Dr. Abad has been working in the oil and natural gas industry since 1976. His specialty, work, experience and professional practice have involved teaching in higher education centers and companies in the USA, Japan, Venezuela and Ecuador; development of numerical simulators, characterization, modeling and mathematical simulation of oil, natural gas and condensate reservoirs, economic and risk analysis (Monte Carlo); evaluation of oil and natural gas prospects and projects; design and implementation of water injection projects, enhanced oil recovery – Invasion with caustic fluids, CO2 and carbonated water and steam injection (continuous and cyclical).

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Dr. Abad is a specialist in project evaluation and development, risk analysis, managerial, technical & administrative teams’ integration, as well as structuring financing, acquisition, and divestiture of hydrocarbon projects.  He has worked in the USA, including Texas, California, and Louisiana; the United Kingdom and Norway offshore; Colombia and Ecuador; and has conducted reservoir engineering and field development evaluations and studies in Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Mexico, Brazil, and Peru.

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Dr. Abad holds an MS (1974) and a PhD (1976) in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Petroleum Engineer degree from ESPOL (1989), a Polytechnic Engineering School, Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is a CENTENNIAL FELLOW of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at PENN STATE UNIVERSITY. (In 1996, he was selected as one of the top 100 graduates in 100 years of the College.) He is a Life Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers SPE; he founded the SPE - Ecuador Chapter and was its first president. 

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Work Experience:

1977 - Professor at the University of Zulia's  Petroleum Engineering College & Graduate School, Maracaibo, Venezuela

1979 - Assistant Professor at the University of Rolla -  Missouri  

1981 - Senior Petroleum Consultant, CORE LAB, Dallas, Texas

1982 - Reservoir Engineer, Superior Oil Western Division, The Woodlands, Texas

1983 - Senior Reservoir Engineer, Superior Oil International Division, Houston, Texas

1984 - Senior Reservoir Engineer, Production Engineering Services, Conoco, Houston, Texas

1986 - Senior Reservoir Engineer, Conoco Ecuador - Developing a training program for the Ecuadorian Oil National Company, CEPE

1988 - Chief Reservoir Engineer, Conoco Ecuador - Evaluation and numerical modeling + reservoir simulation of the Block 16 reservoirs

1992 - Engineering Manager, Conoco Ecuador

1992 - Engineering manager, Maxus Ecuador

1993 - Manager of Government Relations and Manager of Community Relations and HSEQ

1995 - Founder and General Manager of AMAPEC LLC, a Petroleum Consulting Company operating in Ecuador

2001 - General Manager of PACIFPETROL S.A., the operator of the Peninsula oilfields in Santa Elena, Ecuador

2002 - Executive President of PACIFPETROL, PETROBELL, operator of the Tiguino field, Ecuador.

            Executive President of of Meta Petroleum, operator of the Rubiales, Piriri, and Quifa blocks in Colombia

2010 - Founder & General Manager of Kepler Energy LLC.,  with activities in Ecuador, Colombia, and the Permian Basin, Texas

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Academic & Professional Career  Highlights

1972 - Winner of the LASPAU & Fulbright Scholarships

1976 - PhD in Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering Degree, Pennsylvania State University

1977 - Design & construction of a fully equipped PVT laboratory for ESPOL, Guayaquil, Ecuador & CEPE, Ecuador's National Oil Company

1979 - Member of the University of Missouri-Rolla team to assist Senator Thomas Eagleton with the design and development of the State of              Missouri's heavy oil legislation and regulations

1980 - Reservoir Modeling & Simulation of Mexico's Sitio Grande field reservoirs

           Teaching Reservoir Engineering, Waterflooding, and EOR to the Japanese Oil Company - JNOC - staff

1982 - Evaluation, reservoir numerical modeling, and development plan design of the Santa Maria field reservoirs, California

            Design and implementation of the Bolsa Chica steam injection project, Ventura, California

1983 - Engineering and numerical simulation of the Block 21 & 22 UK North Sea reservoirs

1984 - Part of the reservoir engineering teams for the Troll, Ekofisk, Statfiord, and Gullfaks reservoir characterization and development

1985 - Lead reservoir engineering for the Miller field, UK, and Fateh Tamama, Abu Dhabi field reservoirs, numerical modeling,

           and development plans

             Senior Reservoir Engineer for the numerical simulation and development plan for the Heidrum oilfield reservoirs, Norway

1987 - Design and implementation of a comprehensive training and human development program for Ecuador's 

            oil company CEPE on behalf of the International oil companies operating in Ecuador - Seconded by Conoco to CEPE

1989 - Reservoir characterization, numerical simulation, production forecast, and economics of the Block 16 reservoir's development

1992 - Leading participant in the development of Block 16 fields - production facilities and reservoir development plans

1995 - Founding AMAPEC

1999 - AMAPEC won two bidding processes to supply personnel, light vehicles, equipment, and logistics to the Block 16 REPSOL and

           SINOPEC Tarapoa field operations in the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin. 

2000 - Geological & numerical modeling of reservoirs and development of the economic models as the basis for the divestiture and

           acquisition of oil and gas E&P contracts (properties) in the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin

2001 - Technical & Economic Analysis of the Peninsula de Santa Elena Ancon Field reservoirs and structure of the financing package to acquire it

2002 - Technical & Economic Analysis of the Tiguino Field reservoirs and structure of the financing package to acquire it

           Evaluation of the Potential of the Rubiales-Piriri field reservoirs and design of the development plan - Meta Department, Colombia

           Structured the technical and administrative teams to operate the Newly created Meta Petroleum operator of the Rubiales-Piriri and

           Quifa fields and to operate TransMeta, the oil tankers, truck fleet to transport crude from Rubiales to Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia

2003 - Acquisition of the area and discovery of the Quifa Field next to Rubiales-Piriri. This is the largest oilfield discovered in Colombia.

2004 - Design, construction, and operation of the first Vehicle Compressed Natural Gas Station in Ecuador

2005 - Development of the Rubiales-Piriri and Quifa fields from 740 STB/D (05/2002) to 50,000 STB/D (06/2005) 

 Structured & obtained a $70 MM line of credit with Natixis, a French Bank, to enhance the drilling program in the Tiguino field, Ecuador

2010 - Founding Kepler Energy LLC in San Antonio, Texas

          Oil & gas properties evaluations in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Ecuador, and Colombia

          Consulting for investment funds & private investors in Colombia, USA, and Ecuador