Opening Address Speaker
Ahmed Al Otaibi
Director in Gas Reservoir Characterization Department - Aramco
Ahmed currently serves as Director in the Gas Reservoir Characterization Department, a role he held since 2018, following his appointment as Manager of Gas Reservoir Characterization in the same year. He brings progressive experience across multi-disciplinary upstream organizations.
His career spans senior leadership and technical roles, including Head of Drilling and Work over Joint Venture (2017–2018), Director (A) of the Upstream Venture Department (2013–2016), and Chief Geologist, Geological Technical Services (2010-2013). Across these roles, Ahmed has developed in-depth experience in prospect development, reservoir characterization, integrated geology and geophysics, and upstream joint venture development and management.
Ahmed holds a Master of Science in Geoscience from Keel University. His current focus is on shaping gas reservoir development strategies grounded in rigorous subsurface evaluation and fit-for-purpose reservoir characterization, supporting long term value creation and sustainable resource development.
Keynote Speakers
Pascal Richard
Structural Geologist, PR Geology
Pascal Richard holds a PhD on strike-slip tectonics. After 30 years with Shell focusing on Structural Geology and Fractured reservoirs, Pascal is now working as an independent. He delivers courses and consultancy with a strong focus on fractured reservoirs. He is developing Virtual Reality dataset, creating Virtual reality field trips and supporting the development of a fracture characterization and modelling software. He also cooperates with universities on research projects with MSc and PhD students.
Volker Vahrenkamp
Professor of Earth Systems Sciences & Engineering, KAUST
Volker Vahrenkamp is Professor of Earth Systems Sciences & Engineering at KAUST. His research aims at securing future energy supply with three main thrusts: 1. Modern and ancient Arabian carbonates; 2. Quantification of reservoir and complex pore heterogeneities; 3.Geothermal Energy potential of Arabia. He is particularly interested in improving economically optimized recovery from existing hydrocarbon reservoirs and integrated renewable energy systems. Before joining KAUST in 2017, he worked 30 years as carbonate geology expert for Shell companies in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates and as Managing Director of Nordic Geothermal LLC in Dubai. He has extensive technical experience covering both exploration and production aspects of the energy business. Volker earned his PhD from the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences in the US.
Mokhles Mezghani
Senior Research Science Consultant, Aramco
Dr. Mokhles Mezghani is a Senior Research Science Consultant at Saudi Aramco's Upstream Advanced Research Center, where he has been leading the development of innovative technologies for reservoir characterization and geological modeling since 2005. With extensive expertise in digital transformation, automation, and subsurface modeling, he has played a key role in advancing solutions that improve efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making across the upstream sector.
Throughout his career, Dr. Mezghani has led the development of several pioneering technologies, including a 2.5D unstructured grid for GigaPowers simulation, software for estimating capillary pressure from conventional log data, an automated core description platform based on high-resolution digital core imaging, and a UAV-based remote sensing platform for outcrop modeling. He has also contributed to the development of autonomous systems for commodities exploration, helping to shape the future of exploration and reservoir management.
Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, Dr. Mezghani worked on a range of projects involving fluid-flow simulation, geological modeling, history matching, and optimization. He also spent six years as a Research Engineer at IFP in France, where he specialized in history matching and the integration of well test, production, and 4D seismic data.
Dr. Mezghani is widely recognized for his contributions to subsurface technology innovation and his commitment to advancing digital solutions that support more effective reservoir characterization and development.
Niccolò Menegoni
Assistant Professor, University of Pavia
Niccolò Menegoni is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pavia, specializing in Rock Mechanics and Geological Modelling. With a deep expertise in fracture network characterization, his work bridges the gap between geological theory and practical industrial applications. Before joining the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, he conducted postdoctoral research at KAUST, where he contributed to significant advancements in carbon capture and storage (CCS) through CO2 mineralization.
