PNG 301 - Introduction to Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

The first part of the course will introduce the student to the design and implementation of the systems used in the extraction of oil and gas, including terminology and basic calculations in drilling engineering, geology, production, reservoir, and facilities engineering. The course will give an initial overview of the history of the oil industry and the origins of petroleum and natural gas reservoirs, followed by a description of the conventional and unconventional reservoir types. All aspects of petroleum engineering from upstream to downstream will be included in this discussion, including transportation, marketing, and environmental impacts.

The remainder of the course will present the various key disciplines in petroleum and natural gas engineering in the chronological order of how the disciplines interact. Key problems in each of these disciplines will be reviewed and solved, using Excel and introductory statistics/computer programming (using Matlab). First, the discipline of drilling engineering will be presented. This will focus on the different types of wells, bits, casing designs, and completion techniques. Topics in the discipline of reservoir engineering will be presented next and will include basic petrophysics, reservoir types, and fluids, as well as basic extraction methods. The life cycle of a reservoir and its efficient and environmental friendly management will be discussed, including enhanced oil recovery methods, such as carbon dioxide injection and surfactant flooding. Topics in production engineering will be presented next and will center on tubing design, artificial lift, stimulation using acids and fracturing, and cased-hole logging. Topics in facility engineering, the last discipline to be discussed, will focus on surface facilities such as separators, gas and water gathering systems, pipelines, stock tanks, chokes, and recycle plants.

Finally, differences between unconventional and conventional extractions and systems will be described as this is now critical to the energy security of the United States. Focus here will be on shale properties, fluid property changes owing to tiny pores, diffusion, absorption, and hydraulic fracturing. The course will explain how fracturing in shale reservoirs differs from conventional ones. Transport of oil or gas from these tight rock matrixes by diffusion through the fracture network will be presented. Environmental considerations will also be discussed.