PE120 Petroleum Geology Field Trip

Nov. 16, 1996


A very interesting, intructive and enjoyable field trip was organized for the class PE120, under the leadership of Prof. Steve Graham of the Dept. of Geological and Environmental Sciences. We followed the path of oil from source rocks, to conduit beds, to reservoir rocks. We visited the oil fields at San Ardo and Coalinga. We sniffed, scraped and hammered. We put our arms around some oil. We held heterogeneity in our hands.

Source Beds at Arroyo Seco

A lecture at Arroyo Seco (or was it Gato Seco?)
Source beds of hte Monterey formation.

Carrier Beds and Tar Sands Close to San Ardo

Carrier beds of chert.
(More) carrier beds of chert.
Jichun Zhu enhances oil recovery.
Bob DuTeaux detects some oil.

Coalinga Oil Field

Steve points out distant anticlines.
Reservoir formation in cut at Horseshore Ridge.
Mani risked his life for this shot.
Oysters, anyone?
A geologist is happiest when amongst rocks.
Cementation. Trust me, this is really blue!

Those of you who missed it, really missed it!
Return to Stanford Petroleum Engineering home page