Robert Barba

Robert Barba brings more than 4 decades of expertise in the petroleum industry, specializing as an openhole wireline engineer, petrophysicist, product development manager, and completion optimization advisor. His work emphasizes the integration of petrophysics with completion and reservoir engineering to enhance well recovery. With a wealth of knowledge in both conventional and shale reservoirs, Barba earned the 2018 SPE Southwest North America Regional Formation Evaluation Award. As an SPE Distinguished Lecturer (1995–1996), he shared insights on optimizing completion designs through petrophysical and reservoir engineering inputs and was again nominated for the 2024–2025 DL season. A recognized authority on refrac candidate selection and best practices, Barba developed techniques for evaluating well performance that have been used on over 5,000 wells. Recently, he focused on refrac reorientation and parent-child issues facing the unconventional sector, contributing significantly to the field's literature.