Department of Petroleum Engineering

Roy Butler Professor James F. Lea, Chairperson.

Emeritus Professors Day and Winkler; Livermore Professor Davis; Sun Associate Professor Frailey; Watford Associate Professor Heinze; Associate Professor Lawal; Assistant Professor Cox.

This department offers study in the following degree program: PETROLEUM ENGINEERING, Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering.

The department is staffed with industry-experienced faculty who has an average of more than 15 years of experience per faculty member. This experience is combined with sound engineering and scientific principles in the classroom and made an integral part of the candidate's educational challenge. Also, the department is located in a geographical area that produces 20 percent of the nation's petroleum resources and 68 percent of Texas' petroleum resources lie within a 175-mile radius. This proximity provides the student with unique opportunities for directly interfacing with industry while still a student as well as first hand observations of oil field operations.

Graduate studies in petroleum engineering prepare the engineer to assume responsibility in technical and managerial areas within the oil and gas industry. Historically, the graduate petroleum engineer can expect to be challenged quickly and in areas of strong potential for personal and professional growth. Candidates with superior skills and the desire to progress within the industry can expect to be successful. The Petroleum Engineering Department at Texas Tech prepares the advanced student with the technical skills required to meet those challenges.

The master's program requires 33 graduate credit hours above the baccalaureate degree, including 6 credit hours allowed for the thesis and at least 18 credit hours of graduate petroleum engineering courses (excluding seminar). Additional graduate credit hours of other engineering, mathematics, or science will be allowed when approved by the candidate's advisory committee and graduate advisor. A written thesis is required for the master's degree. In addition, the candidate's thesis committee will administer a final oral exam in defense of the completed thesis. The department also offers a nonthesis master's program that requires 36 graduate credit hours approved by the graduate advisor. The graduate program for nonthesis master's candidate is specifically tailored for that candidate's educational background, industry experience, and individual interest. For both the thesis and the nonthesis programs, a final comprehensive examination is required. The policy governing the comprehensive examination is available with the departmental graduate advisor. Comprehensive examinations are given only after the Graduate Dean has admitted the students to candidacy.

All petroleum-engineering courses can be taken for credit. No more than six hours of PETR 5000 can appear in a master degree plan without approval from the Graduate Dean. The curriculum is organized into four core areas that denote the teaching and research concentration of the faculty. However, the degree plan of a petroleum engineering master student should include at least one course from each of the four core areas:

Drilling Engineering--PETR 5303, 5000.

Production Engineering--PETR 5306, 5000.

Reservoir Engineering--PETR 5307, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5313, 5000.

Formation Evaluation--PETR 5304, 5305, 5308, 5000.

Qualified students with a BS or BA degree in any field may enter the MS program in petroleum engineering by completing (without graduate credit) leveling work as needed in physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, basic engineering courses and undergraduate petroleum engineering courses. The details of the leveling program will be determined on an individual basis by the graduate advisor, and the length of the program will depend on the student's background. This leveling program must be completed with a minimum grade of B. All graduate students are required to register for PETR 5121 each standard semester unless exempted by the Department Chair. The graduate seminar course does not count toward fulfilling degree requirements for the master's program.

Courses in Petroleum Engineering. (PETR)

5000. Studies in Advanced Petroleum Engineering Topics (V1-6). An individual study course. Nature of course depends on student's interests and needs. May be repeated for credit on different topics.

5121. Graduate Seminar (1:1:0). Discussions of petroleum engineering research and special industry problems. Required each semester for all graduate students. May be repeated for credit.

5303. Advanced Drilling Techniques (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3307 or consent of instructor. A unified treatment of all aspects of well planning and the optimization of oil and gas drilling processes.

5304. Advanced Well Log Analysis (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 3304 or consent of instructor. Methods of analyzing various types of well logs to obtain quantitative hydrocarbon reservoir parameters.

5306. Advanced Artificial Lift Methods (3:3:0). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Study of the design and analysis of current mechanisms for lifting oil from the reservoir to surface facilities including optimization theory.

5307. Enhanced Oil Recovery (3:3:0). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Fundamental relations governing the displacement of oil in petroleum reservoirs and methods for predicting oil recovery by miscible and immiscible displacement.

5308. Pressure Transient Analysis (3:3:0). Prerequisite: MATH 3350, PETR 4308, or consent of instructor. Theory of transient fluid flow in petroleum reservoirs and applications of methods to interpret transient pressure behavior.

5309. Hydrocarbon Reservoir Simulation (3:3:0). Prerequisite: MATH 3350 or consent of instructor. The development of unsteady state fluid flow equations for hydrocarbon reservoirs and the application of finite difference methods to obtain solutions to the equations.

5310. Advanced Simulation Techniques (3:3:0). Prerequisite: PETR 5309. Treatment of advanced concepts of reservoir simulation for multidimensional, multiphase flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs.

5311. Thermal Oil Recovery (3:3:0). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Study of the recovery of oil by thermal methods, including steam injection and in situ combustion.

5313. Numerical Applications in Petroleum Engineering (3:3:0). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Least squares, solving first and second order partial differential equations; backward, central, forward difference solutions, matrix, Gaussian, Adams, Rung-Kutta solutions.

6000. Master's Thesis (V1-12).

6001. Master's Report (V1-6).

7000. Research (V1-12).

7121. Doctoral Seminar (1). Open discussion of recent advanced findings in any field of endeavor with special attention to their relationship to the philosophy of petroleum engineering. May be repeated for credit.

8000. Doctor's Dissertation (V1-12).


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