Dr. Khaled Hussein Al-Azani

Post-Doc Researcher, Department of Petroleum Engineering

Dr. Al-Azani joined the Department of Petroleum Engineering as a postdoctoral researcher in September 2024. Before this, he served as a teaching assistant in the same department from 2016 to May 2024 while pursuing his master’s and Ph.D. degrees. He worked at Schlumberger Dhahran Center for Carbonate Research (SDCR), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, as an intern in 2015. His research interest includes chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR), CO₂-EOR, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), as well as leveraging machine learning applications in the oil and gas sector. His research expertise has equipped him with extensive experience in efficiently conducting core flooding experiments and utilizing high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) PVT systems, and operating a range of advanced analytical instruments. Dr. Al-Azani has authored and co-authored more than ten peer-reviewed papers published in high-impact journals, alongside different presentations at local and international conferences. Dr. Al-Azani is an active member of different professional societies and associations including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Society of Well Log Analysists (SPWLA), American of Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA).

Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YqsZue0AAAAJ&hl=en

Educational Qualification

Ph.D., Petroleum Engineering, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, 2024
M.S., Petroleum Engineering, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, 2019
B.S., Petroleum Engineering, KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, 2016

Research Interests

Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery
CO₂ Enhanced Oil Recovery
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS)
Pressure/Volume/Temperature (PVT) Relationships
Applications of Machine Learning in Oil & Gas

Selected Publications

Journal Publications

Al-Azani, K.; Abu-Khamsin, S.; Alotaibi, M.; Kamal, M.S.; Patil, S.; Fahmi, M.; Hussain, S.M.S.; Synergistic Performance of A Gemini Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery Under Harsh Conditions. Fuel 2024, 374: 132359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2024.132359.
Al-Azani, K., Abu-Khamsin, S., Elsayed, M., Patil, S., Shakil Hussain, S. M., Al Shalabi, E., Hassan, A. M., & Kamal, M. S.; Chemical enhanced oil recovery under harsh conditions: Investigation of rock permeability and insights from NMR measurements. Geoenergy Science and Engineering 2024: 212764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoen.2024.212764.
Al-Azani, K.; Abu-Khamsin, S.; Kamal, M.S.; Patil, S.; Hussain, S.M.S.; Al-Shehri, D.; Mahmoud, M.; Role of Injection Rate on Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Gemini Surfactant under Harsh Conditions. Energy & Fuels 2024, 38(5): 3682–3692. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.3c04505.
Al-Azani, K.; Abu-Khamsin, S.; Kamal, M.S.; Patil, S.; Zhou, X.; Hussain, S.M.S.; Mahmoud, M.; Enhanced Oil Recovery in Carbonate Reservoirs Using Single Component Synthesized Surfactants under Harsh Reservoir Conditions. Energy & Fuels 2023, 37(15): 11004–11016. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.3c01909.
Al-Azani, K.; Abu-Khamsin, S.; Al-Abdrabalnabi, R.; Kamal, M. S.; Patil, S.; Zhou, X.; Hussain, S. M. S.; Al Shalabi, E. Oil Recovery Performance by Surfactant Flooding: A Perspective on Multiscale Evaluation Methods. Energy & Fuels 2022, 36 (22), 13451–13478. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c02544.
Al-Azani, K. H.; Abu-Khamsin, S. A.; Sultan, A. S. Experimental Study of Blending CO₂ with Triethyl Citrate for Mitigating Gravity Override During Reservoir Flooding. Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 2021, 46 (7), 6787–6796. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-020-04901-z.
Al-Azani, K.; El-Husseiny, A.; Mahmoud, M.; Al-Yousef, H.; Elsayed, M. Numerical and Experimental Study to Determine the Permeability Anisotropy in Porous Rocks from Probe Permeameter Measurements. Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 2021, 46 (7), 7019–7030. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05433-w.
Al-AbdulJabbar, A.; Al-Azani, K.; Elkatatny, S. Estimation of Reservoir Porosity From Drilling Parameters Using Artificial Neural Networks. Petrophysics – SPWLA J. Form. Eval. Reserv. Descr. 2020, 61 (03), 318–330. https://doi.org/10.30632/PJV61N3-2020a5.
Al-Azani, K. H.; Abu-Khamsin, S. A.; Sultan, A. S. Solubilities of Carbon Dioxide in Ethyl Benzoate and Triethyl Citrate at High Temperatures and Pressures. J. Chem. Eng. Data 2020, 65 (4), 1857–1868. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jced.9b01092.
Al-Azani, K.; Elkatatny, S.; Ali, A.; Ramadan, E.; Abdulraheem, A. Cutting Concentration Prediction in Horizontal and Deviated Wells Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques. J. Pet. Explor. Prod. Technol. 2019, 9 (4), 2769–2779. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-019-0672-3.

Conference Papers

Al-Azani, K.; Al-Yousef, H.; Mahmoud, M. Effect of Permeability Anisotropy on Probe Permeameter Measurements. SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference. Society of Petroleum Engineers: Manama, Bahrain 2019. https://doi.org/10.2118/194769-MS.
Al-Azani, K.; Elkatatny, S.; Abdulraheem, A.; Mahmoud, M.; Al-Shehri, D. Real-Time Prediction of the Rheological Properties of Oil-Based Drilling Fluids Using Artificial Neural Networks. SPE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition. Society of Petroleum Engineers: Dammam, Saudi Arabia 2018. https://doi.org/10.2118/192199-MS.
Al-Azani, K.; Elkatatny, S.; Abdulraheem, A.; Mahmoud, M.; Ali, A. Prediction of Cutting Concentration in Horizontal and Deviated Wells Using Support Vector Machine. In SPE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition; Society of Petroleum Engineers: Dammam, Saudi Arabia, 2018. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.2118/192193-MS.
Al-Jaberi, J.; Al-Azani, K.; Fraim, M. Calculation of Sulfur Deposition in Gas Condensate Wells in Middle East. In Society of Petroleum Engineers – SPE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition 2017; Society of Petroleum Engineers: Dammam, Saudi Arabia, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2118/188000-MS

Awards & Honors