Contributors
J.L. Arroyo Franco, who is based in Reynosa, Mexico,
is Team Leader for the Pemex Exploración y
Producción Herreras area group (North of Mexico).
Prior to transferring to this position in early 2006, he
was group geophysicist and then leader of the
Cuitlahuac group. He has worked on gravimetric and
2D and 3D seismic studies for the company since 1980.
He earned a degree in geophysical engineering from
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico
City, and an MS degree in administration at
Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Mexico.
Gopa S. De is a Research Consultant with Chevron
Energy Technology Company in San Ramon, California,
USA. She began her career with Chevron Oil Field
Research Company in 1982. Her major research interests are sonic logging and rock physics. She has a PhD
degree in condensed matter physics from the
University of California, San Diego. Gopa is a member
of the American Physical Society, the Society of
Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), the SEG Research
Committee and the SPE Reservoir Evaluation &
Engineering (SPEREE) Review Board.
Joel Lee Groves is Principal Research Scientist at the
Schlumberger Princeton Technology Center (PTC),
New Jersey, USA. His major projects are pulsed-neutron
generator systems, X-ray generators and multiphase
flowmeters. He holds a BS degree in physics and an
MS degree in experimental physics, both from West
Virginia University, Morgantown, USA. He also has a
PhD degree in nuclear physics from University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He joined
Schlumberger-Doll Research (SDR) as a research
scientist in Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA, in 1984 after
10 years at the University of Illinois and Columbia
University, New York City. He was director of the
Nuclear Science department at SDR when he left to
join PTC in 1995. While at PTC, he has worked as radiation safety officer, minitron manufacturing engineer
and director of research and engineering.
Jakob B.U. Haldorsen received Cand. Mag. (BS) and
Cand. Real. (MS) degrees in physics from the University
of Oslo in Norway. He then spent six years in research
and teaching at the University of Oslo and at the
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
in Geneva, Switzerland. After joining Geco in 1981, he
worked in many different positions, including R&E
project manager in Oslo and then in Houston. After
Geco became part of Schlumberger in 1987, he was
transferred to SDR in Ridgefield, Connecticut, as a
member of the Geoacoustics department. Later he
moved to Schlumberger Cambridge Research (SCR) in
England as a member of the Seismic department and
then to Geco-Prakla in Hannover, Germany, to work on
algorithmic and physics problems related to data
acquired in high-noise environments. Jakob returned
to SDR in 1995 as program leader for the Surface
Radar program and is now a Scientific Advisor responsible for high-resolution formation imaging using sonic
and borehole seismic tools.
An asterisk (*) is used to denote a mark of Schlumberger.
Spring 2006
David Linton Johnson joined the rock-physics program
at SDR, Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1979, and is
currently Scientific Advisor and Program Manager of
the Sensor Physics department. He is responsible for
various linear and nonlinear borehole acoustic projects
and remains active in research on properties of granular or porous media. David received his BS degree in
physics from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana,
USA, and earned MS and PhD degrees in theoretical
physics from the University of Chicago. Before joining
Schlumberger, he was a faculty member of Northeastern
University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. David is the
author of numerous publications and holds several
patents. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Andreas Kayser worked for Schlumberger from 2003
until he recently took a position with BP in Sunbury,
England. As a development engineer at SCR, England,
Andreas was responsible for X-ray tomography analysis
and oversaw data acquisition, conversion, visualization
and interpretation. He was also involved in a broad
range of projects using Inside Reality* virtual reality
technology and Petrel* seismic-to-simulation software
for interpretation, visualization and complex well planning. Andreas then moved to Schlumberger Data and
Consulting Services in Doha, Qatar, to work on FMI*
Fullbore Formation MicroImager tool interpretation.
He holds an MS degree in geology from Philipps
University in Marburg, Germany.
Mark Knackstedt earned a BS degree from Columbia
University, New York City, and a PhD degree from Rice
University, Houston, both in chemical engineering. He
is Professor and Head of the Department of Applied
Mathematics at The Australian National University,
Canberra, and a Visiting Professor at the School of
Petroleum Engineering at the University of New
South Wales in Sydney. His work has focused on the
characterization and realistic modeling of disordered
materials. Mark’s primary interests lie in modeling
transport, elastic and multiphase flow properties and
development of 3D tomographic image analysis for
complex materials.
M.A. Mercado Ortiz is Oriental Area Manager for
the Burgos Integral Asset for Pemex Exploración y
Producción. He was previously manager for the
Cuitlahuac group.
Tom Plona, Scientific Advisor at SDR in Ridgefield,
Connecticut, is currently working on new sonic-logging
methods to enhance understanding of geomechanics
problems. Since joining Schlumberger in 1976, he has
conducted basic rock-physics acoustic studies and
participated in numerous acoustic-tool development
projects. Tom is serving as an SPWLA Distinguished
Speaker for the year 2006 and is a prolific author who
holds numerous patents. He has a BS degree in physics
from Providence College, Rhode Island, USA, and MS
and PhD degrees in physics from Georgetown
University, Washington, DC.
Lasse Renlie, based in Stjørdal, Norway, is Lead
Petrophysicist in the Halten/Nordland area of the
Norwegian Sea for Statoil ASA. Before joining the
company in 1998, he worked for Sintef Petroleum
Research in Trondheim. Lasse obtained an MS degree
in physics and a PhD degree in borehole acoustics
from The Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, Trondheim.
John Simonetti is a Technical Consultant for
Schlumberger PTC in New Jersey, where he works on
the application of new materials for the improvement
of nuclear tools. He joined the company in 1982 in the
Ceramic Product Development group and later worked
in the materials technology section and on imaging
detectors, nuclear generators, new scintillator evaluation and neutron monitor development. John earned a
BS degree from Rutgers, The State University of New
Jersey, New Brunswick, and MS and PhD degrees from
Princeton University, all in chemistry.
Bikash Sinha is a Scientific Advisor in the Mathematics
and Modeling program at SDR in Ridgefield,
Connecticut. Since joining Schlumberger in 1979, he
has contributed to many sonic-logging innovations for
geophysical and geomechanical applications and to
the development of high-precision quartz pressure
sensors. He is currently involved in the near-wellbore
characterization of mechanical damage and estimation of formation-stress parameters using borehole
sonic data. Bikash received a B Tech degree (Hons)
from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
and an MS degree from the University of Toronto,
Canada, both in mechanical engineering. He has a
PhD degree in applied mechanics from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA. He has
authored or coauthored more than 135 technical
papers and received 22 US patents. An IEEE Fellow,
Bikash received the 1993 outstanding paper award for
innovative design and development of quartz pressure
sensors published in the IEEE Transactions on
Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control.
Jacob I. Trombka is a Senior Goddard Fellow at the
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
Maryland, USA. He is Team Leader for the X-ray/gamma
ray remote-sensing spectrometers for the Near Earth
Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft. At Goddard,
he has worked on the development of remote-sensing
spectrometers and has been principal investigator,
team member or guest investigator on the US Apollo,
Viking, WIND, SMM and Mars Observer programs
and the Russian Luna, Mars, Phobos and Mars 1996
programs. Jacob began his career at the NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, working on the Ranger gamma
ray spectrometer and studying the applications of Xray, gamma ray and neutron/gamma ray spectroscopy
to planetary remote and in-situ geochemical analysis
systems. The asteroid 1981 ET26 has been renamed
(4990) Trombka for his work in that field. He is a
prolific author and has received many awards. He
earned BS and MS degrees in physics from Wayne
State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA, and a PhD
degree in nuclear science from the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor.
63
Stefan Vajda is Principal Research Scientist and now
works in nuclear detectors at the Schlumberger PTC
in New Jersey. He holds an MS degree from the
University of Bucharest, Romania, and a PhD degree
from the Institute for Nuclear Physics and
Engineering, Bucharest/Magurele, Romania, both in
physics. Stefan joined the company in 1984, working as
a research physicist in neutron and X-ray generators.
He later worked on inorganic scintillator research,
nuclear detectors and gamma ray spectroscopy. He
built a gamma ray spectrometer for the NASA mission
to asteroid 433 Eros, which was successfully completed
in 2001. Stefan has written more than 40 papers and
holds two patents.
Henri-Pierre Valero, Program Manager and Senior
Research Scientist at SDR, Ridgefield, Connecticut,
is involved in the development of algorithms for borehole acoustic tools. He joined the company in 1998 as
a project engineer at Schlumberger KK, Fuchinobe,
Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan, and worked on the
development and implementation of sonic answer
products until his transfer to SDR in 2004. Henri-Pierre
holds a BS degree in science from Rennes University,
France, an MS degree (Hons) in geoscience from
l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Pétroles et Moteurs,
Rueil-Malmaison, France, and a PhD degree (Hons) in
geophysics from Institut de Physique du Globe de
Paris, France.
Stephen Williams is Formation Evaluation Adviser for
Norsk Hydro ASA in Bergen, Norway. He is responsible
for planning, execution and follow-up of formation
evaluation programs on the company’s wells around
the world. He has held a number of formation evaluation positions since he joined Norsk Hydro in 1998.
Before this, he spent 14 years with Schlumberger in
various assignments in operations, technical management, training and management in North and South
America, Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East.
Stephen earned BA and MA degrees in natural sciences from University of Cambridge in England.
Kenneth Winkler is a Principal Research Scientist at
SDR, Ridgefield, Connecticut, working on microsonic
principles, tools and interpretation techniques to produce a high-resolution acoustic-velocity map of the
borehole wall. His other projects include nonlinear
acoustics, flow assurance and pore-pressure studies.
He joined Schlumberger in 1979, setting up the SDR
high-pressure rock properties laboratory. Since
then, he has worked on various programs including
geoacoustics, near-wellbore acoustics and high-resolution microsonic imaging. Ken holds a BS degree in
physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy,
New York, and MS and PhD degrees in geophysics
from Stanford University, California. He has served
as a Distinguished Speaker of SPWLA, and he was
technical editor of SPE Formation Evaluation from
1993 to 1996. The author of many papers, he also
holds several patents.
Murtaza Ziauddin, Schlumberger Principal Engineer
at the Sugar Land Technology Center, works on matrix
stimulation of sandstones and carbonates, CO2 sequestration, hydraulic fracturing, and organic and inorganic scale. He led the development of Virtual Lab*
geochemical simulation software for matrix acidizing,
inorganic scale prediction and water-compatibility
testing. He is involved in developing a predictive rheology model for polymer-base fracturing fluids and with
acidizing models in StimCADE* well stimulation software and WellBook* software application for treatment design, execution and evaluation. Murtaza joined
Schlumberger in 1997 after receiving a BS degree from
the University of Houston, and a PhD degree from the
University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, USA, both in
chemical engineering. He has written many papers
and holds several patents.
Wolfgang Ziegler, Principal Engineer for
Schlumberger PTC, New Jersey, is currently working
on nuclear detector development, focusing on hightemperature applications and new materials. He
joined the company at SDR, Ridgefield, Connecticut, in
1992 to work on measurement concepts later implemented in EcoScope* multifunction logging-whiledrilling tools and researching new detectors for
oilfield applications. He transferred to PTC in 2000
and continued his involvement in those projects.
Wolfgang earned a Diploma in physics from Mainz
University, and a PhD degree in experimental nuclear
physics from Darmstadt University, both in Germany.
Coming in Oilfield Review
Naturally Fractured Reservoirs. The presence of
natural fractures in reservoirs can make otherwise
tight rock productive, but fractures can also negatively
impact porous and permeable reservoirs. This article
examines naturally fractured reservoirs, and how
industry geoscientists and engineers detect,
characterize and model them at various scales and
throughout all stages of reservoir development.
64
Heavy Oil. Dwindling production of conventional oils,
high prices and the need to augment reserves are
revitalizing interest in heavy oil. This article reviews
fluid properties of heavy oil and potential production
scenarios, from mining to in-situ combustion. Case
studies demonstrate techniques for characterizing
heavy-oil reservoirs, determining the best recovery
method, constructing and completing wells, and
monitoring production.
Subsidence and Compaction. Subsidence above
reservoirs may have enormous economic consequences,
which may not be limited to damage to oilfield infrastructure. A large subsidence bowl may cause extensive
damage to surface structures, particularly in low-lying
areas. Compaction results from depleting formations
that are mechanically weak; it is the cause of industryrelated subsidence. The article describes the fundamentals of compaction and subsidence, and includes
case studies from several active fields.
Oilfield Review