My primary research interest has been the development of innovative tools to address the critical scientific issues concerning hydrocarbon reservoir characterization (both conventional and unconventional), with the goal of improving our understanding of the influence of in-situ stress and pore pressure, pore geometry, multiphase fluid flow and rock physical attributes on reservoir performance. I have also worked on the feasibility study of an impending technology, namely CO2-EOR and its safe geosequestration in Indian mature hydrocarbon fields with the implementation of an interdisciplinary approach, spanning rock physics, geo-mechanical, time-lapse seismic analysis, and reservoir simulation, which could be beneficial to meet India’s quest for energy and mandate of net carbon zero. Another interest I developed recently is to utilize fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing for subsurface characterization and the application of explainable machine learning and quantum computing in geophysics, especially to decipher complex zones of the reservoir that offer hindrances in production. Below are some of my research projects:

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1.  Harnessing AI/ Machine Learning to improve hydrocarbon reservoir characterization

    (Budget: Rs. 22.8 Lakhs     Funding Agency: NGRI SEEDS FUND through CSIR, Govt. of India, 2024 - )

 

Rapid technological developments and emerging digital opportunities promise to transform the oil and gas industry for the better. AI and machine learning are techniques that help us to manage large data sets intelligently. Often considered a subset of AI, machine learning enables computers to learn without being explicitly programmed, finding hidden patterns, and generating new insights. This project aims to solve the complex issues of hydrocarbon reservoirs in a radically faster and more effective way by harnessing innovative machine learning tools – which ultimately will help in building the next generation of reservoir models and their characterization.

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2. Integrated petrophysical, pore pressure, and in-situ stress modeling for enhanced reservoir characterization

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In this project, I am involved in the investigation of qualitative petrophysical analysis, pore pressure and in-situ stress modeling using state-of-the-art ML algorithms and conventional approaches for enhanced reservoir characterization. This will help to understand the framework for defining productive zones and a deep understanding of flow characteristics, including spatial distribution of continuous and discrete reservoir properties for performance prediction of a reservoir.

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3. Deep Seismic Reflection Survey (DSRS) & Magnetotelluric (MT) survey along Chiru, Rajasthan to

   Tikamgarh, M.P, Northern Transect under UNCOVER INDIA

   (Budget: Rs. 9900 Lakhs        Funding Agency: GSI, Govt. of India, 2024 - )

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In this project, I'm actively involved in field data collection, data processing, and interpretation. Our goal is to pinpoint potential mineralization zones and understand their formation through geodynamic studies.

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1. Investigating the origin of Indian Ocean Geoid & Gravity lows: A Geophysical Perspective

   (Funding Agency: DST, Govt. of India)

 

The wide geoid and gravity low in the Indian Ocean to the south of the Indian sub-continent is the largest and most prominent feature in the gravitational field of the earth, whose origin is still indistinct. Basically, gravity field and geoid anomalies provide the most direct evidence of the mass distribution in the earth’s interior, and hence, they hold special significance related to the geodynamics of a region. The main goal of this work was to elucidate the scientific challenge associated with the origin of the Indian Ocean geoid and gravity lows. I was the PI of this project. A conference paper and a scientific paper has been published in Tectonophysics (2021).

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2. Reservoir Modeling and Simulation using the Gas injection method (EOR)

 

As a part of this project, I have accomplished intensive training on PETREL and ECLIPSE conducted by Schlumberger, India, and performed studies on Geomodel building and reservoir simulation for enhanced oil recovery.

 

Visited SINTEF Petroleum Research Centre, Trondheim, Norway, for about 100 days as a Visiting Researcher and took part in the study of the estimation for CO2-enhanced oil recovery in a mature Indian oil field. In this context, I have performed the responsibilities of reservoir modeling and simulation, interpretation of the results, preparing project reports and project execution plans, and working in close integration with project expertise from SINTEF (well engineers, reservoir engineers). As an outcome, two papers were published in SCI journals.

 

3. Rock physics diagnostic for reservoir characterization in low-to-intermediate-porosity sandstones

 

A rock physics model has been developed to analyze the velocity-porosity trends as per the depositional sequences. This has helped us to establish useful relations between seismic observables and porosity. Also, the texture of the rock, the position of diagenetic cement, grain size sorting, the effect of clay, etc., have been analyzed for Cambay Basin, India. A paper has been published in Jour. of Applied Geophys., a SCI journal.

 

4. Extraction of eigenimages from gravity anomalies –an approach towards gravity inversion

 

In this project, we have analysed the gravity data from Jabera-Damoh, Vindhyan basin (India), to extract structural information by eigen images with the help of SVD and multi-fractal methods. We studied different layers that depict the regional as well as local anomaly and the spatial relationship between the deep geological structure and petroleum deposits in the JaberaDamoh region by extracting the gravitational information at a certain frequency to provide valuable evidence for predicting new petroleum deposits in depth.

 

5. A Matlab Project on Simulation of fluid flow in a porous media (reservoir)

 

In this study, the mathematics and the numerics behind reservoir simulation, i.e., the physics that govern the reservoir flow process, are attempted to study. To become familiar with the basics of reservoir simulation a Matlab code is developed. This problem includes a solution to an isotropic homogenous porous media and later to have a real feel of the simulator; a heterogeneous porous media is also considered & results are analyzed.

 

6. Target Detectability & Reservoir Characterization Using 1D Marine Controlled Source ElectroMagntics (CSEM)

 

Various 1D Marine CSEM responses have been generated over a layered earth model to study the feasibility of this method & efficiency in detecting the hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir. The 1D problem has been computed using numerical methods to attain the required accuracy. Further, an attempt has been made to characterize the reservoir by determining the water and Hydrocarbon saturation.​​

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