Petroleum Engineering Capstone Design

A team field development plan for a sour light-oil discovery in a Red River structure in North Dakota: team organization and scheduling, data review and quality control, geological model and petrophysics, PVT, Monte Carlo volumetrics and resources classification, material balance history matching of an extended test, development options and well design, production forecasts and gas lift, a sour battery and gathering, after-tax economics with decision analysis and the value of flexibility, Industrial Commission and federal requirements, H2S contingency planning, a greenhouse gas inventory and stakeholder engagement, and the final recommendation and presentation.

PET-499 Year 4 3 credits 12 lessons · 4 h 16 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon

Offered by HSM University · Petroleum Engineering

This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.

What you'll learn

Organize a multidisciplinary field development team with a charter, review roles, a master data sheet and a critical path schedule, and apply professional obligations to the work.
Review and quality-control a discovery's data, including depth references, formation pressure tests, fluid samples and test production, and turn data gaps into a costed acquisition plan.
Build a geological model of a carbonate reservoir, evaluate net pay, porosity and water saturation from logs, and assess the effect of vugs on Archie parameters.
Classify a reservoir fluid, check laboratory PVT data against correlations and field gradients, and identify the implications of undersaturation and sour gas.
Estimate oil in place and recoverable volumes by deterministic and Monte Carlo methods, identify the main uncertainties, and classify the volumes as contingent resources or reserves.
History-match an extended production test with a tank material balance and aquifer model, recognize non-uniqueness, and carry aquifer uncertainty forward as weighted cases.
Generate and screen development options, compare vertical and horizontal wells for productivity and water coning, and choose the number of producers on incremental value.
Prepare production forecasts for each option and aquifer case using explicit profile rules, and select an artificial lift method for deep, sour, deviated wells.
Develop a facilities concept for a sour oil battery, size separators, water injection and gas lines, and state the class and accuracy of a select-stage cost estimate.
Evaluate options with after-tax cash flow models, expected values over uncertain cases, downside tests, the value of flexibility and the value of information.
Prepare an environmental, regulatory and stakeholder plan covering Industrial Commission and federal requirements, H₂S contingency planning, a greenhouse gas inventory with methane controls, and engagement with affected people.
Lead a design review, test the robustness of a recommendation, and write and present a field development plan with a define-stage work program.

Course content

12 lessons · 4 h 16 min total · final exam

1 Team formation and the field development plan 27 min · quiz
2 Data review and quality control 22 min · quiz
3 Geological model and reservoir characterization 19 min · quiz
4 Fluid characterization and PVT 19 min · quiz
5 Volumetrics and uncertainty 20 min · quiz
6 Reservoir simulation and history matching 22 min · quiz
7 Development options and well design 21 min · quiz
8 Production forecasting and artificial lift 21 min · quiz
9 Facilities and infrastructure 23 min · quiz
10 Economics and decision analysis 20 min · quiz
11 Environmental, regulatory and stakeholder plan 21 min · quiz
12 Final plan and presentation 21 min · quiz
E Final exam 20 questions

Requirements

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.

Description

Part of the Engineering stream, typically taken in year 4.