Professional Roles and Contributions

I. Leader

  • Founder of the SPE Students Chapter at KFUPM, and served as President (1990-1994)
  • A pioneering member of the development team of King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)
  • Director, Global Energy Markets and Economics Research, KAPSARC
  • Director, Energy Markets Policy and Strategic Research, KAPSARC
  • Director, Energy and Environmental Technology Research, KAPSARC
  • Project lead of Abqaiq gas-cap oil field development using, for the first time of this type of Saudi Aramco fields, horizontal wells and measuring while drilling technologies.
  • Chairman of 2007 SPE Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium.
  • Vice Chairman of 2006 SPE Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium.
  • Chairman of 2007 Safety Awareness Campaign for PE&D, Upstream, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
  • Contributed in the following integrated fields development studies at Saudi Aramco:

II. Innovator

  • Granted one U.S. patent. Al-Fattah, S.M. (2013). Patent No. 8,510,242. Artificial Neural Network Models for Determining Relative Permeability of Hydrocarbon Reservoirs. USA: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • Initiated Saudi Aramco Intelligent Global Energy Market Analytics Center (iMarket©)
  • Developed Saudi Aramco Intelligent Relative Permeability Lab System (iLab©)
  • Developed the artificial intelligence GANNATS model, referring to Genetic-Algorithms Neural-Networks Approach for Time Series
  • Developed Authenticated Business Code Document (ABCD©), Saudi Aramco
  • Developed Saudi Aramco 7Ps Corporate Business Framework Model (7Ps Model©)
  • Developed Accredited Capacity-Building Program (ACBP©), Saudi Aramco
  • Developed the Projects Initiation and Prioritization Strategic Initiative (PIPSI), Saudi Aramco
  • Developed the Multicyclic Modeling Approach; a new generalized and modified Hubbert model.
  • Initiated and implemented the Visiting Fellowship/Professorship Program at KAPSARC
  • Initiated and implemented the Energy & Economics Capacity-Building Program, and the Young Researchers Development Program at KAPSARC
  • Initiated and implemented the Knowledge Exchange & Transfer Programs at KAPSARC

III. Author

  • Authored and coauthored three books. See the Publications page for details.
  • Authored and coauthored 50+ papers. See the Publications section for details.
  • Won 1st place of Best Paper Award at the 2006 SPE Saudi Arabia Technical Symposium.
  • Won the Best PhD Paper Award of Students Paper Contests in 1998 and 1999, respectively, at Texas A&M University, TX, USA.
  • Recipient of the 2016 Outstanding Technical Editor of Energy Policy journal
  • Recipient of the 2013 Outstanding Technical Editor of J. of Natural Gas Science and Engineering
  • Recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Technical Editor for the special issue of “Artificial Intelligence and Petroleum Analytics,” published by J. of Natural Gas Science and Engineering.
  • Recipient of the Best Top 10% of Authors on Social Science Research Network (SSRN) by all-time downloads, since 2015 onward.

IV. Speaker

  • 2019 2nd Artificial Intelligence Week in Middle East, Dubai, UAE, Sep. 9-10.
  • 2013 Oil Price Forecasts and Trends, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milan, Italy, May 23-24.
  • 2011 1st KAPSARC Energy Dialogue, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 20-22.
  • 2011 Saudi Career Fair, Saudi Embassy, Washington DC, USA, June 16.
  • 2010 KAPSARC Job Fair, London, April.
  • 2010 Petroleum Metric Forum, Stanford U.-KAPSARC, Washington DC, USA, Sep. 16-17.
  • 2008-2013 Ambassador Speaker of KAPSARC: From Ideation to Development
  • 2007 SPE Offshore Europe, Aberdeen, UK.
  • 2007 SPE Middle East Oil Show and Conference (MEOS), Manama, Bahrain.
  • 2006 SPE Intelligent Energy Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • 2006 SPE Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
  • 2005 SPE/EAGE Reservoir Characterization and Simulation Symposium, Dubai, UAE.
  • 2005 SPE International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC), Doha, Qatar.
  • 2000 SPE/CERI Gas Technology Symposium, Calgary, Canada.
  • 1999 SPE Eastern Regional Meeting, Charleston, WV, USA.