Education

1975 B.S. (Physics) Harvey Mudd College
1980 Ph.D. (Geophysics) University of Washington

• Mewbourne Chair Professor of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 2006-present.
• Director of OU Center for Ensemble Methods, Norman, Oklahoma, 2007-present.
• Director and Eberly Family Chair Professor of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 2002-2006.
• Professor of Petroleum Engineering and Interim Chairman, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2001-2002.
• Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1999-2001.
• Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1997-1999.
• Staff research scientist in reservoir characterization, Chevron Petroleum Technology Co., La Habra, California, 1991-1997.
• Lead petroleum engineer for Safaniya Field, Arabian Chevron, Inc. (on loan to Saudi Arabian Oil Comnpany), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 1987-1991.
• Senior reservoir engineer, Chevron USA, San Ramon, California, 1983-1987.
• Research geophysicist in production research, Chevron Oil Field Research Company, La Habra, California, 1980-1983.

• Executive Editor, SPE Journal, 2005--2009
• SPE Distinguished Member Award, 2008
• A Peer Apart Award, SPE, 2007
• SPE Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award, 2004
• Outstanding Service, SPE Editorial Review Committee, 2003
• Phi Beta Tau, Teacher of the Month, 2002
• Phi Kappa Phi, Honorary Member-for-Life, 2000
• Outstanding Technical Editor, SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 1998
• Best Paper Award, SPE Journal, 1996
• Best Paper Award, Journal Mathematical Geology, 1995

• American Geophysical Union
• Society of Petroleum Engineers
• Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics
• International Association for Mathematical Geology

Books
• Oliver, Dean S., Albert C. Reynolds, and Ning Liu: Inverse Theory for Petroleum Reservoir Characterization and History Matching, Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 9780521881517, May 2008, pp 392.
Peer-Reviewed Papers
• Zhang, Yanfen, Ning Liu and Dean S. Oliver, Ensemble Filter Methods with Perturbed Observations Applied to Nonlinear Problems, Computational Geosciences, in press, DOI: 10.1007/s10596-009-9149-7, 2009.
• Aanonsen, Sigurd I., Geir Naevdal, Dean S. Oliver, Albert C. Reynolds, and Brice Valles, The Ensemble Kalman Filter in Reservoir Engineering --- a Review, SPEJ, approved for publication, 2009.
• Chen, Yan, Dean S. Oliver and Dongxiao Zhang, Data assimilation for nonlinear problems by ensemble Kalman filter with reparameterization, J. Petrol. Science and Engineering, DOI 10.1016/j.petrol.2008.12.002, vol. 66, 1--14, 2009.
• Chen, Yan, Dean S. Oliver and Dongxiao Zhang, Efficient ensemble-based closed-loop production optimization (SPE 112873), SPE Journal, approved for publication, 2009.
• Chen, Yan and Dean S. Oliver, Application of Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Optimization on Brugge Field (SPE-118926), SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering, approved for publication, 2009.
• Oliver, Dean S., and Yan Chen, Improved Initial Sampling for the Ensemble Kalman Filter, Computational Geosciences, DOI 10.1007/s10596-008-9101-2, 13(1), 13-26, 2009.
• Agbalaka, Chinedu and Dean S. Oliver, Application of the EnKF and localization to automatic history matching of facies distribution and production data, Mathematical Geosciences, 40(4), 353--374, 2008.
• Gu, Yaqing and Dean S. Oliver, An Iterative Ensemble Kalman Filter for Multiphase Fluid Flow Data Assimilation, SPE Journal, 12(4), 438--446, 2007.
• Dong, Yannong, Yaqing Gu and Dean S. Oliver, Sequential assimilation of 4D seismic data for reservoir description using the ensemble Kalman filter, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 51(4), 83--99, 2006.
• Gu, Yaqing and Dean S. Oliver, The ensemble Kalman filter for continuous updating of reservoir simulation models, Journal of Engineering Resources Technology, 128(1), 79--87, 2006.
• Coburn, T. C., P. W. M. Corbett, A. Datta-Gupta, J. L. Jensen, M. Kelkar, Dean S. Oliver and C. D. White, A Virtual Conversation on the Impact of Geostatistics in Petroleum, Production, and Reservoir Engineering, in Stochastic Modeling and Geostatistics: Principles, Methods, and Case Studies, Volume II, AAPG, eds. T.C. Coburn, J. M. Yarus and R. L. Chambers, 23--33, 2006.
• Liu, Ning and Dean S. Oliver, Critical evaluation of the ensemble Kalman filter on history matching of geologic facies, SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering, 8(6), 470--477, 2005.
• Zhang, Fengjun, Jan Arild Skjervheim, A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Automatic history matching in a Bayesian framework: Example applications, SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering, 8(3), 214--223, 2005.
• Liu, Ning and Dean S. Oliver, Ensemble Kalman filter for automatic history matching of geologic facies, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 47(3--4), 147-161, 2005.
• Gu, Yaqing, and D. S. Oliver, History matching of the PUNQ-S3 reservoir model using the ensemble Kalman filter, SPE Journal, 10(2), 51--65, 2005.
• Dong, Yannong, and D. S. Oliver, Quantitative use of 4D seismic data for reservoir description, SPE Journal, 10(1), 91--99, 2005.
• Liu, Ning and D. S. Oliver, Automatic History Matching of Geologic Facies, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 9(4), 188-195, 2004.
• Reynolds, A. C., Ruijian Li, and D. S. Oliver, Simultaneous estimation of absolute and relative permeability by automatic history matching of three-phase flow production data, Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, 43(3), 37--46, 2004.
• Liu, Ning and D. S. Oliver, Experimental Assessment of Gradual Deformation Method, Mathematical Geology, 36(1), 65--77, 2004.
• Oliver, D. S., Gaussian co-simulation: Modeling of the cross-covariance, Mathematical Geology, 35(6), 681-699, 2003.
• Li, Ruijian Li, A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Sensitivity Coefficients for Three-Phase Flow History Matching, Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, 42(4), 70-77, 2003.
• Liu, Ning, and D. S. Oliver, Evaluation of Uncertainty Assessment Methods, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 8(2), 188-195, 2003.
• Li, Ruijian, A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, History Matching of Three-Phase Flow Production Data, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 8(4), 328-340, 2003.
• Zhang, F., A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, An intial guess for the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm for conditioning a stochastic channel to pressure data , Mathematical Geology, 35(1), 67-88, 2003.
• Zhang, F., A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, The Impact of Upscaling Errors on Conditioning a Stochastic Channel to Pressure Data, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 8(1), 13-21, 2003.
• Zhang, F., A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Evaluation of the reduction in uncertainty obtained by conditioning a 3D stochastic channel to multiwell pressure data, Mathematical Geology, 34(6), 715-742, 2002.
• Oliver, D. S., Conditioning Channel Meanders to Well Observations, Mathematical Geology, 34(2), 181-197, 2002.
• Abacioglu, Y., D. S. Oliver, and A. C. Reynolds, Efficient History Matching Using Subspace Vectors, Computational Geosciences, 5, 151-172, 2001.
• Oliver, D. S., A. C. Reynolds, Z. Bi, and Y. Abacioglu, Integration of production data into reservoir models, Petroleum Geoscience, 7, S65-S73, 2001.
• Bi, Zhuoxin, D. S. Oliver, and A. C. Reynolds, Conditioning 3D stochastic channels to pressure data, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 5(4), 474-484, 2000.
• He, N., D. S. Oliver and A. C. Reynolds, Conditioning stochastic reservoir models to well-test data, SPE Reservoir Eval. & Eng., 3(1), 74-79, Feb. 2000.
• Reynolds, A. C., N. He, and D. S., Oliver, Reducing uncertainty in geostatistical description with well testing pressure data in R. Schatzinger and J. Jordan, eds., Reservoir Characterization: Recent Advances, AAPG Memoir 71, 149-162, 1999.
• Wu, Z., A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Conditioning Geostatistical Models to Two-Phase Production Data, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 3(2), 142-155, 1999.
• Oliver, D. S., Calculation of the inverse of the covariance. Mathematical Geology, 30(7), 911-933, 1998.
• Oliver, D. S., The sensitivity of tracer concentration to nonuniform permeability and porosity. Transport in Porous Media, 30(2), 155-175, February 1998.
• Bonet-Cunha, L., Oliver, D. S., Redner, R. A., and A. C. Reynolds, A hybrid Markov chain Monte Carlo method for generating permeability fields conditioned to multiwell pressure data and prior information. Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 3(3), 261-271, 1998.
• He, Nanqun, Reynolds, A. C., and D. S. Oliver, Three-dimensional reservoir description from multiwell pressure data. Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 2(3), 312-327, 1997.
• Oliver, D. S., Cunha, L., and Reynolds, A. C., Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for conditioning a permeability field to pressure data, Mathematical Geology, 29(1), 61-91, June 1997.
• Reynolds, A. C., N. He, L. Chu, and D. S. Oliver, Reparameterization techniques for generating reservoir descriptions conditioned to variograms and well-test pressure data. Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 1(4), 413--426, 1996.
• Oliver, D. S., On conditional simulation to inaccurate data, Mathematical Geology, 28(6), 811--817, 1996.
• Oliver, D. S., Multiple realizations of the permeability field from well test data, Soc. Petrol. Eng. J., 1(2), 145-154, 1996.
• Oliver, D. S., A comparison of the value of interference and well-test data for mapping permeability and porosity, In Situ, 20(1), 41-59, 1996.
• Oliver, D. S., Moving averages for Gaussian simulation in two and three dimensions. Mathematical Geology, 27(8), 939--960, 1995.
• Chu, L., A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Computation of sensitivity coefficients for conditioning the permeability field to well-test pressure data, In Situ, 19(2), 179-223, 1995.
• Oliver, D. S., Application of a wave transform to pressure transient testing in porous media, Transport in Porous Media, 16(3), 209-236, 1994.
• Oliver, D. S., Incorporation of transient pressure data into reservoir characterization, In Situ, 18(3), 243-275, 1994.
• Oliver, D. S., The influence of nonuniform transmissivity and storativity on drawdown, Water Resources Research, 29(1), 169-178, 1993.
• Oliver, D. S., Estimation of radial permeability distribution from well test data, Soc. Pet. Eng. Formation Evaluation, 7(4), 290-295, 1992.
• Oliver, D. S., The averaging process in permeability estimation from well test data, Trans. of Soc. Petrol. Eng., Vol. 289, V319-324, 1990.
• Oliver, D. S., and J. R. Booker, Planform of convection with strongly temperature-dependent viscosity, Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, 27, 73-85, 1983.
• Stengel, K. C., D. S. Oliver and J. R. Booker, Onset of convection in a variable viscosity fluid, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 120, 411, 1982.
Other Papers
• Chen, Yan and Dean S. Oliver, Localization of Ensemble-Based Control Setting Updates for Production Optimization in Large Fields (SPE-125042), paper presented at the 2009 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, LA, USA, 4--7 October.
• Phale, Hemant A. and Dean S. Oliver, Data Assimilation Using The Constrained Ensemble Kalman Filter (SPE 125101), paper presented at the 2009 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, LA, USA, 4--7 October.
• Chen, Yan and Dean S. Oliver, Application of Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Optimization on Brugge Field (SPE-118926), paper presented at the 2009 SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium
• Agbalaka, Chinedu C. and Dean S. Oliver, Automatic History Matching of Production and Facies Data with Non-stationary Proportions using EnKF, SPE-118916, paper presented at the 2009 SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium, The Woodlands, February 2--4.
• Zhang, Yanfen and Dean S. Oliver, History Matching Using a Hierarchical Stochastic Model with the Ensemble {K}alman Filter: A Field Case Study, SPE-118879, presented at the 2009 SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium, The Woodlands, February 2--4.
• Chen, Yan and Dean S. Oliver and Dongxiao Zhang Efficient Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Production Optimization (SPE 112873), paper presented at the 2008 SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 21--23.
• Zhang, Fengjun, J. A. Skervheim, A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Automatic History Matching in a Bayesian Framework: Example Applications (SPE 84461), 2003 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.
• Liu, Ning, and Dean S. Oliver, Automatic History Matching of Geologic Facies (SPE 84594), 2003 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.
• Dong, Yannong and Dean S. Oliver, Quantitative Use of 4D Seismic Data for Reservoir Description (SPE~84571), 2003 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.
• Liu, Ning and D. S. Oliver, Conditional Simulation of Truncated Random Fields using Gradient Methods, IAMG 2003 Meeting, Portsmouth, England, Sept. 2003.
• Oliver, D. S., Calculation of the Inverse of the Covariance on Bounded Grids. Sixth European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery, Edinburgh, Scotland, 8-11 Sept. 1998.
• Oliver, D. S., N. He, and A. C. Reynolds, Conditioning permeability fields to pressure data. Fifth European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery, Leoben, Austria, 3-6 Sept. 1996.
• Chu, L., A. C. Reynolds, and D. S. Oliver, Reservoir description from static and well-test data using efficient gradient methods, SPE 29999, Presented at the SPE International Meeting in Beijing, 14-17 November 1995.
• Oliver, D. S., Pressure transients caused by fracturing, SPE 12735, Presented at the California Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, April 1984.
 

2009
• Application of EnKF to petroleum reservoir data assimilation problems, Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway, 19 March 2009.
• Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Production Optimization, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 11 March 2009.
• Efficient Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Production Optimization, Stanford, Palo Alto, California, 13 January 2009.
• Improved Initial Sampling for the Ensemble Kalman Filter, Stanford (SCRF), Palo Alto, California, 13 January 2009.
2008
• Efficient Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Production Optimization, Mork Family Distinguished Lectures Series, USC, Los Angeles, October 23, 2008
• Improved initial sampling of realizations for EnKF, Workshop about Ensemble Kalman filter for updating of reservoir simulation models , Voss, Norway, 18--20 June 2008.
• Efficient Ensemble-Based Closed-Loop Production Optimization, SIAM Conference on Optimization, Boston, Massachusetts, 13 May 2008.
2007
• Ensemble Method for Rapid History Matching, Graduate seminar at University of Tulsa, Tulsa, 7 September 2007.
• A Brief Overview of History Matching (and Recent Developments), China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 12 July 2007.
• Ensemble Kalman Filter for Data Assimilation in Petroleum Engineering, Computational Methods in Energy and Environmental Research, Beijing, China, July 9-July 12, 2007.
• A Brief Overview of History Matching (and Recent Developments), China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 6 July 2007.
• Strategies for Dealing with Strong Nonlinearity in the EnKF, EnKF Workshop, Bergen, Norway, 19 June 2007.
• Ensemble Method for Rapid History Matching, Graduate seminar at Texas A&M University, College Station, 4 April 2007.
• Ensemble Method for Rapid History Matching, Graduate seminar at Lousiana State University, 26 March 2007.
2006
• Iterative Ensemble Kalman Filter for Quantifying Uncertainty in Nonlinear Problems, Western Pacific Geophysical Meeting, Beijing, 23 July 2006.
• Ensemble Kalman Filter for History Matching, Institute for Rock and Soil Mechanics, Wuhan, 18 July 2006.
• Ensemble Kalman Filter for History Matching, Peking University, Beijing, 17 July 2006.
• Petroleum Engineering Education, National Minerals Education Conference, Oklahoma City, 26 June 2006.
• Ensemble-Based Filters for Nonlinear and Non-Gaussian Problems, EnKF Workshop, Voss, Norway, 30 May 2006.
• Ensemble Method for Rapid History Matching, Stanford University Graduate Seminar, 25 April 2006.
• Petroleum Engineering Education, SPE chapter meeting, Tyler, Texas, 14 March 2006.
• Ensemble Method for Rapid History Matching, University of Southern California Graduate Seminar, 8 March 2006.
• Universities -- The Source of Engineers. SPE/IADC Conference, Miami, Florida, 21 February 2006.
2005
• Enforcing highly nonlinear constraints using several variants of the ensemble Kalman filter. SIAM Geosciences meeting, Avignon, France, June 9, 2005.
• Oklahoma Refinery Industry: Summary. Oklahoma legislative subcommittee and community forum, Cushing Oklahoma, 5 October 2005.
2004
• Ensemble methods for rapid history matching, UT Austin, October 2004.
• The ensemble Kalman filter for updating reservoir models, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, June 2004.
• History matching applications, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, February 2004.
2003
• Conditional Simulation of Truncated Random Fields Using Gradient Methods with Ning Liu. IAMG Annual meeting in Portsmouth, England, September 8-10.
• Gaussian Co-simulation: Modelling of the Cross-covariance. IAMG Annual meeting in Portsmouth, England, September 8-10.
• Three-Phase Flow Reservoir History Matching. SIAM Conference on Mathematical and Computational Issues in the Geosciences, San Antonio, Texas, March 17-20.
2002
• History Matching and Optimization in TUPREP. SPE Section Meeting, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, April 18.
• History Matching and Optimization. Schlumberger Eureka Conference, Oxford, England, April 3-4.
• Assessing Uncertainty in Reservoir Prediction by Monte Carlo Methods. Institute for Mathematics and its Applications workshop titled "Quantifying Uncertainty and Multiscale Phenomena in Subsurface Processes," Minneapolis, January 7-11.
2001
• Monte Carlo Methods for Uncertainty Assessment. Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Development & Production Forum, Taos, New Mexico, June 22-29.
2000
• Conditioning Channel Meanders to Well Observations. AAPG Hedberg Research Conference: Applied Reservoir Characterization Using Geostatistics, The Woodlands, Texas, Dec. 3-6.
1999
• Five Things I Dislike About Pilot Points. Statoil Research Summit, Conditioning Reservoir Models and Forecasts to Dynamic Data, Trondheim, Norway, Sep. 13-15
• Integration of Production Data, Keynote speaker at SPE/EAGE Symposium on Petroleum Geostatistics, Toulouse, France, April, 20-23
• Monte Carlo Estimation of Uncertainty in Reservoir Performance, SIAM Conference on Mathematical and Computational Issues in the Geosciences, March 24-27
1998
• Conditioning Reservoir Models to Dynamic Data, FORCE Workshop on Reservoir Characterization, Bergen, Norway, March 31
• Inverse methods for incorporating flow and transport data in reservoir characterization, Los Alamos National Laboratory's Gas and Oil Lectureship of Distinction, January 6
1997
• Sensitivity of non-reactive tracer concentration to permeability and porosity, Tracer Workshop at the University of Texas, Austin, May 21
• Assessing uncertainty in reservoir prediction by Monte Carlo methods, Graduate seminar at Texas A&M University, College Station, January 7
1996
• Assessing uncertainty in reservoir prediction by Monte Carlo methods, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dec. 3
• What do geostatistics have to do with well testing? Overview presentation at SPE Annual Technical Conference, Denver, Colorado, Oct. 6-9
• On conditioning permeability fields to pressure data, 1996 SPE Technical Symposium, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, June 28-30
• Efficient conditioning of reservoir models to production data, Trondheim, Norway, May 28-30
1995
• Conditional simulation of reservoir models to inaccurate production data, Stanford University, Nov. 15
1994
• The use of well test information in stochastic modeling, Sundvolden, Norway, Sept. 5-6
1993
• Application of a wave transform to pressure transient testing, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Nov. 19
• On the limitations and possibilities for reservoir characterization from well test data, Schlumberger-Doll Research forum on Resevoir Characterization, Ridgefield, Connecticut, Oct. 13-15