Basic Petroleum Engineering Course

Lesson 1 • The Global Petroleum Industry Overview

Maps the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments and key stakeholder roles. Provides the industry framework that anchors every technical topic in the course.

Lesson 2 • Subsurface Geology for Engineers

Introduces sedimentary basins, stratigraphy, and structural traps relevant to hydrocarbon accumulation. Enables engineers to interpret geological maps and cross-sections.

Lesson 3 • Physical and Chemical Properties of Hydrocarbons

Covers molecular composition, phase behaviour, and classification of crude oil and natural gas. Builds the chemical foundation required for reservoir and production analysis.

Lesson 1 • Rock Compressibility and Geomechanics Basics

Quantifies how reservoir rock compresses under changing effective stress during production. Connects geomechanical behaviour to reservoir pressure management.

Lesson 2 • Permeability and Flow Capacity

Applies Darcy's law to quantify fluid flow through porous media and introduces absolute and relative permeability. Links rock properties to production potential.

Lesson 3 • Capillary Pressure and Wettability

Explains interfacial tension, wettability, and capillary pressure curves and their impact on fluid distribution. Determines initial fluid saturations and recovery efficiency.

Lesson 4 • Reservoir Fluid Phase Behaviour

Analyses pressure-volume-temperature relationships for oil, gas, and water systems. Accurate PVT data is essential for reserve estimation and production forecasting.

Lesson 1 • Porosity Logs and Lithology Identification

Applies neutron, density, and sonic logs to derive porosity and identify rock type. Accurate lithology identification controls all subsequent petrophysical calculations.

Lesson 2 • Shale Volume and Net Pay Cutoffs

Quantifies clay content using gamma ray and other indicators and applies cutoffs to define net reservoir. Directly impacts volumetric reserve calculations.

Lesson 3 • Resistivity and Saturation Determination

Uses resistivity logs and Archie's equation to calculate water and hydrocarbon saturation. Saturation determination is the primary driver of reserve classification.

Lesson 4 • Petrophysical Interpretation Workflow

Integrates all log measurements into a systematic workflow from raw data to reservoir description. Prepares students for full-field petrophysical studies.

Lesson 1 • Reservoir Drive Mechanisms

Identifies solution gas, gas cap, water influx, compaction, and combination drives and their production signatures. Drive mechanism determines recovery efficiency and development strategy.

Lesson 2 • Decline Curve Analysis

Fits exponential, hyperbolic, and harmonic decline models to production data to forecast future output. Widely used for reserve estimation and economic evaluation.

Lesson 3 • Material Balance Equation

Derives and applies the general material balance equation to estimate reservoir energy and fluid influx. Validates volumetric estimates and identifies active drive mechanisms.

Lesson 4 • Volumetric Reserve Estimation

Calculates original oil and gas in place using volumetric methods and introduces probabilistic reserve classification. Provides the starting point for all field development decisions.

Lesson 1 • Drill Bit Selection and Performance

Compares roller cone and PDC bit designs and applies performance metrics to optimise rate of penetration. Bit selection significantly impacts drilling cost per foot.

Lesson 2 • Casing Design and Well Control

Designs casing strings for burst, collapse, and tension loads and introduces blowout prevention principles. Well control is the primary safety discipline in drilling operations.

Lesson 3 • Well Planning and Trajectory Design

Covers well objectives, target definition, and directional survey calculations for vertical and deviated wells. Trajectory design controls drilling cost and reservoir contact.

Lesson 4 • Drilling Fluids and Hydraulics

Analyses drilling fluid functions, rheological properties, and hydraulic optimisation for efficient cuttings transport. Proper hydraulics prevent stuck pipe and formation damage.

Lesson 1 • Matrix Acidising and Acid Fracturing

Designs acid treatments to remove near-wellbore damage in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Acidising restores or exceeds original formation permeability.

Lesson 2 • Completion Architecture and Perforation

Compares open-hole, cased-hole, and sand-control completions and evaluates perforation design parameters. Completion type determines the interface between wellbore and reservoir.

Lesson 3 • Multistage Fracturing in Horizontal Wells

Applies stage isolation techniques and cluster spacing optimisation for horizontal well stimulation. Multistage fracturing is the enabling technology for unconventional resource development.

Lesson 4 • Completion Optimisation and Evaluation

Uses post-stimulation pressure transient analysis and production data to evaluate treatment effectiveness. Continuous optimisation improves well economics across a field.

Lesson 1 • Inflow Performance Relationships

Derives IPR curves for oil and gas wells using Vogel, Fetkovich, and backpressure methods. IPR defines the reservoir's ability to deliver fluids to the wellbore.

Lesson 2 • Artificial Lift System Selection

Compares rod pump, ESP, gas lift, PCP, and jet pump systems against well and reservoir conditions. Correct lift selection maximises production rate and minimises operating cost.

Lesson 3 • Flow Assurance and Fluid Handling

Identifies and mitigates wax, asphaltene, scale, hydrate, and corrosion threats in production systems. Flow assurance ensures continuous, safe fluid delivery from reservoir to surface.

Lesson 4 • Production Surveillance and Optimisation

Uses well tests, production logging, and real-time data to monitor and optimise producing wells. Surveillance identifies underperforming wells and guides workover decisions.

Lesson 1 • Field Development Planning

Integrates subsurface, drilling, and surface facility constraints into a phased field development plan. The FDP translates technical analysis into an investment and production schedule.

Lesson 2 • Waterflooding Design and Performance

Applies displacement efficiency, areal sweep, and vertical conformance concepts to waterflood design. Waterflooding is the most widely applied secondary recovery method.

Lesson 3 • Gas Injection and Miscible Flooding

Evaluates immiscible and miscible gas injection processes including CO2, hydrocarbon, and nitrogen floods. Miscible flooding achieves higher displacement efficiency than waterflooding.

Lesson 4 • Reservoir Simulation Overview

Introduces numerical simulation concepts, grid design, and history matching for reservoir performance prediction. Simulation integrates all reservoir data into a predictive model.