Petroleum Engineering

 

The Department of Petroleum Engineering offers a sound background in basic sciences and their application to practical problems in the complex and changing area of petroleum technology. Such study provides the fundamentals of physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, geophysics, computer science and engineering. Petroleum Engineering is housed in the School of Earth Sciences, and additional information about courses, requirements and faculty can be found in the Earth Sciences section of the Bulletin.

Petroleum engineers are concerned with the design of processes for hydrocarbon recovery from oil and gas reservoirs. Included in the design process are characterization of the spatial distribution of reservoir properties, drilling of wells, design and operation of production facilities, selection and implementation of reservoirs, and environmental aspects of petroleum exploration and production.

Petroleum engineers must understand the geology of reservoir rocks and the flow of fluids and heat through them. The broad training in this field prepares graduates for professional areas such as: enhanced oil and gas recovery; environmental engineering; geothermal energy production; natural gas engineering; reservoir engineering, reservoir simulation; water production and reclamation; well and property economic evaluation; well log analysis; well test analysis; and drilling and production technology.

We also provide two courses in basic petroleum engineering that are designed for majors in other disciplines who are interested in the subject or who are considering working in the oil industry. These classes are Pet. Engr. 120, Fundamentals of Petroleum Engineering, and Pet. Engr. 103, Energy Resources, which satisfies the distribution requirement in area 6 (Technology and Applied Sciences).

The normal Petroleum Engineering undergraduate program may satisfy the University General Education Requirements in Area 2: Natural Sciences, Applied Science and Technology and Mathematics. Courses that build depth in petroleum engineering are divided into two parts: (1) core courses taken by all undergraduates in Petroleum Engineering and (2) technical electives which focus on areas of specialization .

For further details contact Prof. Martin Blunt (tel. 5-2727, blunt@pangea).

 

 

B.S. Requirements

 

Mathematics

Course

Title

Units

Qtr

Math 41

Single Variable Calculus

5

(A)

and Math 42

Single Variable Calculus

5

(W)

or

      

Math 19

Calculus

3

(A,W)

and Math 20

Calculus

3

(W,S)

and Math 21

Calculus

4

(S)

Math 43

Calculus of Several Variables

5

(W,S)

Math 44

Calculus

3

(A)

Math 130

Ordinary Differential Equations

3

(A,W, S)

or

ME 100

Differential Equations in Engr

3

(S)

Science

Course

Title

Units

Qtr

Chem 31

Chemical Principles

4

(A,W,S)

Chem 33

Structure & Reactivity

4

(W,S)

Chem 171

Physical Chem (if prereqs can be waived)

3

(A)

G&ES 1

Fundamental of Geology

5

(A,W,S)

Physics 41

Mechanics

3

(A)

Physics 43

Electricity

3

(W)

Physics 45

Magnetism

3

(S)

Physics 54

Elec. & Mag. Lab

1

(S)

Engineering Fundamentals

Course

  

Units

Qtr

CS 106A or

Prog. Meth

5

(A,W,S)

CS 106X or

Prog Meth & Abst.

5

(A,W,S)

Engr 14

Statics and Deformables

5

(A,W,S)

and

Engr 15

Dynamics

5

(A)

Engr 30

Engr. Thermodynamics

3

(A,W)

ME 33

Intro Fluids Engr

4

(W,S)

Pet E 167

Engr Val of Oil & Gas Wells

3

(W)

or

Engr 60

Engr Econ

3

(A,W)

*Students in junior and senior level petroleum engineering courses are assumed to have competence in a high-level language such as FORTRAN or C.

 

Engineering Depth

The following courses constitute the core program in Petroleum Engineering:
CourseTitleUnitsQtr

Ch E 140

Fluid Mechanics

3

(W)

or Ch E 160

Chemical Engr Plant Design

3

(S)

Ch E 180A

Chemical Engr Lab

3

(A)

Ch E 180B

Chemical Engr Lab

3

(W)

G&ES 111

Structural and Engr Geology

3-4

(A)

G&ES 151

Sedimentary Geology & Petrography: Depositional Systems

4-5

(W)

Pet E 120

Reservoir Engineering

3

(A)

Pet E 121

Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow

3

(W)

Pet E 130

Well Log Analysis

3

(A)

Pet E 140

Drilling & Completion Technology

3

  

Pet E 172

Gas Engineering

3

(A)

Pet E 175

Well Test Analysis

3

(A)

Pet E 180

Field Development Design

3-4

(S)

Pet E 260

Groundwater Pollution and Oil Spills

3

(W)

 

B.S. Requirements

Additional core courses for environmental option (choose 3):

Course

Title

Units

Qtr
       

CEE 162

Hydrology and Water Resources

4

(W)

CEE 169

Environmental and Water Studies

5

(S)

CEE 170

Environmental Science & Technology

3

(A)

CEE 171

Environmental Planning Methods

3

(W)

CEE 172

Air Quality Management

3

(W)

G&ES 230

Hydrogeology

5-6

(A)

 

Technical Electives: Students must select 6 additional units of courses from Petroleum Engineering, Geological & Environmental Sciences, or Geophysics. Courses that may be used to satisfy this requirement are listed below. Other relevant courses may be substituted with the prior approval of the student's advisor.

 

Course

Title

Units

Qtr

Engr 40

Introductory Electronics

5

(A, S)

Engr 50

Introductory Science of Materials

4

(W, S)

G&ES 247

Oil Field Exploration and Development

3

(S)

G&ES 253

Petroleum Geology and Exploration

3

(S)

Geophy 190

General Geophysics

3-4

(A)

Pet E 103

Energy Resources

3

(S)

Pet E 104

The Coming Energy Revolution

3

(A)

Pet E 150

Interdisciplinary Aspects of Reservoir Mgmt.

2-3

(A)

Pet E 155

Report on Energy Industry Training

1

(Su)

Pet E 172

Gas Engineering

3

(A)

Pet E 175

Well Test Analysis

3

(A)

Courses recommended as electives (in addition to technical electives):

Course

Title

Units

Qtr

ChE 150

Energy and Mass Transport

4

(S)

CS 106A,B

Prog. Method. Prog Abst

5, 5

(A, W, S)

CS 137

Fundamentals of Numerical Computation

4

(A)

Engr 102W

Technical Writing

3

(A, W, S)

Engr 103

Public Speaking

3

(A, W, S)

G&ES2 & 3

Earth History, Earth History Lab

3, 2

(A)

IE 133

Industrial Accounting

3

(A)

Math 131

Partial Differential Equations I

3

(W, S)

Math 132

Partial Differential Equations II

3

(S)

Math 113

Linear Algebra

3

(W)

Math 114

Linear Algebra

3

(S)

ME 131A

Heat Transfer

5

(A)

Pet E 194

Special Topics

1-3

(A, W, S)

Pet E 193

Undergraduate Research

1-3

(A, W, S)

Pet E 192

Undergraduate Teaching Experience

1-3

(A, W, S)

Phys 47

Light and Heat

4

(A)

Stat 110

Statistical Methods in Engr

4

(A)