Prospecting, Exploration and Production Activities of Hydrocarbons

Specialization / Direction

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

Upon completion of this course, students gain an essential knowledge in the purposes and principles of prospecting, explore for and produce hydrocarbons. They understand the central role that geology plays in the exploration, appraisal, resource assessment and development of hydrocarbons. The students benefit in the below-mentioned ways: Enable to develop a broad perspective of the global oil business: exploration, appraisal, planning, production, refining, and transportation, Create the ability to differentiate between various exploration methods [non-seismic and seismic surveys, exploratory drilling, sampling, organic geochemistry] for hydrocarbons, Enable to identify the geological structures containing hydrocarbons, Develop an understanding of the techniques and process requirements to produce hydrocarbons including drilling engineering, Familiarity with the importance and requirements of oil and gas facilities in oil and gas fields, Recognition of the risks and environmental concerns associated with hydrocarbon exploration and production, Develop a basic understanding of the need to balance between the benefits to society and environmental aspects.

This course focuses on the formation and evolution of petroleum systems in sedimentary basins. A fundamental understanding of the thermal history of the sedimentary basins, basin analysis and modeling techniques provide skills necessary for basin modeling [Overview of the petroleum system, Thermal evolution of basins, Basin analysis and the petroleum system, Basin Modeling]. Fundamentals of petroleum geology: source rock, reservoir, cap rock, and trapping mechanisms, maturation, and migration of hydrocarbons from source rock to reservoir, well log and seismic interpretation, petroleum geochemistry, and mapping. More specifically, the following subjects are incorporated and taught within the syllabus: Petroleum as a resource, terms, concepts, and the value chain, Reservoir Rocks, Structures and trap configurations, Typical and specialized logging suites, Geophysical tools integrated with geology, Sequence stratigraphy, Prospecting, Exploration and Exploitation methods, Appraisal Methods and Examples, Reservoir mapping and volumetrics, Development of Oil and Gas fields. Porosity of clastic reservoirs, covering diagenesis and secondary porosity aspects together with some of the tools and techniques used for their evaluation, is presented. Another topic is focused on the analysis of carbonate reservoir rocks and their facies distributions in a range of depositional settings, non-marine, coastal, shelf, shelf margin, foreslope, and basinal. This course also covers Petrophysics and Formation Evaluation, the basic methods of open-hole well log analysis, and logging suite choices [Introduction to petrophysics, Basic petrophysical logging methods (nuclear, electrical, acoustic, imaging), Application and use of basic SP, gamma ray, porosity and resistivity logs, Lithology identification, Identification of pay intervals, Software analysis, Standard well logging suites, Special logs and interpretation techniques]. Additional content is provided on the fundamentals of Petroleum Geochemistry and its role in the exploration process to analyze and investigate source rocks and associated hydrocarbon generated. An overview of basic petroleum geochemistry fundamentals with strong emphasis on applications to exploration and production is included. Various aspects of hydrocarbon generation and accumulation are discussed [geochemical methods, bio-markers, modeling], Geochemistry in exploitation and development (reservoir geochemistry). Common seismic data processing, imaging and analysis methods employed in the petroleum industry are also covered. Additionally, the course highlight the various methods and technologies used to drill exploratory, appraisal or production wells for Oil and Gas. It covers the sampling and analysis of drill cuttings, covering their generation, collection, handling, and descriptions, mud logging practices, including the analysis of the penetration rate and drilling parameters, lithology, hydrocarbon shows, gas readings and formation pressure determination while drilling. This course also provides the students with an integrated view of how oil and gas is produced, focusing on production and related facilities throughout the lifetime of the reservoir. The role of current technology is presented. An overview of new and emerging technologies used to improve the bottom line is included. A wide range of oilfield production handling and treatment equipment that are utilized during exploration and production is presented. Students are able to appreciate how fluids behave in the reservoir and how these are extracted, processed and refined into finished on-specification marketable products. Several topics such as reserves calculations and fluids properties along with the surface facilities configurations are presented to achieve strong knowledge on how the fields are operated with optimum production rate and minimum costs. The Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies are discussed to highlight their role in the reserve values. Special purpose software is used to analyze subsurface data from exploration to production, enabling to create a shared vision of the reservoir. An introduction to machine learning and its application in the oil and gas industry is made.

28-02-2025