“Washington was a
city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm” -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
(American 35th US President (1961-63), 1917-1963)
The 18th Annual ARTC is scheduled for March 18-19, 2015 in Bangkok. According to a recent press release …
///////
The ARTC (Asian Refinery Technology
Conference) 18th Annual Meeting attracts over 200 refining and petrochemical professionals
from all over the region and provides a premier platform to learn, network and
showcase the latest technologies and processing strategies.
Eleven independent Advisory Board members draw on their wealth of refining experience
to provide attendees with advice on this year’s program to ensure that the conference
is innovative and relevant to the issues facing the industry in Asia today:
Advisory Board members include:
Dr. Mahpuzah Abai, Head Process R&D, Petronas, Malaysia
Manoharan Chakrapany, Director of Refineries, ESSAR, India
Michael Costello, Technical Head, CHEVRON, Singapore
Dr. Asit Das, Head R&D, RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, India
Derek Lawler, CEO, BYCO OIL, Pakistan
Steven McMurray, Senior Technical Advisor, PTT GLOBAL CHEMICAL, Thailand
Napaporn Ratanapoka, Refinery Technical Manager, PTT GLOBAL CHEMICAL, Thailand
Yoshihiro Sato, Executive Officer, TONENGENERAL, Japan
Anuntasak Suksasilp, Head of Technology, Process Improvement, THAI OIL,Thailand
PN Selvaguru, Principal Engineer, Singapore Refining Company
SS Sunderajan, Executive Director Mumbai Refinery, BHARAT PETROLEUM, India
The 2015 conference will focus on:
• Global outlook for oil industry in light of product capacity expansions
• Shale oil and its implication for Asian operators
• Project turn around strategies to meet timelines and improve profitability of
refineries
• Impact of process safety norms on economies of scale
• Case studies from joint ventures, partnerships and new projects across Asia
Pacific
• Latest trends in petrochemical processing, FCC and hydrocracking technologies
For more information, visit: www.gtforum.com/artc
or contact Amanda Tung, Marketing
Manager, Global Technology Forum, Amanda.Tung@incisivemedia.com
///////
It is worth noting that of the eleven board members, six of them have LinkedIn
profiles. The six board members with
LinkedIn profiles are …’
Manoharan Chakrapany, Director of Refineries, ESSAR, India
Michael Costello, Technical Head, CHEVRON, Singapore
Dr. Asit Das, Head R&D, RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, India
Derek Lawler, CEO, BYCO OIL, Pakistan
Steven McMurray, Senior Technical Advisor, PTT GLOBAL CHEMICAL, Thailand
Napaporn Ratanapoka, Refinery Technical Manager, PTT GLOBAL CHEMICAL, Thailand
I, too, have a LinkedIn profile. View it
at www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch/,
and invite me to join your network.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Conference Alert: Deep Space Deep Ocean
“Deep is the well of truth and long
does it take to know what has fallen into its depths” -- Friedrich
Nietzsche (German classical Scholar, Philosopher and Critic of culture,
1844-1900.)
A previous post (http://desulf.blogspot.com/2014/10/conference-alert-deep-space-deep-ocean.html) described the Aramco Deep Space Deep Ocean conference, but a recent email alerted me to the fact that more details are available. In particular, the event includes five “Deep Dive” tracks, described below ..
///////
Deep Dive 1: Risk Management & Reliability
In the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident and since passage of new regulations by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) – offshore operators, suppliers, and drilling companies have focused more intensely on the looming risks that exist when operating in deep-water environments. This track will cover: Advanced Risk Assessment, The Future Direction of Regulation; Big Data Analytics; Prognostics; Advanced Sensors; Human-Machine Interface; and Reliability, Availability and Maintainability Design and Modeling. Join representatives from top O&G companies, NASA – JSC/JPL, BSEE, National Laboratories, ASME, university researchers, suppliers and solution providers to map the challenges and examine best practices and technologies to achieve greater organizational safety and performance.
Deep Dive 2: Robotics & Automation
The aerospace industry is known for its research, development and use of robotics – such as the Mars Rovers – to navigate and operate in some of the harshest environments imaginable. The oil and gas industry is also moving further into unexplored territories – deeper waters and remote, rugged terrains – and its engineers are realizing that the use of advanced robotics and other automation processes to create smart drilling rigs and more is becoming critical to accomplishing their company’s mission. This track will give participants an in-depth analysis of the similar challenges faced by the petroleum and aerospace industries in using real-time operation centers to remotely communicate with and direct distant operations.
The sessions will cover command and control remote monitoring and operations, robotics, and full-scale automation. Part of the track will address accelerating adoption of automation in the drilling industry, based on experiences by NASA and lessons learned from industrial automation. Presentations will also cover control systems, systems architecture, communications protocols, and sensors. Critical to the success of automation is application of human factors engineering – automation does not eliminate the need for humans, rather it changes the roles of personnel in both space and in the petroleum industries.
Deep Dive 3: Advanced Technologies & Materials
The pursuit of new energy resources in harsher environmental territories is giving rise to a critical need for next-generation materials and advanced technologies for drilling, manufacturing and testing. Engineers are finding that some materials originally designed for traditional operating environments are less capable of withstanding more rigorous conditions. Discussions will focus on the opportunities for both industries to work together in developing advanced materials and technologies that will help give those organizations involved the leading edge. This track will cover: ROVs and battery power, drilling advances, and optimizing remote capabilities to meet demands in challenging environments.
Deep Dive 4: Synergy Between Industries
Both the aerospace and oil and gas industries have made remarkable contributions to society – providing affordable and accessible energy sources; breakthroughs in information and engineering technologies; earth, space and medical sciences; and hope and opportunity throughout the generations. They launched a new era of progress and quite literally changed the world. It is only natural that these two industries come together to do even more than what they could do individually.
Discussions will focus on creating synergistic energies, sparking innovation, and turning great ideas on developing advanced technologies into another era of successful achievement. Topics include the use of 3D printing, industrial use of augmented reality in view of real-world tasks, the success of telemedicine and how this technology is expanding into other areas, and the latest on developing joint ventures in today’s IP environment.
Deep Dive 5: Cybersecurity & Big Data Analysis
The topic of cybersecurity is dominating the headlines, as more and more organizations and individuals are falling victim to malicious attacks. The challenge today is being able to remain a step or two ahead of the cyber criminals by employing technologies that can detect and prevent an intrusion and, in the case of an attack, minimize the effect on a company’s network and data stores. Most vulnerable these days are industrial control systems and devices that, if compromised, can have a devastating effect. Organizations are increasingly turning to “Big Data” analysis to keep a constant eye on their massive data systems – to detect and prevent malicious network activities, as well as improve the management of control systems that support the infrastructure. This track will explore how the cyber threat environment is evolving, how that is impacting security thinking, and how Big Data analytics can be a solution for both industrial and security challenges.
Source: source: http://www.cvent.com/events/deep-space-deep-ocean-exploring-crossover-technologies-in-the-space-and-energy-sectors/custom-19-6827ec94706b45a1bfc55cbf5f53d2e6.aspx
///////
The Aramco conference is not a mega event. But that is actually a factor in its favor. Because it is a smaller venue, you are more likely to meet people than you might do at a larger gathering.
The conference is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7 – Wednesday, April 8, 2015, at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, Houston, Texas.
TIP: Follow this Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com) for a continuing series of posts that can help you advance your research career.
A previous post (http://desulf.blogspot.com/2014/10/conference-alert-deep-space-deep-ocean.html) described the Aramco Deep Space Deep Ocean conference, but a recent email alerted me to the fact that more details are available. In particular, the event includes five “Deep Dive” tracks, described below ..
///////
Deep Dive 1: Risk Management & Reliability
In the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident and since passage of new regulations by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) – offshore operators, suppliers, and drilling companies have focused more intensely on the looming risks that exist when operating in deep-water environments. This track will cover: Advanced Risk Assessment, The Future Direction of Regulation; Big Data Analytics; Prognostics; Advanced Sensors; Human-Machine Interface; and Reliability, Availability and Maintainability Design and Modeling. Join representatives from top O&G companies, NASA – JSC/JPL, BSEE, National Laboratories, ASME, university researchers, suppliers and solution providers to map the challenges and examine best practices and technologies to achieve greater organizational safety and performance.
Deep Dive 2: Robotics & Automation
The aerospace industry is known for its research, development and use of robotics – such as the Mars Rovers – to navigate and operate in some of the harshest environments imaginable. The oil and gas industry is also moving further into unexplored territories – deeper waters and remote, rugged terrains – and its engineers are realizing that the use of advanced robotics and other automation processes to create smart drilling rigs and more is becoming critical to accomplishing their company’s mission. This track will give participants an in-depth analysis of the similar challenges faced by the petroleum and aerospace industries in using real-time operation centers to remotely communicate with and direct distant operations.
The sessions will cover command and control remote monitoring and operations, robotics, and full-scale automation. Part of the track will address accelerating adoption of automation in the drilling industry, based on experiences by NASA and lessons learned from industrial automation. Presentations will also cover control systems, systems architecture, communications protocols, and sensors. Critical to the success of automation is application of human factors engineering – automation does not eliminate the need for humans, rather it changes the roles of personnel in both space and in the petroleum industries.
Deep Dive 3: Advanced Technologies & Materials
The pursuit of new energy resources in harsher environmental territories is giving rise to a critical need for next-generation materials and advanced technologies for drilling, manufacturing and testing. Engineers are finding that some materials originally designed for traditional operating environments are less capable of withstanding more rigorous conditions. Discussions will focus on the opportunities for both industries to work together in developing advanced materials and technologies that will help give those organizations involved the leading edge. This track will cover: ROVs and battery power, drilling advances, and optimizing remote capabilities to meet demands in challenging environments.
Deep Dive 4: Synergy Between Industries
Both the aerospace and oil and gas industries have made remarkable contributions to society – providing affordable and accessible energy sources; breakthroughs in information and engineering technologies; earth, space and medical sciences; and hope and opportunity throughout the generations. They launched a new era of progress and quite literally changed the world. It is only natural that these two industries come together to do even more than what they could do individually.
Discussions will focus on creating synergistic energies, sparking innovation, and turning great ideas on developing advanced technologies into another era of successful achievement. Topics include the use of 3D printing, industrial use of augmented reality in view of real-world tasks, the success of telemedicine and how this technology is expanding into other areas, and the latest on developing joint ventures in today’s IP environment.
Deep Dive 5: Cybersecurity & Big Data Analysis
The topic of cybersecurity is dominating the headlines, as more and more organizations and individuals are falling victim to malicious attacks. The challenge today is being able to remain a step or two ahead of the cyber criminals by employing technologies that can detect and prevent an intrusion and, in the case of an attack, minimize the effect on a company’s network and data stores. Most vulnerable these days are industrial control systems and devices that, if compromised, can have a devastating effect. Organizations are increasingly turning to “Big Data” analysis to keep a constant eye on their massive data systems – to detect and prevent malicious network activities, as well as improve the management of control systems that support the infrastructure. This track will explore how the cyber threat environment is evolving, how that is impacting security thinking, and how Big Data analytics can be a solution for both industrial and security challenges.
Source: source: http://www.cvent.com/events/deep-space-deep-ocean-exploring-crossover-technologies-in-the-space-and-energy-sectors/custom-19-6827ec94706b45a1bfc55cbf5f53d2e6.aspx
///////
The Aramco conference is not a mega event. But that is actually a factor in its favor. Because it is a smaller venue, you are more likely to meet people than you might do at a larger gathering.
The conference is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7 – Wednesday, April 8, 2015, at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, Houston, Texas.
TIP: Follow this Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com) for a continuing series of posts that can help you advance your research career.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Leave It to the Professionals: Aramco’s Professional Development Program
“A professional is a person who can do his best at a time when he doesn't
particularly feel like it” -- Alistair Cooke (American journalist and
commentator, b.1908)
A little known fact, in the West, at least, is that Saudi Aramco has been developing talent for over a decade, using a set of structured programs. This development effort is producing impressive results. One example is Mustafa Al-Ali, currently directing the development of three advanced research centers in North America
TIP: When you find it, download it. This post, for example, draws heavily from a Saudi Aramco Dimensions article that I found online a couple of years ago. I am fortunate that I downloaded it, because it is no longer available on the Web.
The article, titled Specializing in success: Award-winning young geophysicist on fast track appears below in its entirety.
It is particularly significant, because it provides valuable background information on the man currently guiding the development of Saudi Aramco’s three U.S. based advanced research centers.
///////
Specializing in success: Award-winning young geophysicist on fast track
Written by Femke Baudoin and Rick Snedeker
Saudi Aramco Dimensions, Spring 2006
DELFT, The Netherlands — A bright, highly motivated achiever such as Mustafa Naser Al-Ali is precisely what Saudi Aramco had in mind when it created its comprehensive suite of professional development programs for Saudi employees.
The 35-year-old geophysicist and current Advanced Degree Program (ADP) candidate is on track to receive his Ph.D. in early 2007 at the Netherland’s Delft University of Technology, also known as TU Delft, in the arcane field of seismic data acquisition design and land seismic imaging — after already earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and some impressive awards along the way.
Al-Ali previously graduated from the company’s Professional Development Program (1995) in three years, and the Specialist Development Program (2004) in one of the company’s key disciplines. He has been an ADP candidate since 2003.
In recognition of his scientific contributions in the area of seismic data acquisition, Al-Ali in November 2005, in Houston, Texas, in the United States, was bestowed with the international Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ prestigious J. Clarence Karcher Award. Al-Ali is only the third young Saudi scientist to receive the award, after Tariq Al-Khalifa (from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology) in 1998 and Mohammed Al-Saggaf (from Saudi Aramco) in 2001.
Al-Ali also was named Saudi Aramco’s Geophysicist of the Year in 1998. In 2002, he received the Saudi Aramco Exploration Innovation Award as well as the company’s Corporate Innovation Award.
“Mustafa combines practical experience with excellent theoretical insight,” said Prof. A.J. “Guus” Berkhout, a geophysics professor at TU Delft, program director of Delft’s Delphi Consortium and Al-Ali’s main adviser at Delft. Berkhout has developed a large number of new concepts and algorithms now commercially used in the upstream oil and gas industry, and he has written hundreds of scientific papers and a number of books on geophysics.
Al-Ali is speeding along his development path exactly as Saudi Aramco envisioned for its most promising young employees. He did entry-level work in the Geophysical Technology Division when he joined the company in 1992, after earning a bachelor of science degree with honors in geophysics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). The next year, he traveled to Houston for eight months of training at Halliburton, a major global energy services company.
While working full-time for Saudi Aramco, Al-Ali earned a master’s in geology at KFUPM, with a thesis on nearsurface velocity modeling using geostatistical techniques. During his Saudi Aramco career, he has learned his craft from the bottom up. He has been a 2D (two-dimensional) seismic processor and a 3D (three-dimensional) interpreter, and he has supervised seismic crews in the field, designed acquisition parameters and written seismic crew contracts. “I have covered all areas of Saudi Arabia in my work,” he said, “including some operation sites in the Arabian Gulf, all the deserts, the Rub‘ al-Khali, Shaybah, far to the south, north to Qasim, and to the Red Sea west. I am indeed privileged to have had that experience, by directly observing Saudi Aramco various operational sites. Now I know what options won’t work. And, I will always think of continuing improvement, including improving my knowledge and performance quality.”
Thinking of knowledge improvement led him to Delft, which he selected as the institution for his Ph.D. precisely because no other Saudis before him had.
“I had not only applied to Delft University of Technology, but also to MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and to Stanford, and I was accepted to all,” Al-Ali said. “It was a tough choice, but after having had a close look at the different programs, I decided that Delft best matched my specialty area.
“And I thought, why don’t I add to the knowledge of my colleagues at Saudi Aramco by bringing to the table another geophysical philosophy from a different wellreputed institution,” he said. Al-Ali also respects the historical Dutch link with the petroleum industry from its infancy and the major contributions it made to related science fields.
“Technically, TU Delft is excellent; you’re dealing with very knowledgeable people,” Al-Ali explained. “And because it’s not a profit-making institution, what’s important to them is not the money, it’s the research you do. So, if you’re not performing well, they will say ‘goodbye.’” Now there are three more Saudi Aramco employees at Delft pursuing their Ph.D. degrees in different disciplines: Ghaithan A. Al-Muntasheri, petroleum engineering; Mohammad S. Al-Bannagi, geophysics; and Bandar H. Alsolami, chemical engineering.
Al-Ali’s research is part of ongoing science at Delft’s Delphi Consortium, which collaborates with major oil and gas companies to develop practical solutions for real-world problems. Twenty-eight companies are sponsors of the consortium, including Saudi Aramco, Shell, Chevron, British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Statoil and others.
“The aim of my research is that my approach for seismic data acquisition will be accepted as an industry standard,” Al-Ali said. Seismic data acquisition is the science of obtaining seismic-wave data from the earth to locate subsurface geologic structures that might contain oil and gas deposits. “The relationship of Delft University of Technology with Saudi Aramco is a very close one,” Berkhout said. “Members of the Delphi team often visit Saudi Aramco’s office, and many Delphi solutions are successfully implemented to improve the company’s technological capabilities.”
Panos Kelamis, Saudi Aramco’s chief geophysicist, is the company’s representative on the 10-member Delphi board, chaired by Berkhout.
One of Delphi’s focus areas is seismic imaging. “Through the years, seismic imaging has become a critical technology in exploration and production, allowing detailed visualization of the reservoir properties of new prospects and producing fields at large depths,” according to information on Delphi’s web site. “To meet the challenge of capacity and reserves, the oil industry needs to improve its imaging capability far beyond current limits. The mission of the Delphi Consortium is to give a significant contribution to realize this ambition.”
And the data acquisition part of seismic imaging is where Al-Ali shines in his research. He said 90 percent of his time at Delft is spent on research; the rest on course work. “They call them knowledge-broadening courses,” he said.
In lay terms, Al-Ali is studying the best ways to obtain the most useful seismic-wave data to image earth’s subterranean rock — in other words, by sending signals in the right places on the surface and recording them also on the right surface places after they bounce from the subsurface rock layers, a clearer “picture” of the characteristics of earth’s subterranean rock emerges. Al-Ali explains that understanding the shallow earth’s layers, several hundred meters deep, is crucial for inland seismic imaging. This allows better imaging of the critical deeper zones, down to seven kilometers — and will point the way to the most promising oil and gas reservoirs.
Al-Ali has developed a patented system recently approved by the U.S. Patent Office (US 6,982,928 B2) to improve understanding the shallow subsurface layers. It utilizes measurements obtained by a vibratory seismic source control system. Such measurements are used to invert for sound velocity at the vibration locations and then generate a velocity model of the shallow layers that can be used for seismic data processing.
In addition, his composite-design idea for sparse 3D seismic data acquisition developed in 2000, which is still being used by the company, has led to the recording of seismic data over tens of thousands of square kilometers, demonstrating the success of Saudi Aramco’s aggressive 3D reconnaissance exploration program. “The composite design — using a more comprehensive cross-network of source vibration locations — solved the problem of not being able to image the shallow layers when using conventional sparse 3D designs. Imaging the shallow layers allows you to have more accurate visualization of the deeper layers and eliminates the risk of seeing false structures,” Al-Ali said.
“The primary reason for our successes, I must say, is that over the past years we have received all the support we needed from management,” he said. “Besides, collaboration with colleagues and working as a team is important, especially when a new concept is conceived, and we had to move from the warm work zones into less comfortable ones before the apparent mystery becomes mastery and the new approach is revealed to be more efficient.”
Berkhout said, “Mustafa has successfully demonstrated that distortion effects on seismic data, caused by complex near-surface layers (meaning “shallow” layers), should not be solved by aiming at estimating geological models of these near-surface layers. Distortion effects should be directly estimated from the seismic data itself.
“First results of his excellent thesis work do confirm that on land data with a complex near-surface, seismic acquisition and processing need to be closely interrelated and that imaging should be data-driven,” Berkhout continued. “Mustafa’s common focal point approach to land seismic imaging introduces a new paradigm in the acquisition- processing cycle that may resolve many of the longlasting problems we face on land. While he is doing his Ph.D., he has established a major joint project between Saudi Aramco and Delft University aimed at resolving the imaging and time-to-depth challenges in areas with a complex near-surface.”
Al-Ali’s research has resulted in innovative breakthroughs and concepts that will allow acquisition of more information on complex near-surface earth conditions and assist in designing 3D surveys.
During his research at Delft, Al-Ali said, “I have diversified my knowledge greatly and expanded into new areas.” Wider thinking, he said, can be applied to any problem. Al-Ali has authored many papers in technical journals and has presented at many international symposia. He is an active member of the European Association Geoscientists and Engineers, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. “Geophysics always keeps you in an innovative mode,” he said. “That’s what I like about it. It depends on the art and the skills of the scientist. I keep vying for continuing improvement — even beyond what I can envision.”
///////
Al-Ali’s dissertation, titled Land seismic data acquisition and preprocessing: an operator solution to the near-surface problem, is available for download at:
http://repository.tudelft.nl/view/ir/uuid%3Abaa60972-94c0-4c74-8642-6015db8e61a0/
///////
Here’s another TIP: invite me to join your LinkedIn network. My profile is located at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch
A little known fact, in the West, at least, is that Saudi Aramco has been developing talent for over a decade, using a set of structured programs. This development effort is producing impressive results. One example is Mustafa Al-Ali, currently directing the development of three advanced research centers in North America
TIP: When you find it, download it. This post, for example, draws heavily from a Saudi Aramco Dimensions article that I found online a couple of years ago. I am fortunate that I downloaded it, because it is no longer available on the Web.
The article, titled Specializing in success: Award-winning young geophysicist on fast track appears below in its entirety.
It is particularly significant, because it provides valuable background information on the man currently guiding the development of Saudi Aramco’s three U.S. based advanced research centers.
///////
Specializing in success: Award-winning young geophysicist on fast track
Written by Femke Baudoin and Rick Snedeker
Saudi Aramco Dimensions, Spring 2006
DELFT, The Netherlands — A bright, highly motivated achiever such as Mustafa Naser Al-Ali is precisely what Saudi Aramco had in mind when it created its comprehensive suite of professional development programs for Saudi employees.
The 35-year-old geophysicist and current Advanced Degree Program (ADP) candidate is on track to receive his Ph.D. in early 2007 at the Netherland’s Delft University of Technology, also known as TU Delft, in the arcane field of seismic data acquisition design and land seismic imaging — after already earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and some impressive awards along the way.
Al-Ali previously graduated from the company’s Professional Development Program (1995) in three years, and the Specialist Development Program (2004) in one of the company’s key disciplines. He has been an ADP candidate since 2003.
In recognition of his scientific contributions in the area of seismic data acquisition, Al-Ali in November 2005, in Houston, Texas, in the United States, was bestowed with the international Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ prestigious J. Clarence Karcher Award. Al-Ali is only the third young Saudi scientist to receive the award, after Tariq Al-Khalifa (from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology) in 1998 and Mohammed Al-Saggaf (from Saudi Aramco) in 2001.
Al-Ali also was named Saudi Aramco’s Geophysicist of the Year in 1998. In 2002, he received the Saudi Aramco Exploration Innovation Award as well as the company’s Corporate Innovation Award.
“Mustafa combines practical experience with excellent theoretical insight,” said Prof. A.J. “Guus” Berkhout, a geophysics professor at TU Delft, program director of Delft’s Delphi Consortium and Al-Ali’s main adviser at Delft. Berkhout has developed a large number of new concepts and algorithms now commercially used in the upstream oil and gas industry, and he has written hundreds of scientific papers and a number of books on geophysics.
Al-Ali is speeding along his development path exactly as Saudi Aramco envisioned for its most promising young employees. He did entry-level work in the Geophysical Technology Division when he joined the company in 1992, after earning a bachelor of science degree with honors in geophysics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). The next year, he traveled to Houston for eight months of training at Halliburton, a major global energy services company.
While working full-time for Saudi Aramco, Al-Ali earned a master’s in geology at KFUPM, with a thesis on nearsurface velocity modeling using geostatistical techniques. During his Saudi Aramco career, he has learned his craft from the bottom up. He has been a 2D (two-dimensional) seismic processor and a 3D (three-dimensional) interpreter, and he has supervised seismic crews in the field, designed acquisition parameters and written seismic crew contracts. “I have covered all areas of Saudi Arabia in my work,” he said, “including some operation sites in the Arabian Gulf, all the deserts, the Rub‘ al-Khali, Shaybah, far to the south, north to Qasim, and to the Red Sea west. I am indeed privileged to have had that experience, by directly observing Saudi Aramco various operational sites. Now I know what options won’t work. And, I will always think of continuing improvement, including improving my knowledge and performance quality.”
Thinking of knowledge improvement led him to Delft, which he selected as the institution for his Ph.D. precisely because no other Saudis before him had.
“I had not only applied to Delft University of Technology, but also to MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and to Stanford, and I was accepted to all,” Al-Ali said. “It was a tough choice, but after having had a close look at the different programs, I decided that Delft best matched my specialty area.
“And I thought, why don’t I add to the knowledge of my colleagues at Saudi Aramco by bringing to the table another geophysical philosophy from a different wellreputed institution,” he said. Al-Ali also respects the historical Dutch link with the petroleum industry from its infancy and the major contributions it made to related science fields.
“Technically, TU Delft is excellent; you’re dealing with very knowledgeable people,” Al-Ali explained. “And because it’s not a profit-making institution, what’s important to them is not the money, it’s the research you do. So, if you’re not performing well, they will say ‘goodbye.’” Now there are three more Saudi Aramco employees at Delft pursuing their Ph.D. degrees in different disciplines: Ghaithan A. Al-Muntasheri, petroleum engineering; Mohammad S. Al-Bannagi, geophysics; and Bandar H. Alsolami, chemical engineering.
Al-Ali’s research is part of ongoing science at Delft’s Delphi Consortium, which collaborates with major oil and gas companies to develop practical solutions for real-world problems. Twenty-eight companies are sponsors of the consortium, including Saudi Aramco, Shell, Chevron, British Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Statoil and others.
“The aim of my research is that my approach for seismic data acquisition will be accepted as an industry standard,” Al-Ali said. Seismic data acquisition is the science of obtaining seismic-wave data from the earth to locate subsurface geologic structures that might contain oil and gas deposits. “The relationship of Delft University of Technology with Saudi Aramco is a very close one,” Berkhout said. “Members of the Delphi team often visit Saudi Aramco’s office, and many Delphi solutions are successfully implemented to improve the company’s technological capabilities.”
Panos Kelamis, Saudi Aramco’s chief geophysicist, is the company’s representative on the 10-member Delphi board, chaired by Berkhout.
One of Delphi’s focus areas is seismic imaging. “Through the years, seismic imaging has become a critical technology in exploration and production, allowing detailed visualization of the reservoir properties of new prospects and producing fields at large depths,” according to information on Delphi’s web site. “To meet the challenge of capacity and reserves, the oil industry needs to improve its imaging capability far beyond current limits. The mission of the Delphi Consortium is to give a significant contribution to realize this ambition.”
And the data acquisition part of seismic imaging is where Al-Ali shines in his research. He said 90 percent of his time at Delft is spent on research; the rest on course work. “They call them knowledge-broadening courses,” he said.
In lay terms, Al-Ali is studying the best ways to obtain the most useful seismic-wave data to image earth’s subterranean rock — in other words, by sending signals in the right places on the surface and recording them also on the right surface places after they bounce from the subsurface rock layers, a clearer “picture” of the characteristics of earth’s subterranean rock emerges. Al-Ali explains that understanding the shallow earth’s layers, several hundred meters deep, is crucial for inland seismic imaging. This allows better imaging of the critical deeper zones, down to seven kilometers — and will point the way to the most promising oil and gas reservoirs.
Al-Ali has developed a patented system recently approved by the U.S. Patent Office (US 6,982,928 B2) to improve understanding the shallow subsurface layers. It utilizes measurements obtained by a vibratory seismic source control system. Such measurements are used to invert for sound velocity at the vibration locations and then generate a velocity model of the shallow layers that can be used for seismic data processing.
In addition, his composite-design idea for sparse 3D seismic data acquisition developed in 2000, which is still being used by the company, has led to the recording of seismic data over tens of thousands of square kilometers, demonstrating the success of Saudi Aramco’s aggressive 3D reconnaissance exploration program. “The composite design — using a more comprehensive cross-network of source vibration locations — solved the problem of not being able to image the shallow layers when using conventional sparse 3D designs. Imaging the shallow layers allows you to have more accurate visualization of the deeper layers and eliminates the risk of seeing false structures,” Al-Ali said.
“The primary reason for our successes, I must say, is that over the past years we have received all the support we needed from management,” he said. “Besides, collaboration with colleagues and working as a team is important, especially when a new concept is conceived, and we had to move from the warm work zones into less comfortable ones before the apparent mystery becomes mastery and the new approach is revealed to be more efficient.”
Berkhout said, “Mustafa has successfully demonstrated that distortion effects on seismic data, caused by complex near-surface layers (meaning “shallow” layers), should not be solved by aiming at estimating geological models of these near-surface layers. Distortion effects should be directly estimated from the seismic data itself.
“First results of his excellent thesis work do confirm that on land data with a complex near-surface, seismic acquisition and processing need to be closely interrelated and that imaging should be data-driven,” Berkhout continued. “Mustafa’s common focal point approach to land seismic imaging introduces a new paradigm in the acquisition- processing cycle that may resolve many of the longlasting problems we face on land. While he is doing his Ph.D., he has established a major joint project between Saudi Aramco and Delft University aimed at resolving the imaging and time-to-depth challenges in areas with a complex near-surface.”
Al-Ali’s research has resulted in innovative breakthroughs and concepts that will allow acquisition of more information on complex near-surface earth conditions and assist in designing 3D surveys.
During his research at Delft, Al-Ali said, “I have diversified my knowledge greatly and expanded into new areas.” Wider thinking, he said, can be applied to any problem. Al-Ali has authored many papers in technical journals and has presented at many international symposia. He is an active member of the European Association Geoscientists and Engineers, and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. “Geophysics always keeps you in an innovative mode,” he said. “That’s what I like about it. It depends on the art and the skills of the scientist. I keep vying for continuing improvement — even beyond what I can envision.”
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Al-Ali’s dissertation, titled Land seismic data acquisition and preprocessing: an operator solution to the near-surface problem, is available for download at:
http://repository.tudelft.nl/view/ir/uuid%3Abaa60972-94c0-4c74-8642-6015db8e61a0/
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Here’s another TIP: invite me to join your LinkedIn network. My profile is located at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Aramco Inaugurates New Research Center
“The best research for playing a drunk is being a British actor for 20 years.”
-- Michael Caine (Internationally successful British motion picture actor,
b.1933)
Saudi Aramco, through its Houston affiliate Aramco Services Company, recently announced the opening of a high tech research center in the Houston area. Located in Park 10 in Katy, Texas, it is the third of three U.S. research centers to have been inaugurated.
The Houston Center will focus on technological research supporting the upstream part of the oil and gas business.
Its Boston area center, located across from MIT in Cambridge, will focus on both upstream and downstream technology. For more details, read Aramco Opens R&D Center in Boston Area
(http://www.aramcoservices.com/news-events/aramco-opens-rd-center-in-boston-area.aspx)
Bridging the gap between gasoline and diesel engines, and developing less manufactured fuels are among the initiatives under way at the Aramco Research Center - Detroit (http://articles.sae.org/13255/)
Researchers interested in partnering with the Aramco efforts should begin by visiting the Aramco Services Web site (www.aramcoservices.com)
Saudi Aramco, through its Houston affiliate Aramco Services Company, recently announced the opening of a high tech research center in the Houston area. Located in Park 10 in Katy, Texas, it is the third of three U.S. research centers to have been inaugurated.
The Houston Center will focus on technological research supporting the upstream part of the oil and gas business.
Its Boston area center, located across from MIT in Cambridge, will focus on both upstream and downstream technology. For more details, read Aramco Opens R&D Center in Boston Area
(http://www.aramcoservices.com/news-events/aramco-opens-rd-center-in-boston-area.aspx)
Bridging the gap between gasoline and diesel engines, and developing less manufactured fuels are among the initiatives under way at the Aramco Research Center - Detroit (http://articles.sae.org/13255/)
Researchers interested in partnering with the Aramco efforts should begin by visiting the Aramco Services Web site (www.aramcoservices.com)
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