Nima H. Zonoozi
Assistant Division Manager, Vice President
Nima Zonoozi joined DeGolyer and MacNaughton in 2012, having worked previously for Schlumberger Data and Consulting Services. He has over 20 years of experience in the industry.
Zonoozi earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Petroleum University of Technology (Ahwaz, Iran) in 2002. From Texas A&M University, he received a master’s degree in petroleum engineering in 2006. Zonoozi is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts. He was made a Vice President of D&M in 2015.
Geographical Experience
- Argentina
- Algeria
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Great Britain
- India
- Kuwait
- Mexico
- Poland
- Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
Topical Areas of Expertise
- Petrophysics
- Wellbore geomechanics
- Formation evaluation
- Unconventional resources
- Geothermal resources
- Well completion design
- Wellsite operations
- Hydraulic fracture simulation
- Well performance analysis
Major Projects
Zonoozi specializes in well completion design and well evaluations based on interpretation of logs, core data, and test results with a focus on unconventional reservoirs. Recent work has included petrophysics and geomechanics evaluation in major tight gas, tight oil, shale gas, and shale oil plays in North America, Asia, South America, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia. Zonoozi’s work aids in the design of hydraulic fracture and the selection of horizontal well landing points, wellbore stability analysis, and hydraulic fracturing modeling and simulation. He has led the development of 3–D Mechanical Earth Models. He analyzes well performance using production-analysis methods to evaluate dynamic reservoir properties. Zonoozi regularly teaches formation valuation short courses on unconventional resources.
In addition to his unconventional experience, Zonoozi is actively involved in the evaluation of geothermal resources with a focus on estimating heat in place and translating subsurface thermal energy into potential electrical generation. His work integrates geological, petrophysical, and temperature data to characterize reservoir thermal properties, assess recoverable heat, and evaluate expected power output using industry-standard conversion methodologies. Recent projects focused on enhanced geothermal systems in support of the assessment of stimulation effectiveness, reservoir connectivity, and sustainable heat extraction. This work contributes to the development of technically robust estimates of heat production and electricity generation, supporting project screening, development planning, and investment decision-making.
As a wireline field engineer with Schlumberger, Zonoozi became familiar with open-hole well logging and troubleshooting to ensure log quality control. He transferred to Schlumberger Data and Consulting Services as a petrophysicist in 2007 and performed well-log interpretation and analysis. He taught internal short courses in wireline acoustic tools and wellbore geomechanics in conventional and unconventional reservoirs.
