Senior Geologist

KAR OG Alan Sasan DMCC is seeking an experienced Senior Geologist to join its Exploration & Development Department.

Position Title: Senior Geologist

Department: Exploration & Development Department

Reports To: Exploration & Development Manager

Work Location: Erbil, with travel to field locations as required

Working Days: Sunday–Thursday

Working Hours: 8:30 AM–4:30 PM

Employment Type: Full-time

Position Summary

The Senior Geologist is responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing geological activities related to exploration, appraisal, and field development. The role involves seismic interpretation, geological interpretation and static modelling, prospect maturation, well location selection, exploration and appraisal well planning, preparation of technical scopes of work, and evaluation of geological and drilling-related tenders.

The position also oversees wellsite geology, mud logging, coring operations, geological sample management, and laboratory analysis. The Senior Geologist integrates geological, geophysical, petrophysical, and well data to support drilling decisions, reservoir characterization, hydrocarbon resource evaluation, and field development planning.

Key Responsibilities

1. Seismic Interpretation

• Interpret 2D and 3D seismic data to define structural and stratigraphic frameworks.
• Correlate seismic interpretations with well data, geological observations, and static reservoir models.
• Identify drilling targets, structural closures, faults, and geological risks.
• Support prospect evaluation, well location selection, and exploration/appraisal drilling decisions.

2. Geological Interpretation and Static Modelling

• Develop, maintain, and update geological and structural models by integrating seismic, well, petrophysical, core, and other subsurface data.
• Support reservoir characterization, hydrocarbon volumetric estimation (STOIIP/GIIP), and uncertainty assessment.
• Integrate geological interpretations into static reservoir models and exploration prospect evaluations.
• Build, review, and quality-control 3D static geological models using Petrel or equivalent software.

3. Exploration and Appraisal Well Planning

• Prepare geological programmes and Scopes of Work (SOWs) for exploration and appraisal wells.
• Define geological objectives, target formations, expected lithology, formation tops, coring intervals, sampling requirements, and geological data acquisition programmes.
• Develop pre-drill geological prognoses and geological risk assessments.
• Participate in multidisciplinary well planning, drilling engineering reviews, and appraisal well design.
• Develop coring, sampling, and geological data acquisition strategies.
• Identify geological and operational risks and recommend mitigation measures.
• Optimize geological programmes to maximize data quality while minimizing operational costs and rig time.

4. Tender Preparation and Technical Evaluation

• Prepare technical specifications, SOWs, tender documents, and technical evaluation criteria for geological services.
• Evaluate contractors’ technical procedures, personnel qualifications, equipment specifications, and quality assurance documentation.
• Participate in contractor performance evaluations and acceptance of project deliverables.

5. Wellsite Geological Supervision

• Review daily geological reports and provide recommendations to the drilling team.
• Coordinate geological decision-making during drilling operations.
• Support casing point selection, coring, logging, and total depth (TD) decisions based on geological observations.
• Coordinate with drilling, petrophysics, reservoir engineering, and geophysics teams to optimize well objectives.

6. Mud Logging Supervision

• Review and approve daily mud logging reports and contractor deliverables.
• Monitor gas trends, drilling parameters, and hydrocarbon shows to support geological interpretation.
• Ensure mud logging operations comply with company standards, contractual requirements, and industry best practices.
• Conduct technical audits and performance reviews of mud logging contractors.

7. Coring Operations

• Supervise coring operations and ensure proper core orientation, preservation, photography, slabbing, transportation, and storage in accordance with company procedures.

8. Geological Sample Management

• Ensure proper preservation, cataloguing, storage, and transportation of drill cuttings, conventional cores, sidewall cores, and hydrocarbon samples.
• Maintain geological sample inventories and chain-of-custody records.
• Ensure compliance with company sample management standards and procedures.

9. Cuttings and Core Analysis

• Plan, supervise, and interpret Routine Core Analysis (RCAL) and Special Core Analysis (SCAL) programmes.
• Evaluate laboratory measurements, including porosity, permeability, grain density, fluid saturation, capillary pressure, relative permeability, wettability, and other relevant parameters.
• Interpret cuttings and core analysis results to support geological evaluation and reservoir characterization.

10. Geological Reporting

• Prepare geological prognoses, daily geological reports, formation top reports, coring reports, end-of-well reports, and post-drill geological evaluations.
• Present geological findings, interpretations, and recommendations to management and multidisciplinary technical teams.