Masdar Institute Partners to Create 3D Images and Simulations for Improved Oil Recovery

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 29 March, 2016

The Digital Rock Physics (DRP) project, a research and development (R&D) collaboration with partners including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), French energy firm Total, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and the Petroleum Institute, has won the Oil and Gas Year's 2016 'Partnership of the Year' award.

Dr Steve Griffiths, Vice-President for Research and Interim Associate Provost, Masdar Institute, was presented the award at the ceremony, which also marked the launch of the 'Oil and Gas Year, Abu Dhabi 2016,' published in partnership with ADNOC and the Ministry of Energy, UAE.

This is the first time the organizers have announced the 'Partnership of the Year' category. The finalists were selected at a roundtable event in Abu Dhabi during which 330 executives voted on the award's various criteria. Every year The Oil & Gas Year recognizes the most outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations in the world's most important oil and gas regions.

The DRP project is the first R&D collaboration between ADNOC and Total. The project's objective is to understand how hydrocarbons move through the tiny pores of Abu Dhabi's heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs. This is achieved by pooling the technical resources of Total, ADNOC, Masdar Institute and the Petroleum Institute to map the Abu Dhabi's carbonate geological reserves in order to produce an extensive archive of rock images at multiple scales and leverage this information to develop simulations for fluid flow in oil and gas reservoirs. The project is expected to enhance knowledge of the pore network and pore morphology of Abu Dhabi's reservoirs from the nanoscale to macroscale, with a view toward maximizing oil recovery.

Approximately 70% of the Middle East's oil and 40% of its natural gas is found in carbonate reservoirs such as those being studied in this project. Mature fields in complex carbonate reservoirs generally have less than a 33% recovery rate of available oil, so a more detailed understanding of these field's geomechanical and related properties is essential to achieving ADNOC's target of 70% oil recovery.

Dr Steve Griffiths, Vice-President for Research and Interim Associate Provost, Masdar Institute, said: "We are honored to receive the award with our partners in the DRP project, which demonstrates the emphasis that Masdar Institute places on collaborative research partnerships that have direct benefit to Abu Dhabi and the broader UAE. We believe that this project greatly supports Abu Dhabi's ambitious goals for increased oil recovery, which in turn will help drive further economic development and transformation."

The collaborative research project is aimed at archiving the varying carbonate reserves found in areas deep under the earth's surface where oil and gas is difficult to recover. The aim is to learn more about these formations so that ADNOC and others can make better predictions on the ease or difficulty of extracting oil and gas, which will ultimately cut costs and maximize recovery rates.

Masdar Institute's state-of-the-art microscopy facility is a critical part of this project. Its cutting-edge laboratory helps to scan the rock samples at the nanoscale to generate 3D images of the pore network and pore morphology of typical Abu Dhabi reservoir rock cores. These images are then used in computer simulation of elastic and petro-physical rock properties.

Hatem Nuseibeh, President of Total UAE, said: "We are honored to receive this award along with our partners. This project illustrates Total's long term commitment to maximize oil recovery in Abu Dhabi through collaboration with Masdar Institute, ADNOC and the Petroleum Institute."

Dr. Marc Durandeau, Senior Vice President, Research & Development, Petroleum Institute, said: "The Oil and Gas Year's 2016 'Partnership of the Year' award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of our academic and industrial collaboration. Our objective is to use collective expertise and technology to come up with the best solutions that will help to meet the increasing power demand in the country. Projects like these showcase how combined efforts can help solve some of the most demanding needs and help the country reach the next phase of growth and development."

Dr. Durandeau added: "The project lead on behalf of the Petroleum Institute, Dr. Ali Al-Sumaiti, himself a product of the ADNOC Scholarship Program, demonstrates ADNOC's higher education focused strategy continues to produce tangible impact on the business. This award gives us an impetus to fulfill UAE's vision of an innovative and knowledge-driven future."

Masdar Institute's Dr. Mohamed Sassi, Interim Dean of Faculty, is the principal investigator on the project from the Institute's side, while Dr. Rashid Abu Al-Rub, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, is also closely involved. Others working on DRP include Dr. Mustapha Jouiad, Microscopy Facility Manager and Principal Research Scientist, Dr. Sylvie Chevalier, Research Associate, Dr. Rajakumar S. Devarapalli, Research Engineer, Dr. Bojing Zhu, Research Scientist, and PhD students Titly Faisal and Amina Islam.

-Ends-

About Masdar Institute
The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (Masdar Institute) was established by the government of Abu Dhabi as a not-for-profit, private graduate university to develop indigenous R&D capacity in Abu Dhabi addressing issues of importance to the region.

In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute has developed an academic and research platform that articulates its mission and vision according to critical energy and sustainability challenges.

An important characteristic of Masdar Institute is its focus on complex real-world problems that require a multidisciplinary approach for the development of solutions from an integrated technology, systems and policy perspective. This multi-interdisciplinary and integrated approach is supported by the structure of its academic programs and by the emphasis placed on engaging external partners from industry, government, and other academic institutions in collaborative activities.

Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar's core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi's knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity's toughest challenges such as climate change.

Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

Masdar Institute offers degrees in:

●      MSc Engineering Systems and Management

●      MSc Computing and Information Science

●      MSc Materials Science and Engineering

●      MSc Mechanical Engineering

●      MSc Water and Environmental Engineering

●      MSc Microsystems Engineering

●      MSc Electrical Power Engineering

●      MSc Chemical Engineering

●      MSc Sustainable Critical Infrastructure

●      PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering

Please visit our website www.masdar.ac.ae/

For more information contact:
Name: Shaima Al Jarman
Director - Marketing & Communications
Public Affairs Department
Email: saljarman@masdar.ac.ae
Phone: +971 02 810 9365

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was established in 1971 to operate in all areas of the oil and gas industry.  Since then, ADNOC has steadily broadened its activity in establishing subsidiaries and creating an integrated oil and gas industry in the fields of exploration and production, support services, oil refining and gas processing, chemicals and petrochemicals, maritime transportation, refined products and distribution.

For more than four decades, ADNOC has become one of the world's leading oil companies with substantial business interests in upstream and downstream activities.

ADNOC's efforts in the exploration and production field have concentrated on assessing undiscovered reserves and optimizing hydrocarbon recovery by improving the reservoir management, while ensuring a harmonious balance between society's needs and Earth's resources, setting track records in HSE standards for the rest of the Arabian Gulf.

ADNOC gives top priority to education where it has the following affiliated academic institutions and programs; the Petroleum Institute (PI), ADNOC Technical Institute (ATI), ADNOC Schools, Achievers Oasis and Scholarships programs that aim at training and developing qualified UAE cadre for the energy sector.

ADNOC has affiliate subsidiary companies that include ADCO, ADMA-OPCO, ZADCO, NDC, Al Dhafra Petroleum Operations Company Ltd., Al Yasat Petroleum Operations Company Ltd., Al Reyadah, GASCO, ADGAS, Al Hosn Gas, ELIXIER, TAKREER, ADNOC Distribution, BOROUGE, Borouge Pte Ltd., FERTIL, ESNAAD, IRSHAD, ADNATCO, NGSCO and ADNOC International Ltd.

About Total
Total is one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies in the world, with activities in more than 130 countries and nearly 100,000 employees. Every day Total and its partners put their expertise to work in every part of the industry, including the Exploration & Production of oil and natural gas; Refining & Chemicals; Marketing & Services; and New Energies. Total is working to help satisfy global demand for energy, both now and in the future.

By realizing an increasingly diverse energy mix - including oil, natural gas, solar and biomass -Total aims to deliver more value than any other global energy company, in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and around the world.

For more information, please contact:
Brian O'Neill
Communications Director, Middle East & North Africa
Email: brian.oneill@total.com
Mobile: +97156 413 6252

About The Petroleum Institute
The Petroleum Institute University and Research Center (PI) was established in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates in 2001 with a goal of becoming a world-class institution in both engineering education and energy industry research. PI currently has nearly 2000 undergraduate and graduate students, over 200 faculty, and has quickly become a leading teaching and research institution in the Middle East region. The PI's sponsors and affiliates include the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and four major international oil companies that include BP, Japan Oil Development Company, Shell and Total. The campus has modern instructional laboratories and classroom facilities, and will soon host a major research center, the PI Research Center (PIRC) scheduled to open in 2016.

For more information, visit www.pi.ac.ae
Media Contact:
Wadhha Al Jaberi
Head of Media and Marketing
waljaberi@pi.ac.ae

© Press Release 2016