Mahdi AbuAli has over thirty years of petroleum geology and exploration experience with Saudi Aramco, from which he took early retirement at the end of 2020. He is expert on risk and data analysis and managing exploration portfolios and he has a proven record of adding multi mmb oil and several tcf gas to Saudi Amramco’s annual exploration portfolio. His extensive proficiencies cover integrated petroleum systems analysis, basin modeling, organic petrography, surface geochemical exploration, source rock evaluation, R&D studies with high caliber institutes and universities, strategic planning, risk evaluation, integration of multidisciplinary G&G data, prospect and regional play fairway assessment and management of multi-cultural joint ventures.
Mahdi has carried out work on Paleozoic and Mesozoic basins, generating regional and sub-regional basin models and integrated petroleum system element fairway maps. His experience with international IOCs covered both technical and administrative roles of joint venture operations with Saudi Aramco, exploring for gas in the Rub’ Al Khali Basin from 2006 to 2010.
Mahdi was selected to transfer regional data and knowledge to the IOC’s data rooms during the licensing rounds in 2000-2004. These companies include Shell, Total, Eni, Repsol, ExxonMobil, Sinopec, and Lukoil, amongst others.
He has published key papers on the major carbonate and siliciclastic petroleum systems of Saudi Arabia and was considered the principal geochemist and petroleum system analyst in Saudi Aramco by both education and experience. His major publication was co-editing the AAPG Memoir #114 on Petroleum Systems Analysis-Case Studies, 2017.
Mahdi holds a US patent # 10,713,398 as a co-author (2020) and patent# 10,280,747 as a primary author (2019), plus a few other pending patents under application. He holds a Ph.D. in Geoscience from RWTH Aachen University, Germany, an M.Sc. in Geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines, US, and a B.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry from KFUPM, Saudi Arabia. Currently, Mahdi is a senior advisor and consultant for Axiom Exploration Group Ltd. and Raphael Energy.