Abdulla Al Blooshi

Vice President, Unconventional Subsurface, ADNOC

Abdulla Al Blooshi is the Vice President, Unconventional Subsurface at ADNOC Onshore, where he leads subsurface strategy across ADNOC’s unconventional oil and gas portfolio, spanning exploration, appraisal, de-risking, and transition to full field execution. With over 20 years of experience across the ADNOC Group, Abdulla has worked across both onshore and offshore assets, covering unconventional resources, marginal field development, and complex sour gas exploration and development. His experience spans ADNOC’s upstream portfolio, including early stage exploration, subsurface de risking, development planning, and integration with facilities and commercial frameworks. He has played a key role in advancing projects from exploration to first oil and gas, supporting FID readiness, cost optimization, and scalable production growth, while aligning subsurface strategies with drilling, completion, facilities, and partner objectives. Abdulla is recognized for combining technical rigor with disciplined capital deployment to deliver resilient, long term value across ADNOC’s strategic upstream portfolio.

Akash Sharma

Vice President of Product Management – AI Product Portfolio, Enverus

Akash Sharma specializes in AI-driven technology solutions and digital transformation. He leads Generative AI strategy across enterprise systems, implementing intelligent solutions that enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. With experience spanning data science, advanced analytics, and energy systems, Akash brings valuable perspective to discussions on AI implementation and grid modernization. He holds degrees in computational data analytics from Georgia Tech and engineering from the University of Houston, with widely cited research papers in technical publications. As a thought leader in digital transformation, Akash has presented at prestigious industry conferences, including SPE, AEE, and INFORMS. His work focuses on leveraging AI applications to optimize resources, improve energy efficiency, and support sustainable technology initiatives across complex systems.

Ali Sloan

Founder and Principal Geologist, Four J Resources, LLC

Ali Sloan is an experienced geoscientist with a passion for collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams to drive value across the oil and gas industry. She specializes in unconventional drilling operations, field development, seismic interpretation, and 3D earth modeling.

Ali began her career with Marathon Oil as an operations and development geologist in the Williston Basin. She then joined Parsley Energy in Austin, TX, where she focused on operations and development geology in the Delaware and Midland Basins and helped build 3D earth models in the Delaware Basin. Following Parsley, Ali worked at Centennial Resource Development in Denver, CO, overseeing development geology across Texas and supporting operations in New Mexico. After the merger of Centennial and Colgate to form Permian Resources, she served as Senior Development Geologist and later as General Manager of Core Geologic, assisting clients with operations and development geology needs. Ali now leads her own consulting company, Four J Resources, LLC.

In addition to her consulting work, Ali is actively involved in the geoscience community. She serves as AAPG Technical Chair-Elect for URTeC, President-Elect of the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, and previously co-chaired the AAPG Women’s Network and served as Treasurer of the AAPG Executive Committee. She is also a past member of the Alumni Board for the College of Wooster.

Outside of her professional work, Ali is the varsity volleyball coach at the International School of Denver High School and enjoys running, biking, and skiing. She lives in Denver, CO with her husband, Justin, their two children, Avery and JW, and their dogs, Scout and Blanca.

Badar Al Busafi

Reservoir Engineering Advisor, Oxy Inc.

Birlie Bourgeois

General Manager – Applied Technology Solutions Shale and Tight Business, Chevron U.S.A., Inc.

Birlie has 25 years experience in the oil and gas industry. Since joining Chevron in 2001, he has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility globally in the areas of asset development, operations, strategy, planning, business development, technology deployment, corporate affairs and people management. Birlie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering from LSU and is a licensed professional engineer in petroleum engineering in the state of Louisiana (Inactive – #32123). He serves on the Industry Advisory Committee to the Department of Petroleum Engineering at LSU. He is married with four daughters.

Bo Hu

Director of Data Science and AI, ConocoPhillips

Dr. Bo Hu is the Director of Data Science and AI at ConocoPhillips, where she leads teams in developing and deploying advanced AI and Machine Learning solutions across diverse petro-technical fields, including Geoscience, Reservoir Engineering, Wells & Production Operations, as well as business functions such as Supply Chain, Finance, and Commercial. With 20 years of experience in the energy sector — including nine years as a Data Scientist for various organizations — Dr. Hu is highly skilled in harnessing data science and AI to address complex industry challenges. She is also a respected industry leader, actively serving in advisory roles for academia and professional societies, such as the SPE Data Science and Engineering Analytics Board. Dr. Hu holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta.

Bob Brackett

Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Bernstein (AB/AllianceBernstein)

Bob Brackett is a senior sell-side research analyst at Bernstein (AB/AllianceBernstein), known for his coverage of energy, metals and mining, and the energy transition, after a long career in the oil and gas industry. He combines technical training as a geoscientist with strategy and finance roles at major energy companies and consultancies. Before joining Bernstein, Brackett was Director of E&P Planning and Director of Corporate Strategy at Hess Corporation, focusing on exploration and production and corporate strategy for a major international oil company. He began his career at ExxonMobil, spending about eight years in exploration, business development, development, research, and petrophysics roles, including work at several ExxonMobil upstream units. Brackett earned a PhD in Earth & Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was a NASA Space Grant Fellow. He holds an MBA from Rice University, reflecting formal training in business and finance alongside his technical background. He also completed a BS in Geophysics and a BA in Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as field geology studies at Indiana University Bloomington.

Bob Fryklund

Vice President and Chief Strategist, Upstream Energy Group at S&P Global Commodity Insights

Bob is a recognized industry thought leader on all aspects of the Upstream. He advises Boards, CEO’s and management teams on strategic direction. He has been involved in many of the industries pivotal projects – TOR acquisition by Petrobras, a $10 billion arbitration; Oil export approval in the US; and restructuring of several of the industries major operators. He focusses on helping companies understand future trends and how to position themselves in the market. He also provides advice on how to build a better narrative for shareholders. Bob has 40 yrs in the industry and has been a senior executive at ConocoPhillips as well as at S&P Global. He sits on four industry Boards and is chair of the supply and demand committee at the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). He is a frequent industry executive speaker as well as media source for the major outlets. Bob holds a AB in Geology from Hamilton College and lives in Houston.

Chris Clarkson

Professor, University of Calgary

Christopher R. Clarkson is the Tamaratt Research Professor in Transitional Energy, and the ARC/Ovintiv Chair in Subsurface Transitional Energy Pathways, in the Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment, and an adjunct professor with the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, at the University of Calgary. His work focus in the industry was on exploration for, and development of, unconventional gas (UG) and light oil (ULO) reservoirs. His research focus, since coming to the University of Calgary in 2009, has been on advanced reservoir characterization and evaluation methods for UG-ULO, such as rate- and pressure-transient analysis, flowback analysis, DFIT analysis, and reservoir sample analysis. He is also interested in the application of these advanced reservoir characterization methods to the evaluation of transitional energy pathways using the subsurface, such as geological CO2 storage, hydrogen storage, geothermal energy, and critical elements recovery. Clarkson is the director of the industry- and government-sponsored research group called “Tight Oil Consortium” and recently-initiated “Transitional Energy Consortium”.

Chris Fredd

President and Co-Founder, Ignovis

Christopher N. Fredd is the President and Co-Founder of Ignovis, where he drives the company’s mission to deliver a step-change in firm, long-duration geothermal energy.  He is also a Founding Partner of Blue Angel Energy, a technology accelerator in the energy sector.  With more than 25 years of technology leadership in oil and gas, he brings subsurface and commercialization expertise to the future of energy addition.  Chris led innovative tracer-based interpretation for fracture system characterization at the Utah FORGE EGS project and contributed to the GEODE task force on completions and stimulation.  He previously held senior technology leadership roles at SLB, including Technology Center Director and Global Business Development Manager.  Chris earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and holds more than 30 granted patents and over 40 publications.

Danny Kingham

PG, Principal Hydrogeologist, GSI Environmental Inc.

Ms. Danny Kingham is a Principal Hydrogeologist at GSI Environmental Inc. and a licensed Professional Geoscientist in Texas, Louisiana, and New York. She serves on the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists and the Texas A&M Geology and Geophysics Department Advisory Committee and contributes as a Subject Matter Expert to the ASBOG Council of Examiners.  With 20+ years of experience, Ms. Kingham has extensive expertise in oil and gas operations and UIC Class I, II, and VI injection well projects, encompassing permitting, regulatory compliance, operations, litigation support, site screening and selection, and environmental risk assessment and mitigation.

Doug Valleau

President – Strategia Innovation and Technology Advisors, LLC

Mr. Douglas Valleau brings 49 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, collaborating with industry, national laboratories, and universities to advance breakthrough innovations in geoscience and engineering. Prior to forming Strategia, he served as Chief Geologist and Director of Unconventional Technology at Hess Corporation. His career also includes leadership and technical roles with ConocoPhillips, Burlington Resources, Maxus, BHP, Monsanto, and Gulf Oil. Mr. Valleau is a certified petroleum geologist in the State of Texas and a recipient of the AAPG Distinguished Service Award. He is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the Houston Geological Society. He currently serves as the AAPG representative on the URTeC Management Committee, is a member of both the URTeC Executive Advisory Board and Technical Program Committee, chairs the Editorial Advisory Board for World Oil magazine, and serves on the University of Florida Department of Geology Academic Advisory Board.

Felipe Silva

Vice President UC Production and Development, ADNOC

Felipe Silva is an experience engineer and technology leader with vast experience in unconventional oil and gas asset. Currently serving as Vice President, Development and Production at ADNOC, he oversees the planning and execution of large-scale unconventional well program and leads multidisciplinary efforts to integrate advanced reservoir characterization, data analytics, and emerging technologies into field development strategies for unconventional reservoirs Throughout his career, Felipe has held key technical and leadership roles at ADNOC, EQT Corporation, Rice Energy, SLB and Ismocol, where he specialized in hydraulic fracturing, reservoir engineering, reservoir simulation, data analytics and completions optimization across major U.S. shale plays including the Marcellus, Utica, Austin Chalk and Eagle Ford. He has also contributed to multiple M&A evaluations, CCUS initiatives, and the development and implementation of engineering tools and workflows.
Felipe holds dual master’s degrees in Petroleum Engineering and Engineering & Technology Management from the Colorado School of Mines, USA, and dual bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

Gayani Pinnawala

Lead EOR Surfactant Specialist, Chevron Upstream Lab

Gayani Pinnawala is the Lead EOR Surfactant Specialist at Chevron’s Upstream Labs, with more than 17 years of experience in surfactant chemistry, formulation design, and laboratory evaluation for chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) applications. Her work focuses on the development and screening of surfactant systems for field deployment, including phase behavior optimization, aqueous stability, interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration, and formulation robustness across a wide range of reservoir and operational conditions.

Her technical experience includes surfactant formulation for high-salinity, high-temperature, and H2S-containing environments, as well as unconventional fracture fluid chemical optimization for shale and tight formations. She has contributed to the design and evaluation of surfactant packages for improved hydrocarbon recovery, emulsion management, and fluid performance under challenging brine compositions and rock-fluid conditions. She has authored or co-authored numerous SPE papers, journal articles, and patent publications in these areas.

Prior to joining Chevron, she worked in the department of Petroleum and Geosystems engineering at the University of Texas at Austin as a research fellow, where she developed surfactant formulations for multiple CEOR applications. Her career has combined fundamental formulation science with applied technology development, supporting both research advancement and practical implementation of surfactant-based solutions for the energy industry. She has master’s degree in chemistry from Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

Ge Jin

Associate Professor, Colorado School of Mines

Dr. Ge Jin is an Associate Professor of Geophysics and Co-director of Reservoir Characterization Project at Colorado School of Mines. His research interests focus on applications of Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing (DFOS) in geoscience and engineering, as well as seismic imaging and machine learning techniques. Dr. Jin has more than 70 publications and 12 granted patents. He received the ARMA Case Study Award in 2025, delivered the AAPG/SEG Distinguished Lecture in 2024, received the Best Paper award at the URTeC conference in 2023 and 2024. Before joining Colorado School of Mines, Dr. Jin worked for five years as a research geophysicist at ConocoPhillips. Dr. Jin earned his Ph.D. in Geophysics from Columbia University and holds dual B.S. degrees in Geophysics and Computer Science from Peking University.

Greg Leveille

Chief Executive Officer, Tidal Wave Technologies

Greg Leveille was ConocoPhillips’ Chief Technology Officer from March 2016 through January 2021. In this and prior senior leadership roles, he profoundly influenced the direction of the company by leading the organization that assembled ConocoPhillips’ acreage positions in the sweet spots of the Eagle Ford and Bakken unconventional reservoir plays; foreseeing 2 ½ years before the late 2014 oil price collapse that U.S. oil production from unconventional reservoirs would grow rapidly enough to collapse oil prices, thereby allowing ConocoPhillips to prepare for such an eventuality; helping influence ConocoPhillips to relentlessly focus on lowering cost of supply by vigorously pursuing technology advancements and other forms of innovation; and causing increased emphasis to be placed upon accelerated adoption of successful innovations, thereby reducing time to value realization. Leveille is a lifetime member of SPE, served previously as the chairman of SPE’s U.S. Advisory Council, and was also chairman of the Executive Advisory Board for the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC).

Harris Cander

Former Vice President, Marathon Oil

Harris Cander is the president of Cander Energy Advisors and co-founder of PetroSonic Partners. Previously, Harris was VP Exploration & Business Development and Chief Geoscientist at Marathon Oil Company and prior to that Harris was VP Exploration at BPX Energy and a Senior Exploration Advisor at BP. While at Marathon, Harris led the discovery of the stacked Woodford – Barnett oil and condensate play in the Delaware Basin. He has been heavily involved in multiple large-scale M&A deals, including Marathon’s acquisition of Ensign in the Eagle Ford Shale, BP’s entry into the Eagle Ford and Woodford plays, and BP’s acquisition of BHP’s onshore U.S. assets. Harris was an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer on unconventional resources from 2009 – 2010 and from 2008 – 2020 Harris was Chairman of the AAPG Unconventional Research Group. Harris currently serves on Advisory Boards for the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, and AAPG. Harris received his MBA from Rice University and his PhD in geochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.

Hermann Lebit

Principal, Alma Energy

Dr. Hermann Lebit is an entrepreneurial geoscientist with a passion for innovative science and technology developments.  He has been a successful oil finder/ explorationist in the hydrocarbon industry, facilitating several play and country entries and was instrumental in securing about 1 Bbo in various onshore and offshore basins. Since 2021 Dr. Lebit leads Alma Energy with major objective to provide a resilient supply in critical minerals. He focuses on innovative solutions for the energy transition that build upon incumbent infrastructure and resources with the goal to provide a resilient supply in critical minerals.
Alma Energy has recently captured a new Lithium play in the domestic oil patch with about 6 million metric tons of recoverable Li2CO3. It is in the process of a fast track pilot for Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) from produced water.
Dr. Lebit is a certified petroleum geologist and has served the international Geoscience community for 15 years as General Secretary of the IUGS commission on Tectonics and Structural Geology, as well as scientific editor of books and journals, author of numerous publications, and as frequent speaker at professional events.

Holden Nash

Founder, Boundary RSS

Holden Nash is founder and CEO of Boundary Remote Subsurface Solutions, developing AI-powered exploration software that accelerates early-stage subsurface decisions for oil & gas, geothermal, and critical minerals. A UC Irvine graduate with a background in regulations and policy, he has directed surveys across the U.S. and Canada. He focuses on turning complex geoscience workflows into reliable, user-friendly products that reduce cycle time and cost while improving interpretation confidence.

Johannes Alvarez

Enhanced Oil Recovery Manager Applied Technology Solutions, Shale & Tight Business, Chevron

Dr. Johannes Alvarez serves as the Enhanced Oil Recovery Manager in the Shale & Tight Business at Chevron Upstream. With over 23 years of experience as a Senior Reservoir and Production Engineer, he has contributed significantly to both industry practices and research and development. Before his current roles, Dr. Alvarez held leadership positions in Production Engineering and Strategic Planning at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). His broad technical expertise includes asset development, production, facilities and process engineering, cross-functional pilots, and IOR/EOR processes across various reservoir types. He is a prolific author of journals and technical papers on EOR/IOR in unconventional and heavy oil reservoirs.
Dr. Alvarez is a 2025-2026 SPE Distinguished Lecturer and is an Industry Board member for the Texas A&M University Petroleum Engineering Department. Also, Dr. Alvarez serves as Chairperson of the 2026 SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, and Forum Chair for the 25th WPC Energy Congress and served as Co-Chair of Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (2021-2025) and Co-Chair of the SPE Midland Basin Energy Conference (2022-2025). He is also a technical editor for SPE and other journals and contributed as a member of the SPE Reservoir Advisory Committee and as Chairperson of the SPE ATCE Reservoir Engineering Subcommittee.
Dr. Alvarez holds a PhD in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University, an MSc from Stanford University, and a BSc from Universidad Simon Bolivar, both in Chemical Engineering.

Jose Benavides

Petroleum Engineering PhD Candidate, Texas A&M University

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Military School of Engineering (EMI) and a Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Houston, where my thesis focused on shale electric properties. During my graduate studies, I completed two consecutive internships with Shell in the petrophysics domain. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. My research interests include carbon capture and storage (CCS), machine learning applications in CCS, fluid-rock interaction, reservoir modeling, and geothermal energy.

Keju Yan

R&D Fellow and Geochemist, Pacific Northwest National Lab

Dr. Yan is a well-rounded subsurface researcher and experienced petroleum engineer who has successfully led cross-functional teams and tackled interdisciplinary challenges in both petroleum fields and lab-scale research.  Currently, he is leading the geochemistry research for critical minerals and hydrogen recovery from unconventional resources (“The Mind of the Future”) at PNNL. His track record includes 20+ publications (patents, research papers), $2M+ project contributions, and 8+ years petroleum industry professionalism.

Ken Newsham

Retired Fellow, Oxy

KENT NEWSHAM is currently working as an independent Petrophysics Consultant in O&G and in the Geothermal space. He has over 47 years of industry experience working as Oxy’s Petrophysics Fellow, Global Chief of Petrophysics, Geoscience Chief of Staff, Sr. Director of Subsurface Characterization, Geologist and Petrophysicist. Prior employers include Occidental, Apache, Anadarko, BP, Amoco, Unocal, Unocal International, Gearhart Industries and Dresser Atlas.

Newsham’s industry experience ranges from field operations, to production, to exploration. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 technical papers, many dealing with unconventional reservoirs, tight gas sand characterization, phase behavior of fluids and Petrophysical-Engineering workflows.  Kent holds four patents in various aspects of core analysis.

Kent is a graduate from Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. degree in Earth Science-Geology and a minor in Marine Science. Newsham is also a graduate of the Amoco Petrophysics Center of Excellence, a masters-based program at Amoco Production Research. He serves on multiple Industrial Advisory Boards including Universities of Calgary, Oklahoma and Penn State and has established numerous academic endowments in Petrophysics, Petroleum Engineering and Geology.

Khaled Abdul Monem Al Kindi

Senior Vice President, Drilling and Wells Services, ADNOC-Upstream

Dr. Khaled Abdul Monem Al Kindi has more than 19 years of experience in the energy industry, spanning drilling and upstream operations. He is currently Senior Vice President, Drilling & Wells Services at ADNOC Upstream, where he provides executive leadership and drives strategic investment decisions across ADNOC’s drilling and oilfield services portfolio, focusing on performance uplift and value creation. He is a Board Executive Committee Member of ADNOC Drilling and a Board Member of several ADNOC joint ventures and international M&A investment platforms. Previously, Dr. Al Kindi served as Senior Vice President, Upper Zakum Offshore, overseeing the safe and sustainable operation of the world’s second-largest offshore oil field. By leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced technologies strengthened ADNOC Offshore’s position as a global leader in low carbon intensity production. Prior to this, he was Senior Vice President, Drilling at ADNOC Onshore, where he led drilling operations across onshore fields and delivered significant efficiency gains through innovation and technology adoption. In 2024, he was appointed Technical Chair of ADIPEC, the world’s largest energy conference, and he is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Middle East. He holds a Doctorate from UAE University, a Master’s degree from Zayed University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Petroleum Institute, UAE

Kirsten Siebach

Associate Professor, Rice University

Kirsten Siebach is an Assistant Professor in the Rice University Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and calls herself a Martian Geologist. She did her PhD at Caltech with Professor John Grotzinger and her bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St Louis. She researches the intersection of igneous and sedimentary processes on Mars and Earth. She is currently a member of the Science and Operations Teams for the Mars 2020 Rover Perseverance and the Mars Science Laboratory Rover Curiosity and previously worked on the science and engineering teams for the Phoenix Lander and the two Mars Exploration Rovers.

Lijun Mu

Chief Technical Expert, CNPC Changqing Oilfield Company

Lijun Mu is the Chief Technical Expert at PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Company and serves as a member of the Academic Committee of PetroChina’s Key Laboratory of Reservoir Stimulation. He has extensive experience in research on fracturing, acidizing, and oil and gas production engineering technologies.

Managing Director, Chord Energy

Managing Director, Chord Energy

Bio coming soon.

Matthew Poole

Senior Exploration Geoscientist, Shell

Bio Coming Soon..

Max Triana

PhD Candidate, Rice University

Maximiliano Triana Camacho is a PhD candidate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. His research focuses on NMR-based characterization of organic matter and hydrogen in unconventional shale reservoirs. He currently serves as President of the SPE Student Chapter at Rice University.

Nancy House

Principal Scientist, Integrated Geophysical Interpretation

Nancy J. House is principal scientist at Integrated Geophysical Interpretation. A member of SEG for 46 years, House has worked as a geophysicist for multinational corporations and small independent oil companies, primarily as an interpreter in onshore and offshore United States, South America, Africa (West and East), and other areas. She is “second-generation oil field,” growing up in South America and Singapore.  
 
She earned a B.A. in geology/geophysics from the University of Wyoming in 1976 and an M.Sc. in geophysics from Colorado School of Mines in 1979 and did additional postgraduate work at Colorado School of Mines in reservoir characterization, economics, and geophysics in 2000–2002, and 2025.   
 
House has served on numerous SEG committees, including International Affairs (precursor to the Global Affairs Committee), GAC, Women’s Network Committee (chair in 2012–2013), finance (chair in 2012–2014), membership, and the organizing committee for the D&P research workshop in Krakow in 2013. She was SEG President from 2017-2018.

Richard Mercer

Vice President, Houlihan Lokey

Mr. Mercer is a member of Houlihan Lokey’s Oil & Gas Group. He has more than a decade of experience in M&A&D, valuation, reservoir engineering, operations, and strategic advisory roles across domestic and international assignments. Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Mercer was a Vice President in Citi’s Global Energy Group, where he worked on numerous A&D and corporate M&A transactions within the upstream and midstream sectors. Before that, he served at Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) in a variety of A&D, engineering, and operations roles with a focus in the Permian Basin. Prior technical assignments span most Lower 48 shale plays, domestic conventional waterflood and EOR projects, as well as offshore and international assignments throughout Deepwater Gulf of America, Latin America, and West Africa. Mr. Mercer earned a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

Sanjay Paranji

Chief Executive Officer, Xecta Digital Labs

Sanjay Paranji is a seasoned energy executive with over 20 years of leadership across reservoir engineering, production, and subsurface operations. He has overseen large-scale upstream operations globally, with direct responsibility for more than $2 billion in spend and a proven track record in driving enterprise-wide digital transformation.
Since founding Xecta in January 2020, Sanjay has served as Chief Executive Officer, leading the Houston-based company’s vision to bring AI- and physics-driven optimization to the upstream oil and gas sector.
Prior to Xecta, Sanjay spent nearly two decades at Anadarko Petroleum, where he held multiple leadership roles, including Chief Technology Officer. In that capacity, he led the company’s digital strategy and applied research efforts across a $40 billion operational footprint. He began his career as a reservoir engineer at Schlumberger, developing deep technical expertise in both conventional and unconventional resource plays.
Sanjay holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University, a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa, and an Executive MBA from Rice University, where he was recognized as a Jones Scholar.

Sheng Peng

Research Associate Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Peng is an interdisciplinary researcher operating at the critical intersection of geology, petrophysics, and engineering. As the PI of the Unconventional Petrophysics Lab, he focuses on sustainable energy development by integrating fundamental subsurface science with applied engineering to drive reservoir-scale decision-making. His research centers on the multiscale characterization of fluid flow within shale and tight formations, utilizing advanced imaging, laboratory analysis, and simulation to bridge the gap between pore-to-core-scale processes and reservoir performance. By developing new methods to measure porosity, nano-Darcy permeability, and wettability, he provides a comprehensive view of how gas, water, oil, and CO2 behave in complex pore-fracture networks. Beyond characterization, Dr. Peng is actively pursuing innovative engineering solutions for improved oil recovery (IOR) in unconventional plays—a mission supported by DOE-funded research, two pending patents, and a unique approach to upscaling intricate physical data into actionable energy solutions.

Son Dang

Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma

Dr. Son Dang is an Assistant Professor of the Mewbourne school of Petroleum and Geological since 2024. He completed his education at the University of Oklahoma, and earning a doctorate degree in Petroleum Engineering in 2019. He worked in the oil and gas industry with different roles, from production to research & development, before starting his academic career at OU. He is currently the PI, managing Integrated Core Characterization Center (IC3), hosted in Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. This research facility includes 6000 sqft laboratory space, with more than 23 million dollars advanced equipment, funded through DOE projects and industry partnership (via two consortia, namely Rock Physics and Unconventional Shale Gas & Oil.) His core research centers around experimental rock physics and unconventional reservoirs. More specifically Dr. Dang’s research focus on fundamental-to-field petrophysics, and gas-chemical-thermal injection Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), which are extended to address the technical, economic and environmental challenges that arise around the petroleum production and emerging geological processes, such as carbon sequestration, underground hydrogen storage, and critical mineral extraction. Ongoing projects are addressing operational efficiency in shale EOR (gas injection and water blockage mitigation – funded by the industry), underground hydrogen storage mechanisms (funded by national laboratories), ore mining characterization and Lithium extraction from subsurface brine and minerals.

Selected Publications:

• ST Dang, S Mamoudou, CS Rai, TA Ho. 2025. Evaluation of hydrogen storage in sandstone reservoirs using 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 27 (3), 1237-1240
• TA Ho, ST Dang, N Dasgupta, A Choudhary, CS Rai, Y Wang. 2024. Nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular simulation study of H2 and CH4 adsorption onto shale and sandstone for hydrogen geological storage. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 51, 158-166
• S Dang, S Mamoudou, C Rai, C Sondergeld. 2023. Experimental observation of diffusion as the main drive mechanism in unconventional shales. SPE/AAPG/SEG Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, D031S064R002
• S Mukherjee, ST Dang, C Rai, C Sondergeld. 2020. Revisiting the concept of wettability for organic-rich tight rocks: Application in formation damage-water blockage. Petrophysics 61 (05), 473-481
• B Min, S Mamoudou, S Dang, A Tinni, C Sondergeld, C Rai. 2020. Comprehensive experimental study of huff-n-puff enhanced oil recovey in eagle ford: Key parameters and recovery mechanism. SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference, D021S018R002
• S Dang. 2019. Understanding the fundamental drive mechanisms for huff-n-puff enhanced oil recovery in tight formations. ShareOK PhD Thesis.

Tarik Itibrout

Vice President Frac and Completions, ADNOC

Tarik Itibrout is Vice President of Fracturing & Completions at ADNOC. With 23 years in oil and gas, he has spent most of his career focused on fracturing, completions, and production optimization, primarily in shale and tight plays across multiple U.S. basins. His background spans operations, technical, and leadership roles at Schlumberger, EOG Resources, WPX Energy, and Devon Energy. Now at ADNOC, Tarik brings deep field and technical expertise to lead efforts in unlocking the potential of the UAE’s unconventional resources.

Tongwei Zhang

Research Scientist, Bureau of Economic Geology

Dr. Zhang, a research professor at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), is an internationally recognized organic geochemist. His research primarily focuses on shale gas and oil storage mechanisms, hydrocarbon geochemistry in unconventional reservoirs, gas-EOR, thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) mechanisms and kinetics, and gas isotopic geochemistry in sedimentary basins. Dr. Zhang established the Organic Geochemistry Laboratory at BEG, The University of Texas at Austin. He has authored over 80 papers, many of which are highly cited, including six that are among the top 1% most cited articles in geosciences. Dr. Zhang received the 2015 Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Award and the 2017 Hitchon Award from the International Association of Geochemistry.

Utkarsh Sinha

Senior Research Engineer, Xecta Digital Labs

Utkarsh Sinha is a Senior Research Engineer within the R&D team at Xecta Digital Labs, where he leads the development of advanced digital technologies for the energy sector, addressing complex challenges in reservoir and production engineering across both conventional and unconventional assets.

With more than seven years of industry experience, Utkarsh specializes in the development of physics informed and hybrid machine learning frameworks that integrate first principles reservoir physics with advanced deep learning architectures. His technical expertise spans reservoir modeling and simulation, reduced order modeling (ROM), data driven modeling and optimization of waterflooding and miscible gas injection processes, production forecasting, artificial lift optimization, and PVT/EOS modeling and analysis. He has authored and co-authored more than 32 technical manuscripts with over 240 citations published across leading peer reviewed journals and flagship international conference proceedings. He is also the co-inventor of six granted and pending patents focused on physics blended, AI enhanced technologies designed to advance intelligent production optimization, reservoir management, and next generation energy industry applications.

Within the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Utkarsh served on the Technical Director’s Advisory Board for the Data Science and Engineering Analytics (DSEA) section from 2020 to 2023 and has held leadership and board roles across multiple steering committees and technical chapters. He has chaired technical sessions, served on technical program committees, and acted as a reviewer at major industry conferences, including the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference and the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference. He also serves as a technical reviewer for several journals, including SPE Journal, Journal of Geoenergy Science and Engineering, and SPE Production & Operations.

Utkarsh holds a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from VIT University, India (2012–2016), and an M.Eng. in Petroleum Engineering from University of Houston (2017–2018), where he was awarded the BP Student Scholarship and the Engineering Dean’s Master Scholarship in recognition of remarkable academic performance.

Vanessa Simões

Senior Data Scientist, SLB

Vanessa Simoes is a Data Scientist at Innovation Factori in Houston, specializing in machine learning applications for subsurface data. She holds a PhD in Mathematics from Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada, two specializations in data science from PUC, and has over a decade of experience at SLB developing solutions for subsurface-related challenges.

Wambui Mutoru

Asset Manager – Southwest Arkansas Lithium, Equinor

Wambui Mutoru is Asset Manager for Southwest Arkansas Lithium – a project of the JV between Standard Lithium and Equinor. Wambui oversees development of a new lithium value chain centered on direct lithium extraction (DLE) from Smackover reservoir brines. With a Ph.D. from Yale and MBA from UT Austin, she brings a robust combination of technical and commercial expertise.

Wei Yu

Chief Technology Officer, SimTech

Dr. Wei Yu is the CTO at SimTech. His research interests include Embedded Discrete Fracture Model (EDFM) technology for modeling complex fracture networks and EDFM-AI for automated history matching. Dr. Yu has published more than 200 technical papers and three books. He holds a PhD in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Xueying Xie

Principal and Director of Unconventional Technology Simulation and Recovery Process Design, Oxy

Xueying Xie is the Principal and Director of Oxy Unconventional Technology Simulation and Recovery Process Design. She leads teams providing technical support for primary field development planning and production optimization, enhancing subsurface workflows and tools, and developing innovative techniques for unconventional resource development. In the past decade, she led teams in designing, piloting, and scaling unconventional Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) processes, and ensured their transfer to the development team.
Xueying joined Oxy in 2016, bringing with her 11 years of experience as a reservoir engineer at Shell. She has extensive industry expertise across a range of conventional and unconventional assets, including oil shale, heavy oil, shale gas, liquid rich shale, unconventional oil, shallow water development, Gulf of American deep-water development and operations, and Enhanced Oil Recovery/Improved Oil Recovery (EOR/IOR). Xueying holds a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from Zhejiang University in China and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Rice University. In her personal time, she enjoys reading, traveling, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.

Yuguang Chen

Principal Reservoir Engineer, Chevron

Yuguang Chen is a Principal Reservoir Engineer in the Reservoir Engineering Center of Excellence within Chevron’s Subsurface organization, where she leads physics‑based forecasting and optimization for shale and tight assets. She has more than 20 years of industry experience, with expertise spanning reservoir simulation, uncertainty quantification, and unconventional asset development.
From 2020 to 2025, Chen served as a Reservoir Engineering Advisor for Chevron’s Mid‑Continent Business Unit, where she led a broad portfolio of technical studies to optimize Permian development strategies, improve production forecast, and enhance capital efficiency. Her work consistently integrates physics‑based modeling with data‑driven insights to support scalable, decision‑focused workflows.
Chen previously served as a Board Member of the SPE Golden Gate Section (2007–2013) and on the SPE Distinguished Lecturer Committee (2022–2025). She currently serves as Executive Editor of SPE Journal and as a member of the URTeC Technical Program Committee. Her professional recognitions include the 2022 URTeC Best Paper Award, the 2023 SPE Regional Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award, the 2024 Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) Professional Achievement Award, and the 2025 SPE A Peer Apart Award.
Chen holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Stanford University

Yuxing Ben

ML Lead, Oxy Applied AI Center of Excellence

Yuxing leads the Machine Learning Engineering team at the Applied AI Center of Excellence at Oxy, overseeing ML projects  and serving as product owner for the structured data pillar that powers many ML efforts. She also drives AI education and co‑hosts the AI Community of Practice, a network of 800+ members. With over 20 years in oil and gas—including nine years at Oxy as a data scientist/reservoir engineer—Yuxing has authored 40+ publications and patents, with 19 papers on AI applications. She is a URTeC Best Paper Award recipient, an SPE Distinguished Lecturer, and holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, with additional research experience at MIT.

Zoya Heidari

Professor, University of Texas

Zoya Heidari is a Professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. She has contributed to the science of rock-fluid characterization and Formation Evaluation through integrated analysis, measurements, and modeling of multi-scale formation data. Zoya has been the founder and director of the UT Austin Industrial Affiliate Research Program on “Multi-Scale Rock Physics” since 2016. She was also the founder and the director of the Texas A&M Joint Industry Research Program on “Multi-Scale Formation Evaluation of Unconventional and Carbonate Reservoirs” from 2012 to 2015. Among her many awards, Zoya is the recipient of the 2026 EAGE Alfred Wegener Award, the 2024 SPE Lester C. Uren Award for Technical Excellence, the 2023 SPE International Formation Evaluation Award, the 2021 SPWLA Distinguished Technical Achievement Award, the 2020 SPWLA Young Professional Technical Award, the 2019 EAGE Arie van Weelden Award, the 2019 AIME Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award, the 2019 SPE Distinguished Membership Award, and the 2017 SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Medal. Zoya has published more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. She has served as a member of the SPE reservoir advisory committee, as an executive editor for the SPE Journal, and as an Associate Editor for the SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering Journal and Geophysics Journal. She served as the Vice President of Education for SPWLA from 2016 to 2018.