Research:

Natural gas production has a long and rich history, but until recently, unconventional reservoirs have been a rounding error in terms of supporting global demand. Now these “tight” gas wells are an essential part of U.S. energy policy. And yet, many fundamental questions about the physics of production remain unanswered. I work in a multidisciplinary team that has assessed the production potential of the Barnett, Haynesville, Marcellus, and Fayetteville plays. We are now studying the Eagle Ford and Bakken oil plays.

My work is determining EUR’s for each individual well in this field. This is done through using a simple, 1-dimensional numerical model and scaling arguments to fit the various geologic conditions wells experience.

Experience:

Postdoctoral Fellow

May 2015 – Present: Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin

Graduate Research Assistant

Summer 2011 ‘ May 2015: Cockrell School of Engineering, Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering

Teaching Assistant

Fall 2010, Spring 2011: 115L, a laboratory course for a mechanical and electromagnetic waves course meant for undergraduate physics majors.

Research Intern/Research Technician

Spring to Summer 2010: Max Planck Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics and Self-Organisation, Goettingen, Germany

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Summer 2006-Fall 2009: Physics Department Kansas State University and Max Planck Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics and Self-Organisation, Goettingen, Germany

Education:

Ph.D. Physics

The University of Texas at Austin, 2015

B.S. Physics

Kansas State University, 2009

B.A. Political Science

Kansas State University, 2009

Publications and Presentations:

• Frank Male, Akand W. Islam, Tad W. Patzek, Svetlana Ikonnikova, John Browning, and Michael P. Marder, Paper SPE168993-MS: “Analysis of Gas Production From Hydraulically Fractured Wells In The Haynesville Shale Using Scaling Methods,” presented at the SPE Unconventional Resources Conference ‘ USA, held in The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 1-3 April 2014
• Frank Male, Akand W. Islam, Tad W. Patzek, Svetlana Ikonnikova, John Browning and Michael P. Marder, “Analysis of gas production from hydraulically fractured wells in the Haynesville shale using scaling methods,” submitted to the Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources, 2014.
• Frank Male, Tad W. Patzek, Wei Yu, Svetlana Ikonnikova, John Browning, and Michael P. Marder, “Analysis of gas production in the Fayetteville Formation using scaling arguments,” in preparation, 2014.
• Frank Male, Tad W. Patzek, Amin Ettehad, John Browning, Svetlana Ikonnikova, Michael P. Marder, ‘Forecast of Gas Production from Wells in the Marcellus Shale Using Scaling Methods,’? in preparation, 2014.
• Frank Male, Tad Patzek, Amin Ettehad, John Browning, Svetlana Ikonnikova, Michael Marder, ‘Decline analysis: applying scaling laws to production in the Marcellus,’? presented at Unconventional Resources Technology Exhibition and Conference, held in Denver, Colorado, USA 25-27 August 2014.
• Patzek, T. W., Male, F. and Marder, M., ‘A simple model of gas production from hydrofractured horizontal wells in shales,’? AAPG Bulletin, 2014 in print.
• John Browning, Svetlana Ikonnikova, Frank Male, Gürcan Gülen, Katie Smye, Susan Horvath, Guin McDaid, Carl Grote, Amin Ettehad, Tad Patzek, Eric Potter, and Scott W. Tinker, ‘Marcellus Shale: Reserves and Production Forecast,’? OGJ, in preparation, 2014.
• Patzek, T. W., Male, F. and Marder, M. ‘Gas production in the Barnett Shale obeys a simple scaling theory,’? PNAS, doi:10.1073/pnas.1313380110, November 18, 2013
• John Browning, Scott W. Tinker, Svetlana Ikonnikova, Gürcan Gülen, Eric Potter, Qilong Fu, Katie Smye, Susan Horvath, Tad Patzek, Frank Male, Forrest Roberts, and Carl Grote, ‘Study develops Fayetteville Shale reserves, production forecast,’? OGJ, January 2014
• John Browning, Scott W. Tinker, Svetlana Ikonnikova, Gürcan Gülen, Eric Potter, Qilong Fu, Susan Horvath, Tad Patzek, Frank Male, William Fisher, Forrest Roberts and Ken Medlock, III, ‘BARNETT SHALE MODEL-2 (Conclusion): Barnett study determines full-field reserves, production forecast,’? OGJ, September 9, 2013.
• John Browning, Scott W. Tinker, Svetlana Ikonnikova, Gürcan Gülen, Eric Potter, Qilong Fu, Susan Horvath, Tad Patzek, Frank Male, William Fisher, Forrest Roberts and Ken Medlock, III, ‘BARNETT SHALE MODEL-1: Barnett study determines full-field reserves, production forecast,’? OGJ, p. 62, August 5, 2013.