Skip to content

Drilling & Workover Supervisor | Reservoir Engineer

Mohamed Karam Abdo

Drilling, workover and reservoir engineering in Egypt’s Western Desert.

Department Head at Khalda Petroleum Company, with 19 years in the Western Desert. Rig supervisor on drilling and workover operations since 2008, including HPHT wells and the fastest well in KPC history.

Mohamed Karam Abdo

Mohamed Karam Abdo

Drilling & Workover Supervisor | Reservoir Engineer

Subsurface engineer and wellsite supervisor

I work on both sides of a well. On the reservoir side that means surveillance, reserves estimation and development planning. On the rig side it means supervising drilling and workover operations. Doing both keeps well designs tied to the reservoir and field plans tied to what the rig can deliver.

At Khalda Petroleum Company I moved from First Engineer to Department Head, and since 2008 I have also supervised drilling and workover operations at the rig site. In 2018 and 2019 I took on a Reservoir Engineering Consultant assignment with INA while remaining at Khalda.

0

Years in the Western Desert

0+

Wells supervised

0+

Workovers supervised

0°

Maximum well inclination

Organisations I have worked with

  • Khalda Petroleum Company
  • Apache Corporation
  • INA
  • Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation

Technical expertise

Reservoir engineering, wellsite execution and well intervention.

Three-dimensional geological model of layered formations cut by faults
Geological and reservoir modelling

Reservoir engineering

Reservoir surveillance, reserves estimation, well testing and field development planning for Western Desert fields.

  • Volumetrics and decline curves
  • Material balance
  • Production forecasting
  • Waterflood management

Software

  • ECLIPSE
  • Petroleum Experts
  • Ecrin
  • IP
  • Bivus
  • Harmony
  • Well Navigator
  • WellStream
  • WellView
  • MS Excel

Selected work

Drilling results and reservoir studies from the Western Desert.

0.00

days · fastest well in KPC history

Three wells delivered in October 2026

EDC 62 rig team · NOV 1500 HP rig · Rig supervisor

The EDC 62 team delivered three wells in one month. The fastest was completed in 7.44 days at 916 ft/day, a record for KPC, and finished 19.4% under its AFE and 2.5 days (25%) ahead of plan. Another well from the same rig team ranks third fastest at 799 ft/day, 20.8% under AFE and 3.5 days (29%) ahead of plan.

Connections averaged 7.6 minutes across both wells and flat time was kept to a minimum. Bit and BHA selection used a Halliburton ERT motor with TKC66 bits. Top-hole sections of 2,700 ft and 2,670 ft took 20.5 and 19.5 hours; production-hole sections of 4,135 ft and 4,115 ft took 23 and 20 hours.

Apollonia Formation evaluation

Synergy / Khalda

Worked with Synergy to adapt the IP application for reservoir management and field development planning, and used it to evaluate the Apollonia Formation. The study identified hydrocarbon potential not previously recorded in Khalda field data.

NRQ255 field development study

With Apache and IPR

Modelled one horizontal well against two vertical wells in ECLIPSE. The simulation favoured the horizontal well, which set the well configuration and development plan.

Horizontal wells

NRQ-2556H and Razak area

Reservoir engineering support on two horizontal wells, linking well testing, surveillance and recovery strategy to field development decisions.

Professional experience

Nineteen years at Khalda Petroleum Company in the Western Desert, with a concurrent Reservoir Engineering Consultant assignment with INA from 2018 to 2019.

  1. 2007 – 2011

    First Engineer

    Khalda Petroleum Company · Western Desert, Egypt

    Reservoir engineering. Began supervising drilling and workover operations at the rig site in 2008.

  2. 2011 – 2014

    Engineer / Petroleum Engineer

    Khalda Petroleum Company · Western Desert, Egypt

  3. 2014 – 2018

    Senior Engineer / Senior Petroleum Engineer

    Khalda Petroleum Company · Western Desert, Egypt

  4. 2018 – 2019

    Reservoir Engineering Consultant (concurrent assignment)

    INA · Egypt

    Reservoir surveillance, reserves estimation, well test interpretation, production forecasting, waterflood monitoring and technical reporting.

  5. 2019 – Present

    Department Head

    Khalda Petroleum Company · Western Desert, Egypt

    Leads field development planning and reservoir surveillance, and continues to supervise drilling and workover operations at the rig site.

Drilling & Workover Rig Supervisor, Khalda Petroleum Company, 2008 – Present, held alongside the reservoir roles above.

Education and credentials

  • B.Sc. Petroleum Engineering

    Cairo University · 2006 · Very Good

  • IPEP Diploma

    Colorado School of Mines · 2007

  • NEBOSH International General Certificate

    Occupational Health and Safety · 2022

  • IADC WellSharp

    Drilling Operations Supervisor, Surface · Valid to 12 December 2026

  • IWCF Well Control Level 4

    Surface BOP Stack · Held to May 2025 · Renewal scheduled February 2027

Selected training

  • IWCF Well Control Levels 3 and 4 · ENPPI, 2023
  • Drilling Practices; Drilling Problems and Optimization · Drilling School, 2023
  • Well Completion and Workover Procedures · ENPPI, 2024
  • Stuck Pipe and Fishing Operation · EDC, 2022
  • HPHT Drilling Operations · OGS, 2016
  • Production Data Analysis and OFM · KPC, 2021
  • Applied Reservoir Simulation · Tatweer, 2018
  • Integrated Production System Analysis · OGS, 2019

Languages

Arabic: native · English: advanced / fluent · Russian: moderate

CV downloads

Two versions are available. Choose the one that matches the role.

Reservoir engineering

Reservoir surveillance, reserves, well testing and field development planning.

Download CV (PDF)

Drilling & workover supervision

Rig-site supervision, well control, completions and intervention.

Download CV (PDF)

Get in touch

For drilling, workover and reservoir engineering roles, and technical enquiries.