Petroleum Engineering 101 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Petroleum Engineering 101

Concepts of Engineering & Scientific Research and DesignThurgood Marshall High SchoolMr. McCleanSlide2

History

The profession got its start in 1914 within the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). The first Petroleum Engineering degree was conferred in 1915 by the University of Pittsburgh. Since then, the profession has evolved to solve increasingly difficult situations, as much of the "low hanging fruit" of the world's oil fields have 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.Slide3

What does it Encompass?

Economic and environmentally safe production of petroleum resources requires creative application of a wide spectrum of knowledge, including, but not limited to:

Mathematics

Physics

GeologyChemistry

Petroleum

engineering overlaps with many of the engineering disciplines, such as: mechanical, chemical, and civil.Slide4

Petroleum engineers divide themselves into several types

:

Reservoir engineers

use technology and expertise to pinpoint and efficiently allocate usable fossil fuel reservoirs underground for oil and gas companies

.

Drilling

engineers

design and implement procedures to drill wells as safely and economically as possible. They work closely with the drilling contractor, service contractors, and compliance personnel, as well as with geologists and other technical specialists

.

Production

engineers

, including subsurface engineers, handle the daily management of oil and gas production operations and help to maximize profitability by increasing revenue and lowering operating expensesSlide5

What do Petroleum Engineers Do?

The typical petroleum engineer works in the field. First, he/she scouts prospective fields

that have a strong

chance

of having oil or gas underground.

Then, he/she takes samples from the site and determines the amount and quality of the oil,

how deep the oil is,

and the equipment that will be needed to

pump it out.

The petroleum engineer then

oversees

construction and operations at the site and

plans accordingly. Finally, when the oil well is exhausted, he/she supervises the cleaning up of drilling equipment and the safe return of the land to structural stability. He/she also oversees the removal of any waste (hazardous or otherwise) left at the oil site. Slide6

What do

Petroleum Engineers Do?These stages of work can be quick three month

jobs

or extended to as long as several years. Patience, sound

judgment, and maturity are all required features for the successful petroleum engineer. Self-confidence is also crucial, as on site decisions have to be made quickly and surely. A Petroleum engineer must be able to handle failure. Speculative oil drilling is somewhere between a science and an art; expect to frequently plan rigs that prove barren or that yield only limited amounts of oil. Despite the frustrations that go with the petroleum industry, petroleum engineers seem to enjoy being out in the field where they can get their hands dirty. One big satisfaction for many that were surveyed was that they work with both their minds and their hands.Slide7

Advanced Super Vector Machines

Petroleum engineers increasingly use advanced computers, not only in analysis of exploration data and simulation of reservoir behavior, but also in automation of oilfield production and drilling operations. Petroleum companies own many of the world’s supercomputers.

Vector computers are being used in petroleum engineering to simulate the flow of oil and gas in a

reservoir. In exploration

for oil and gas, supercomputers are being used to store, classify, and interpret huge amounts of geophysical seismic data.Slide8

Challenges

Petroleum engineers have a future full of challenges and opportunities. They must develop and apply new technology to recover hydrocarbons from oil shale, tar sands, and offshore oil and gas fields. They must also devise new techniques to recover oil left in the ground after application of conventional producing techniques.Slide9

What’s are Hydrocarbons?

Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that are made of only hydrogen and carbon atoms. They are found in many places, including crude oil and natural gas.

The

majority of hydrocarbons found on earth naturally occur in crude oil, where decomposed organic matter provides an abundance of carbon and hydrogen which, when bonded, can

connect

to form

limitless

chains.Slide10

Travel

Since many petroleum companies conduct worldwide operations, petroleum engineers have the opportunity for assignments all over the world. Petroleum engineers must solve the variety of technological, political, and economic problems encountered in these assignments. These exciting challenges combine to offer a petroleum engineer a most rewarding career.Slide11

What to Expect

In order to maximize hydrocarbon recovery, petroleum engineers must be involved in all stages of petroleum development and production. Such a broad range of responsibilities guarantees a multi-disciplinary working environment that requires expertise in a wide range of areas including

petrophysics

, drilling and product operations, reservoir engineering, production geology, production technology, and field development economics.

Petroleum engineers can expect varied experiences when working in the petroleum industry.Slide12

As their careers progress, petroleum engineers must also expand in other areas of their work, such as liaising with geoscientists and other engineers;

and predicting production potential with commercial managers. They are also responsible for creating detailed development plans of reservoir performance using mathematical models to ensure maximum economic recovery. Permanent global mobility is also necessary.

What to ExpectSlide13

Petroleum engineers are involved in all phases of oil exploration, from choosing prospective sites through taking down the drilling rig after extracting the oil. This can mean travel, long stays in unusual (and sometimes inhospitable) locations and often with uncertain working conditions.

What to ExpectSlide14

Society of Petroleum Engineers

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.

Society of Petroleum Engineers

10777

Westheimer

Rd #1075

Houston, TX 77042Slide15

Petroleum Engineer Salary

Petroleum engineering has historically been one of the highest paid engineering disciplines, although there is 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 $125,220 annual salary. For individuals with experience, salaries can go from $170,000 to $260,000 annually. They make an average of $112,000 a year and about $53.75 per hour.Slide16

References

http://

www.pge.utexas.edu/about/petroleum

http

://

www.petroleumengineer.at/petroleum-engineer/pe-extended-overview.html