Meet The Speakers: 2015 Geomechanics

Meet the Speakers:

2015 GeoMechanics Conference

 

If you would like to register, please click here.

Check back frequently to see more speakers!

 

Bill Dershowitz is the Founder and Technical Director of Golder Associates’ FracMan Technology Group, based in Redmond WA. Dr. Dershowitz built his first 3D Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) model in 1977, and released FracMan®, the worlds’ first commercial DFN software in 1987. Dr. Dershowitz applies the DFN approach to geomechanics, structural geology, and hydrodynamics for mining, oil/gas, and civil projects. Recent projects include design and interpretation of hydraulic fracturing for unconventional reservoirs, coupled geomechanics for deep injection of process and produced water to fractured aquifers, and design of CBM injection/production systems. Dr. Dershowitz develops and applies DFN workflows to address reservoir development issues including resource evaluation, well completion, hydraulic fracturing, and EOR.

Dr. Dershowitz earned his Ph.D. in Rock Mechanics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Prof. HH Einstein, and serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the author of over 50 papers and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Rock Mechanics Association, and on the US National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council “Fracture Committee.” He was the co-chair of DFNE 2014, the First International Discrete Fracture Network Conference, and is on the organizing committee for ARMA 2015, the 49th U.S. Rock Mechanics Geomechanics Symposium San Francisco, California in June 2015

The title of Dr. Dershowitz talk for the 2015 Geomechanic Conference is Targeted Fracturing and Refracturing: A Discrete Fracture Network Geomechanical and Dynamic Simulation Approach to Reservoir Stimulation Alternatives.

 

Mukul M. Sharma is Professor and holds the “Tex” Moncrief Chair in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been for the past 30 years. He served as Chairman of the Department from 2001 to 2005. His current research interests include hydraulic fracturing, oilfield water management, formation damage, and improved oil recovery. He has published more than 300 journal articles and conference proceedings and has 12 patents. He founded Austin Geotech Services an E&P consulting company in 1996 and co-founded Layline Petroleum and Karsu Petroleum private E&P companies in 2006. Sharma has a Bachelor of Technology in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical and petroleum engineering from the University of Southern California.

Among his many awards, Dr. Sharma is the recipient of the 2009 Lucas Gold Medal, SPE’s highest technical award. He is also the recipient of the 2004 SPE Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award, the 2002 Lester C. Uren Award, and the 1998 SPE Formation Evaluation Award. He served as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2002, has served on the Editorial Boards of many journals, and has taught and consulted for industry worldwide

The title of Dr. Sharma's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Well Spacing, Fracture Spacing, Sequencing  and Fluid Selection in Pad Fracturing of Horizontal Wells.

 

Malleswar Yenugu is currently working as a senior reservoir geophysicist at Ikon Science Americas in Houston. He finished PhD in geophysics from University of Houston. He received BS (Physics) and MS (Geophysics) degrees from Andhra University in India. He gained experience in seismic attribute analysis and reservoir characterization. He used integrated approaches from seismic, well log and cores for successful characterization of conventional and unconventional reservoirs. He serves as an associate editor for Interpretation journal and also as a special editor for Geophysics journal. He was also awarded the SPIRIT scholarship (2011) from ConocoPhillips and the Global Geoscience Award (2012) from ExxonMobil. His research interests include rock physics, geomechanics and reservoir characterization. He is a member of SEG, AAPG, SPWLA, EAGE, and SPE. The title of Dr. Yenugu's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Geomechanical Characterization of Unconventional Plays from Static and Dynamic Measurements.

 

Dr. Kevin Smart is a structural geologist with cross training in computational solid mechanics.  At Southwest Research Institute, he is part of a team developing an integrated program of structural geology and geomechanics research for the oil and gas industry, as well as NASA. In addition, Dr. Smart has analyzed thermal effects on stress state evolution, evaluated fracture analyses used to support numerical models of drift degradation, and developed finite element models of seismic ground response for the potential high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

Kevin received his B.S. degree in geology from Allegheny College in 1989, his M.S. degree in geology from the University of New Orleans in 1992, and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Tennessee in 1996. He is a licensed professional geoscientist (geology) in the state of Texas.

The title of Dr. Smart's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Geomechanical Modeling of Hydraulic Fracturing: Importance of Mechanical Stratigraphy, Stress State, and Pre-Existing Structures

 

Munir Aldin, the founder of MetaRock Laboratories, has a Masters in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He has been involved in Rock Mechanics testing for over 10 years and an extensive amount of industry training in Petrophysics and Rock Mechanics.

Munir has been working closely with several Oil & Gas operators in developing testing equipment to better understand rock behavior under stress for many years. This knowledge has helped MetaRock Laboratories’ clients to develop techniques to extract as much of the contained oil and gas as possible. Some of the studies completed are Compaction studies, Electrical properties, Permeability and Porosity, and the latest is unlocking the technology to perform the experiment under high temperature conditions to help researchers better understand complex behavior in developing difficult hydrocarbons.
Adding to the technical responsibilities is leading a service company to conduct technical service work and provide innovative instrumentation and process control. The title of Mr. Aldin's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Impact of Heterogeneity on In-situ Stress of Unconventional Shale Formation.

 

George Waters is responsible for the geomechanical assessment, completion design and evaluation of organic shale reservoirs undergoing exploration and initial development outside of North America. He has designed and evaluated hydraulic fracture treatments on multiple reservoirs in over of 20 countries on six continents. George has been involved in the stimulation optimization of organic shales since 2000 and has extensive experience in shale basins throughout North America. He is located in Oklahoma City.

He holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from West Virginia University, a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Oklahoma State University, and a M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Institut Francais du Petrole. He was a 2009-2010 SPE Distinguished Lecturer on the topic of Completion of Organic Shale Reservoirs.

The title of Mr. Waters' talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Horizontal Hydraulic Fractures in Laminated Source Rocks?: Observation and Indicators.

 

 

Tom Bratton is a visiting professor in Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado and the President of Tom Bratton LLC, an Oil and Gas Consulting firm. He received a B.S. degree in Physics from Nebraska Wesleyan University and an M.S. degree in Experimental Atomic Physics from Kansas State University. Tom is currently working on his Ph.D. degree in Geophysics at Colorado School of Mines. He retired from Schlumberger as a Scientific Advisor after contributing to Schlumberger’s technical leadership in multiple disciplines. Over the last several years with Schlumberger, he was awarded the Henri Doll Award for Technical Innovation in Petrophysics, an honorable mention in the SEG Best Paper contest in Geophysics, the SPWLA Distinguished Speaker award in Geology, the Performed by Schlumberger Award in Geomechanics, the Schlumberger Interpretation Metier Achievement Award in Drilling Engineering and the Performed by Schlumberger Award in Completion Engineering. Tom is a registered Geophysicist in the state of Texas. Tom is a full member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA), Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA). The title of Mr. Bratton's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Acoustics Based Geomechanics - The Opportunities and Pitfalls.

 

Ross G. Peebles has  over  25  years  of  experience  in  the geosciences  and in the delivery of professional services  related  to hydrocarbon exploration and    production. He began his career as a geologist who specialized in carbonate and fractured reservoirs, moved into integrated field development studies  and has been focusing on the characterization  and development of  unconventional resources and fractured reservoirs since 2011. Mr. Peebles spent 15 years at  Halliburton where he was Global Manager of their Reservoir Description group, Director of the Moscow Technology Center and Director of Technical Excellence for the consulting business at Landmark Graphics. He later worked for Paradigm Geophysical where he served in various executive positions including Vice President for Mexico, Vice President of Applied Technologies and  Vice President of Consulting Operations. Mr. Peebles joined Global Geophysical in 2011 and served as Director of Unconventional Consulting and Vice President of Interpretation prior to taking his current role as Senior  Vice President, E&P Services. E&P Services include Seismic Processing, Reservoir Geophysics, Consulting and Microseismic. In 2014, responsibility for Acquisition in North America was added to  his portfolio. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Oceanography from the Florida Institute of echnology and a Master of Science degree in Geoscience from the University of Texas at Dallas. Mr. Peebles’ career has included assignments in Washington D.C., Abu Dhabi, Aberdeen, Moscow, Villahermosa and Houston. The title of Mr. Peebles' talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Integrating Seismic & Microseismic to Understand Fault and Fracture Activity in Unconventional and Fractured Reservoirs

 

Eva Peza is a Senior Reservoir Geologist/Reservoir Modeller, Adviser and Supervisor. She has been working with Petrel, a 3D Reservoir Characterization Software since 2004 while working for Schlumberger. Since 2007, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma State University and a guest professor at Oklahoma University. In 2009, she built the 3D Reservoir Characterization Industry Training (Deep Blue 2) for Schlumberger. Since 2011, she has been a 3D Senior Reservoir Geologist/Modeller, Adviser, Supervisor for Devon Energy. Currently, I am the owner of Black Swan Energy Services, a company that provides integrated services and solutions to the Oil and Gas industry, through hands on technical work and through Integrated Training Concept for building integrated teams. My background also includes Sequence Stratigraphy as a part of my Graduate Research and application through my 3D Reservoir Modelling Projects and Borehole Image Interpretations.

Starting as a Field Engineer and evolving to a 3D Reservoir Geologist/Modeller, Adviser and Supervisor, working in integrated teams, through her work she has collected expert knowledge, in understanding the oilfield tools, data and interpretations; in integrating all data and interpretations possible for 3D Reservoir Characterization of Unconventional and Conventional Reservoirs; understanding all data involved and the best use of their information for well placement, landing points, completion design, underground gas storage, production optimization, etc.; designing sophisticated and/or fit for purpose workflows based on the company needs and data available; designing efficient data collection programs for successful exploration and field development plans; in training, advising and supervising staff and understanding the functionality of the integrated teams for the best reservoir characterization and enhancement of the company profits. Her expertise is in Unconventional and Conventional Reservoirs. Her main focus for the last few years has been Woodford Shale, Mississippian Limestone and Eagleford Shale. The title of Ms. Peza's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Woodford Study Summary.

 

Ahmed Ouenes is the founder and CEO of FracGeo, a technology company that specializes in improving the development of unconventional reservoirs. Ahmed has 26 years of experience in the oil and gas industry where he occupied different positions in consulting, software development, operating oil and gas fields, and academia. Ahmed’s main interest is the development of new reservoir characterization technologies that improve the bottom line of E&P companies. He has been focusing lately on developing 3G concepts and new ways to integrate Geomechanics with Geology and Geophysics (3G) to predict microseismic events, as well as permeability and proppant distribution in the SRV. Previously, Ahmed was a Global Director at SIGMA CUBED and also the founder and president of Prism Seismic, a software and consulting company sold to the Symphony Technology Group in 2011. Ahmed was Chief Reservoir Engineer at RC Squared where he developed the first commercial software for the Continuous Fracture Modeling (CFM) technology. He was also Executive Vice President of an independent oil and gas producer that focused on developing the fractured Trenton play in Ohio.  Ahmed graduated from Ecole Centrale de Paris and holds a Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from New Mexico Tech. He is the author of more than 70 papers on various complex reservoir studies and new reservoir modeling techniques that cover a wide range of multidisciplinary topics including unconventional reservoirs, geomechanics, fracture modeling, advanced geophysics, artificial intelligence, reservoir simulation and proxy models, automatic history matching, stochastic optimization for inverse problems, upscaling, geostatistics, and wettability. He teaches fracture modeling courses for AAPG, CSEG and other professional organizations. The title of Mr. Ouenes' talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Realizing the Full Potential of Geomechanics by Adding Geophysics and Geology: Completion Optimization Using a Field Validated 3G Workflow.

 

Ibrahim S. Abou-Sayed is the founder and president of i-Stimulation Solutions, Inc. Dr. Abou-Sayed has more than 33 years of industry experience focused on well stimulation and production enhancement for tight reservoirs and shale plays. Since early 2008, he has focused his activities in support of developing Haynesville, Bossier, Marcellus and Eagleford shale plays. His responsibilities included geomeachnical modeling, lateral landing zone selection, setting stimulation strategy and implementation, failure analysis & remedy, and developing the extended drawdown management program. Previously, he worked for Advantek International, Inc. In ExxonMobil, where he worked for more than 22 years, Ibrahim was responsible for Stimulation R&D, techanical services and training. He is one of the pioneers of horizontal well stimulation technology.  He also worked for Gulf Oil in the well stimulation and production engineering areas. Ibrahim has worked in more than 15 countries and authored more than 40 papers and has co-authored 5 patents. Dr. Abou-Sayed has received a number of SPE awards and recognitions including Distinguished Member and Distinguished Service awards. The title of Dr. Abou-Sayed's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is Geomechanics Impact on Shale Reservoir Re-Fracturing.

 

 

Professor Dr. Azra N. Tutuncu is the Harry D. Campbell Chair in Petroleum Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines and the director of Unconventional Natural Gas and Oil Institute (UNGI). Dr. Tutuncu held various research and leadership assignments in Well Engineering, Rock Physics, Geomechanics and Subsurface R&D groups at Shell International E&P and Shell Oil Company. Her research interest areas include rock-fluid interactions, integrated borehole stability, geomechanics, reservoir characterization, formation damage and contamination detection, mitigation and removal for environmental protection. Dr. Tutuncu leads several multidisciplinary research consortia in solving technical, environmental and economic challenges in reservoir characterization, coupled geomechanics, wave propagation and fluid flow measurements, modeling and real time characterization and monitoring of drilling, hydraulic fracturing, acoustic stimulation and production in shale, carbonate and deepwater reservoirs. In addition, she coordinates the federal and state regulatory training curriculum in the United States for the standardization of the unconventional regulatory effort, contributes in Unconventional Gas Technical Engagement Program, a US Department of State-led effort for safe and economic development of unconventional gas resources. Dr. Tutuncu is a licensed Professional Petroleum Engineer and Licensed Geoscientist in the State of Texas and is members of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scientific Advisory Board on Hydraulic Fracturing Research, AGI Environmental Geoscience Advisory Committee, SEG Research Council, Global Affair Committee, chairs the ARMA Induced Seismicity Committee, a former President of American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA), and serves in SPE, SEG, ARMA and ISRM technical editorial and review committees. The title of Dr. Tutuncu's talk for the 2015 Geomechanics Conference is An Experimental and Modelling Study for Geomechanical and Flow Characteristics of Eagle Ford and Vaca Muerta Shale Formations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

releasedate: 
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
subcategory: 
Conferences