On Saturday, 7th of February, I attended a lecture titled Trends in Petroleum Engineering Research, delivered by Dr. Prof. Khalid Aziz in the NEDUET Auditorium. It was a two hour presentation in which Mr Aziz covered some of the major advancements taking place in the world of petroleum engineering research. The following post covers some of the main points from is lecture and may be used as a guideline for further studying.
From Petroleum Engineers to Energy Engineers
Ever since 2006, the Petroleum Engineering Department at Stanford has been renamed to Energy Resources Engineering. As Mr Aziz explained, this is in fact the overall trend in the industry as well. Oil giants, Chevron, Shell and BP have already made huge investments in projects for tapping in other forms of energy including wind and solar. He thus concluded that eventually, petroleum engineers will evolve into energy engineers as the world consumes all the finite hydrocarbon reserves.
Operational trends
An emphasis is being laid upon collaboration; integrating and controlling all operations from under one roof. Environmental and social concerns are also being given more importance than ever before.
Major Technological advances
Bulk of the lecture was based around the last 3 points. Various different types of physical and analytical models were discussed starting from the early 1950's. Then came the numerical models that we use today. The role of reservoir simulation in the industry and how it has grown from nothing to its present status, as the main decision making tool, was also discussed.
The most interesting part of the lecture was related to the smart field technology. The concept of GA's (genetic algorithms) was introduced for field development and gradient based techniques for field operations. These optimization techniques are an essential part of emerging 'smart fields'.
In the end I must thank Mr Aziz for taking time out from his busy schedule and coming down to NEDUET, Karachi. I greatly appreciate him for sharing his immense knowledge and expertise. I look forward to attending more lectures from him soon and would like to wish him the best of luck in his endeavors.
From Petroleum Engineers to Energy Engineers
Ever since 2006, the Petroleum Engineering Department at Stanford has been renamed to Energy Resources Engineering. As Mr Aziz explained, this is in fact the overall trend in the industry as well. Oil giants, Chevron, Shell and BP have already made huge investments in projects for tapping in other forms of energy including wind and solar. He thus concluded that eventually, petroleum engineers will evolve into energy engineers as the world consumes all the finite hydrocarbon reserves.
Operational trends
An emphasis is being laid upon collaboration; integrating and controlling all operations from under one roof. Environmental and social concerns are also being given more importance than ever before.
Major Technological advances
- Well drilling and completion - wells can be drilled deeper and more economically than ever
- Downhole Control - improved downhole control mechanisms have allowed for multi-lateral wells to be drilled.
- 3D and 4D seismic - accurate prediction of reservoir structural geology, reservoir extents and even the types of fluids present in the reservoir is now possible with modern seismic techniques.
- Integration of data to build gelogical models - accurate models can be developed
- Risk Management - accurate prediction and modeling have lowered risks and improved returns
- Sensing and Monitoring - improved sensing and monitoring help prevent future problems
- Advanced recovery processes - aided by a higher oil prices, these techniques have improved recoveries. Eg (SAGD in Canada)
- Physical understanding and Mathematical models - have allowed for better reservoir modeling and hence accurate prediction.
- Numerical Models - high speed computers have allowed the usage of higher number of gridblocks and hence more accurate models can be prepared to simulate reservoir behavior.
- Smart field technology - have allowed for better optimization than ever before
Bulk of the lecture was based around the last 3 points. Various different types of physical and analytical models were discussed starting from the early 1950's. Then came the numerical models that we use today. The role of reservoir simulation in the industry and how it has grown from nothing to its present status, as the main decision making tool, was also discussed.
The most interesting part of the lecture was related to the smart field technology. The concept of GA's (genetic algorithms) was introduced for field development and gradient based techniques for field operations. These optimization techniques are an essential part of emerging 'smart fields'.
In the end I must thank Mr Aziz for taking time out from his busy schedule and coming down to NEDUET, Karachi. I greatly appreciate him for sharing his immense knowledge and expertise. I look forward to attending more lectures from him soon and would like to wish him the best of luck in his endeavors.
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