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Encyclopedia > Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum engineering is involved in the exploration and production activities of petroleum as an upstream end of the energy sector. Upstream refers to the process of finding and extracting oil, which is usually buried deep beneath the earth's surface, to provide a continuous supply to consumers "downstream". Petroleum engineering covers a wide range of topics, including economics, geology, geochemistry, geomechanics, geophysics, oil drilling, geopolitics, knowledge management, seismology, tectonics, thermodynamics, well logging, well completion, oil and gas production, reservoir development, and pipelines. Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earths chemical components in time and space, and their interaction with... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... An oil well is a laymans term for any perforation through the Earths surface designed to find and release both petroleum oil and gas hydrocarbons. ...

Contents

Overview

Petroleum engineering has become a technical profession that involves extracting oil in increasingly difficult situations as the "low hanging fruit" of the world's oil fields are 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. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a generic term for techniques for increasing the amount of oil that can be extracted from an oil field. ...


As mistakes may be measured in millions of dollars, petroleum engineers are held to a high standard. Deepwater operations can arguably be compared to space travel in terms of technical challenges. Arctic conditions and conditions of extreme heat have to be contended with. High Temperature and High Pressure (HTHP) environments that have become increasingly commonplace in today's operations require the petroleum engineer to be savvy in topics as wide ranging as thermohydraulics, geomechanics, and intelligent systems.


Petroleum engineers must implement high technology plans with the use of manpower, highly coordinated and often in dangerous conditions. The drilling rig crew and machines they use become the remote partner of the petroleum engineer in implementing every drilling program. Understanding and accounting for the issues and communication challenges of building these teams remain just as vital to the petroleum engineer as ever.


The Society of Petroleum Engineers 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 states - but not only top producers, and some oil companies have considerable in house petroleum engineering training classes. Society of Petroleum Engineers is a professional organization whose mission is to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, and related technologies for the public benefit; and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence. ... A professional society, like a trade association, is usually comprised of professionals who share a common bond or purpose because they work in same industry or share a common job function. ...


Petroleum engineers have historically been one of the highest paid engineering disciplines; this is offset by a tendency for mass layoffs when oil prices decline. According to a survey published in Dec 2006 the average income was $116,834.


Types

Petroleum engineers divide themselves into several types:

  • Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of oil and gas via proper well placement, production levels, and enhanced oil recovery techniques.
  • Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling both production and injection wells.
  • Production engineers manage the interface between the reservoir and the well, including perforations, sand control, artificial lift, downhole flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment; they also select surface equipment that separates the produced fluids (oil, natural gas, and water).

Reservoir engineering is a subset of petroleum engineering, typically concerned with recovering the maximum amount of hydrocarbons with the minimum cost incurred. ... Drilling engineering is a subset of petroleum engineering, involved in the drilling of production and injection wells. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

See also

Engineering is the applied science of acquiring and applying knowledge to design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. ...

External links

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  Results from FactBites:
 
KU Chemical & Petroleum Engineering (404 words)
The Chemical Engineering program offers undergraduates the opportunity to focus their studies in the environmental, biomedical, or pre-medical options as well as the standard chemical engineering curriculum.
The undergraduate programs in chemical and petroleum engineering provide a foundation that enables a graduate to pursue a professional engineering career.
In addition, the Ph.D. degree in the School of Engineering may be earned in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.
Petroleum engineering (460 words)
Petroleum engineers must implement high technology plans with the use of manpower, highly coordinated and often in dangerous conditions.
Petroleum engineering education is available at dozens of universities in the United States and throughout the world - primarily in oil producing states - but not only top producers.
Petroleum engineers have historically been one of the highest paid engineering disciplines; this is offset by a tendency for mass layoffs when oil prices decline.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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