Energy Geosystems Group
Research Group of Prof. Tad Patzek
Electromagnetic Sensing
Detection of cement integrity behind resistive casing
Understanding the Flow
The investigation of pore scale fluid displacement mechanisms using micro-models mimicking subsurface pore system
Unsticking the Oil
The sticking of oil to rock surfaces makes recovery very difficult
Microporosity in Carbonate Reservoirs
Future production and maintenance of production profiles will hence heavily rely on successfully draining oil from micro
How does one hydrofracture this rock?
A siliceous mudrock in California is full of diatomite fragments
Differential Uplift, Subsidence-Shallow Waterflood
Synthetic aperature interferometry (inSAR) data from satellites can be used in high-resolution field surveillance
Spontaneous Imbibition-Fractured Berea Sandstone
Fractures conduct almost all flow
A Palm Oil Plantation is Born
In Indonesia, giant forest fires have consumed native forests at about 2 percent of tree cover per year
Modern Agriculture
Ecological deserts and chemically driven, unstable monocultures. What happens to sustainability?
Overview
I came to KAUST in January 2015, to organize and direct the Ali I. Al-Naimi Petroleum Engineering Research Center. Formerly known as the Upstream Petroleum Engineering Research Center, the center started from scratch with no people and no facilities. We have come a long way from that starting point. In March 2015, I was joined by Professor Carlos Santamarina, who later became the center’s Associate Director, and later in October 2016, Professor Hussein Hoteit also joined the center. Together we have been hiring staff, new faculty, senior research staff, postdocs, and graduate students. An ultra-modern lab space spread across 3500 square meters was inaugerated in December 2016.
I hope that many of you, the best Ph.D. students and researchers around the world, will join the Energy Geosystems Group. If you do, you will share in our ambition, excitement, and t he noble vision of KAUST. Together, we will create the new science, engineering, startups, and understanding across cultures and languages.
Sincerely,
Tadeusz Wiktor Patzek
Professor and Center Director
