Masahiro Nagao
Engineer
Masahiro Nagao joined DeGolyer and MacNaughton in September 2025, specializing in artificial intelligence, reservoir simulation, and production optimization. Prior to joining D&M, Nagao was a research assistant at Texas A&M University, where he published 9 journal papers, 13 conference papers, and 1 United States patent. Nagao worked as an intern for Chevron Corporation and Xecta Digital Labs Ltd.
Nagao received a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and resources from Waseda University in Japan in 2018 and a master’s degree and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University in 2021 and 2025, respectively. Nagao is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineering.
Geographical Experience
- Algeria
- Japan
- United States
Topical Areas of Expertise
- Artificial intelligence
- Reservoir simulation
- History matching
- Production optimization
- Surface network simulation and optimization
- Infill well location optimization
Major Projects
Nagao has been researching and developing the machine-learning-based identification of infill locations. He has worked on history matching, forecasting, and production optimization for large-reservoir fields in Algeria that involve waterflood, gas flood, and water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection.
During his master’s and PhD work, he conducted research on physics-informed machine learning on waterflood and carbon-dioxide-enhanced oil recovery for rapid model calibration, production forecasting, and reservoir connectivity identification. He also conducted machine-learning-based subsurface visualization and model calibration for large-scale carbon dioxide storage reservoirs.
During his internships with Chevron Corporation, he contributed to the development of history matching, optimization, and experimental design software, while also conducting simulation studies on large-scale carbon dioxide storage reservoirs. At Xecta Digital Labs Ltd., he focused on developing accelerated surface network optimization algorithms and machine-learning-based workflows for well testing and reservoir surveillance.
