Back to Faculty Directory
Photo of van Oort, Eric

vanoort@austin.utexas.edu
512-471-6262
Office Location: EER 5.614B

Eric van Oort

Professor

Joe J. King Chair of Engineering No. 2 and B. J. Lancaster Professorship in Petroleum Engineering

Department Research Areas:
Drilling and Completions
Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Geomechanics
Unconventional Resources

Research Websites: RAPID http://drilling.utexas.edu/ ; CODA http://coda.drilling.utexas.edu/

Educational Qualifications:

Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, Chemical Physics, 1990

M.S., University of Amsterdam, Chemical Physics, 1986

B.S., University of Amsterdam, Chemistry, 1983

Barlaeus Gymnasium, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1982                                          

PGE Courses Taught:

PGE 379/381 - Drilling Engineering

PGE 383 - Advanced Well Construction

PGE 430 - Introduction to Drilling & Completions

Research Interests:

Drilling automation (RAPID consortium)

Big Data Analytics (RAPID consortium)

Zonal isolation / cementing / well abandonment & decommissioning (CODA consortium)

Borehole instability / lost circulation prevention, and artificial borehole strengthening (CODA consortium)

Shale-fluid interaction and novel shale drilling fluids, use of nano-particles

Real-time operations monitoring (RTM)

Hydraulic fracturing optimization and associated water management

Quantum computing

Awards & Honors:

Society of Petroleum Engineers Drilling Engineering Award, 2017.

Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Member Award, 2016.

Society of Petroleum Engineers Best Paper Award, SPE D&C (September Issue, 1997).

Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecturer (1996).

KSEPL Experimental Award, awarded for best experimental work in Shell Research (1994).

Invited Speaker, GE Sensing Systems: Intelligence & Awareness, Niskayuna, Sept. 5, 2018.

Invited Speaker, Deepwater Horizon: The Movie & The Actual Event, Princeton, Apr. 20, 2018.

Co-Organizer, SPE-WIA 2019 Conference on Well Abandonment and Decommissioning.

Co-Organizer, AADE 2017 & 2019 National Technical Conference.

Co-Organizer, AADE 2016 & 2018 National Fluids Conference.

Co-Organizer, OESI / BSEE RTM Workshop, Houston, TX, April 17, 2017.

Co-Organizer, SPE Deepwater Drilling & Completions Conference, 2016.

Highlighted Publications and Google Scholar Profile:

van Oort, E., Incedalip, O., Karimi Vajargah, A., Thermal Wellbore Strengthening through Managed Temperature Drilling – Part I: Thermal Model and Simulation, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 58 (2018), 275-284

van Oort, E., Hoxha, B.B., and Hale, A.H., Thermal Wellbore Strengthening through Managed Temperature Drilling – Part II: Chemical System Design and Laboratory Testing, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 58 (2018), 285-295

Enayatpour, S., van Oort, E., & Patzek, T. (2018). Thermal shale fracturing simulation using the Cohesive Zone Method (CZM). Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 55, 476-494.

Cayeux, E., Shor, R., Ambrus, A., Pournazari, P., Ashok, P., & van Oort, E. (2018). From shallow horizontal drilling to ERD wells: How scale affects drillability and the management of drilling incidents. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 160, 91-105, doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2017.10.026

Wu, Q., Nair, S., Shuck, M., van Oort, E., Guzik, A., Kishida, K., Advanced distributed fiber optic sensors for monitoring real-time cementing operations and long term zonal  isolation, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2017.08.072.

Razavi, O., Vajargah, A. K., van Oort, E., & Aldin, M. (2017). Comprehensive analysis of initiation and propagation pressures in drilling induced fractures. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 149, 228-243.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2016.10.039

Karimi Vajargah, A., van Oort, E. “Determination of Downhole Drilling Fluid Rheology Using Real-time Distributed Pressure Sensors”. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Volume 24, May 2015, Pages 400-11

Adrian Ambrus, Ulf Jakob Flø Aarsnes, Ali Karimi Vajargah, Babak Akbari, Eric van Oort, Ole Morten Aamo. Real-time estimation of reservoir influx rate and pore pressure using a simplified transient two-phase flow model. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Volume 32, May 2016, Pages 439-452.

Karimi Vajargah, A., van Oort, E. “Determination of Downhole Drilling Fluid Rheology Using Real-time Distributed Pressure Sensors”. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Volume 24, May 2015, Pages 400-11

Gradishar, J., Ugueto, G. and van Oort, E.: “Setting Free the Bear: The Challenges and Lessons of the Ursa A-10 Deepwater ERD well”, peer-reviewed paper SPE 163525-PA, SPE Drilling & Completions, 2014

van Oort, E., Vargo, R.: Improving Formation Strength Tests and Their Interpretation, SPE Drilling and Completions, September 2008, P.284-294

van Oort, E.: On the Physical and Chemical Stability of Shales, J. Pet. Sci. & Engr., 1051 (2003), 1-23

van Oort, E., Hale, A.H., Mody, F.K. and Roy, S.,: Transport in shales and the design of improved water-based shale drilling fluids. SPE Drilling & Completions, 1996, September.

Karaborni, S., Smit, B., Heidug, W., Urai, J.L. and van Oort, E., The swelling of clays : molecular simulations of the hydration of montmorillonite. Science, 1996, 271(23 February), p. 1102-1104.

van Oort, E., Manson, N.B. and Glasbeek, M.: Optically Detected Spin Coherence of the Diamond N-V Centre in its Triplet Ground State, J.Phys.C.: Solid State Physics 21, 1988, 4385-4391

Quotations in the Press: