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- Tom Drean, Director of the
Wyoming State Geological Survey
discusses the
mission of the WSGS
and how recent budget
impacts has changed
the way his department works.
Plus we'll view the
department's new interactive
Oil and Gas Map, and
celebrate the 50th anniversary
of Jade being named
Wyoming's official gemstone.
Next, on Wyoming Chronicle.
(Orchestral music)
We're pleased now to be joined
on the Wyoming Chronicles' Set
with the Director of the
Wyoming State Geological Survey,
Tom Drean.
Director Drean,
thank you very much
for joining us.
- It's a pleasure to be here.
- An overview of what
the Survey is to Wyoming,
is where I think I
would like to start.
I think that people that
are involved in industry
who communicate with you
frequently understand
what you do, but
there are many viewers
who are watching tonight
that may not be aware
of what is the Wyoming
State Geological Survey.
So let's start there.
- We have a broad mission.
And our mission is
to characterize,
understand and report
on the natural resources
of the state.
And, of course, by
that I mean oil and gas
and coal and trona and
the rest of the resources
as well as
groundwater resources.
We also have the
mission of reporting
on geologic hazards.
Earthquakes, landslides,
volcanic activity,
that type of thing.
And then lastly, we
serve a broader community
on people that are interested
in geologic phenomenon
in general.
So people who may be
traveling to the state,
people who may be out on a hike
and they have a
geologic question
and we try to serve
that community as well.
- Wyoming has to be one of
the most geologically diverse
states in the country.
And in fact not every state
has a Geological Survey,
is that correct?
- That's correct.
And I actually refer to Wyoming
as a geologic wonderland.
- I'm sure and just by
seeing what you have here
in your office, and
your office is here
at the University of Wyoming
but you're not affiliated
directly with the university.
Is that correct?
- That's correct.
- How did you end up in Wyoming?
- Personally?
- [Craig] Yeah.
- Worked in the industry,
oil and gas industry,
and was assigned to Casper,
Wyoming, for a while.
Also, there's some ties here.
We have a property
in the western part
of the state that we
visited frequently
and still do.
So my first visit to the state,
many many years ago,
got me enthralled
and interested in the
state and I've always been
interested in coming
back to Wyoming not only
to work but to live which I
have the privilege of doing.
- You worked
overseas for a while?
- I did.
- Where did you work?
- Oh, I worked many countries.
- You told me off the camera
you guys had moved 18 times.
- Yeah, yeah.
So I've worked South
American, Venezuela.
I've worked West Africa,
Angola, Congo, Nigeria.
I've worked North Africa.
I've worked the Middle East,
including Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, the Emirates, Iraq, etc.
So, yeah, I've had the
privilege of working
all over the world.
- All primarily in oil and gas?
- Yes.
- And so then you retired?
But you ended up here.
How did that little
segment evolve?
- I saw that there
was a posted vacancy
in the Geological Survey.
On a whim, I applied.
And fortunately was selected.
- [Craig] And you're appointed
by the Executive Branch?
And your term is
a six year term?
- That's correct.
- This is a state agency,
and I'm curious Director,
as all state entities
have experienced
in the last couple of years,
significant constraints
on their budget.
How has that affected the
State Geological Survey?
What are some things
that you would like
to be doing that you can't
do or you can't do as well
or as quickly?
Take us in to how
that's impacted
what it is your group does.
- That's made us
certainly be selective
of the work we do, and
really focused on what's
the most important.
The one area that's probably
affected us the most is
in the hazards side of things.
I wish we could be more
proactive in that area
on predicting earthquakes
and landslides, etc.
But you know I fully
understand the position
the State is in, but what
that has put us in is
a more reactive mode
than a proactive mode.
- The future of the
Geological Survey,
more science, more technolgy,
as someone who's very
layman in terms of geology,
it's just, goodness,
you've, group has been
around since the late 1800s
in some respects and
Wyoming has been here longer
than that and we
should know about all
of these things
already, but of course,
science leads to more questions
which leads to more research.
- Right, yeah.
- [Craig] How does that work?
- Well, we are an
inexact science.
And because of that
we're always learning.
And we're always predicting
and we're always evaluating.
There's always data
and information.
Every well that's drilled
in the state of Wyoming,
every time someone goes
out and takes a sample,
every time someone maps an area,
we learn something new.
And what tends to
happen is when you learn
something new in one area,
it brings up questions
in another area.
So therefore it leads
to more evaluation.
And also people's needs,
people's interests,
as you mentioned, have changed.
So we don't know what
minerals are going to be
the most valuable in the future.
It may be something
that's very related
to a new technology.
For example, now things
like rare Earth elements are
very important in
renewables industry.
Things like new
battery development,
energy storage, wind power.
There's a lot of new
elements that go into those.
And of course one of the
things that we have is
looking and characterizing
and understanding
not only where today's
mineral needs will be
but perhaps tomorrow's
mineral needs will be.
- You've made the remark
that Wyoming is not
resource limited.
And really Wyoming's really
unique in that regard.
Expand on that
just a little bit.
- Well, we have
hundreds of years
of supplies of some material
such as coal, trona, etc.
It is pretty rare
for a state to have
the diversity of the
geology that we have
where you have the number
one reserves in coal
and the number one
reserves in Uranium,
and significant oil
and gas resources.
We, I hate to say scratch
the surface, but I would say
we are far from mature in
all of those industries.
Therefore, one of the
benefits of the state
of Wyoming is yes, we're
sensitive to downturns
in the industry, that
for us are usually caused
by price or demand, but
the resources are here
for when those recover.
- And I think that it
should be pointed out
that really your
office stays out
of the political
decisions relative
to mineral development.
And talk about that
just a little bit.
- Well, our job is to report
on what the resources are.
How much they are,
where they are, etc.
Our job is to provide
that information
so the people who are
making political decisions
can make informed decisions.
And that's what's important
to us is making sure
that people make the best
informed decision they can.
- You've also talked
about how geo-tourism is
an emerging industry
that's becoming beneficial
to the state.
What is geo-tourism?
- Geo-Tourism is everything
from universities
that set up geological
field camps here
to train geologists
from other states
that work around the
world to the young child
who's traveling
with their parents
through the state
and have curiosity
in dinosaurs or rocks
or how something formed
or why something formed.
- [Craig] That's now
becoming an industry?
- Yeah, people travel to Wyoming
to understand the geology
and see geologic phenomenon.
Or they'll even travel
from other countries
to look at well
exposed geology here
in Wyoming to see how
it relates to geology
that may be buried in
their particular country.
It is probably hidden but
the analogy I would use is
the upcoming solar eclipse,
and you can see how people are
so interested in
the solar eclipse.
Well there's people
that are interested
in geology that
travel to Wyoming
for the very same purpose.
- Interesting.
What's on the near horizon
for the Wyoming State
Geological Survey?
What projects are you
most excited about
that are coming on your radar?
- I'm excited about
several things.
One is how we get our
message across to people.
And one of the things I
want us to do is evolve
with the modern
technologies on getting
our information and
data out to people.
And that's by electronic means.
So I'm always looking
to improve our website
and our communications,
and I'm trying to look at
what the next technologies
may be to get that out.
So before we used to
do all of our maps
say in paper form.
How do we do our maps
so that we get them out
in a format that
people can have access
on their phones as you
have mentioned before
or in real time.
So that's high in the horizon.
Also, I want to make sure
that we are collecting
and keeping many things in mind.
In other words, if
we're collecting oil
and gas information,
and it's in a particular
area where we also want
to collect groundwater
information,
I want to collect both
bits of information
at the same time.
And again, it comes back
to what you said before.
- [Craig] To become
more efficient?
- Not only become
more efficient,
but to also show a more
wholistic view of things.
So that people cannot
only understand
the resource that
may be extracted,
but the impact of that
resource that's being extracted
on other things.
Like surface and
groundwater and etc.
And that comes
down to our mission
of not only understanding
but responsibly developing
those resources in the state.
- And you also have communicated
that if people are
really interested
about learning about
Wyoming geology,
then there are
resources in their local
community colleges, at
the University of Wyoming,
and on your website,
you encourage those.
- Right.
And I would also encourage
people to contact
our geologist if
they have a question.
We love to answer
questions from the public
and their curiosities.
I think one of the
things geologists love
to do more than
anything else is share
their knowledge and information
and see the excitement
of people when they learn about
the geologic phenomenon
in this wonderful state.
- Dr. Drean, thanks
for joining us.
We have more to learn
now about work of some
of your staff here, and
we appreciate your time
here this morning.
- Well, thank you for taking
the time to speak with us.
- Hi, I'm Rachel Toner.
I'm one of the Oil and
Gas Geologists here
at the Wyoming State
Geological Survey.
And I'm here today
to talk a little bit
about the Oil and
Gas Map of Wyoming.
The Oil and Gas Map
of Wyoming is one
of the Survey's more
popular products
that we publish.
And about a year and a half ago,
we decided to take on the task
of updating the map
since the last version
was updated back in 2012.
When Ranie Lynds and
I, who is the other Oil
and Gas Geologist
here at the Survey,
started looking into
these previous versions
of the map, we
started realizing what
a time consuming and
labor intensive effort
it was to update the maps.
And the reason being is that
one of the main features
of the map are oil
and gas fields,
and an oil and gas
field is typically
or generally defined
as a group of wells
that are within the
same spatial vicinity
of each other, but
that also produce out
of the same reservoir
or set of reservoirs.
And in order to update
the fields in the past,
the map authors had had
to individually hand-draw,
scan, digitize and
attribute these fields.
And while hand-drawn fields
are very visually appealing,
it also introduces the
possibility of human error,
and because oil and gas wells
are constantly being drilled
in the state, these
fields then can change
very quickly and then
become very outdated.
We did go ahead and
publish a web version
of the Oil and Gas
Map of Wyoming using
ESRIs or GIS online platform.
And it's available for
free and can be accessed
at the Survey's
website either through
the front page which is here.
Or through our Oil and Gas
Maps and Publications page.
So right off the bat, you'll see
a kind of a brief description
of what the map is
and some tips for using the map,
and if you don't ever
want to see that again,
you can click that button
or just get rid of it
by hitting okay.
So this how the map looks
when you first open it up.
Over here on the
very far top right,
if you click the eye, it
will expand out a window
that shows some of
the, it's almost like
an abbreviated legend.
So it'll show some of the
reservoir abbreviations
and our field designations.
So that was where if
you're looking for what
things mean, that's
where you would go.
The next icon over,
if you click on it,
it will expand out a
window that will show
all the layers that are
available on the web map.
A lot of the layers on
the web map are the same
as the paper version.
However, one benefit
to using a web map is
you're able to show layers
that on a paper map,
it would overwhelm
the whole map.
For example, oil and gas
wells in the state are
not included on the paper map,
and that's because as
of the end of 2016,
there were over 121,000
wells permitted in the state.
And if you were going to
show that on a paper map,
it would be one huge
blob, and especially
in the Powder River in
the Green River Basins.
One of the other data
layers that we were able
to include on the
web map that we were
not able to put on
a paper version is
the Wyoming 500,000
scale geology layer,
and this provides a
state-wide regional look
at the geology of Wyoming.
So, for example, you can
zoom in to the Bighorns
and see what rock types
are located there.
One of the really good
advantages to a web map is
also the ability to
click on any feature
within the map and see it's
attributes in more detail.
So for example if
I click on a well,
there will be a
window that pops up
and then you can
look at the specifics
of what is involved
with that well,
when it was drilled,
what it's name is,
who owns it,
information like that.
And, this clicking and
identifying can be applied
to fields, we can look at a
field and get its information,
basically any layer
that you have turned on
in the web map you can click
on and see its attributes.
Okay, so one of the other
things that you can do
with the attributes
is to actually open up
a grid or an attribute table,
down here at the bottom
of the map.
And so this table
down here will list
all the attributes in
a format that you can
then export, you can
export it out to a CSV file
or that's easily
imported into Excel.
And then this table also
provides you the option
to filter what records
you want to look at.
So for example if I wanted
to look at gas plants
that process helium, I
can add a filter to this
and say I want everything
that processes helium
and it will give me two examples
of gas plants in the state.
So we've got Lebarge and
we've got Riley Ridge.
So I can select one of those
and zoom in to that gas plant,
and the base layer that
I've got on here is
just a topographic base layer,
but if you want to
look at more detail,
you can change it to
an imagery base layer,
and when you zoom
out a little bit,
there's the gas plant
and how it looks
from an aerial photography.
On the web map we were
able to add in some tools
that provide some added
functionality for the user
that would also be unavailable
on a paper version.
So up here on the
left hand side,
we can search for
fields or wells.
So if you have an
API number of a well
that you're specifically
interested in,
you can type its API number in
and it will zoom into it for you
and pop up its
attributes for you.
If you're looking for a
field by a specific basin,
or which fields are in a basin,
you can choose Bighorn
Basin and execute that,
and it should highlight
all the fields
within the Bighorn basin.
So just running down
the list of queries,
if you're interested in
fields by reservoirs,
I'm gonna try and
find all of the fields
that are producing out
of the Sussex Sandstone.
And all the fields
highlighted in red here are
indicative of fields
that are producing.
So most of them are in
the Powder River Basin,
there's a few in the
Wind River Basin.
As I mentioned, horizontal
wells are starting
to become the norm in the state
so if you want to find
all the horizontal wells
that have been drilled
within the Denver Basin
around Cheyenne, you can
make a shape that limits
your query and it
looks like there's been
121 horizontal wells there.
You also have the
ability within this map
to create some really
simple production charts,
either oil and gas, oil or
gas production by basin,
for the last 35 years.
So if you want to look
at the state as a whole,
you can pop up a
pretty simple chart
that will run through each basin
and then have the
production data
by barrels over
on the other side.
If you want to limit that
to a specific basin only,
again you can use
these area restrictions
and apply that and
you can look at only
the Powder River
Basin throughout time.
So here's what the
production is from 2015
back through 1980.
- My name's Wayne Sutherland.
I work here at the Wyoming
State Geological Survey.
And this is the 50th anniversary
of the designation
of nephrite jade
as the Wyoming state gemstone.
Wyoming jade was
first discovered
in the early 1900s.
We're not sure exactly
when but the popularity
of it began in 1936, but
at the time there wasn't
a real world market
for it from Wyoming.
People were not aware of it.
Local people went
out to find jade
and they were excited
when they found it.
And the word did get out.
Some of the people in China
that were really interested
in jade as they always
have been came into Wyoming
and started purchasing
some of the jade
from local people.
And as long as they were
making a little profit on it
or making a living,
they were quite happy.
Over time, people
realized the Wyoming jade
that they were finding was some
of the hightest quality
jade in the world.
And there's a reason for it.
You know jade is
a, it's a mineral,
it's a rock that's made up
by a series of minerals,
actinolite and tremolite.
But what they are is
they have long fibers
and they're kind of
interlocked in a felted manner.
Kind of like the felt of a hat.
And that interlocking gives
it a really extreme toughness,
making it one of the toughest
gemstones in the world.
It's very hard to break.
The other thing that makes
it a great gemstone is
the fact that it has great
clarity, great color,
and the material that
was found on the surface
beginning back in the
'30s and into the '40s,
the Jade Rush actually
went up through the 1970s.
But the high quality of
the material combined
with this toughness gave it
that reputation worldwide.
With that reputation
in the late '60s,
it was designated the
Wyoming State gemstone.
Where people found
jade in Wyoming was
central Wyoming in the
Granite Mountains area
between Riverton and
Casper, east of Landor,
over by Jeffrey City.
Jeffrey City was kind of the
center of the finding of Jade,
but it extends in a much
broader region than that.
However, the easy pickin's
and the early pickings
was in that area.
To understand why, the
Granite Mountains was
a mountain range
that was uplifted
about 45 million years
ago, and when it uplifted,
it had veins of jade in it.
Those jade veins were
eroded with the mountains
as they uplifted so
the jade tumbled off
to the sides of the mountains.
Then about 20 million years ago,
the Granite Mountains collapsed,
so the jade tumbled back.
And the residual
material, these big piles
of cobbles and boulders
and gravels off
to the sides of the
Granite Mountains,
jade being a lot tougher
than the other rocks
that were eroded, it was
more resistant to erosion
both chemical and mechanical.
Because of that you had an
artificial concentration
near the surface where
the streams were flowing
and the jade was moving around.
That artificial
concentration gave us
the impression that
jade was everywhere.
And people were finding anywhere
from beautiful small pieces
to multi-ton boulders.
That lasted for quite
a while but over time,
more and more people
looking for jade,
a lot of the easy
pickin's were taken.
So you can still go find
jade in that country
but it's a lot harder.
If you go after a rainstorm
or after the spring run-off,
you're likely to find some,
particularly on the sides
of the steams or on
the edges of hills.
But, once again,
there's not as much now
as there was on the surface.
However, that surface of gravel
and cobbles and boulders,
that whole thing is
thousands of feet thick.
So over time, boulders
will erode out
and appear on the surface.
If you're the lucky
person that happens by
after it was exposed, and you
recognize that it is jade,
you're in luck.
They key is you have to
recognize what jade looks like.
This is a piece of
jade that was found
out on the surface there.
A lot of it has a
little weathering rind,
this red to cream color.
Sometimes it's a white color.
Of course the really
lucky people are the ones
that find it without
the weathering rind
with a natural polish on it.
This is a wind polish
on the piece of jade.
And central Wyoming, because
of the high winds out there,
a lot of sand moves, and
over the thousands of years,
you get a really nice
polish like this.
This is called a jade
slick, and this is what
everyone wants to find.
A lot of the stuff will
have a surface like this.
And when you look
at that, you say,
"Well, that can't be jade."
But if you break it open
and look at the edges,
you can tell that it is.
So that's one of the
problems with hunting jade is
you have to know
what to look for.
I know a lot of people
that have gone out there.
I've gone out with people
and walked along the ground
and somebody says, "Oh, look
at that piece of jade there."
I didn't see it.
They did.
Part of it's calibrating
your eye to know exactly
what to look for.
And there are some people
who are very very good
at spotting a piece of
jade even when there's only
a little tiny piece exposed.
It could be a larger rock.
Okay, in recognition
of the 50th anniversary
of jade being designated
the Wyoming State gemstone,
we're working on
an investigation of
jade in the state
which includes not
only where it occurs
but how it occurs, the
chemistry of the jade,
and you know some of the
other characteristics
of it that I've
already mentioned.
When we get this
publication out,
we're not sure quite
when it will come out,
but it will be on our website.
We will have some press releases
so people can look at
it, probably download it,
and learn a lot more
about Wyoming Jade.
