Department of Petroleum Engineering

Roy S. Butler Professor James F. Lea, Chairperson.

George P. Livermore Professor Davis; George F. and Joan M. Watford Associate Professor Heinze; Sun Associate Professor Frailey; Associate Professor Lawal; Assistant Professor Cox; Lecturer Adisoemarta; Emeritus Faculty: Arnold, Crawford, Land, and Winkler.

This department supervises the following degree programs: PETROLEUM ENGINEERING, Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering; Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering.

The department is uniquely located in the Permian Basin, where approximately 22 percent of the nation's petroleum resources and 68 percent of Texas' petroleum resources lie within a 175-mile radius. The department fulfills an obligation to the people of the State of Texas and the nation in making available the technical expertise for the safe and efficient development, production, and management of petroleum resources.

Petroleum engineering is the practical application of the basic and physical sciences of mathematics, geology, physics, and chemistry and all of the engineering sciences to the discovery, development, production, and transportation of petroleum. Petroleum is the most widely used form of mobile energy and now supplies approximately three-fourths of the total energy used in the United States. It is also a major raw material from which a wide variety of products are manufactured.

Students applying for transfer into this program from another institution or from another department at Texas Tech must have a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA. Transfer applicants must also have earned a grade of C or better in all courses related to the degree.

Petroleum engineering applies the curriculum management of the college. Phase I includes the first three semesters; Phase II the fourth semester; and Phase III includes the final two years of study. Progress from one phase to the next requires a satisfactory GPA, designated course completion, and departmental consent. To graduate, the student must complete the specified minimum number of hours in each area of the curriculum and have a minimum overall GPA of 2.00 and earn a grade of C or better in all courses. Changes in the degree plan or exceptions to the above stated conditions require written approval of the chairperson of the Petroleum Engineering Department.

The department has observed that students with access to a personal computer at home are more successful in their college endeavors. At a minimum, the computer should support high level programming languages and application packages such as e-mail, Internet access, presentations, spreadsheets, and word processors.

The Petroleum Engineering curriculum is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

Program Educational Objectives. The department supports the mission of the university through its undergraduate program by providing students with an appropriate curriculum and educational experience. The course selection and content remain current through continuous assessment by employers, alumni, faculty and students. Students obtain a broad education that enables them to understand the impact of petroleum engineering solutions in a global, social, and environmental context. To accomplish the mission, the petroleum engineering faculty, with advice from students, alumni, petroleum industry advisory board (PIAB) members, and employers, endorse the following program educational objectives:

·To provide its students with the best possible education in order to lead useful and productive lives;

·To educate its students to be practical, employable, and qualified petroleum engineers and to provide them with a foundation for continuing education;

·To support the petroleum industry with well-educated and highly skilled petroleum engineers;

·To serve society by encouraging the ideals of ethical behavior, professionalism, conservation of resources, and environmental responsibility;

·To offer useful technology to the people of the State of Texas, the nation and international communities through research and publications; and

·To continue the development of the undergraduate and graduate programs by recruiting highly motivated students as well as faculty who are well-rounded in teaching, research, and service.

The Department of Petroleum Engineering, by fulfilling these objectives, will remain faithful to the mission of the College of Engineering and Texas Tech University, and in so doing, will satisfy the needs of the people of the State of Texas.

Program Outcomes. Graduates of the BSPE program (and the MSPE program) at Texas Tech University are educated to:

·Apply knowledge of mathematics, geology, physics, chemistry as well as other engineering sciences.

·Conduct experiments safely and accurately and be able to correctly analyze the results.

·Design a process or system.

·Work in a team environment.

·Understand professional and ethical conduct and act accordingly.

·Recognize, express, and resolve engineering problems.

·Communicate successfully.

·Develop knowledge of present-day issues.

·Develop a special multidisciplinary knowledge of geology and engineering.

·Use modern engineering tools to apply engineering practice.

·Develop an appreciation of the need to continue to learn.

·Evaluate a project not only from a technical standpoint, but also from the principles of economics, risk and uncertainty.

Planning and Assessment. The department strongly encourages students to experience at least one summer interning for professional growth. Intern students will be assessed externally. The department has conferred over sixteen hundred B.S. degrees since the program's inception in 1948. A high priority goal is to produce quality B.S. graduates measured by:

a) One hundred percent placement of graduates each year,

b) student average starting salaries higher than the national average in accredited U.S. petroleum engineering departments,

c) provide summer intern opportunities and experiences within the industry for one hundred percent of students desiring positions,

d) ninety percent FE pass fate of graduating seniors,

e) recruiting quality undergraduates,

f) ABET accreditation,

g) Petroleum Industry Advisory Board recommendations on curriculum and graduates,

h) an independent assessment of capstone senior course.

The department is heavily involved in assisting our students to find jobs, both summer internships and full-time positions, upon graduation. Approximately fifty companies have recruited our students and one hundred percent of them have bee placed upon for graduation for the last ten years. The department began an active and aggressive recruiting effort in 1992 and enrollments were increased. A full time Student Recruiting Coordinator was hired in 1993 to help attract and recruit outstanding students. In addition, the scholarship program was expanded such that approximately sixty percent of our undergraduate body is now on scholarship. An interview and resume workshop for the fall and spring semesters was begun in 1994 to help students with interviewing and resume writing skills as an additional effort to maintain our outstanding placement rate. The curriculum is under continuous review, and revisions are made, where necessary, to maintain our accreditation and to ensure employability and attraction of our students to the recruiters. Faculty participation with ABET and the SPE Education and Accreditation Committee ensure the department is current on engineering education. In addition, faculty have attended and been principal planners in all five of the Colloquiums on Petroleum Engineering Education (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2000). Changes in the petroleum engineering curriculum since 1991 have been implemented by the Petroleum Engineering Curriculum Committee after due consideration of input from Petroleum Industry Advisory Board, ABET recommendations and the departments planning and assessment tools.

The department assists students to obtain summer internships, which provides invaluable and highly recommended industry experience to students. The increasing department involvement in industrial research provides an opportunity for undergraduate student to actively participate in the research experience.

Petroleum Engineering Curriculum.

Unless the second year of credit in a single foreign language has been received before entrance in the university, one year (two semesters) of a single language must be taken at the college level.

FIRST YEAR
Fall Spring
MATH 1351, Calculus I 3 MATH 1352, Calc. II 3
ENGL 1301, Ess. Coll. Rhetoric 3 ENGL 1302, Adv. Coll. Rhetoric 3
CHEM 1307, Prin. Chem. I 3 CHEM 1308, Prin. Chem. II 3
CHEM 1107, Prin. Chem. I (Lab.) 1 CHEM 1108, Prin. Chem. II (Lab.) 1
GEOL 1303, Phys. Geology 3 PETR 1305, Engr. Anal. 3
GEOL 1101, Phys. Geology Lab. 1 POLS 1301, Amer. Govt., Org. 3
PETR 1101, Intro. to Petroleum Engr. 1 16
15
SECOND YEAR
Fall Spring
MATH 2350, Calc. III 3 PHYS 2301, Prin. of Phys. II 3
PHYS 1308, Prin. of Phys. I 3 PHYS 1106, Prin. of Phys. II (Lab.) 1
PHYS 1105, Prin. of Phys. I (Lab.) 1 MATH 3350, Math. Engrs. I 3
POLS 2302, Amer. Pub. Pol. 3 PETR 2302, Res. Fluid Prop. 3
PETR 2301, Petr. Develop. 3 CE 3305, Mech. of Fluids 3
CE 2301, Statics 3 E E 2304, Fund. of Elec. Eng. 3
GEOL 3302, Struct. Geology 316
19
THIRD YEAR
Fall Spring
Statistics elective 3 C E 3303, Mech. of Solids 3
PETR 3303, Petr. Prod. Meth. 3 PETR 3304, Formation Eval. 3
PETR 3302, Res. Rock Prop. 3 PETR 3306, Reservoir Engr. 3
PETR 3113, Core Anal. Lab. 1 HIST 2300, Hist of U.S. to 1877 3
ME 2321, Engr. Thermo. 3 GEOL 4324, Geol. of Petroleum 3
CE 3302, Dynamics 3 PETR 3407, Drilling Engr. 3
PETR 3308, Engr. Comm. 3 19
19
FOURTH YEAR
Fall Spring
PETR 4306, Adv. Res. Engr. 3 PETR 4309, Adv. Prod. Engr. 3
PETR 4305, Nat. Gas. Engr. 3 PETR 4308, Well Test. Anal. 3
PETR 4121, Petro. Eng. Sem. 1 PETR 4300, Petr. Prop. Eval. 3
HIST 2301, Hist. of U.S. since 1877 3 *PETR elective 3
IE 3301, Engr. Eco. Anal. 3 Humanities Elective 3
PETR 4105, Gas & Prod. Lab. 1 15
Humanities Elective 3
17

Minimum hours required for graduation­136.

*Select from PETR 4000 or 4331.

Statistics elective from the following: MATH 3342, 4342, 4343.

Choose from Core Curriculum requirements.

Courses in Petroleum Engineering. (PETR)

1101. Introduction to Petroleum Engineering (1:1:0). Introduction to the petroleum engineering profession. Group discussions and selected readings on requirements, responsibilities, ethics, opportunities, and history of petroleum engineering.

1305. Engineering Analysis I (3:3:0). Corequisite: MATH 1351. Introduction to engineering fundamentals, dimensions, units, and conversions. Synthesis and analysis of typical engineering problems. Introduction to the use of computers, word processing, spreadsheet and Fortran programming.

2301. Petroleum Development Methods (3:3:0). Prerequisite: MATH 1351. Introduction to petroleum engineering, rotary drilling, and well completion practices including casing, cementing, perforating, and workovers. Discussion of equipment design and use.

2302. Reservoir Fluid Properties (3:3:0). Prerequisite: MATH 1351 and CHEM 1308. Study of reservoir fluid properties including PVT behavior of hydrocarbon systems. Investigation of the nature, methods of estimation, and use of reservoir fluid properties. Laboratory PVT demonstrations.

3113. Core Analysis Laboratory (1:0:3). Corequisite: PETR 3302. Laboratory determination of reservoir rock properties to include porosity, permeability, saturations, compressibility, and resistivity with extensive written reports.

3302. Reservoir Rock Properties (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 2302 and CE 3305. A study of the physical properties of petroleum reservoir rocks as they relate to the production of oil and gas, including multiphase fluid flow in petroleum reservoirs.

3303. Petroleum Production Methods (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 2301 and CE 3305. Artificial lift practices including design of sucker rod pumping systems and gas lift installations. Well stimulation practices including acidizing and hydraulic fracturing. Application of inflow performance relationships.

3304. Formation Evaluation (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PHYS 2301, PETR 3302. Use of open-hole well logs including logging suites for the electric survey to the induction and laterlog suites to determine volume and relative producibility of hydrocarbon reserves. Analysis and design techniques of actual well logging packages are emphasized.

3306. Reservoir Engineering (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3302 and GEOL 3302. Production performance predictions and estimation of hydrocarbons in place for gas, condensate, and oil reservoirs. Applications of material balance calculations for various reservoir types.

3308. Engineering Communications (3:3:0). Prerequisite: ENGL 1302, Junior standing, or consent of instructor. Written and oral communication techniques for professional engineers including writing matrix, fog index, computer analysis, and visual aid production, proposal writing, and other tools.

3407. Drilling Engineering (4:3:1). Prerequisite: PETR 2301, 3303, and CE 3305. Rotary drilling systems, drilling fluids and rheology, drilling mechanism, well planning, blowout and well control, hole deviation, and directional drilling.

4000. Special Studies in Petroleum Engineering (V1-6). Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual studies in petroleum engineering areas of special interest. May be repeated for credit.

4105. Natural Gas and Production Laboratory (1:0:3). Corequisite: PETR 4305. Experiments in production practices including gas and liquid measurement, fluid property determination, flow metering devices, pumping well characteristics and lease operations.

4121. Petroleum Engineering Seminar (1). Prerequisite: CE 3302, 3303, 3305, EE 2304, MATH 3350, ME 2322. Study of engineering problems of special interest and value to the student. Review for F E examination.

4300. Petroleum Property Evaluation and Management (3:2:3). Prerequisite: PETR 3304, 3306, I E 3301, GEOL, 3302, 4324, statistics and communication elective; corequisite: PETR 4308. Economic, physical, analytical, and statistical evaluation of hydrocarbon-producing properties, emphasizing relative worth of investments based on engineering judgment, business strategy, and risk analysis using actual oil properties in a final team project. Senior design project.

4305. Natural Gas Engineering (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3303, 3306, ME 2322; corequisite: PETR 4105. The production of natural gas and condensate reservoirs; processing, transportation, distribution, and measurement of natural gas and its derivatives.

4306. Advanced Reservoir Engineering (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3306. Frontal-advance theory and application, mechanisms of waterflooding processes, and application to reservoir performance prediction.

4308. Well Testing and Analysis (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3302 and 3306. Basic theory of transient flow in porous media and its application to the design and analysis of actual well tests using pressure-time relationships with emphasis on the pressure derivative. Buildup, drawdown, falloff, injectivity, pulse, interference, and drill stem tests are included for single or multiphase wells.

4309. Advanced Production Engineering (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3303, 3306, ME 2322, and advanced standing. Problem course in analysis, design, and application of production and processing equipment, separator problems, emulsions, treating, and transmission systems.

4331. Special Problems in Petroleum Engineering (3). Prerequisite: Advanced standing. Individual studies in advanced engineering areas of special interests. May be repeated for credit.


Return to Contents Page

Page Maintained by: Cheryl Hedlund

Page Administrator: Gale Richardson

LAST UPDATE: 6-1-00


Jan 21, 2020