Early in October, KGS, the Geological Society of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists sponsored two activities to familiarize geologists with the Berea petroleum reservoir located in parts of northeastern Kentucky..

Steve Greb and Dave Harris of the Energy and Minerals Section led the short course, “Black Shale, Bedford-Berea Interval,” on Oct. 6 at our Well Sample and Core Library. KGS staff Ryan Pinkston and Richard Smath set up Berea cores that are stored at the facility for the participants to view. Important features in the core were examined, and results of the recent Berea Consortium Project were discussed. Ralph Bandy of NYTIS Exploration Co. also gave a talk on horizontal drilling in the Berea area.

The Berea weekend continued with a GSK-sponsored field trip in the Berea Sandstone region the following day. Outcrops of the Devonian Ohio Shale and Mississippian Sunbury Shale (potential source rocks of the Berea oil reserves) and the Bedford and Berea formations were examined between Morehead and Garrison, Ky. Steve Greb, retired Morehead State University professor Charlie Mason, and Frank Ettensohn of the UK Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences led the field trip.