Roland has a PhD degree in Theoretical Physics from University of Paris. He worked in academic research at the CNRS in Toulouse (France) for 10 years. His research was on the theory of multiphase flow in porous media, focusing on the use of network modelling and percolation theory. Afterwards he joined Schlumberger in Ridgefield, USA and Dowell Schlumberger in France where he worked on carbonate acidizing. He joined the reservoir department of IFP in 1988 and has been involved in various experimental and simulation aspects of petrophysics and special core analysis. He has also worked on wettability, heavy oils, tracer dispersion and upscaling. His recent activity is mainly focused onr petrophysical measurements on drill cuttings (porosity, permeability, formation factor, NMR T2 relaxation times, etc…)
Roland has published more than 130 publications:
- Nearly 50 publications in International Journals: Nature, Physical Review Letter, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Water Resources Research, Transport in Porous Media, SPE Journal, Revue de l’IFP.
- 15 publications in the proceedings of the Society of Core Analysts (SCA).
- 20+ papers in the proceedings of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
In collaboration with other researchers at IFP, Roland has developed several patented new technologies leading to commercialization by IFP, including:
- The semi-dynamic method for measuring Pc and Kr at reservoir conditions.
- Darcylog, a method for measuring the permeability on drill cuttings.
- A method for calculating Pc and Kr curves on heterogeneous core samples.
Roland has been a member of editorial board of several international journals (Transport in Porous Media, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, SPE Journal, etc…), chairman of the SPE committee on EOR and Fluid Mechanics in 2001, and France representative for the IEA committee on Enhanced Oil Recovery.
Roland is involved in teaching Core Analysis and Petrophysics at IFP-School and IFP-training, and courses on flow in Porus Media at University of Paris.
Roland was awarded the Darcy Award from the Society of Core Analysts in 2013.