Introduction to Petroleum Engineering

What you'll learn

• Describe the segments of the oil and gas industry, the life cycle of a field, the main petroleum engineering specialties, and convert production between SI and oilfield units and barrels of oil equivalent.
• Explain how source rocks generate oil and gas, identify the elements of a petroleum system and the main trap types, and distinguish conventional from unconventional accumulations.
• Define porosity, saturation and permeability, apply Archie's equation and Darcy's law, and use formation volume factors, solution gas-oil ratio and the bubble point to describe reservoir fluids.
• Explain how gravity, magnetic and seismic reflection surveys are used in exploration, convert two-way time to depth, estimate seismic resolution and calculate a prospect's chance of success and expected value.
• Describe rotary drilling and its rig systems, plan a well path, choose a mud weight within the pore and fracture pressure window, and explain casing, cementing and well control.
• Describe cased and open-hole completions, perforating, acidizing and multistage hydraulic fracturing, size a fracture treatment and explain how its risks are managed.
• Estimate oil and gas in place volumetrically, describe drive mechanisms and their recoveries, apply the p/z material balance for gas and use Arps decline curves to estimate ultimate recovery.
• Calculate a productivity index and a Vogel inflow curve, explain nodal analysis, select among artificial lift methods and recognize common production problems.
• Describe how batteries separate, treat and measure oil, gas and water, explain gas processing, flaring rules and produced water handling, and relate pipelines and price benchmarks to producer revenue.
• Build a well's cash flow with royalties, costs and taxes, calculate net present value, rate of return and payout, and classify reserves and resources under PRMS and NI 51-101.
• Explain how the Alberta Energy Regulator and federal agencies regulate oil and gas, manage environmental risks, and plan the abandonment and reclamation of inactive wells under Directive 088 and Directive 020.
• Explain carbon capture and storage, estimate a formation's storage capacity, and describe how geothermal energy, hydrogen storage and lithium extraction use petroleum engineering skills.