HGS Scholarship Night

February 9, 2026

Norris Conference center

Chasing the Fusselman: A Personal Reflection on the Journey from Oilfield Mystery to Unraveling the Sequence Stratigraphy of a Giant Silurian Reservoir

Speaker: Andrew P.  Roark, Development Geologist, Chevron, Houston

Abstract

In this age of cheap information, accurate knowledge of earth history remains costly.  Last April, I fell off a cliff in southern New Mexico and nearly died while studying the Silurian Fusselman Formation.  The fall capped a years-long pursuit of an explanation for anomalous well performance in the Permian Basin.  Now, I have some answers.  In this talk I discuss what we have learned.  I show how detailed outcrop measurements intended to investigate unusual well log behavior have revealed a previously-hidden record of Silurian glacioeustasy in homogeneous, highly altered carbonate rocks.  This work for the first time enables a confident, high-resolution stratigraphic framework for the Fusselman Formation and may facilitate future mapping of individual depositional sequences in the subsurface.  The story's arc - from oilfield questions to scientific knowledge - illustrates the value of oil and gas data in furthering humanity's understanding of deep time and our own origins. 

However, I have more to share than technical learnings; I also have an improbable survival story.  I review how I fell off a cliff alone, how I woke up after hours of unconsciousness to call for help, and how I was ultimately rescued in an Army Blackhawk.

Speaker: Andrew P.  Roark, Development Geologist, Chevron, Houston

Bio

Andrew Roark is currently a development geologist focused on the northern Delaware Basin.  He has worked a variety of roles in multiple basins since starting with Chevron in 2015 and has been based in both Midland and Houston.  He earned a B.S. in Geology from the University of Alabama and a M.S. in Geology from Texas A&M University.  He leads multiple recurring field trips for Chevron and for West Texas Geological Society covering the Permian Basin and surrounding areas.  He spends most of his vacation time studying the Silurian section in west Texas and southeast New Mexico.

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