REGIONAL EXPERIENCE

Offshore: Angola, Brazil • Colombia • Croatia • Equatorial Guinea • Gabon • Gulf of Mexico (shelf, deepwater, subsalt) • Guyana • Montenegro • Namibia • Norway • Sierra Leone • Spain (Canary Islands) • Trinidad and Tobago • United Kingdom • Venezuela

Onshore: Ethiopia • Kenya • Kurdistan • Poland • United Kingdom • United States (Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville/Bossier, Mississippi Lime, Niobrara, North Slope, Woodsford)

WORK EXPERIENCE

Geophysics Consultant (December 2015 – Present) - ppfg Consulting, LLC.  Houston, TX

Pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction, wellbore stability, seal capacity, hydrocarbon column height estimates, geomechanics, rock physics, and drilling operations.

Served as Chief Operating Officer for XZ Logic, a start-up company, developing a flow management system; responsible for operating budget and forecasts, securing strategic partnerships with various operators and service companies, and advising on a workflow for real‐time pore pressure monitoring and drilling operations • Served as consultant for QO Inc. and provided to an operator  pre-drill pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction for three deepwater Gulf of Mexico prospects • Served as advisor to Ikon Science in business development, served as a technical observer for several short courses, and reviewed best practices guidelines  • Served as consultant for Halliburton and provided pore and fracture pressure gradient and wellbore stability real-time monitoring, geomechanics optimization, and drilling optimization.

Currently serving BHP as a technical subject matter specialist focused on pre-drill and real-time wellbore stability and geomechanics analyses for all phases of operations; including recommendations of proposed mud weights, formation pressure integrity tests, and direct pressure measurements.

Geophysicist (January 2013 – November 2015) - Marathon Oil Corporation.  Houston, TX

Pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction, wellbore stability, seal capacity, hydrocarbon column height estimates, geomechanics, and drilling operations.

Provided pre-drill and real-time pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction (well logs and seismic) and wellbore stability analyses • Provided technical support for all phases of operations, from well planning and permitting to drilling operations; including recommendations of drilling locations, proposed mud weights, casing string setting depths, formation pressure integrity tests, and direct pressure measurements • Analyzed potential geohazards • Assisted with the prevention and remediation of well control and lost circulation • Picked and analyzed seismic interval velocities for pore pressure prediction • Provided hydrocarbon column height estimates, including capillary pressure analysis for mechanical seal capacity and fault seal analysis • Identified potential opportunities and failures from farm-ins and lease sales; made recommendations to management • Assisted in LWD and wireline formation evaluation tools, operation, and interpretation • Traveled to drilling rigs, as needed, to assist in geologic and evaluation operations • Provided internal short course; engaged with petrotechnical staff and mentored junior staff

Participating member of the Wider Windows Joint Industry Project.

Senior Geophysicist (December 2011 – January 2013) - Repsol.  The Woodlands, TX

Pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction, geomechanics, rock physics, and shallow hazards.

Provided pre-drill pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction (well logs and seismic) and wellbore stability analyses • Provided technical support during well planning • Analyzed potential geohazards and shallow hazards • Picked and analyzed seismic interval velocities for pore pressure prediction • Performed seismic attributes and seismic inversion for reservoir characterization and rock physics modeling

Geophysicist / Drilling Supervisor (January 2008 – November 2011) - Marathon Oil Corporation.  Houston, TX

Pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction, wellbore stability, seal capacity, hydrocarbon column height estimates, geomechanics, and drilling operations.

Provided pre-drill and real-time pore and fracture pressure gradient prediction (well logs and seismic) and wellbore stability analyses • Provided technical support for all phases of operations, from well planning and permitting to drilling operations; including recommendations of drilling locations, proposed mud weights, casing string setting depths, formation pressure integrity tests, and direct pressure measurements • Analyzed potential geohazards • Picked and analyzed seismic interval velocities for pore pressure prediction • Provided hydrocarbon column height estimates, including capillary pressure analysis for mechanical seal capacity • Identified opportunities from farm-ins and lease sales; made recommendations to management • Assisted in LWD and wireline formation evaluation tools, operation, and interpretation • Traveled to drilling rigs, as needed, to assist in geologic and evaluation operations • Provided internal short course; engaged with petrotechnical staff and mentored junior staff • Spent nine months as a Drilling Supervisor on drilling location in Bakken

Participating member of the Permedia Research Consortium, Ikon Science GOM Wilcox Pressure Study, and the Rock Strength Technical Committee for the DEA 161 Joint Industry Project.

Intern / Geophysicist (May 2007 – August 2007) - GX Technology.  Houston, TX

Tested, documented, and presented various migration algorithms (Kirchhoff, Depth, and Wave Equation) using various self pre-processed datasets in an interface environment to used by the Geophysical Analysis Group and production.

Intern / Seismic Application Tester (June 2006 – May 2007) - Petroleum Geo-Services.  Houston, TX

Tested, documented, and presented seismic application software (Cube Manager, Navtool, FFC, VFC II, Navbin, 2D Viewer) for both batch and interactive environment to used by the Data Processing division.

Research Assistant (September 2005 – May 2009) - Department of Geosciences - University of Houston.  Houston, TX

Built and worked on experiment to measure the electrical resistivity and compressional and shear traveltime and investigated their relationship to pore pressure for various shale and sandstone samples.

SOFTWARE AND SERVICES

Drillworks Predict and Drillworks Geostress 5000.8.1 • RokDoc 6.3.2 • Permedia 5000.8 • Geolog 7.3 • DynaView Pressure Pro 1.11 • Hampson-Russell-9/R-1.3 • VelPRO (GeoPRO 2.6.1) • MATLAB R2012b • GMI SFIB 5.4

InterACT • InSite Anywhere

PUBLICATIONS

Ziegler, F. E, and J. F. Jones, 2014, Predrill pore-pressure prediction and pore pressure and fluid loss monitoring during drilling: A case study for a deepwater subsalt Gulf of Mexico well and discussion on fracture gradient, fluid losses, and wellbore breathing. Interpretation, 2(1), SB45-SB55. doi: 10.1190/INT-2013-0099.1

Ziegler, F. E., 2016, Pore pressure and everything else, in M. Hall and E. Bianco, eds., 52 Things You Should Know About Rock Physics. Agile Libre, Nova Scotia. 133pp. 

EDUCATION

The University of Texas at Austin.  2002. - Bachelor of Science – Physics

 University of Houston.  2009. - Master of Science – Geophysics

NOTABLE MEMBERSHIPS AND LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Committee Chair (2014 - Present) / Committee Member (2007 - Present), AAPG Student Expo

Manages a team of 20+ volunteers • Hosts an annual job fair event for geoscience students which draws as many as 800+ students and 30+ companies • Works with a fluctuating budget that changes year to year depending on current commodity prices and student recruitment.

Executive Committee Member, Operators’ Pore Pressure Forum (2015 - 2017)

Special Section Editor on Pore Pressure, Interpretation (2015)

Chair of Challenge Bowl Subcommittee, SEG Committee on University and Student Programs (2014 - Present)

Co-coordinates various international competitions for geoscience students; working with professional organizations in planning regional events and providing assistance with travel funds.

Committee Member, SEG Committee on University and Student Programs (2008 - Present) 

CERTIFICATIONS

Transportation Worker Identification Card (U.S. Transportation Security Administration) • Offshore Water Survival HUET (Falck)