“We are running out of oil!” We keep seeing these worrisome headlines every day. Indeed, production of conventional energy sources is an ever-greater technological challenge, and even renewable energy sources rely too much on fossil fuels to become a new reality in energy.
In recent years, the oil industry has shifted focus to the microworld with its hard-to-recover oil reserves. The tiniest objects and the slightest details have a marked effect on a major industry, such as oil production. Today, reservoir processes are studied using digital core modeling and microfluidics research, the most advanced tools that help thoroughly investigate the properties of complex objects and answer the pivotal questions: Where are hydrocarbon reserves concentrated? How many of them can potentially be recovered in the most efficient and cost-effective way?
Nikita Artyomov, an expert at the Skoltech Center for Petroleum Science and Engineering, graduated from the Department of Oil and Gas Geology and Geophysics at Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas. Nikita focuses on the applications of advanced rock research methods and the modeling and selection of technological solutions for enhanced oil recovery. Prior to joining Skoltech, he directed the oil and gas division at a Russian provider of advanced laboratory services and established Russia’s first specialized laboratory, Digital Core. At Skoltech, he is developing the Digital Core thrust by creating new approaches to the study of hard-to-recover hydrocarbons, modeling complex multicomponent hydrodynamic systems, and building new interdisciplinary teams. Nikita is a member of the Society of Russian Experts on Subsoil Use.
