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Tom Anderson and Jeanette Buelt, RMOTC
The Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) operates the Teapot Dome Oilfield near Casper, Wyoming, as a technology testing and demonstration center. In addition to the testing projects, the field produces over 200 barrels of oil per day from several hundred active wells. GIS technology, implemented starting in 2005, provides an excellent platform in which to merge current oil operations, geology, and history at this site.
The author, a petroleum geologist, is conducting numerous scientific studies at the site, including collaborations with academic research partners. This includes subsurface interpretation and modeling in support of field operations, research studies, and enhanced oil recovery opportunities, including carbon dioxide injection. Detailed surface geological mapping is also included in this effort. One recent project has been mapping the Quaternary terraces, both erosional and depositional, and relating those terrace ages to expected soil conditions as well as historic cultural sites.
Teapot Dome has a rich, sometimes infamous history, which provides context for current operations. High-resolution, low-altitude aerial photography obtained just prior to field development in the 1970's has been indexed and incorporated into the GIS system, and this provides a basis for surface geologic mapping initiatives as well as locating historical sites from the abortive development associated with the "Teapot Dome Scandal" of the 1920's. One objective of a future Visitors Center will be to recognize the historical contribution to the site and establishment of RMOTC itself, helping visitors to become aware of the activities over the past 100 years. GIS is enabling RMOTC’s ability to input and compare all the relevant layers of information in a geographic context.