Petroleum engineering: oil and gas industry

Petroleum engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Subsurface activities are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, which are the activities of finding and producing hydrocarbons. (Refining and distribution to a market are referred to as the downstream sector.) Exploration, by earth scientists, and petroleum engineering are the oil and gas industry's two main subsurface disciplines, which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology and geophysics focus on provision of a static description of the hydrocarbon reservoir rock, while petroleum engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water and gas within porous rock at very high pressure.

The combined efforts of geologists and petroleum engineers throughout the life of a hydrocarbon accumulation determine the way in which a reservoir is developed and depleted, and usually they have the highest impact on field economics. Petroleum engineering requires a good knowledge of many other related disciplines, such as geophysics, petroleum geology, formation evaluation (well logging), drilling, economics, reservoir simulation, well engineering, artificial lift systems, and oil & gas facilities engineering.

Petroleum engineering has become a technical profession that involves extracting oil in increasingly difficult situations as much of the "low hanging fruit" of the world's oil fields has been found and depleted. Improvements in computer modeling, materials and the application of statistics, probability analysis, and new technologies like horizontal drilling and enhanced oil recovery, have drastically improved the toolbox of the petroleum engineer in recent decades.

Deep-water, arctic and desert conditions are commonly contended with. High Temperature and High Pressure (HTHP) environments have become increasingly commonplace in operations and require the petroleum engineer to be savy in topics as wide ranging as thermo-hydraulics, geomechanics, and intelligent systems.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is the largest professional society for petroleum engineers and publishes much information concerning the industry. Petroleum engineering education is available at 17 universities in the United States and many more throughout the world - primarily in oil producing regions - and some oil companies have considerable in-house petroleum engineering training classes.

Petroleum engineering has historically been one of the highest paid engineering disciplines; this is offset by a tendency for mass layoffs when oil prices decline. In a June 4th, 2007 article, Forbes.com reported that petroleum engineering was the 24th best paying job in the United States. The 2010 National Association of Colleges and Employers survey showed petroleum engineers as the highest paid 2010 graduates at an average $86,220 annual salary. For individuals with experience, salaries can go from $150,000 to $200,000 annually.

Some of the famous petroleum engineers include Douglas Patrick Harrison and Muhammad Salman, both having worked together and made over 30 billion on discovering alternative energy from Petroleum.

Types

Petroleum engineers divide themselves into several types:

* Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of oil and gas via proper well placement, production levels, and enhanced oil recovery techniques.

* Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling exploratory, production and injection wells.

* Production engineers, including subsurface engineers, manage the interface between the reservoir and the well, including perforations, sand control, downhole flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment; evaluate artificial lift methods; and also select surface equipment that separates the produced fluids (oil, natural gas, and water).

* Mud engineer Correctly called a Drilling Fluids Engineer, but most often referred to as the "Mud Man" works on an oil well or gas well drilling rig, and is responsible ensuring the properties of the drilling fluid, also known as drilling mud, are within designed specifications.

Read more »

Typical Outline for a Petrophysics Field Study

Before we start the Petrophysics eLectures properly let take a look at:

Typical Outline for a Petrophysics Field Study

Introduction

The needs of clients differ for each Petrophysics field study but most projects follow the general outline given below.

The Petrophysics field study is often part of a larger reservoir description project such as a reservoir simulation model or a geostatistical study. All of the project technical team members must be kept fully informed of the progress of the Petrophysical analysis. Any reservoir anomalies, including heterogeneity features, must be promply discussed and documented.

The reservoir surveillance activities will likely out-live the Petrophysics Field Study, so it is vital that the final study report and all material used in the study be carefully archived.

Suggested Outline for a Petrophysics Field Study

(1) Review previous studies.

(2) Conduct a literature search for work done on analagous fields

(3) Data collection phase;

    Digital wireline log data,
    Wireline log paper prints,
    Mud logs including digital data if available,
    Cuttings sample descriptions,
    Sidewall core descriptions,
    Core descriptions,
    Core analysis results including any SCAL reports,
    Petrographic reports,
    Well test results,
    Formation pressure data (MDT, RFT, DST etc.)
    Fluid analysis (gas, oil, water) reports,
    Geological correlation sections,
    Depositional environment reports,
    Well survey data.

(4) Database development:

    Data entry;

        Digital wireline log data from a service company, log vendor or client,
        Digitized log data: either as the original data or as supplemental or remedial data,
        Log header information - usually entered manually,
        Core analysis results - usually entered manually,
        Formation pressure data,
        Well survey data. Be aware of order of validity (single-shot, multi-shot,Gyro)

    Verify the validity of digital log data with hard copies of the original data.

    Identify and document fluid contacts in all wells. Use Mud log data, well test results, formation pressure data, cores, mudlogs and well log response. Create color-coded "stick" plots (Subsea depth) to show the distribution of fluids in all reservoirs.

(5) Edit the log data;

    Splice logs,
    Normalize log curves, if necessary, after examination of regional trends,
    Baseline SP curves,
    Delete or edit invalid log data intervals (for example cycle-skipped sonic).

(6) Create hole size and "washout" curves.

(7) Create "bad hole" logic to identify zones with invalid log data,

(8) Create a set of TVD and/or subsea log curves for each well,

(9) Apply environmental corrections to log data, where appropriate.

(10) Develop and test an interpretation model using the available data (logs, core analysis, petrography, etc). The model will typically include;

    A method to predict formation temperature,
    Formation water resistivity (Rw) curves calculated using salinity data and formation temperature,
    Shale fraction determination (often using multiple logs),
    Shale properties algorithms (Qv, Rhoma, Rwb, etc.),
    Reservoir parameters (matrix and fluid density, a, m, n, etc.),
    Porosity algorithms. Porosity is often calculated using several logs and logic is developed to select the most appropriate value,
    Water saturation models, and,
    Permeability prediction algorithms.

(11) Working with other members of the study team develop facies identification models, if possible.

(12) Develop permeability transforms for each depositional facies, if possible. Calculate permeability-thickness for each well/zone.

(13) Compare the log interpretation results with available core data.

(14) Refine the interpretation with zoned analysis parameters. It may be necessary to use more than one interpretation model.

(15) Review the analysis model and reservoir zonation parameters with the project technical team (Geologists, Geophysicists, Reservoir engineers).

(16) Apply the refined interpretation model to all of the wells using the zoned analysis parameters.

(17) Review all analysis results prior to writing a final written report.

(18) Prepare a summary report for the Petrophysics field study, containing;

    An executive summary of the project and the analysis results,
    A detailed description of the techniques applied,
    Implications of the results of all computations
    Analysis results in tabular and graphical forms.
    Petrophysics composite logs ("Answer" plots) with;

        Raw logs, core analysis data, interpreted lithology and,
        Log analysis results curves.

(19) Prepare presentation materials;

    Slides or overhead projections,
    Posters,
    Cross sections showing petrophysical properties.

(20) Archive all hard copy and digital data. A very useful technique is to write a CD containing the project directory structure.  The directory structure should contain the raw data, results curves, interpretation programs, report files and plot files.


-----------------------------------------
Henderson Petrophysics

Read more »

PETROLEUM AND GAS FIELD PROCESSING

This book is written mainly for two groups of readers: engineering students studying petroleum and chemical engineering and graduate engineers whose major interest is gas and petroleum production and processing operations. The book is arranged so that it can be used as both a text and a reference. As a text, the organization of materials permits flexibility in designing courses in this field for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Part I: Background
Chapter 1. Oil and Gas: From Formation to Production
Chapter 2. Composition and Characteristics of Crude Petroleum: A Brief Review

Part II: Separation of Produced Fluids
Chapter 3. Two-Phase Gas–Oil Separation
Chapter 4. Three-Phase Oil–Water–Gas Separation

Part III: Treatment of Produced Fluids: Crude Oil and Water
Chapter 5. Emulsion Treatment and Dehydration of Crude Oil
Chapter 6. Desalting of Crude Oil
Chapter 7. Crude Oil Stabilization and Sweetening
Chapter 8. Storage Tanks and Other Field Facilities
Chapter 9. Produced Water Treatment

Part IV: Field Processing and Treatment of Natural Gas
Chapter 10. Overview of Gas Field Processing
Chapter 11. Sour Gas Treating
Chapter 12. Gas Dehydration
Chapter 13. Recovery, Separation, and Fractionation of
Natural Gas Liquids

Download Me Now!

Read more »

Drilling Engineering

Drilling Engineering
As an entry-level drilling engineer, your career begins as a drill site manager — an on-site representative for drilling, completion, workover, and intervention operations.
Drill site managers work a rotational schedule, typically 14 days on/14 days off. Your typical responsibilities will include:
• Directing day-to-day drilling and completions operations to ensure the safety of all personnel on location  and compliance with all applicable environmental regulations
• Managing day-to-day activities of rig contractor personnel and third-party contractors
• Managing logistics for personnel and equipment to and from location
• Providing accurate daily drilling reports and maintaining accurate cost control After two to five years of  experience, entry-level drilling engineers have the opportunity to move into the office and work as a drilling or completions engineer.
Examples of project work for drilling or completions engineers are:
• Fit-for-purpose well or completion designs
• Bit and drill string design
• Casing and cement design
• Risk assessments and probabilistic cost estimating

Read more »

Production Engineering

Production Engineering
Production engineers are involved in the full lifecycle of field development — from conceptual design through  the production phase and eventually abandonment.
Production engineers specialize in reservoir surveillance and production system optimization, evolving development concepts, and contributing to well completions.
Your typical responsibilities willinclude:
• Production monitoring and evaluation
• Asset management planning
• Workover design and execution
• Production equipment design
• Cost estimating and budgeting
• Interfacing with working: interest partners, service companies, and regulatory agencies

Read more »

Petroleum Engineering

As a petroleum engineer, you’ll play a vital role in delivering the vital energy the world needs. Use your talents to make an impact on billions of people.

Reservoir and Simulation Engineering
Reservoir and simulation engineers make use of the latest analytical techniques to understand well and reservoir behavior on rock parameters, geology, and fluid properties.

Reservoir Simulation Consulting and Support
• Reservoir simulation studies to assist operating companies with reservoir development and reservoir management projects
• Reservoir simulation, uncertainty analysis, experimental design, well-test analysis, and nodal analysis
• Research and development projects: testing and deploying new tools, developing new work processes, and  assisting the research and development teams Reservoir and Simulation Research and Development
• Research, development, and application of optimization techniques
• Gridding, upscaling, and modeling of geologically and geometrically complex reservoirs
• Advanced numerical methods for fluid flow
• Data integration for improving reservoir modeling and uncertainty Heavy Oil and Unconventional Resources
• Conduct reservoir simulation studies
• Conduct research and development in improved oil recovery
• Participate in reservoir management studies
• Conduct history matching and sensitivity  studies

Read more »

Petroleum Engineers

Job Description

Petroleum engineers apply technical skills and knowledge to solve engineering challenges. They function as integrators, connecting subsurface and topside engineering activities to bring oil or gas from the reservoir to the surface. They aim to do this economically, safely and with minimum damage to the reservoir and facilities.
Petroleum engineers acquire expertise in a wide range of areas, including:
• petrophysics;
• drilling and product operations;
• reservoir engineering;
• production geology;
• production technology;
• field development economics.

Other activities range from managing material resources and contractor relationships, to supervising drilling personnel.
They work in multidisciplinary teams alongside other engineers, scientists, drilling teams and contractors.
Typical Work Activities

Typical work activities include:
• liaising with geoscientists, production and reservoir engineers, and commercial managers in interpreting well-logging results and predicting production potential;
• compiling detailed development plans of reservoir performance using mathematical models to ensure maximum economic recovery;
• selecting optimal tubing size and the variety of suitable equipment within the well for different functions;
• designing the completion - the part of the well that communicates with the reservoir rock and fluids;
• designing systems that help the well to flow, for example using submersible pumps;
 • managing problems of fluid behaviour and production chemistry;
• evaluating and recommending flow rate enhancement by using, for example, hydraulic fracturing (to force fluid into a well and fracture the rock) and acid treatment (to erode the rock and improve flow path);
 • managing and controlling wells with branches at the bottom (horizontal and multilateral wells);
• using well and reservoir surveillance data to manage the value of the reservoir and decide on appropriate
engineering interventions;
• understanding and managing how a set of wells interact;
• managing contractor relationships in relation to health, safety and environmental performance;
• supervising well-site operations personnel and managing staff at all levels, including the training and supervision of crew members, to ensure that everyone works as a team in order to meet deadlines to clients' satisfaction;
• liaising with separate departments to ensure correct progress with projects;
• taking responsibility for the maintenance of equipment;
• liaising with clients to keep them informed of progress.

Read more »