Ahmad Ghassemi

Ahmad Ghassemi serves as the ONEOK Chair in Natural Gas Engineering and Management and Associate Professor of Petroleum and Geological Engineering at the University of Oklahoma's Mewbourne School of Petroleum & Geological Engineering. He directs the Natural Gas Engineering and Management Program and leads one of the largest academic reservoir rock mechanics groups in the United States.

His educational background includes:

• B.Sc. in Geological Engineering from the University of Oklahoma
• M.S. in Engineering Geology from South Dakota School of Mines (1988)
• M.S. in Geomechanics from University of Minnesota (1990)
• Ph.D. in Geological Engineering from University of Oklahoma (1996)

Ghassemi specializes in geomechanics for unconventional petroleum and geothermal reservoir development, with nearly 30 years of research on high-temperature reservoir rock mechanics, hydraulic fracturing, and wellbore stability. His work emphasizes thermo-poroelastic effects, induced seismicity, rock heterogeneity impacts on stimulated reservoir volume, reactive fluid flow in fractures, and constitutive modeling for chemically-active rocks. Current research integrates experimental and numerical analysis of hydraulic stimulation under in-situ stress conditions.

His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate intense focus on the Utah FORGE geothermal project, with recurring themes in thermo-poroelastic modeling, fracture propagation in heterogeneous rocks, proppant transport dynamics, and advanced monitoring techniques using fiber optics. Key subfields include natural fracture interaction, temperature-dependent rock properties, and coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical processes.

Notable recognition:

• Geothermal Resources Council Special Achievement Award (2012) for contributions to coupled process modeling

Funded by federal agencies and industry for two decades, Ghassemi has led extensive research programs including experimental characterization and numerical modeling of reservoir stimulation. He has served on numerous national/international panels for geothermal systems, CO2 sequestration, and induced seismicity, including SPE Geomechanics Forums, DOE workshops, and EPA technical committees. His group maintains strong industry connections through specialized reservoir geomechanics courses.

Experimental work occurs within OU's integrated geomechanics/petrophysics characterization program, while numerical efforts employ finite element and boundary element modeling of THM processes. Current activities focus on Utah FORGE stimulation modeling, proppant transport in fracture networks, and thermal cycling effects on reservoir rocks.