Petroleum Engineer Course

Lesson 1 • Units, Conversions, and Industry Standards

Establishes consistent unit systems and conversion practices used across all engineering calculations. Introduces standard reporting conventions and regulatory measurement concepts.

Lesson 2 • Petroleum Industry Overview

Covers upstream, midstream, and downstream segments and their interdependencies. Establishes industry context essential for all subsequent technical chapters.

Lesson 3 • Reservoir Fluid Properties

Quantifies pressure-volume-temperature behavior of reservoir fluids. These properties underpin material balance and production calculations in core chapters ahead.

Lesson 4 • Petroleum Geology Essentials

Introduces rock types, stratigraphy, and structural traps critical to locating hydrocarbons. Connects geologic principles to reservoir identification used in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • Permeability and Flow Capacity

Covers Darcy's law and absolute, effective, and relative permeability concepts. Links flow capacity measurements to production potential assessed in later chapters.

Lesson 2 • Core Analysis and Calibration

Describes conventional and special core analysis workflows and their use in calibrating log data. Ensures log-derived properties are validated against direct measurements.

Lesson 3 • Well Logging Fundamentals

Introduces wireline and logging-while-drilling tools and their physical measurement principles. Provides the tool knowledge needed to interpret logs in the following section.

Lesson 4 • Rock Properties and Pore Systems

Defines porosity types, pore geometry, and their impact on fluid storage. Establishes rock property vocabulary used in log interpretation and reservoir modeling.

Lesson 1 • Material Balance Equations

Derives and applies the generalized material balance equation to oil and gas reservoirs. Enables estimation of original fluids in place and aquifer influx from production data.

Lesson 2 • Volumetric Reserve Estimation

Combines petrophysical and reservoir data to estimate original oil and gas in place volumetrically. Introduces probabilistic methods and reserve classification frameworks.

Lesson 3 • Reservoir Drive Mechanisms

Identifies natural energy sources driving fluid production and their characteristic performance trends. Understanding drives is prerequisite to material balance and recovery factor analysis.

Lesson 4 • Decline Curve Analysis

Applies exponential, hyperbolic, and harmonic decline models to forecast production rates. Provides a practical, data-driven forecasting tool complementing simulation methods.

Lesson 1 • Wellbore Stability and Geomechanics

Applies in-situ stress analysis and rock strength criteria to prevent wellbore collapse and lost circulation. Provides geomechanical inputs for mud weight window design.

Lesson 2 • Drilling Fluids and Hydraulics

Explains drilling fluid functions, rheological properties, and hydraulic optimization for efficient cuttings transport. Directly impacts rate of penetration and wellbore stability covered next.

Lesson 3 • Well Planning and Casing Design

Covers pore pressure and fracture gradient prediction used to set casing seats and mud weights. Establishes the well architecture framework for all subsequent drilling operations.

Lesson 4 • Drill Bit Selection and ROP Optimization

Compares roller cone and PDC bit designs and their application to formation types. Links bit selection to weight-on-bit and RPM parameters for rate-of-penetration optimization.

Lesson 1 • Hydraulic Fracturing Design

Covers fracture mechanics, fluid and proppant selection, and treatment schedule design for hydraulic fracturing. Provides the technical basis for stimulating both conventional and tight reservoirs.

Lesson 2 • Acid Stimulation Techniques

Describes matrix acidizing and acid fracturing workflows for carbonate and sandstone formations. Complements hydraulic fracturing as an alternative stimulation method for damage removal.

Lesson 3 • Completion Design Fundamentals

Compares open-hole, cased-hole, and sand-control completion types and their selection criteria. Establishes the completion architecture that all stimulation and production operations depend on.

Lesson 4 • Perforating and Near-Wellbore Damage

Explains perforation design parameters and their effect on skin and inflow performance. Connects near-wellbore damage removal to productivity improvement quantified in stimulation sections.

Lesson 1 • Artificial Lift System Selection

Compares ESP, rod pump, gas lift, and other lift methods using selection criteria based on well conditions. Provides a decision framework applied in the design sections that follow.

Lesson 2 • Production Optimization Techniques

Applies rate allocation, choke management, and surveillance data to maximize field production. Integrates inflow, lift, and surface system performance into a unified optimization workflow.

Lesson 3 • Flow Assurance and Production Chemistry

Identifies wax, asphaltene, scale, and hydrate risks and their mitigation strategies in production systems. Ensures production system integrity from reservoir to processing facility.

Lesson 4 • Inflow Performance and IPR Curves

Derives inflow performance relationships for oil and gas wells under various reservoir conditions. Provides the inflow component of nodal analysis used throughout this chapter.

Lesson 1 • Static Geological Model Building

Covers structural modeling, facies modeling, and property population using geostatistical methods. Provides the static model that is upscaled and imported into the dynamic simulator.

Lesson 2 • Reservoir Simulation Fundamentals

Introduces finite difference formulation, grid types, and governing flow equations in reservoir simulators. Establishes the mathematical foundation for building and running simulation models.

Lesson 3 • Development Scenario Forecasting

Uses validated models to compare infill drilling, EOR, and pressure maintenance development options. Translates simulation results into production profiles and recovery factor comparisons.

Lesson 4 • History Matching Methodology

Applies systematic parameter adjustment to match simulated production to historical field data. Validates model predictive capability required for reliable development scenario forecasting.

Lesson 1 • Waterflooding Design and Management

Covers pattern selection, injection rate design, and performance monitoring for waterflood projects. Waterflooding is the most widely applied EOR method and underpins all injection scheme design.

Lesson 2 • Chemical and Thermal EOR Methods

Describes polymer, surfactant, and alkaline flooding alongside steam and in-situ combustion for heavy oil. Provides advanced recovery options for reservoirs where conventional methods are insufficient.

Lesson 3 • Integrated Field Development Planning

Synthesizes reservoir, drilling, completion, and production data into a full-field development plan. Culminates the course by applying all prior engineering disciplines to a unified project framework.

Lesson 4 • Gas Injection and Miscible Flooding

Evaluates continuous gas injection, WAG, and miscible flood processes for improving displacement efficiency. Extends recovery beyond waterflooding in reservoirs with favorable fluid properties.