Unconventional Resources and Hydraulic Fracturing

The future of the petroleum industry will include exploring for and extracting oil and gas from more “unconventional” targets (shales, tight formations, heavy oils, etc. ), and the further development of cutting-edge techniques such as hydraulic fracturing. At Missouri S&T, we conduct original interdisciplinary research to better understand these resources and the rock and chemical properties that control their economics. To understand and visualize the fracturing process, characterization studies are scaled and integrated with rock strength and mechanical modeling techniques.

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Interested in discussing the research we are working on or learning more? Please contact:
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Dr. Baojun Bai

Curators’ Distinguished Professor, Lester Birbeck Endowed Chair Professor, Petroleum Engineering

573-341-4016 | baib@mst.edu |

161 McNutt Hall

Research Interests

Water management, conformance control, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), CO2 EOR and Storage, fluid flow in porous media, and
unconventional oil and gas development.

For additional information regarding Dr. Bai's research, please visit his website, or select here for publications.
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Dr. David Borrok

Dean for College of Engineering and Computing, Gulf Oil Foundation Professor, Geology and Geophysics

573-341-4153 | borrokd@mst.edu |

305 McNutt Hall

Research Interests

Water resources, water quality, aqueous geochemistry, petroleum geochemistry, and geomicrobiology.

For additional information regarding Dr. Borrok's research, please select here.
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Dr. Andreas Eckert

Associate Professor, Petroleum Engineering/Geology and Geophysics

573-341-4876 | eckertan@mst.edu |

328 McNutt Hall

Research Interests

Numerical simulation of buckle folding, numerical simulation of rock fabric evolution, fracture initiation, salt tectonics, deformation bands, and wellbore and reservoir geomechanics. 

For more information regarding Dr. Eckert's research, please visit his website, or select here for publications.
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Dr. Mingzhen Wei

Associate Professor, Petroleum Engineering

573-341-4657 | weim@mst.edu |

330 McNutt Hall

Research Interests

Reservoir simulation, data mining, unconventional resources, and enhanced oil recovery.

For additional information regarding Dr. Wei's research, please see her website, or select here for publications.
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Dr. Wan Yang

Professor, Geology and Geophysics/Petroleum Engineering

573-341-6234 | yangwa@mst.edu |

141 McNutt Hall

Research Interests

Shallow marine, marginal marine, and non-marine sedimentary processes; depositional environments; and petrology (carbonate and siliciclastic, modern and ancient, outcrop and subsurface).

For additional information regarding Dr. Yang's research, please see his website, or select here for publications.