CPG
Tel: +966 (013) 860-​2728
Fax: +966 (013) 860-4447

Location: Bldg. 76, Rm. 2151

Dr. Dhafer A. Al Shehri

Chairman / Associate Professor, Department of Petroleum Engineering

Dr. Al Shehri is an experienced academic and industry professional with nineteen years of association with Saudi Aramco (1996–2015) and fourteen years with KFUPM starting as a Graduate Assistant (1983–89), a Lecturer (1988–94), and an Assistant Professor (1994–96) He rejoined KFUPM in 2015. He is a member of The Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE), The Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE), The International /Saudi Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), and The Arabian Society for Human Resources Management (ASHRM).

Dr. Al Shehri is a Ph.D. Graduate in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1994 and in 2014 he secured a KFUPM Executive MBA Degree.

Educational Qualification

  • Ph.D., Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, 1994.
  • Executive MBA, KFUPM, KSA, 2014.
  • M.Sc., (Hons.), Petroleum Engineering, KFUPM, KSA, 1987.
  • B.Sc., (Hons.) Petroleum Engineering, KFUPM, KSA, 1983.

Research Interests

  • Petroleum Production Engineering
  • Petroleum Reservoir Engineering and Management
  • Reservoir Characterization
  • Enhanced Oil Recovery
  • Petroleum Economics

Selected Publications

Papers Published in Refereed Journals

  • Zeeshan Tariq, Salaheldin Elkatatny*, Mohamed Mahmoud, Abdulwahab Zaki, Abdulazeez Abdulraheem, Dhafer Al-Shehri, and Mendefro Wa Belayneh “A New Look into the prediction of Static Young’s Modulus and Unconfined Compressive Strength of the Rock using Artificial Intelligence Tools”, Published; Petroleum Geoscience, September 2019 https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2018-126.
  • Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, MD Hasan Zahir, MD. Bashirul Haq, Dhafer A. Al-Shehri, A. Madhan Kumar “Corrosion Inhibition Properties of Waterborne Polyurethane/Cerium Nitrate Coatings on Mild Steel”. January 15, 2018. Coatings https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8010034  
  • Mohammed D. Al-Ajmi, Dhafer Al-Shehri*, Mohamed Mahmoud, Nasser M. Al-Hajri “Risk-Based Approach to Evaluate Casing Integrity in Upstream Wells.” Journal of Energy Resources Technology, July 2, 2018, Vol. 140/12 122901-1. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4040237
  • Bashirul Haq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Jishan Liu, Keyu Liu. “Study of Phase Behavior and Ionic Effect of Green Surfactants in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery” AJ17202. Published. May 28, 2018. The APPEA Journal (58)1 84-93. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17202
  • Dhafer Al-Shehri “Oil and Gas Wells Enhanced Wellbore Casing Integrity Management Through Corrosion Rate Prediction Using Augmented Intelligent Approach”. Manuscript no. 416869. Published. , February 4, 2019 Sustainability Volume 11 Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030818

Extended Publications (+)

Papers Published in Refereed Journals

  • Bashirul Haq, Jishan Liu, Keyu Liu, Esmile Malaki, Dhafer Al-Shehri, “Modification of Eclipse Simulator for Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery” Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology. Published February 22, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-019-0608-y
  • A. Al Shehri*, M. Mahmoud, O.S. Alade “Investigation of Effect of Silica Nanoparticles on the Rheological Characteristics of Water-in-Heavy Oil Emulsion”. Manuscript no. PETROSCI-2018-0532.R1. Published online. June 4, 2019 Petroleum Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12182-019-0330-x
  • S. Alade, D.A. Al-Shehri*, M. Mahmoud, K. Sasaki and Y. Sugai, 2019. “Evaluation of Laminar Flow of Surfactant-Stabilized Bitumen-in-Water Emulsion in Pipe using Computational Fluid Dynamics: Effects of Water content and Salinity”. Journal of Dispersion Science & Technology. Published. May 16, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2019.1614046
  • Mohammad Al Kadem Saudi Aramco, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohamed Mahmoud, Rahul Gajbhiye “Holistic Evaluation of Water Cut in High GOR Wells for Better Production Management” Accepted by Saudi Aramco Journal of Technology spring issue 2019
  • Olalekan S. Alade, Dhafer Al-Shehri*, Mohamed Mahmoud*, Amjed Hassan, Ayman Al Nakhli, and Mohammed Bataweel, “Evaluation of Kinetics and Energetics of Thermochemical Fluids for Enhanced Recovery of Heavy Oil and Liquid Condensate Recovery” Published: Energy & Fuels 2019, 33, 6, 5538-5543 Publication date: April 30, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.9b00681
  • Olalekan Alade, Dhafer Al Shehri *, Mohamed Mahmoud*, Kyuro Sasaki “Viscosity-Temperature-Pressure Relationship of Extra-Heavy Oil (Bitumen): Empirical Modelling versus Artificial Neural Network (ANN)” Energies. Manuscript ID no. 505830 – energies. Published: 21 June 2019; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12122390
  • Ahmed Homoud, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Rahul Gajbhiye “Transient Wellbore Pressure Build-up Correlation helps Engineers to ensure HIPPS Safe operations” August 7, 2019 SPE-199342-PA. SPE Productions and Operations.
  • Amjed M. Hassan, Mohamed A. Mahmoud *, Abdulaziz A. Al-Majed, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Ayman R. Al-Nakhli, Mohammed A. Bataweel “Gas Production from Gas Condensate Reservoirs Using Environmentally Friendly Chemicals” May 18, 2019 Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102838
  • Tamer Moussa, Mohamed Mahmoud, Esmail M. A. Mokheimer, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Shirish Patil “Heavy Oil Recovery using in-situ steam generated by Thermochemicals: A Feasibility Study” Journal of Energy Resources Technology. Published: June 20, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4043862
  • Olalekan Alade, Dhafer Al-Shehri*, Mohamed Mahmoud*, Ayman Al-Nakhli, Mohammed Bataweel, Saheed Ganiyu. “Kinetics of Thermal Degradation of Tar in the Presence of Air and Nitrogen Gas” September 11, 2019 Energy & Fuels. Manuscript ID: ef-2019-02394y. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.9b02394

Papers Published in Conference Proceedings

  •  S. Kadem, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohammad S. Al Dabbous, Ali S. Al-Mashhad, Hassan A. Al-Sadah “Real-time Estimation of Flow Rate in Dry Gas Wells – a New Field” SPE SPE-KSA-132-MS Presented at SPE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition held in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. 25-28 April 2016. https://doi.org/10.2118/182754-MS
  • Mohammed D. Al-Ajmi, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Nasser M. Al-Hajri, Abdullrahman T. Mishkes, Muhammad A. Al-Hajri, “Risk Based Statistical Approach to Predict Casing Leaks” SPE Paper 183948 presented in MEOS 2017, 6-9 May 2017, Bahrain. https://doi.org/10.2118/183948-MS
  • Zeeshan Tariq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Salaheldin Elkatatny*, Mohamed Mahmoud, Abdulwhab Zaki, Abdulazeez Abdulraheem, and Mendefro Wa Belayneh “A New Look into the prediction of Static Young’s Modulus and Unconfined Compressive Strength of the Rock using Artificial Intelligence Tools”, Published; Petroleum Geoscience, September 2019 https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2018-126
  • Mohammed Eliebid, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohamed Mahmoud, Reyad Shawabkeh, Abdullah Sultan, Mohamed Abouelresh, , King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, “Effect of Temperature and CO2 Content on the Natural Gas Production from Shale Gas Reservoirs” SPE-KSA-8466-MS presented in SPE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, 24–27 April 2017. https://doi.org/10.2118/188025-MS
  • Mohammed Eliebid, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Salaheldin Elkatatny,Mohammed Mahmoud, Mohamed Abouelresh, Reyad Shawabkeh. March 2018. “Temperature Impact on Adsorption Contribution to Sequestration of CO2 in Immature Shale Formations in Saudi Arabia”. SPE-KSA-558-MS presented in SPE-KSA Annual Technical Symposium & Exhibition (ATS&E) held in Dammam, 23-26 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.2118/192357-MS
  • Mahmoud Nader Elzenary, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Khaled Z. Abdelgawad, Abdulazeez Abdulraheem, Mohamed Mahmoud, Salaheldin Elkatatny, All SPE Members. March 2018. “New Technology to Evaluate Circulating Density While Drilling Using Artificial Intelligence” SPE-KSA-110373-MS presented in SPE-KSA Annual Technical Symposium & Exhibition (ATS&E) held in Dammam, 23-26 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.2118/192282-MS
  • Mahmoud Nader Elzenary, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Khaled Z. Abdelgawad, Mohamed Mahmoud, Salaheldin Elkatatny KFUPM, Mahmoud Abughaban Saudi Aramco All SPE Members. March 2018. “Drilling with Advanced Rotary Steerable System; Case study” SPE-KSA-110373-MS presented in SPE-KSA Annual Technical Symposium & Exhibition (ATS&E) held in Dammam, 23-26 April 2018.
  • Khalid H. Al Zani, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Salaheldin Elkatatny, Abdulaziz Abdulraheem, Mohamed Mahmoud KFUPM, March 2018. “Real Time Prediction of the Rheological Properties of Oil-Based Drilling fluids Using Artificial Neural Networks” SPE-192199-MS presented in SPE-KSA Annual Technical Symposium & Exhibition (ATS&E) held in Dammam, 23-26 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.2118/192199-MS
  • MD Bashirul Haq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Mohamed Said Elsahat Mohammed, Yee-kwong Leong, UWA March 2018. “Acrylate Modified Xanthan Gum for EOR Application” Paper number: 117 presented in Chemical Engineering in Australia (CHEMECA 2018) held in Queenstown New Zealand , 30 September – 03 October 2018
  • MD Bashirul Haq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Mohamed Said Elsahat Mohammed, Lionel Talley Fogang, Moaz Abdelkader Abdelwahib Hiba, Moustafa Taha Moustafa Aly, KFUPM, Yee-kwong Leong, UWA March 2018. “Xanthan Gum/Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Polymer Solution: A Promising Blend for Temperature-Resistant and Salt-Tolerant Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes” Paper number: 62 presented in Chemical Engineering in Australia (CHEMECA 2018) held in Queenstown New Zealand , 30 September – 03 October 2018
  • Abdulraheem, A., Al-Shehri, D.A, Mahmoud, M. A. “On Utilizing Functional Network to Develop Mathematical Model for Poisson’s Ratio Determination” ARMA-2018–744 presented at the 52nd US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium held in Seattle, Washington, USA, 17–20 June 2018. https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/ARMA-2018-744
  • Zeeshan Tariq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohamed Mahmoud, Najmudeen Sibaweihi, Ahmed Sadeed, M. Enamul Hossain; “A Stochastic Optimization Approach for Profit Maximization Using AlkalineSurfactant-Polymer Flooding in Complex Reservoirs” SPE-KSA-110373-MS presented in SPE-KSA Annual Technical Symposium & Exhibition (ATS&E) held in Dammam, 23-26 April 2018. https://doi.org/10.2118/192243-MS
  • Zeeshan Tariq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Mohamed Mahmoud, Abdulazeez Abdulraheem, Muhammad Rasheed Khan and Aneeq Nasir Janjua; “An Intelligent Solution to Forecast Pressure Drop in a Vertical Well Having Multiphase Flow Using Functional Network Technique” SPE-195656-MS accepted in PAPG/SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Islamabad Pakistan , 10-12 December 2018. https://doi.org/10.2118/195656-MS
  • MD Bashirul Haq, Dhafer Al-Shehri, MD Abdul Aziz, Abbas Saeed Hakeem, Yazan Ghassan Musa Mheibesh, Mohammed Ameen Ahmed Qasem “Date-leaf Carbon Micro-Nanostructured Particles (DLCMNPs) For Enhance Oil Recovery” SPE-194789-MS accepted in 21st SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS) held in Bahrain , 18-21, March 2019 https://doi.org/10.2118/194789-MS
  • Shabab H. AlOtaibi, Yildiray Cinar, Saudi Aramco Dhafer Al-Shehri, KFUPM; “Analysis of Water/Oil Ratio in Complex Carbonate Reservoirs under Water-Flood” SPE-194982-MS presented at the SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS) to be held in Bahrain , 18-21, March 2019  https://doi.org/10.2118/194982-MS
  • S. Alade, D. Al-Shehri, M. Mahmoud, K. Sasaki, Y. Sugai; “Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Evaluation of Laminar Flow of Bitumen-in-Water Emulsion Stabilized by Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA): Effects of Salinity and Water Cut”   SPE-194778-MS presented at the SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS) to be held in Bahrain , 18-21, March 2019. https://doi.org/10.2118/194778-MS
  • Ahmed A. Al-Sulaiman, Krinis Dimitrios, Saudi Aramco, Dhafer Al-Shehri “Influence of Surface Choke on Water Cut and Flow Profile  in Horizontal Wellbores Intersecting  Fractures and Super-Ks” SPE-194960-MS presented at the SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS) to be held in Bahrain , 18-21, March 2019. https://doi.org/10.2118/194960-MS
  • Al-Shehri, D.A., Haq, B., “A Novel Approach in Gas Well Performance Monitoring and Forecasting using Modified Decline curve Analysis “ Paper number: IPTC-20322 for presentation at the 12th International Petroleum Technology Conference and Exhibition (IPTC) to be on held 13-15 January 2020 in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
  • Al-Shehri, D.A., Opoku, D. “Holistic Approach to Estimate Water breakthrough; a Case Study” 4th Kuwait Oil & Gas Conference and Show. October 13-16, 2019. SPE-198143-MS http://e.ctt.bz/e.asp?e=616E61D6-AB13-415C-94AC-CD9084E31E17 
  • Al-Shehri, D.A., “Comprehensive Evaluation Of Water Breakthrough With A Novel Method To Estimate Water Production” Paper number: SPE-198643-MS to be presented at the Gas & Oil Technology Showcase and Conference to be on held 21-23 October 2019 in Dubai, UAE.
  • Haq, MD Bashirul, Al-Shehri, Dhafer, Hasan Zahidul, Mohammed Isah, 2019 “A New Mathematical Workflow to Predict Permeability Variation Using Flowing Gas Material Balance” Paper number: OTC-30454-MS for presentation as a Knowledge Sharing Electronic Poster (ePoster) at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia to be on held March 24-27, 2020 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Tariq, Z., Mahmoud, Al-Shehri, D.,, Abdulraheem, A. , Al-Nakhil, A., Bataweel, M., Murtaza, M., 2019 “A Novel and Environmentally Friendly Approach to Reduce the Breakdown Pressure of Unconventional Rocks using Cyclic Injection Scheme” SPE-197595-MS for presentation at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition to be held on  November 11-14, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
  • Tariq, Z., Al-Shehri, D., Mahmoud, M., Abdulraheem, A. , Al-Nakhil, A., Bataweel, M.,2019 “A Novel Thermochemical Fracturing Approach to Reduce the Fracture Pressure of High Strength Rocks” SPE-197593-MS for presentation  at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition to be held on  November 11-14, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
  • Tariq, Z., Al-Shehri, D., Mahmoud, M., Abdulraheem, A. , Al-Nakhil, A., Bataweel, M.,2019 “An Experimental Evaluation of Thermochemical Fracturing in Layered Formations” SPE-MS for presentation  at the SPE/APG Annual Technical Conference to be held on  November 18-20, 2019 in Islamabad, Pakistan

Membership and Association with Professional Groups

  • Society of Petroleum Engineering.
  • Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE).
  • International/Saudi Association for Energy Economics (IAEE/ SAEE).
  • Arabian Society for Human Resource Management (ASHRM).
  • Society of Petro-physicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA).
  • Reviewer for Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology.
  • Reviewer for Taif University Deanship of Scientific Research.

Awards & Honors

  • 2019 recipient of International Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Distinguished Membership Award.
  • 2018 Executive Board Member of the International Petroleum Engineering Department Heads Association (PEDHA)
  • 18 years of Distinguished Service award with Saudi Aramco
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