Abeer al-Olayan

Abeer al-Olayan is a Saudi oil expert who holds several patents in the field of oil and gas. She works as a Director General at the Ministry of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She is a member of the Coordinating Council for Women's Work and a senior advisor to the Deputy Minister of Energy.

Abeer al-Olayan is a former faculty member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also worked as a faculty member at a Saudi university before resigning to work for a research center affiliated with Saudi Aramco, thus granting her the opportunity to engage in discoveries and inventions, ultimately becoming an oil expert who speaks at conferences held in international universities. She was a member of the Saudi Chemical Society.

Abeer al-Olayan holds several patents in the field of oil and gas, including an invention related to identifying a chemical method to cure drilling fluid losses during drilling and production and to prevent rockfalls during drilling, a patent registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2018. In 2019, she registered another patent with the USPTO in partnership with MIT for the development of a smart fluid that turns into a solid state in less than a second, upon being exposed to strong pressure, such as an explosion or intense stirring, and which has various applications in fields other than oil and gas.

Abeer al-Olayan is the recipient of many awards and accolades in recognition of her contribution to identifying solutions to issues related to oil and gas extractions. In October 2018, the British "Petroleum Economist" magazine selected her as one of the top one hundred elite figures in global energy. In March 2019, she was awarded the Women Leader in Oil and Gas Excellence Award by the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute in Dubai.