Date: August 31st-4th September 2026
Location: Corinth, Greece
Tutors: Douglas Paton, PhD, Mark Bentley, PhD, Maggie Hystad Murison, Training Manager

TRACS International announces a new course, 'Reservoir Development in Syn- and Post-rift Settings' - a 5-day workshop event designed for a geoscience and petroleum engineering audience (rather than a traditional geology field trip).  To be held on August 31st-4th September 2026, the aim is to explore reservoir variation on the scale of a field development – a “3D seismic volume” in the field.  The course is led by tutors Douglas Paton, Mark Bentley and Maggie Hystad Murison, and provides an opportunity to discuss and workshop development strategies on excellent on-scale analogue outcrops in Corinth, Greece.

Many reservoirs are located on passive margins characterised by heterogeneous sand systems and highly variable reservoir properties. Development strategies will differ depending on the part of the system being targeted, but the architectural and reservoir quality variation is nevertheless systematic through the syn– to post-rift transition. With a knowledge of structural development and sedimentary source location, optimal development strategies can be planned, and this week’s course provides an opportunity to discuss and workshop this on a set of excellent on-scale analogue outcrops in Greece. 

Designed for:

Geoscientists, Petroleum Engineers and Well Engineers engaged in the development of reservoirs for oil and gas production. The course is intended for a cross-discipline audience and would ideally be attended by geoscience and engineering professionals working the same development team. Not a ‘geology field trip’.

Course Content

The outcrops around Corinth offer a ca100km excursion over an exposed rift basin that allows us to explore reservoir variation on the scale of a field development – a “3D seismic volume” in the field.

The structural framework of the rift provides the canvas on which we will paint the distribution of reservoir type and quality as these vary through the system. Through a consideration of changes in relative system confinement, we will aim to predict the location of the best reservoirs, describe the variation in likely recoveries from different part of the system and decide how a development strategy can be optimised depending on location and fluid fill.

Although a set of geological exposures, this is not primarily a ‘geology trip’, but rather a cross-discipline reservoir development workshop requiring inputs from geoscience, petrophysics, reservoir and well engineering.

Day 1 – 3D architecture of a rift basin on seismic scale – defining the container 
Day 2 – Stratigraphic changes through the basin fill to the fluvial source area – where the best reservoirs lie 
Day 3 – The shelf margin: Gilbert deltas and relay ramps; reservoir quality variation and differential sweep under production 
Day 4 – Proximal to distal fill: petrophysical and architectural changes as confinement decreases into deeper water; reoptimising well design and completion strategies in contrasting parts of the system 
Day 5 – Synthesis at the Temple of Apollo. Mapping out relative confinement and reservoir distribution across the structural container, identifying sweet spots for well targeting and choosing optimal completion strategies.

Full details 

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