Dr. Ruud Weijermars
Professor, Program Leader – Geomechanics, CIPR, Department of Petroleum Engineering
Weijermars conducts original research in petroleum engineering to develop new tools and methods related to the quantification and visualization of (1) fluid flow in porous media, and (2) fracture propagation. He has developed new production forecasting tools and reserves estimation methods to support industry, with a heavy focus on unconventional resource development. Prior to joining KFUPM in 2021, Weijermars worked at Texas A&M University and the Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Texas at Austin — he was a postdoc at ETH Zurich in the late 1980s.
Educational Qualification
- Habilitation, Uppsala University
- Ph.D. in Geodynamics, Uppsala University
- MS in Geosciences, University of Amsterdam
- BS in Geosciences, University of Amsterdam
Research Interests
- Flow in Fractured Porous Media
- Hydraulic Fracture Propagation
- Wellbore Stability under Anisotropy
- Production Forecasting and Reserves Estimation
Selected Publications
• Weijermars, R., 2020. Improving Well Productivity – Ways to Reduce the Lag between the Diffusive and Convective Time of Flight in Shale Wells. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107344
• Weijermars, R., Pham, T., and Ettehad, M., 2020. Linear Superposition Method (LSM) for Solving Stress Tensor Fields and Displacement Vector Fields: Application to Multiple Pressure-Loaded Circular Holes in an Elastic Plate with Far-Field Stress. Applied Mathematics and Computation, Volume 381, 125234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2020.125234
• Weijermars, R., Nandlal, K., Tugan, M.F., Dusterhoft, R., and Stegent, N., 2020. Hydraulic Fracture Test Site Drained Rock Volume and Recovery Factors Visualized by Scaled Complex Analysis Models: Emulating Multiple Data Sources (production rates, Water Cuts, Pressure Gauges, Flow Regime Changes, and b-sigmoids). Unconventional Resources Technology Conference held in Austin, Texas, USA, 20-22 July 2020, URTeC 2020-2434. A
• Weijermars, R., Wang, J., and Pham, T., 2020. Borehole failure mechanisms in naturally and hydraulically fractured formations investigated with a fast time-stepped linear superposition method (TLSM). ARMA 20-1999.
• Pham, T., and Weijermars, R., 2020. Solving Stress Tensor Fields around Multiple Pressure-Loaded Fractures using a Linear Superposition Method (LSM). Applied Mathematical Modeling, Volume 88, December 2020, Pages 418-436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2020.06.041
• Weijermars, R., Wang, J., and Nelson, R., 2020. Elastic Anisotropy in shale formations and its effect on near-borehole stress fields and failure modes. Earth-Science Reviews, Volume 200, article id. 102957. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102957.
• Weijermars, R., and Ettehad, M., 2019. Displacement field potentials for deformation in elastic media: Theory and Application to Pressure-Loaded Boreholes. Applied Mathematics and Computation, vol. 340, p. 276–295.
• Khanal, A., and Weijermars, R. 2019. Pressure Depletion and Drained Rock Volume (DRV) near Hydraulically Fractured Parent and Child Wells (Eagle Ford Formation). Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, vol. 172, p. 607-626.
• Harmelen, A. and Weijermars, R. 2018. Complex analytical solutions for flow in hydraulically fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs with and without natural fractures. Applied Mathematical Modelling, vol. 56, p. 137-157.
Awards & Honors
- SPE Distinguished Membership Award, Texas A&M University, USA
- Distinguished Researcher Award, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia.
- King Oscar Prize for Research/Teaching, University of Uppsala, Sweden.