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About 7 billion barrels of light, sweet crude oil is estimated to reside in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, a geological formation that covers 28 parishes in central and south Louisiana, and several southwestern Mississippi counties.
That’s a lot of black gold – and a $9.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and several energy companies will enable researchers from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and four other institutions to better understand how the significant energy reserve can be recovered.
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale has confounded the oil and gas industry for decades. Its unstable clay formations don’t respond well to traditional extraction methods, said Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari, an assistant professor in UL Lafayette’s Department of Petroleum Engineering.
The grant will fund the creation of a UL Lafayette-based Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Laboratory to “address critical gaps in our understanding of the TMS to enable cost-efficient and environmentally sound recovery from this unconventional liquid-rich shale play,” said Mokhtari, who’ll direct the consortium.
It will include a team of researchers from the Los Alamos National Lab, New Mexico; Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla; the University of Oklahoma, Norman; and the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
The multidisciplinary group will include engineers, geophysicists, geologists and an economic development specialist, Mokhtari said.
“Our team will consider the engineering aspects of the TMS as well as the economic impact its development will have on the communities it touches.”
The grant money also will fund research by 18 graduate students at UL Lafayette and its partner institutions.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the grant recipients Jan. 3. UL Lafayette and five other universities and companies were awarded a total of $30 million in federal money. Each institution also received funding from outside sources.
Other grant recipients include: C-Crete Technologies, Stafford, Texas; Gas Technology Institute, Des Plaines, Illinois; Texas A&M University’s Engineering Experiment Station, College Station; the Colorado School of Mines, Golden; and Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg.
The $9.7 million UL Lafayette received combines $3.68 million in federal funds and $5.98 million from industry sources.
The grants are part of an initiative by the Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy to examine unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, such as the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.
The oil and gas industry considers a play – the name it gives an area where oil and gas exist – as unconventional based on its geographic size and geological makeup.
An unconventional play might encompass thousands, even millions of acres. The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale is 8 million acres.
By contrast, conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs have more limited boundaries.
In addition, unlike conventional oil and gas reservoirs, unconventional resources are usually trapped within formations with poor permeability, such as shale. That means the liquid is suspended, and retrieving it requires nontraditional methods of extraction.
Planning to develop an unconventional play requires years of detailed geological studies and preliminary pilot projects. It can be akin to finding a needle in an expensive haystack.
That’s why UL Lafayette’s planned Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Laboratory is so important, Mokhtari said. The success of emerging plays in other parts of the United States has shown unconventional resources to be viable for the future of hydrocarbon production.
“The development of unconventional resources has grown significantly in the past 10 years in Texas, North Dakota and along the East Coast,” Mokhtari said.
“It is now time for the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in Louisiana and Mississippi. We expect interesting results to be generated by this consortium that will help meet the energy demands of the U.S. and increase its energy security.”

February 24, 1948 - January 16, 2018

A Funeral Service will be held for Mrs. Rose Carmine Doucette 69, the former Rose C. George at 2:00 P.M. at First Apostolic Church 6017 East Old Spanish Trail-Jeanerette, LA 70544 with Brother Michael Pitre, Sr. officiating.
She will await the resurrection at Our Lady of the Lake Cemetery, 206 West Church Street, Delcambre, LA.
A gathering of family and friends will begin on Saturday at Fletcher Funeral Home at 8:00 A.M. until 1:15 P.M.
A native of Delcambre, LA and resident of New Iberia, LA, she passed at 5:38 A.M. Tuesday, January 16, 2018 at Iberia Medical Center.
Rose was an active member of the First Apostolic Church of New Iberia where she proudly and unselfishly devoted her time as a Sunday School Teacher and Teacher’s Assistant.
She leaves to cherish her memory, her husband, Calvin Doucette of New Iberia, LA, one son, Randall Paul Doucette of New Iberia, LA; one daughter, Anastasia Doucette of New Iberia, LA; step-daughter, Cherelle Wiltz of St. Martinville, LA; two brothers; Sylvester George of Delcambre, LA and Richard George (Ada) of Coteau, LA; three sisters; Judy Goudeau and Lucille Ford of Houston, TX, and Verna Jones of Delcambre, LA; five grandchildren; one step-grandchild, one great grandchild, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Eldridge George and Helen Reaux George; four brothers; Eldridge George, Jr., Benjamin George, Anthony George, Sr., James Clayton George and Clement George, Sr.
Pallbearers will be friends of the family.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Fletcher Funeral Home 609 West Admiral Doyle Drive New Iberia, Louisiana 70560.
Condolences may be expressed at www.fletcherfuneralhomes.org.

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, January 18, 2018, at an 11:00 A.M. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Lafayette, for Huey P. Perrin, 82, who died Sunday, January 14, 2018 at Lafayette General Medical Center.
Interment will be in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Erath, Louisiana.
Reverend Joel Faulk, Parochial Vicar of St. Pius X Catholic Church, will serve as Celebrant and will conduct the funeral services.
Survivors include his beloved wife of 61 years, Grace Marie Mailhes Perrin; son, Van P. Perrin and his wife, Maribel; daughter, Azelia Perrin Lee and her husband, David; son, Ivan L. Perrin; six grandchildren, Cory P. Perrin, Miles L. Lee, Leslie G. Simmons, Morley A. Perrin, Rockett Perrin and Macy G. Perrin; three great grandchildren and one sister, Gale Graham.
Preceded in death by his parents, Gladue Perrin and Egles Dubois Perrin and one brother, Roland F. Perrin.
Born in Henry, Louisiana and a resident of Lafayette for over 40 years, Huey was known as “Mickey” as a child, and later in his professional career known as “High Pressure”. A Registered Professional Engineer, he worked for multiple oil and gas companies for 43 years throughout the continental United States. Favorite hobbies of his were golfing, hunting, and fishing with his wife. He was a devoted family man and loved spending time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren, whom he adored deeply. Huey was a true gentlemen to his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.
Honored to serve as Pallbearers will be Van Perrin, Ivan Perrin, Cory Perrin, Miles Lee, Rockett Perrin and David Lee.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Jonas Perrin and Carson Nunez.
The family requests that visitation be observed in Martin & Castille’s SOUTHSIDE location on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 from 4:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. and on Thursday from 8:00 A.M. until time of service.
A Rosary will be prayed for the soul of Huey P. Perrin on Wednesday evening at 7:00 P.M. in Martin & Castille Funeral Home.
A heartfelt appreciation is extended by the Perrin family to all family, friends and medical staff who supported and assisted in our time of need.
View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com
Martin & Castille-SOUTHSIDE-600 E. Farrel Rd., Lafayette, LA 70508, 337-984-2811.