Visit the ANPERC Booth at SPE ATCE in Dubai, Sept 26-28.

ANPERC Center Director and Professor Tad Patzek co-authored an engaging article for the cover of July 2016 issue of Physics Today. The article, “Physics, Fracking, Fuel, and the Future” explores one of the critical issues facing the scientists and policy-makers around the world: how do we estimate the amount of time left for hydrocarbons?

Professor Carlos Santamarina, Associate Director of ANPERC, was recently announced as the recipient of the Hogentogler Award by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) for his paper "Laboratory X-Ray Tomography: A valuable Experimental Tool for Revealing Processes in Soils"

Spirited exchange on the traditional assumptions made by engineers, physicists, geologists and geophysicists was the order of the day during the KAUST Athenaeum on Multiscale Imaging of Large Rock Volumes, held April 4-6, 2016 at KAUST.

​If you are an undergraduate or a graduate student looking to conduct your research with amazing faculty and cutting-edge laboratory equipment, then VSRP program is for you! The Visiting Student Research Internship Program (VSRP) at KAUST provides an opportunity for students to visit KAUST for their research and get a chance to work with highly qualified faculty, meet other graduate students in the field of petroleum engineering, enjoy the beautiful campus and experience the diverse culture at KAUST.

ANPERC has its first award-winning student paper! Wardana Saputra, who recently joined KAUST as a PhD student in Prof. Tad Patzek's Earth Geosystems Group (EGG) in ANPERC, was recognized for his outstanding paper at the 2016 Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition (ATSE) in Dhahran.

When scientists and researchers talk about history, it is often in terms of a specific experiment that lasts hours, days, or perhaps just a couple years. But a visiting professor is spending a year at the Ali I. Al-Naimi Petroleum Engineering Research Center (ANPERC) to help explain the history of oil and gas reservoirs and their development over the last 500 million years.

The scientific and engineering culture at ANPERC can be characterized simply: open-minded. At the center’s first technical event, the KAUST Athenaeum on Dissolution and Precipitation, held on campus February 7-10, 2016, being open-minded extended to every part of the event. It’s something that Prof. Carlos Santamarina, the event’s organizer and host, takes to heart even when he invited participation to a last-minute change to the packed schedule.

Members of ANPERC will present this week at The Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition (ATSE) 2016 at Dhahran Expo, Dammam Saudi Arabia. The symposium drives the mission of the Society of Petroleum Engineers in the Kingdom (SPE-KSA) in providing means for trading technical information relevant to the oil and gas industry. The event, spanning four days, features key industry and academic speakers from around the Kingdom and abroad.​

Thomas Finkbeiner joined ANPERC in January 2016 as Senior Research Scientist. Prior he worked more than 17 years in the petroleum industry focusing on petroleum geomechanics technical consulting and project work.

The Ghawar oil field, located in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the largest oil field in the world is on production for 60 years and is rapidly maturing. Ali I. Al-Naimi Petroleum Engineering Research Center (ANPERC) at KAUST intends to help oil and gas companies like Saudi Aramco in finding oil-recovery methods that can extract at least 10 percent more oil from the Ghawar and other fields.

Dr. Helge Haldorsen, the 2015 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE International), presented a riveting talk on the role of engineers and scientists in ensuring the future of the oil and gas industry.

Professor Carlos Santamarina, faculty member and Associate Center Director for ANPERC, presented new analysis and research on rock and reservoir investigations at three conferences in Buenos Aires, Argentina, throughout November 2015.

Dr. Nathan Meehan, the 2016 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE International), visited KAUST on December 3rd 2015, bringing with him a simple message: scientists and engineers will play a critical role in not only the immediate future of the oil and gas industry, but of the long-term challenges facing energy sustainability.

ANPERC is proud to announce the addition of two new researchers to its rapidly-expanding team: Research Scientist Dr. Maxim Yutkin, and Research Engineer Wissem Kirati. Both have joined Prof. Patzek’s Engineering Geosystesm Group (EGG).

One of ANPERC’s key research areas is the production of hydrocarbons from carbonates. This topic is taking center stage this fall 2015 thanks to Visiting Professor Dante Fratta.

The Energy Geosystems Group welcomed Dr. Siarhei Khirevich as its first Research Scientist in August. Khirevich's scientific and research interests relate to computer simulations of transport (flow, diffusion, hydrodynamic dispersion) in complex geometries, addressing such aspects of this topic as computer generation of porous media, its geometrical analysis, accuracy of transport simulations, and structure-transport correlations.

Prof. Santamarina, ANPERC's Associate Director, launched the development of temporary lab space and began investigations throughout Summer 2015. This lab, the Energy Geo-Engineering Laborato​ry, is located in temporary space during the construction of ANPERC's Center Laboratory.

J. Carlos Santamarina is a Professor of Earth Science and Engineering in the Physical Science and Engineering Division, and Associate Director of the newly created Upstream Petroleum Engineering Research Center ANPERC. Santamarina studied civil engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1982. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Maryland in 1984 and received his doctorate from Purdue University in 1987. Before he joined KAUST, Santamarina was a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

ANPERC proudly announces the addition of two core staff members. In March 2015, Ms. Karen Barter joined the center as Executive Secretary and the center's first official staff member. Later in May, Heath K. Hignight, CFRE, joined the center as its first Center Manager.