Practical Aspects of Thermal EOR – An Advanced Course

Ashok K. Singhal, an expert in EOR technologies and horizontal well applications, is a principal consultant with Premier Reservoir Engineering Services, where he provides consulting and training in EOR. He has more than 35 years of worldwide oil and gas experience in heavy oil and tar sand reservoir engineering, horizontal well technology, CO2 flooding, thermal EOR, and waterflood projects. He has lectured on EOR, horizontal well applications, and other topics around the world.

Singhal is an engineering alumnus of Indian School of Mines and the University of Alberta, Edmonton. He earned his PhD in petroleum engineering from the University of California and later taught chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology and petroleum engineering at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Paul L. Bondor, an expert in EOR/IOR technologies and practices, and revitalizing mature oilfields, has worked with Avasthi & Associates, Inc., worldwide energy consulting company, since 2006, as Principal EOR/IOR, Engineering and Economic Evaluation Consultant, and provides consulting and training services in his areas of technical expertise.

Dr. Bondor has over 40 years of worldwide oil and gas industry experience, including 35 years with Royal Dutch/ Shell Group in reservoir engineering research and reservoir engineering practice and supervision; reservoir simulation/modeling; EOR/IOR project design, evaluation and optimization; and deepwater field development planning. He gained extensive engineering experience working on Shell’s steamflood EOR projects in California, and he was Shell’s principal steamflood EOR training instructor. His extensive leadership experience working on reservoir engineering and economics aspects of field development planning (FDP) projects includes working on several major deepwater FDP projects in the Gulf of Mexico. Since his retirement from Shell in 2003, he has continued to consult on EOR technologies and practices, and has lectured extensively on these topics, around the world. He is a co-instructor of two popular public training courses taught under the auspicious of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE): ‘Practical Aspects of Thermal EOR’, and ‘Practical Reservoir Surveillance and Management Techniques for EOR/IOR Projects’.

Dr. Bondor was a SPE Distinguished Lecturer on EOR, during 2010-2011, and in this role he lectured on ‘EOR - The time is Now’ at the SPE chapters around the world. A paper co-authored by him, with Dr. Sam Avasthi, on ‘Planning EOR Projects’, was presented at 2004 SPE International Petroleum Conference in Mexico, held in Puebla, Mexico, during November 2004; and an article based on that paper was published under Management Series in March 2005 issue of the Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT). Another paper co-authored by him, with Dr. Sam Avasthi, on ‘Planning EOR Projects in Offshore Oil Fields’ was presented at 2005 SPE LACPEC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during June 2005. 

Dr. Bondor is an engineering alumnus of Case Western Reserve University, where he earned a B.S. degree in Engineering Science, a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a Ph.D. degree in Engineering; and thereafter he worked in senior-level EOR research and engineering positions at Royal Dutch/ Shell Group for 35 years. He is a long-standing member of SPE, and a Technical Editor of ‘SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering’ journal.

S. M. (Sam) Avasthi, PE, PhD, is Chairman and CEO, and Director of Engineering,  EOR/IOR, and CCUS, at Avasthi & Associates, Inc., a worldwide energy consulting company headquartered in Houston, Texas ( www.AvasthiConsulting.com ). In addition to providing strategic direction and leadership to the company, that he founded in 1990 and that now provides full-service, multi-specialty, integrated consulting services to the worldwide oil & gas industry for onshore and offshore (shallow and deep water), conventional and unconventional/shale, oil, gas, gas-condensate/volatile oil, and heavy (and extra heavy) oil field evaluation, development, and optimization (to maximize oil & gas recovery and project profitability), as well as for improved oil recovery (IOR) / enhanced oil recovery (EOR), CO2 EOR, CCUS / CO2 geosequestration, carbon management, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and related projects, he is active in consulting and training in his areas of technical expertise. 

Dr. Sam Avasthi has over 50 years of worldwide oil & gas industry experience in petroleum engineering, reservoir engineering and simulation/modeling, CO2 EOR project design, evaluation and optimization; revitalizing mature oil fields, and related projects. He has been providing consulting services to the worldwide oil & gas industry since the early 1970s; and has been involved in conducting reservoir engineering and simulation studies of some of the major EOR/IOR projects.

Dr. Sam Avasthi has lectured extensively, around the world, on numerous topics in his areas of technical expertise. He is a co-instructor of several popular public training courses taught under the auspicious of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE): ‘Practical Aspects of CO2 Flooding EOR’, ‘Geological Sequestration of CO2’, ‘Practical Aspects of Thermal EOR’, ‘Practical Aspects of Shale EOR’, ‘Optimizing Gas Fields using Integrated Asset Modeling (IAM), and Introduction to Optimizing Shale Gas and Tight Oil Fields’, ‘Practical Reservoir Surveillance and Management Techniques for EOR/IOR Projects’, ‘Practical Techniques for Screening Deepwater Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration Prospects’.

Dr. Sam Avasthi is an engineering alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Imperial College London, and Texas A&M University (where he earned a Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering). He was a Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering at Rice University; and worked for several years in senior-level petroleum engineering and consulting positions with major integrated global energy and consulting companies before founding Avasthi & Associates, Inc. in 1990. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in Texas, a Legion of Honor member of SPE, and a Technical Editor for four SPE publications (SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering Journal, SPE Production & Operations Journal, SPE Journal, and Oil & Gas Facilities). He can be contacted by email ( Sam.Avasthi@AvasthiConsulting.com ), or at LinkedIn [ Dr. S. M. (Sam) Avasthi, P.E.