Donald G. Hill, Ph.D.
Consulting Petrophysicist
The World is My District
California Registered Geophysicist 170
California Registered Geologist 6043
Kentucky Registered Professional Geologist 1624
Texas Licensed Professional Geophysicist 6289
Petrophysics, Borehole Geophysics, and Subsurface Geology
Planning, Oversight, and Interpretation
1012 Hillendale Ct.
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
e-mail: dgh@hillpetro.com
http://www.hillpetrophysics.com
Office: +(925) 437-5748
Cell: +(925) 437-5748
FAX: +(309) 420-7354
http://www.hillpetro.com
SUMMARY
Over 35 years of implementing innovative petrophysical solutions to petroleum E&P, geothermal E&P, minerals E&P, and environmental problems for:
ALCOA Aluminum Co., The Anaconda Co., Bass Enterprises Production Co., Breitburn Energy Company, LLP, Cabinda Gulf Oil Co., The California Co.,
California Energy Co., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Chevron Canada Resources, Ltd., Chevron Oil Field Research Co., Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc.,
Chevron Resources Co., Concho Resources Inc., Devon Energy Production Co., Electro-Petroleum, Inc., EOG Resources, Inc., Equilon Enterprises, LLC,
Fasken Oil and Ranch, Ltd., Gulf Oil Company <Nigeria>, Ltd., Gulf Research & Development Co., Halliburton Energy Services, Hanford Reservation,
Harrods Energy <Thailand> Ltd., Hetch Hetchy Water & Power, Hunter Dickinson Mining, Ltd., Kuwait Oil Co., The Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lynx Petroleum Consultants, Madagascar Oil S. A., Marbob Energy Corp., National Energy Technology
Laboratory, Nations Petroleum LLC, Oak Ridge Reservation, Occidental Petroleum Corp., PT Pertamina, PetroPearl Co LLC, POGO Producing Co.,
SANDIA National Laboratory, Shell Development Co., Shell Oil Co., Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Temblor LLC, TEXACO Overseas Petroleum Co.
<Nigeria>, Ltd., The University of California, The University of Southern California, US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency,
Weiss Associates, Western Australia Petroleum, Pty., Ltd., Yates Petroleum Corp., Zaire Gulf Oil Co., and Zone 7 Water District. Proven strengths in
creative problem solving, initiative, excellent oral and written communication, training, mentoring, documentation, data base management, persistence,
and patience. Demonstrated performance in an extremely broad range of activities, covering petrophysics, geophysics, and their interrelationships:
• Major, and slim-hole logging vendor wireline and MWD/LWD operations.
• Theory, laboratory, and field operations.
• Surface and borehole geophysics.
• Seismic and non-seismic geophysics.
• Petroleum, geothermal, metallic minerals, non-metallic minerals,
environmental, and hydrologic targets.
EDUCATION
Ph.D.:
BS:
1969, Michigan State University Geology and Exploration Geophysics.
1963, Michigan State University Geology and Exploration Geophysics.
LICENSES/CERTIFICATION
Registered Geophysicist (R.Gp.): California
Registered Geologist (R.G.): California
Registered Professional Geologist (R.P.G.): Kentucky
Licensed Professional Geophysicist (L.P.Gp.): Texas
Petrophysics & Subsurface Geology
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Experience from over 22 US states, 3 Canadian Provinces and 32 countries, exclusive of North America, in a wide variety (clastic, carbonate,
igneous, metamorphic, and evaporite) reservoir environments, involving a wide variety (petroleum, geothermal, potash, coal, uranium, base
metal, hydrologic, and environmental) of projects and targets.
• Experience with a variety of petrophysical software packages and system platforms, and demonstrated rapid (usually a few days) facility with new
software and/or platforms.
• Developed innovative practical concepts to solving petrophysical problems.
• Developed standard routine and Special Core analysis protocols for a major multi-national petroleum E&P company.
• Served as petrophysicist for world-class heavy oil development project, in third world country. Identified wireline Calibration and documentation
problems, and their solution allowing third party reserve auditor to add significant booked reserves.
• Served as Expert Witness in dispute between several oil and gas producers vs a potash mining company in SE New Mexico.
• Testified before congressional, federal agency staff and state agency staff.
• Conducted workshops for Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and SANDIA National Laboratories, as well as a major national oil company and a
slim-hole wireline vendor.
• Conducted numerous field-wide petrophysical analyses, developing field wide data bases, consistent environmental corrections, and petrophysical
models, for modest, to large, giant and super-giant, (heavy to light crude) oil fields, with or without associated and non-associated gas
reserves, in the San Joaquin Valley (California), Gulf of Thailand, Congo Basin, Danish North Sea, Niger Delta, Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Highlands, and Western Australia, in direct support of asset assessment and reserves reviews, for field development, asset
disposal/acquisition, depletion planning, reservoir simulator development, and production license applications.
• Evaluated innovative electrical and acoustic enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies, which show promise for significantly increasing recovery
factors for known reserves, which are not commercial with existing technologies.
Donald G. Hill, Ph.D.
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• Consultant to start-up technology development firm, offering Direct Current Electrically Enhanced Oil Recovery (EEOR) services.
• Served as petrophysical consultant for significant SE Asia oil discovery and subsequent development drilling campaigns, designing the wireline and
LWD programs, providing vendor QA/QC oversight, interpreting wireline and LWD results, and providing volumetric information (substantiated
by outside review) to qualified reserves engineers.
• Provided consistent and continually updated petrophysical model data bases for new field delineation and development drilling in Lake Chad Basin,
Colombia, Niger Delta, Oman, PNG Highlands, Offshore Spain, The Gulf of Thailand, The Netherlands, and Western Australia.
• Served as lead petrophysicist for reserves audit of a major West Africa concession acquisition, resulting in significant changes in booked reserves.
• Provided oversight for non-operated joint-ventures, in Chad, West Africa, Western Australia, and the North Sea, resulting in improved vendor and
operator performance and more reliable data for volumetric estimation.
• Documented a major wireline vendor!s pattern of poor quality performance resulting in 20% discounts against future work.
• Identified and documented a major wireline vendor!s intermittent tool failures and secured refunds for substandard performance.
• Developed outstanding quality assurance programs for wireline, MWD/LWD, core analysis, and SCAL vendors, resulting in improved data quality for
reservoir volumetric estimation.
• Designed a special core analysis laboratory (SCAL) program resulting in a 30% reserves increase, for a giant West African Field. Introduced SCAL
based reserves analysis to the responsible operator.
• Established composite petrophysical databases and formation evaluation models for major to super giant oil fields, resulting in consistent field wide
volumetric estimates.
• Worked with drilling departments to identify and overcome causes of borehole stability, formation damage, and differential sticking problems; to
improve well bore stability and reduce formation damage, resulting in improved penetration rates, log quality, and volumetric estimate
reliability.
• Developed, and coordinated, highly successful in-house Basic Formation Evaluation Workshops, for a multi-national oil company and taught
formation evaluation classes at major universities and National Laboratories.
• Teaching highly regarded Petrophysics class, carried internationally, via USC/Chevron Distance Learning Program and the USC Distance
Educational Network (DEN). Built enrollment from 6 to 70 students in 9 years.
• Successfully mentored US and foreign national junior staff, resulting in accelerated professional advancement and increased value to their firms.
• Author of the latest published, and one of only two, juried papers covering multi-wireline measurement potash assay methods.
• Introduced OBM drilling operations and evaluation techniques to client experiencing borehole sticking problems.
• Served as advisor to groups interested in investing in petroleum E&P ventures.
Measurements (Logging) While Drilling
• Planned, supervised, and interpreted Logging While Drilling (LWD) programs, for development wells, saving the cost of wireline measurements, for
the client, while maintaining high quality data for volumetric estimates.
• Planned, supervised, and interpreted combined wireline/LWD programs, for development wells, saving the client the costs of complete wireline
programs and reducing risks of MWD/LWD radioactive source loss, while maintaining high quality data for volumetric estimates.
• Worked with LWD contractors to improve LWD operational performance and data quality, reducing the need to run wireline measurements to obtain
reliable data for volumetric estimates.
• Worked with LWD contractors to improve LWD LAS format data delivery packages.
Borehole Geophysics
• Developed an outstanding quality assurance program for slim-hole wireline vendors, and trained employees for four different slim-hole vendors.
• Designed and implemented wireline operational and interpretation techniques for multi-log potash assays, correcting density logs for uranium ore
gamma radiation, and acquiring statistically stable gamma ray logs in low radioactivity sediments.
• Served on Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory Wireline program steering committees and helped maintain practical
project goals.
• Provided QA/QC oversight for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center slim-hole borehole geophysics
programs, resolving gamma ray log quality problems and introduced sub-surface geology concepts to their programs.
• Served on DOE wireline program review committee, helping to maintain practical project goals.
• Supervised an in-house slim-hole geothermal logging operation.
• Planned, supervised, and interpreted wireline programs resulting in potash and geothermal discoveries, and improved porosity estimation
algorithms, in highly radioactive sediments.
Professional Leadership
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Served as team, or project, leader on numerous research, exploration, and development projects.
Served as section and/or district supervisor in relief.
Served on project team which reoriented corporate upstream information system development for a multi-national oil company.
Evaluated commercial microcomputer data analysis and formation evaluation software - lead, by example, the introduction of microcomputer
petrophysical applications in a large, multi-national integrated oil company.
• Served on California Board of Registration for Geologists and Geophysicists, Technical Committee.
• Served on Environmental Protection Agency Small Business Innovative Research Proposal Review Team.
• Served on various DOE and National Laboratory wireline review and wireline project oversight committees.
Seismology
• Developed regional velocity models and petrophysical estimators for missing data.
• Planned and supervised seismic reflection and innovative refraction programs and interpreted their results.
• Designed, and coordinated a nine-man team development and evaluation of highly successful adaptive seismic waveform modeling technology,
featuring an innovative interpretative approach which is now incorporated into major AVO Interpretation software.
Donald G. Hill, Ph.D.
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Geothermal/Mining/Environmental Petrophysics and Geophysics
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Worked with geothermal drilling departments to overcome thermal alteration of drilling mud cake and reduce thermally induced skin effects.
Applied conventional and unconventional geophysical techniques for geothermal and mining targets.
Evaluated experimental seismic refraction techniques for geothermal and mining targets.
Planned and supervised geophysical programs, for geothermal targets.
Worked with project geologists, using remote, surface, borehole geophysics, and wireline measurement results, to site discovery well locations,
mature geothermal prospects, and eliminate numerous "dog prospects” from further consideration.
Designed successful surface-borehole geophysical technique for mapping geothermal reservoirs.
Developed successful geothermal pre-log borehole conditioning and formation damage remediation programs, reducing the need for HEL tools.
Developed successful multi-log wireline potash assay technique.
Conducted mechanical properties on oil shale samples in support of proposed in-situ production development.
Evaluated deep basin potash resources using multi log assay analysis, from oil and gas well logs.
Served as an expert witness in a dispute between oil and gas producers and a potash mining company.
Hydrology/Environmental/Engineering Petrophysics, Geology & Geophysics
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Provided innovative technology applications and transfers of proven technologies from other fields to solve environmental problems.
Provided Aquifer depth and lateral definition, using a variety of surface and wireline techniques.
Experience with clastic, carbonate, and fractured crystalline aquifers.
Provided aquifer porosity, permeability, and NAPL saturation estimation experience, using wireline, core and well test measurements.
Provided aquifer water quality estimation experience, using wet chemistry and wireline measurements.
Conducted regional hydrologic balance evaluation, which provided technical basis for a “No Significant Environmental Impact” Report for a large
Northern California Geothermal Resource Development Plan
• Conducted fault and fracture analysis of major (in excess of 28 mi. long) aqueduct tunnel, to evaluate potential sources of methane and seismic
risks.
• Evaluated innovative acoustic and electrical in-situ remediation technologies.
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American Geological Institute
American Geophysical Union
American Institute of Professional Geologists
American Society for Testing of Materials
Assoc. of Ground Water Scientists & Engineers
Energy Sources, Part A
Environmental & Engineering Geophysical Society
European Association of Exploration Geophysicists
Geochemica e Cosmica Acta
Geological Survey of Canada
Geothermal Resources Council
Groundwater Research Association
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories
Journal of Applied Geophysics
Journal of Nuclear Geophysics
Minerals and Geotechnical Logging Society
National Ground Water Association
PennWell Conferences
Sandia Laboratory
Society of Core Analysists
Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Society of Petroleum Engineers
Society of Professional Well Log Analysts
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
World Heavy Oil Conferences
Scrivener/Wiley publishing
Professional Activities
Member
Member, Author
Member
Member, Standards Committee Member
Member, Paper Reviewer
Author, Paper Reviewer
Member, Author, Session Chairman
Member
Book Reviewer
Author
Member, Author, Continuing Education Wireline Applications Instructor
Member, Branch Program Chairman
Member, Geothermal Logging Project Steering Committee
Author
Author
Member, Officer, Author, Session Chair
Member, Paper Reviewer
Author
Member, Geothermal Logging Tool Project Steering Committee
Member
Member, Author, Session Chair, Committee Member, Paper Reviewer
Member, Author, Associate Technical Editor, Session Chair, Paper Reviewer
Member, Author, Committee Member, Geothermal Log Handbook Editor
Author, Member of wireline technology review committee.
Member of Small Business Innovative Research proposal review committee.
Author
Author
EXPERIENCE
CONSULTING PETROPHYSICIST
Walnut Creek, CA
1993 - Present
• Provided volumetrics (FE & STOOIP) for heavy oil properties to asset teams evaluating potential farm-ins. Evaluated innovative technologies for
enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
• Consultant to start-up technology development company, commercializing their innovative Direct Current Electrically Enhanced Oil Recovery
(EEOR) technology.
• Evaluating Oil & Gas investment opportunities for foreign based investors.
• Evaluated deep basin potash resources using multi log assay analysis, from oil and gas well logs.
• Presented technical papers describing Electrically Enhanced Oil Recovery technology at international Heavy Oil conferences in Bejing and Calgary
and a SPE regional meeting, in Bakersfield.
• Presentations to U.S. congressional committee staff and U.S. agency headquarters management on wireline Potash Assay techniques.
Donald G. Hill, Ph.D.
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• Taught a highly successful Petrophysics class in the Petroleum Engineering Program at the University of Southern California, involving both oncampus students and distance learning students scattered from Calgary to the Patagonian foothills of the Andes, in Southern Argentina, and
California to Kuwait and China, building enrollment in the program from 6 to 70 students in 9 years.
• Taught petrophysics, or formation evaluation (FE), workshops for Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc. (COPI), Sandia National Laboratory, SEMM
Logging, The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and The University of California.
• Provided petrophysical training for Junior Staff in a National Oil Company.
• Advised a Los Angeles Basin Independent oil producer on the use of oil based drilling mud (OBM) to control expansive clay swelling and OBM
petrophysical measurement and interpretation programs.
• Expert Witness for a dispute between oil and gas producers vs. a potash mining firm in SE New Mexico.
• Provided petrophysical support for mid-continent evaporite basin potash resource potential evaluation.
• Provided design, oversight and interpretation of wireline and logging while drilling (LWD) programs, for SE Asia wildcat and development wells,
resulting in “Most significant regional discovery of the year”.
• Established petroleum E&P services group within a Bay Area consulting firm.
• Presented innovative EOR technology options to Canadian and California heavy oil producers, a Madagascar heavy oil concession holder, and
multinational oil field services vendors.
• Evaluated potential in-situ H2S stabilization technology and conducted market assessment.
• Provided wireline measurement oversight for shallow drilling programs.
• Conducted laboratory, petrophysical, and computer simulation evaluation of innovative acoustical and electrical EOR and contaminated soil
remediation technologies.
• Conducted field evaluation of electrically enhanced remediation technologies. Provided technique evaluation, design, oversight and interpretation of
shallow geophysical surveys.
• Conducted regional hydrologic studies and geologic hazard evaluations.
CHEVRON CORPORATION
San Francisco, CA
1969 - 1993
Fetze Papa, Formation Evaluation Manager
1983 - 1993
Wm. A. Linke, Formation Evaluation Manager
C. Vic Moore, Formation Evaluation Manager
Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc.
Box 5046
San Ramon, CA 94583
Senior Development Geologist, Petrophysicist:
Organized and led highly successful in-house Basic Formation Evaluation School. Used core, wireline and well test measurements for petroleum
reservoir formation evaluation, characterization and development, for numerous international wildcat and development wells, field studies, reserves
audits, and reservoir simulator construction. Developed standard routine and special core analysis protocols. Developed standardized wireline and
LWD QC reporting standards.
Charles M Swift, Chief Geophysicist
1978 - 1983
Donald A. Quam, Chief Geophysicist
Michael A. Lane, Division Manager
Chevron Resources Company
595 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94119
Senior Geophysicist:
Wireline program design, oversight, and interpretation (FE), for geothermal, metallic and non-metallic targets in The US, Canada, and Indonesia.;
Design, oversight, and interpretation of surface, subsurface, and airborne geophysical surveys.
Frank L. Campbell, Development Geology and Formation Evaluation Research Manager
1969 - 1978
Stanley B. Jones, Geophysics Research Manager
Chevron Oil Field Research Company, Box 446, La Habra, CA 90631
Research Geophysicist, Senior Research Geophysicist:
Applied petrophysics, Formation Evaluation, borehole geophysical data interpretation and seismic interpretation (inversion) research for Chevron
Corporation!s world class E&P research center.
THE ANACONDA COMPANY
Tooele, UT
Wm. J. Hinze, Professor, Geology Department
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823
Edwin McAlister, Chief Geophysicist, The Anaconda Company
Consulting Geophysicist: Evaluation of innovative gravity and magnetic data analysis and interpretation techniques.
1968 - 1969
SHELL OIL COMPANY
Houston, TX
Donald V. Higgs, Vice President of Geology Research
Shell Development Company, Box 481, Houston. TX 77001
Geologist: Laboratory determination of mechanical properties of anisotropic rocks.
Homer C. Finck, Division Geophysicist
East Texas Division
Geophysicist
Shell Oil Company, Box 2099, Houston, TX 77001
Geophysicist: Regional velocity studies, in US Gulf Coast.
1964 & 1965
1965
GULF OIL COMPANY
Pittsburgh, PA
Edwin S. Driver, Manager Seismic Research
Harry Schilliber, Manager Well Log Research
Gulf Research & Development Company, Drawer 2038, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Geophysicist: Evaluation of regional petrophysical relationships, in the Middle East.
1966
1964
Donald G. Hill, Ph.D.
THE CALIFORNIA COMPANY
Lafayette, LA
Alvin F. Barker, Division Geophysicist
SW Louisiana Division
Geophysicist
The California Company, Box 1743, Oil Center Station, Lafayette, LA
Geophysicist: Seismic computing and gravity modeling.
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1963