A research project, funded by the Munib and Angela Masri Institute of Energy and Natural Resources (Masri Institute) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), has been given a boost by the donation of state-of-the-art software.

Schlumberger, the world’s leading supplier of technology, integrated project management and information solutions to the oil and gas industry, has donated Petrel* seismic to simulation software to the University worth $1.7 million.

The software will be used in a research project aiming to optimise the water flooding process, which artificially induces pressures that cause trapped oil to be released. The research project, led by Dr. George Saad from the University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Dr. Fouad Azizi from the Chemical Engineering Program at FEA, is supported by a two year grant from the Masri Institute. Access to the Petrel* software will greatly improve the reliability of the research in this important project.

The Schlumberger software will also be available to all engineering researchers at AUB. The donation was organised by Mr. Sherif Foda, President, Europe and Africa at Schlumberger, and will support research in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (FEA) in the important areas of oil and gas development.