico, 10 pp.