Petroleum Geology & Engineering and Petroleum Technology Courses

• Classify the key components of hydrological systems and describe distribution and movement of water at the surface and underground in soil and rocks.
• Recognize and identify basic rock types encountered in the subsurface in various petroleum basins.
• Describe the various components of rock types and their role in a petroleum system.
• Classify the key components of hydrological systems and describe distribution and movement of water at the surface and underground in soil and rocks.
• Describe the regional distribution of oil, gas, mineral and water resources in the United States.

Reading Surface and Subsurface Data:

• Interpret surface drainage patterns from a topographic map.
• Describe techniques that could be used to identify existing or abandoned wellbores, mines, pipelines or geologic characteristics such as karst features and varying levels of groundwater in the subsurface.

Recognizing Potential Geo-Hazards:

• Discuss the various mechanisms for over-pressure generation and recognize when and where they would be of concern.
• Identify indicators of over-pressure from resistivity and sonic logs.
• Identify the relative in-situ stress magnitudes knowing the faulting stress regime.
• Identify rock and reservoir properties that lead to subsidence.
• Identify rock and reservoir properties that lead to fault reactivation and/or induced seismicity.

Reservoir Engineering: Oil and Gas PVT and Chemistry: 

• Recognize environments where H2S potential is high.
• Recognize environments that may be prone to paraffin problems.
• Utilize standard units for temperature, pressure, density and volume.
• Perform unit conversions between separate unit systemsand make calculations within those systems.

Reservoir Engineering: Well Deliverability Estimation:

• Describe the three basic flow regimes: infinite acting, steady state and pseudo-steady state.
• Describe the parameters needed to calculate production rates for oil and gas wells.
• Estimate production rates for oil and gas wells.
• Estimate impact of different forms of stimulation on well flow rates for oil and gas wells.

Basic Principles of Drilling Operations and Well Design:

• Recognize the differences in wellbore construction processes between various oil and gas operation sites.
• Evaluate the use of casing and cement for wellbore and aquifer isolation.

Formation Evaluation and Logging:

• Distinguish low porosity and low permeability formations from high porosity and high permeability formations using well log information.
• Distinguish different reservoir fluids and water saturation levels using well log information.
• Identify production potential of wells using well log information.
• Recognize from a bond log when a cement job is bad and needs to be remediated.

Reservoir Geomechanics: 

• Use monitoring data to obtain local variations in the in-situ stress and reservoir characteristics due to drilling, completion and production operations.
• Utilize the information from the monitoring data to evaluate well integrity at every stage during drilling, completion, hydraulic fracturing and production.
• Recognize the monitoring capabilities of geomechanicstools for environmental protection.
• Utilize instrumentation data to increase efficiency, ensure safety, and identify and mitigate contamination and geohazard conditions.

Conventional vs. Unconventional Resources:

• Assess the suitability of design, equipment and techniques between conventional and unconventional operations and the potential consequences for well integrity and the environment.
• Recognize the role of formation anisotropy and heterogeneity in operational issues.

Completion and Workover Technologies:

• Determine the portions of a completion that a regulator should be interested in monitoring.
• Understand the critical completion components that should be reviewed by the regulator and why they are critical.

Well Stimulation Technologies: 

• Recognize formation damage at the wellbore and possible ramifications to wellbore integrity.
• Identify the general environmental impacts of varioushydraulic fracturing treatments.
• Recognize diagnostic techniques, modeling techniques and fracture monitoring techniques and how each is utilizedto assess geohazardous conditions.

Production Facility Design and Operation:

• Recognize the various flow conditions such as single phase gas, oil, water, as well as  multiphase flow in the reservoir, and the impact of pressure and temperaturechanges on flow phase.
• Recognize the impact of production rate and reservoir pressures on pipe and formation deliverability.
• Distinguish the natural production from artificial lift method, and the resultant conditions related to pressures, corrosion, etc. that are common with the equipment specific to each method.
• Recognize the surface and downhole production assembly, and the resultant conditions related to pressures, temperatures, etc. that are common with this equipment.
• Recognize the lifecycle of oil and gas including thesurface facilities and metering of the products out of the well through the pumping station and into the pipeline, and monitoring of this production.

Gas and Oil Treatment, Surface Facilities and Transmission:

• Understand the role of the regulator in surface oil and gas facilities.

• Understand the role of surface facilities in: air quality, air quality regarding poison gas, surface spills and waste disposal.

Day 1: In-class (Tuesday, August 20)

7:30 - 8:00 am      Continental breakfast provided in the classroom
12:15  pm             Lunch provided in the classroom
6:00 pm                Adjourn
Snacks, beverages and breaks throughout the day
Dinner on your own (stipend included for out-of-town attendees on UT and PSU lists)

Day 2: In-class (Wednesday, August 21)

7:30 - 8:00 am      Continental breakfast provided in the classroom
12:00 pm              Lunch provided in the classroom
​6:00 pm                Adjourn
Snacks, beverages and breaks throughout the day
Dinner on your own (stipend included for out-of-town attendees on UT and PSU lists)

Day 3: In-class (Thursday, August 22)

8:00 - 8:30 am      Continental breakfast provided in the classroom
12:00 pm              Lunch provided in the classroom                            
Snacks, beverages and breaks throughout the day
6:30 pm                Group dinner and Guest Speaker
Guest Speaker: David Neslin, Partner at Davis, Graham & Stubbs Law Firm and Former Director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
8:30 pm                Adjourn

Day 4: Field (Friday, August 23) Engineering Trip in the Denver Basin

Trip leaders: Prof. Dr. Azra N. Tutuncu and Prof. Dr. Alfred Eustes

Participants will be taken to drilling and fracturing operation sites in the Niobrara shale near the Denver area, as well as production facilities. The field trip will emphasize the learning objectives from the previous days of classroom training, and give participants the opportunity to discuss the environmental and regulatory aspects of operations in the Denver Basin and across the country. Participants are required to bring their own Flame Resistant (FR) Clothing, hard hats and steel-toe boots (sun screen is also recommended). Additional guidelines will be provided prior to the field trip.

7:00 am                Departure (Continental Breakfast provided on the bus)
@ Noon                Lunch provided in the field
Snacks, beverages and breaks throughout the day
4:00 pm                Return to gathering spot, Adjourn
Dinner on your own (stipend included for out-of-town attendees on UT and PSU lists)
 

Day 5: Field (Saturday, August 24) Petroleum Geology Reservoirs of the Denver Basin

Trip leaders: Prof. Dr. Steve Sonnenberg and Prof. Dr. Azra N. Tutuncu

Participants will be taken to outcrops of the important petroleum reservoirs of the Denver Basin, including the Cretaceous J Sandstone, Codell Sandstone, and Niobrara Chalks. The field trip will emphasize the learning objectives from the previous days of classroom training, and give participants the opportunity to discuss the relationship of geology to regulating operations in the Denver Basin and across the country. Participants should be prepared for short hikes and have sun protection items (long sleeve shirt, sun screen, etc.). Flame Resistant Clothing is not required for this day. A guidebook will be provided.

7:00 - 7:30 am      Continental breakfast provided at gathering spot 7:00-7:30am
7:30 am                Departure
@ Noon                Lunch provided in the field
Snacks, beverages and breaks throughout the day
6:00 pm                Return to gathering spot, Adjourn
Dinner on your own (stipend included for out-of-town attendees on UT and PSU lists)