Oil and Gas
This courses provides a practical understanding of how hydrocarbon reservoirs are described (rock and fluid properties), what the primary mechanisms of oil and gas production are, and how recovery can be enhanced with secondary recovery methods. It is intended for engineers and geologists who are involved with making reserve estimates and production forecasts for primaryand secondary recovery.
Duration and Training Method
A five-day classroom course comprising lectures with case studies; exercises and solutions throughout the course will give students a hands-on experience.
Participants will learn to:
- Examine the role of the reservoir engineer.
- Differentiate basic geologic processes.
- Compare reservoir trapping mechanisms.
- Interpret various types of geologic maps.
- Calculate rock volumes.
- Contrast rock types and their properties that are of interest to a reservoir engineer.
- Determine and apply principles of phase behaviour for multi-component hydrocarbon mixtures.
- Manipulate and apply the Material Balance Equation.
- Interpret and apply the Real Gas Law.
- Examine the diffusivity equation and the implications of various boundary conditions.
- Apply and interpret traditional decline curve models; distinguish weaknesses and strengths of decline curve analysis.
- Differentiate between the various oil recovery drive mechanisms.
- Apply basic waterflood screening criteria.
- Be conversant with reservoir simulation engineers.
- Reservoir geological description.
- Hydrocarbon phase behavior including example PVT Studies.
- Reservoir rock properties including porosity, permeability, capillary pressures and relative permeability.
- Volumetric reserve estimates including examples, reserve classifications, probabilistic reserve estimates.
- Well test planning including typical DST’s.
- Pressure transient analysis methods including build-up curve examples.
- Gas well testing and AOF analysis.
- Reservoir drive mechanisms.
- Material balance methods for gas reservoirs including p/z example.
- Recovery from oil reservoirs under solution gas drive and natural water influx.
- Waterflood displacement mechanisms and analytical techniques for estimating recovery including example calculations.
- Introduction to numerical simulation methods.
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
The course is geared toward recently graduated petroleum engineers, engineers from other disciplines who are entering the petroleum industry and geoscientists with some background in reservoir geology and/or production.
Rob’s involvement in the upstream petroleum world began 38 years ago in 1976 when he worked on an oil rig as a roughneck and later as a well site geo-technologist (mud logger) at the age of 18. That experience convinced him of a life long desire to be involved in the oil and gas exploration and development business.
Rob was hired by Shell Canada Ltd. His initial work with Shell included: oil and gas field development studies, Enhanced Oil Recovery using CO2, Enriched Hydrocarbons, and Waterflood. Rob helped design, operate and interpret the Midale CO2 Flood Pilot project for Shell.
During the 1990’s Rob provided reservoir engineering leadership for TransCanada Pipelines. This included the development of a natural gas deliverability and supply forecasting application that generates a 25 year prediction of western Canadian natural gas supply. This project required a 2 year design and development period followed by 2 years of support and maintenance of the corporate software application.
Since 1996 Rob has provided oil and gas reservoir engineering consulting, advise, and training to the Canadian and international petroleum industry. From 2002 to 2011, Rob operated his own consulting company, CalPetra Research and Development Inc. His expertise ranges from natural gas forecasting and development planning, to enhance oil recovery development and economic analysis.
He lives in Calgary with his wife and two boys, is an avid bicycle commuter, and an advocate for a cleaner, lower carbon emission planet.
Affiliations and Accreditation
BSc University of Saskatchewan - Chemical Engineering
Society for Petroleum Engineering and Evaluators (SPEE)
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
Alberta Professional Engineering and Geoscience Association (APEGA)
N606: Waterflood Design, Management, and Optimization
N967: Introduction to Reservoir Engineering
N969: Optimizing Waterfloods