Houston, Texas · Petroleum Geology & Asset Development Advisory
Know what the subsurface will support before you commit capital.
Subsurface Insight. Practical Execution.
XStrata provides independent geological evaluation for oil and gas acreage decisions, delineation programs built around the questions that matter, and development plans designed to hold up as conditions change.
How XStrata works
Interpretation that keeps moving until it becomes a plan.
Geological interpretation is the starting point, not the deliverable. XStrata carries it through delineation, where a well is planned around the specific uncertainty it needs to resolve, and into a field development plan built to remain useful and evolve as prices, rig counts, and subsurface information change.
XStrata is Cheston Cooper, engaged directly on every project. There is no bench of junior staff between the interpretation and the person presenting it.
Geology to Engineering
Comfortable communicating with geology, geophysics, and engineering teams as an interpretation moves toward a technical plan.
Interpretation to Operations
Aware of how a subsurface call affects drilling, scheduling, and operational planning once a program is underway.
Geology to the Business Decision
Able to connect the geological picture to the acquisition, divestiture, or asset decision it's meant to support.
Services
What XStrata handles
Three services that follow one progression: evaluate the opportunity, determine what needs to be learned, and build the plan that carries it into execution.
Acreage & Opportunity Evaluation
Independent geological assessment supporting acquisition and divestiture evaluation, investment, and capital decisions.
- Geological modeling and regional interpretation
- Petrophysical analysis
- Stratigraphy
- Production evaluation
- Geological risk assessment
- A&D (acquisition and divestiture) support
- Technical second opinions and due diligence
Delineation & Drilling Strategy
Determine what needs to be learned before full development, and design delineation and drilling work around those questions. Every delineation well is planned around a specific question it is meant to resolve, not drilled on schedule alone.
- Well planning and target selection
- Landing-zone analysis
- Geological prognosis
- Cross sections
- Geosteering strategy
- Structural-risk evaluation
- Coordination with drilling
Field Development Planning
Practical development plans that integrate geological interpretation with reservoir engineering, land, drilling, operations, regulatory requirements, midstream, economics, and management objectives. Optionality is central: a plan should keep functioning as commodity prices, rig availability, capital priorities, and subsurface information change. Where appropriate, XStrata plans around maintaining roughly three months of drill-ready inventory while the next wells move through planning behind it. This is a working philosophy rather than a fixed formula.
- Cross-disciplinary coordination
- Development-scale geological modeling
- Optionality and drill-ready inventory planning
- Schedule and capital-priority alignment
Representative Work
Selected projects
Selected work across acreage evaluation, delineation, and development planning. Additional project experience is detailed on the Representative Work page.
- Employment experience, prior to XStrata
Cothrom Unit
Legacy Reserves had not identified the Haynesville and MidBossier potential beneath acreage it already held. Cheston built the geological model that established viable, economic reservoir potential and developed the plan behind it.
21,000+ acre federal gas unit
View the full project → - Employment experience, prior to XStrata
Range Leasehold
Marcellus evaluation, leasehold planning, delineation, and development across northwest Pennsylvania, where Cheston held lead geological and planning responsibility through full-field development.
50,000+ acres leased
View the full project → - XStrata consulting engagement
Western Haynesville
An acreage position Cheston helped identify was later the subject of an XStrata consulting engagement for Interstate Explorations, identifying further delineation and drilling opportunities on the asset.
~12,000-acre position
View the full project →
Basin & geographic experience
Basin Experience
Experience across major U.S. petroleum basins developed through operating-company roles and consulting engagements.
Who is behind XStrata
Cheston Cooper
Principal, XStrata LLC
Cheston Cooper is a petroleum geologist who leads XStrata directly, engaging every project himself rather than handing it to a broader team. His background spans acreage evaluation, delineation planning, and full-field development across multiple U.S. basins, work that has included unconventional oil and gas drilling programs ranging from single evaluation wells to multi-hundred-well horizontal development plans.
That range comes from working directly across geology, geophysics, reservoir engineering, drilling, operations, land, and regulatory disciplines, alongside executives, technical teams, and field personnel. It allows him to translate a subsurface finding into a decision an operations team or executive can act on.
Technical Software
Experienced with Petra and Danomics for subsurface interpretation and geological workflows, with prior experience in Kingdom. Advanced Microsoft Excel capabilities support technical analysis, planning, and project evaluation.
Discuss a Project
Bring XStrata in when the geology needs to inform the next decision.
Reach out directly, or send a few details through the form. Cheston works on focused evaluations as well as longer engagements spanning delineation, drilling strategy, and development planning.
- Location
- Houston, Texas