Stephen A. Holditch, P.E.
Department Head
Noble Endowed Chair

3116 TAMU - 507 Richardson Building

College Station, TX 77843-3116

Phone: (979) 845-2255

e-mail: steve.holditch@pe.tamu.edu

Dr. Stephen A. Holditch is the Department Head and Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Endowed Chair in Petroleum. He previously worked for Schlumberger. He worked on projects for Holditch Reservoir Technologies and on special projects to assist the management of Schlumberger. He served as president of S.A. Holditch & Associates, a full service petroleum engineering consulting firm from 1977 to 2000. His firm provided petroleum engineering technology involving the analysis of low permeability gas reservoirs and the design of hydraulic fracture treatments for various industrial and government clients. The expertise of the company included capabilities in reservoir simulation, well testing, reservoir engineering, natural gas engineering, coalbed methane development, and the use of horizontal wells to develop gas reservoirs.

Dr. Holditch also has been a production engineer at Shell Oil Company in charge of workover design and well completions for various Shell Operations in South and East Texas. He joined the Petroleum Engineering faculty at Texas A&M University in 1976 and was named to the R.L. Adams Endowed Professorship in 1995.

• PhD, Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1976
• MS, Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1970
• BS, Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1969

• Formation evaluation in low permeability gas reservoirs
• Fracture treatment design evaluation, and optimization
• Computer reservoir simulation
• Coalbed methane development
• Well completions and workovers
• Horizontal well completions

Dr. Holditch is recognized as an industry leader in the evaluation and stimulation of low permeability reservoirs. His research includes:

• low permeability gas reservoir engineering
• hydraulic fracture treatment design
• simulation of hydraulic fracture treatments
• evaluation of hydraulic fracture treatment fluids
• non-Darcy flow of gas in fractures
• effects of mud filtrate invasion upon drillstem tests and upon induction log response
• effects of fracture fluid cleanup upon well productivity

More than 100 publications, two textbooks, and 70 presentations on Advances in Fracture Technology; Fracture Properties; Tight Gas Formation Wells; Stress Testing and Stress Profiling; Effects of Non-Darcy Flow on Hydraulically Fractured Gas Wells; Water Blocking and Gas Flow From Hydraulically Fractured Gas Wells; Pre-Fracture and Post-Fracture Formation Evaluation; Hydraulic Fracturing

• National Academy of Engineering, 1995
• Society of Petroleum Engineers
• President, 2001-2003
• Vice President of Finance, 1997-2000
• Representative to AIME, 1997-1999
• Best Paper in SPE Formation Evaluation, 1996
• Honorary Member, 2006
• Anthony B. Lucas Award, 2005
• Lester C. Uren Award, 1994
• Distinguished Member, 1989
• Distinguished Lecturer, 1982-83
• Distinguished Service Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty, 1981
• Shell Distinguished Chair in Petroleum Engineering, 1983-87

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