Markus Albertz, M.Sc., Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

The Woodlands, Texas, United States

• Occidental US Offshore, Gulf of Mexico Asset Development
• Brownfield development
• Infill opportunities
• DHI and AVO analysis
• 4D seismic
• Secondary recovery options

Aramco Americas Houston Research Center - Petroleum Systems Team

• Geological/geophysical support and applied research impacting multiple projects in Saudi Arabia.
• Improved full-field development strategies of Jafurah Basin, Saudi Arabia, a $100 billion investment, by conducting geophysical subsurface characterization.
• Supported Aramco’s net zero goals by initiating the first geoscience sustainability project at Aramco Americas and developing five patentable innovations in carbon and hydrogen management.
• Facilitated applied geomechanics research on natural fractures in the Ghawar field, Saudi Arabia by performing 3D seismic interpretation, velocity model building, and depth conversion.
• Increased Aramco’s visibility through publishing three articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Spring, TX

• Lead operations geoscientist at XTO Energy, Marietta Basin, Oklahoma, USA.Planned and geosteered lateral wells in Marietta Basin, OK to drive profitability.
• Exceeded company objectives by attaining longest laterals and highest average ROP in Marietta Basin.
• Planned and drilled low-cost conventional wells in Hewitt Field, OK, resulting in unexpectedly high production rates.
• Maximized resources by filling 2 roles, geology and geophysics, interpreting 2D and 3D seismic data, depth-converting 3D seismic, and guiding induced seismicity risk assessments.
• Optimized development funding decisions by directing subsurface characterization and resource assessments.
• Ensured regulatory compliance by interacting frequently with Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

Spring. TX. USA

• Lead geoscientist, Gulf of Mexico New Opportunities.Served as lead geoscientist on high-profile Miocene subsalt prospect in Green Canyon.
• Improved exploration strategy by developing scenario-based regional framework and detailed prospect interpretation.
• Enhanced interpretation quality by conducting seismic ray tracing and guiding vector offset output (VOO) optimum stacking.
• Empowered management lease sale selections by building multiple probabilistic assessments.

St. John's, NL, Canada

• Spearheaded Jeanne d'Arc Basin bid parcels, several Hibernia Near-Field Wildcat opportunities, and Jeanne d'Arc Basin salt imaging project.
• Aligned resources toward mechanical and capillary seal capacity evaluation, supplying key data for drill well decisions.
• Designed and executed salt imaging project, delivering new regional interpretations and multiple salt-related traps.
• Provided expertise by generating structural framework interpretation for Flemish Pass exploration project, resulting in drill well decision.
• Played key role as prospect maturation team coordinator and stewarded Eastern Canada prospects through internal technical maturation processes.
• Cultivated best practices by mentoring junior staff in structural geology, fault framework and horizon interpretation, structural framework, 3D seismic interpretation, and resource assessment.

Houston, TX, USA

• Integrated regional data to aid exploration efforts in Gulf of Mexico.
• Created and implemented map-based tool to calculate shut-in tubing pressures, resulting in selection of multiple exploration targets.
• Executed 2D modeling of hydrocarbon migration, leading to advancement of several exploration targets.
• Designed and implemented Excel-based probabilistic calculation of fluid properties and shut-in tubing pressures, facilitating prospect ranking for Gulf of Mexico exploration seriatim.

Houston, TX, USA

• Provided Subject Matter Expertise as lead interpreter on several high-profile prospects.
• Boosted Gulf of Mexico exploration prospect inventory by bringing forward multiple sub-salt traps via reprocessing and iterative seismic interpretation.
• Drafted and executed farm-in evaluation with Equinor, delivering high quality technical products to support farm-in evaluation, including reprocessed 3D seismic, AVO analysis, fluid and pore pressure prediction.
• Acted as key player in annual lease sales, resulting in capture of several lease blocks of a salt-cored anticline in USA / Mexico trans-border region.
• Reduced prospect maturation time by developing "Pseudo-Migration" workflow in Petrel to quickly test impact of velocity changes on subsalt seismic image.
• Drove functional excellence by coordinating integrated trap analysis internship and mentoring summer interns.

Houston, TX, USA

• Established in-house use of forward finite element modeling of geological structures at a variety of scales, business units, and asset life cycles as lead geoscientist.
• Designed and executed numerical models of folding and faulting impacting ExxonMobil’s business in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria.
• Increased seismic interpretation capabilities by simulating patterns of normal faulting in anticline crests, fold geometries in poorly imaged regions, and basin-scale evolution of hydrocarbon traps.
• Led development of finite element forward modeling techniques and code functionality as ExxonMobil representative in COMPSTRUCT industry consortium, producing state-of-the-art modeling techniques.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Performed postdoctoral research in salt and shale tectonics using geodynamic modeling and seismic interpretation.
• Accomplished ground-breaking research resulting in 5 peer-reviewed publications, several invited conference presentations, and workshops in oil and gas industry.
• Published some of the first modern seismic data from Scotian Basin by deciphering regional geology on 2D and 3D seismic.
• Increased modeling capabilities by generating basin-scale finite element models with sedimentation, deformation, and pore pressures with application to Scotian Basin, Niger Delta, and Gulf of Mexico.

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Instructor and Teaching Assistant in Mineralogy and Structural Geology

Ph.D., Geological Sciences (Structural Geology)

Thesis Title: "Contact Aureole Rheology: New Constraints from Fieldwork in Selected Cordilleran Aureoles and from Numerical Modeling".

Visiting Student

M.Sc. (Dipl. Geol.), Structural Geology

Thesis Title: "Structures in the Western part and post-intrusive tilting of the Rieserferner Pluton, Eastern Alps (South-Tyrol, Italy)".