GaryPope

Gary Pope standing in front of chalkboard in classroom with his arms crossed.
Professor Emeritus

Research Areas
Research Interests

Enhanced oil recovery; Geological storage of CO2; Reservoir simulation; Natural gas engineering; Petrophysics

About

Gary Pope is a professor emeritus and previous chair of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and holds the Texaco Centennial Chair in Petroleum Engineering. Before joining UT in 1977, he worked in production research at Shell Development Company for five years.

Pope’s research interests are in the areas of enhanced oil recovery, geological storage of CO₂, reservoir simulation, natural gas engineering and petrophysics. He has authored or co-authored more than 210 technical papers on these topics and has supervised the research of more than 120 graduate students under his supervision.

He was the director of the Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment for 25 years, developing it into one of the largest research units on campus, with its research funding reaching $23 million in his last year as director. He worked with professors Kamy Sepehrnoori and Mojdeh Delshad to make UTCHEM Simulator into the 3D code now used worldwide by oil and gas companies, as well as universities and federal government agencies.

Pope was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999 for his contributions to understanding multi-phase flow and transport in porous media and applications of these principles to improved oil recovery and aquifer remediation.

Educational Qualifications

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Rice University, 1971
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 1967

Select Awards & Honors

  • Inventor of the Year – The University of Texas at Austin (2018)
  • Honorary Member Award – Society of Petroleum Engineers (2008)
  • Environmental Conservation Distinguished Service Award – AIME (2008)
  • Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award – The University of Texas at Austin (2006)
  • IOR Pioneer Award – Society of Petroleum Engineers (2006)
  • Lohmann Medal (2006)
  • Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal – SPE/AIME (2004)
  • John Franklin Carll Award – Society of Petroleum Engineers (2002)
  • Distinguished Achievement Award – Society of Petroleum Engineers (1996)
  • Distinguished Member Award – Society of Petroleum Engineers (1995)
  • Reservoir Engineering Award – Society of Petroleum Engineers (1991)

Select Publications

Google Scholar

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