Graduate Courses

Petroleum Engineering

The course introduces the basic concepts, theory and practices in drilling engineering. Topics include an introduction to drilling engineering, rotary drilling systems and operations, well control and monitoring systems. Specifically, drilling fluids, drilling hydraulics, formation pore and fracture pressure estimation, design of mud weight and kick evaluation are discussed. Some practical applications such as cementing and basic concepts of casing, drilling bits and bottom-hole assembly are presented. Laboratory sessions cover drilling fluids and cement formulation and testing. A rig-floor simulator is used to demonstrate drilling operations and control.

Basic petrophysical properties of reservoir rocks including porosity, permeability, fluidsaturation, electrical conductivity, capillary pressure, and relative permeability. Laboratory measurement of the reservoir rocks characteristics mentioned above.

Study of the phase behavior of hydrocarbon systems as related to petroleum recovery. Ideal and real gas behavior, single and multicomponent two-phase systems, properties of reservoir fluids under various conditions of pressure and temperature. Laboratory tests on reservoir fluids.

Pre-Requisites: ME203

Basic theory and modern practices and applications of well testing. Derivation of diffusivity equation and its solutions for slightly compressible fluids within infinite- and finite-acting systems. Introduction to the principles and techniques of well testing and evaluation using conventional and modern well test analysis. Well test design and instrumentation.

Pre-Requisites: PETE301

Drilling assemblies, rotary drilling bits, the theory of elasticity in drilling operations. Fatigue and failure of drill pipes. Directional drilling, hydraulics, and casing design. Optimization of drilling parameters and related problems. Well control. Novel techniques in drilling.

Drilling fluids rheology, mud program design, clay mineralogy and colloid chemistry, chemistry of drilling fluids. Shale stability problems and their solutions. Practical problems of conventional and thermally stable mud formulation. Mud corrosivity and rheological properties of cement slurries.

This course provides the student with a thorough understanding of the drilling operations and the various factors affecting them. Topics covered include drilling fluid hydraulics, hole stability, penetration rate, buckling and bending of drilling strings, well trajectory control, and optimization of drilling operations. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

Introduction in-depth coverage of drilling fluids chemistry, rheology and rig hydraulics. Classical and evolving drilling fluid systems, clay chemistry, shale stabilization, drilling fluid additives and contaminants. This course provides an overview and addresses the various problems and solutions related to drilling fluids. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Introduction to complex fluids, classical solids and liquids; basic forces Newtonian and Non-Newtonian fluids mechanics; standard flows and rheology. Provide an overview and understanding of constitutive modeling; polymers and polymer gels; suspensions; foams; emulsion; blends; liquids crystals; surfactant solutions; experimental and measurements. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Overview of oilfield chemicals used in drilling, completion, workover, stimulation, water treatments and shutoff. Design of fluids needed to stimulate the well to avoid several aspects of formation damage. Oilfield scales such as organic and inorganic scales. Scale inhibition techniques such as thermodynamic and kinetic methods. Scale prediction and quantification models. Scale removal treatment design. Gas hydrate formation, hydrate prevention (kinetic and thermodynamic methods), hydrate removal, gas hydrate prediction models. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Properties of reservoir rocks, lithology, porosity and permeability measurement methods, surface and interfacial tension, capillary pressure characteristics, rock and reservoir fluids interactions and their effects on wettability, relative permeability measurement techniques, electrical resistivity and resistivity models. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

The course will cover technical issues during drilling and completion, innovation drivers, and field development strategies. Fundamental Understanding of Processes such as single-well performance forecasting, modern Insight on flow in ultralow permeability reservoirs, modern Insight on Hydraulic Fracture development. Practical Knowledge of Field Development Strategies such as, in zone drilling and fracture containment, stage spacing and Fracture clusters, Fracture spacing, and well Spacing and interference. Field-development Decisions under Uncertainty such as, Asset Development, Data gathering, Expected Value, Decision Trees, Value of Additional Information, and Utility Theory and Risk Preferences.

This course will cover, Elastic and failure properties of rocks; in-situ stress conditions and their determination; stresses in boreholes; wellbore instability; sand production; and basics of hydraulic fracturing. The petrophysics part of this course will cover the permeability measurements in anisotropic porous media, tight, and unconventional rocks. NMR petrophysics will be covered as well, in addition to wettability and capillary pressure aspects of conventional and unconventional rocks.

The course provides students with the theoretical background and skills needed for well test design and analysis. Solutions of the fundamental flow equation including wellbore storage and skin for slightly compressible fluids are presented and discussed. The general buildup theory and its application to infinite and bounded reservoirs is addressed and discussed. Analysis of common well tests using recently developed methods and techniques to determine reservoir parameters of homogeneous and heterogeneous systems. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

Fundamentals of nuclear logging such as gamma ray, and neutron, theory, interactions with the rocks. Advanced logging theory and techniques such as reservoir saturation tool and lithology determination from neutron interactions. Advanced calipers, oriented calipers, multi arms calipers. Advanced and conventional resistivity logs such as image logs, array tools. Porosity logs such as density, neutron, acoustics, and NMR. Advanced acoustic measurements such as acoustic imaging. The course provides the student with the basic and advanced skills and techniques needed to interpret modern well log for identification and evaluation of potential hydrocarbon zones from a standard suite of logs. Commercial softwares will be used for log interpretation. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

None

This course provides a thorough understanding of the drilling operations and the various factors affecting them. This course is designed to give the students thorough understanding of hoisting and drill string design, drilling fluids, hydraulics, pore and fracture pressure prediction, casing seating depth and casing grade design, well cementing, well control and monitoring system, and well drilling course analysis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

This course provides a deep understating and applications of underbalanced and managed pressure drilling (UBD & MPD). Topics covered are types of drilling fluids used (air, mist foam, etc.), flow drilling, mud cap drilling and hydraulics calculations, surface equipment for UBD, completion of UBD drilling wells. In addition to the basic principles of MBP, problems encountered in MPD, well control, equipment used in MPD and MPD candidate selection are addressed. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Introduction to advanced concepts in formation evaluation for the estimation of static and dynamic petrophysical properties of rocks from well logs, core data, and geological information. Petrophysical well logging, mud logging, advanced logging tools and interpretation is addressed. Software and computer applications are emphasized. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Fundamentals of multiphase flow; characteristics of multiphase flows; conservation laws; momentum and energy equations for multiphase flow; multiphase flows in pipes; flow regime maps; concentration distributions; pressure drop calculations; design of multiphase pipe systems; and application of multiphase flow in the flow assurance.

Selected topics in fluid mechanics. Well control equipment, workover rigs and equipment. Corrosion control, emulsion formation and related problems. Surface and separation facilities for oil, water, and gas. Integrated field processing for offshore platforms. Choice of optimal production methods. Introduction to multiphase flow in pipes and gas lift.

Introduction to fluid flow dynamics in wells, the inflow performance relationships and the horizontal, vertical and inclined multiphase flow correlations and mechanistic models, composite model of fluid flow through the wellbore. Special IPR models such as Gas condensate IPR using transient well test and building of multilayer well flow performance model is covered. Productivity enhancement by stimulation, work over, sand management, corrosion control, and artificial lifting will be introduced. Students will also be exposed to introduction to risk and economic analysis of production system. The course emphasizes computer applications through the utilization of student developed and commercially available software. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Introduction to comprehensive understanding of oil and gas processing techniques along with knowledge of physical and thermodynamic property correlations to meet fluid specifications. Detailed theory, design, sizing and analysis surface production equipment: PVT analysis and optimizing of separator conditions, two-phase oil and gas separator, three-phase oil-water-gas separator, oil processing and conditioning, gas processing and conditioning, and water treatment facilities. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Well completions and effect of completion parameters; effect of reservoir parameters on production; production forecasting and wellbore performance; artificial lift systems; production optimization strategies and probabilistic modeling of reserves and production; underground gas storage.

Presentation of the equations governing the fluid flow in porous media. The importance of the viscous, gravity, and capillary forces. Reservoir and individual well performance, fractional flow theory, and introduction to simulation.

Review of water flooding. Overview of thermal techniques including steam stimulation, steam injection, and in-situ combustion. Introduction to different types of miscible and immiscible displacement including chemical flooding.

Discussion of the general equations of flow, continuity equations, equations of state. Final system of partial differential equations, assumptions, and boundary conditions. Single and two phase flow in one and two dimensions, finite difference methods, use of direct and interactive methods.

Thorough understanding of the physics, mechanics and performance of water flooding. Various performance-prediction methods are discussed and compared. Emphasis is placed on the choice of the proper method utilizing available reservoir data. A term project requires the student to design a water flood that meets imposed restrictions and satisfies performance requirements. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Understanding of techniques needed to estimate gas reserves for normally and abnormally pressured gas reservoirs, water drive gas reservoirs, and gas condensate reservoirs. Production forecasting and decline curve analysis. Productivity enhancement through gas cycling. Fundamental gas flow equation and its solution in terms of pressure, pressure squared, and pseudo function. Gas well tests design and analysis. Analysis of hydraulically fractured gas well test. Gas field development including reservoir deliverability, total system analysis (inflow/outflow performance of gas wells), and optimum development patterns. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

None

The course is designed to teach petroleum engineering students the basic and fundamental theory and practices for pressure transient well test, and well test interpretation techniques for different systems. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Multiphysics is essential for many applications, it involves the analysis of multiple, simultaneous physical phenomena. This course exposes students to advanced concepts involving Multiphysics modeling. While concentrating more on Multiphysics modeling in fluid flow and heat transfer, Multiphysics modeling in other areas such as solid mechanics and electromagnetics will be covered as well. The course introduces the students to the derivations of the fundamental equations used in the various areas of modeling, detailing how and why the physical processes are coupled and briefly mentioning the approaches to solving such coupled problems. Main topics: Single-Phase Flow, Reaction Advection Dispersion Equation, Conservation of Momentum in Fluid Flow, Nonisothermal Flow of Fluids, MP Phenomena in Solid Mechanics, Multiphysics Phenomena in Electromagnetic Waves.

Advanced knowledge of reservoir engineering as well as the technical responsibilities of a reservoir engineer starting from the appraisal to development. Immiscible and miscible displacement processes in porous media overall reservoir performance, graphical and analytical decline curve analysis, dynamic material balance, unconventional gas reservoirs, diffusivity equation and pressure transient in oil and gas reservoirs, and the appraisal of oil and gas fields are addressed.

Numerical solution of fluid flow equations from single phase multiphase flow problems. The main objective of the course is the multi-dimensional simulation of single and multiphase flow problems. Handling external and internal boundary conditions. Well modeling including the presence of skin and wellbore storage effects. Black-oil models. Well modeling and multi-block well completions. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Smart Wells: intelligent completion; sensors and sensors technology; inflow control devices; Reservoir monitoring: reservoir surveillance; pressure profiling; reservoir monitoring logs; advanced reservoir monitoring; Integrated production management: integrated intelligent completions; digital-oil-fields; data acquisition and communication; flow optimization; Real-time reservoir monitoring: reservoir modeling; history matching; simulation and quick data analysis.

Principles of economics as applied to the petroleum industry. Economic concepts such as time value of money, profitability measures, cash flow, depreciation, cost estimation, risk and uncertainty analysis. Applications for screening and evaluation of small and major projects are emphasized. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Hydrocarbon reservoir management: Geology, geophysics, and petroleum engineering; field operating and development plan from primary depletion to abandonment; optimizing profitability while enhancing hydrocarbon recovery; reservoir management process: Planning, Implementing, Monitoring, and Evaluating; Advanced Topics: Value of Information versus engineering estimation, , Streamline Simulation for pattern monitoring, and Reservoir Engineering Optimization Techniques; Production optimization, Project economic analysis, Case studies.

This course will cover the fundamentals of modern hydraulic fracturing and flow I ultra-tight rocks, practical decline curve analysis (DCA), and well performance evaluation tools, and Basic Reserves Classification and Reporting at a level required to act as a reserves estimator. Additional skills developed include decision-making under uncertainty about, Field Development Issues, Probabilistic Well Performance Forecasts, and Field-development Decisions under Uncertainty

Pre-Requisites: PETE521

Topics in Applied Mathematics that are relevant to Petroleum Engineering. The main areas considered are special functions, integral transforms and linear algebra. Applications to solving flow problems is achieved through assignments and project. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

The course presents real problems and scenarios that simulate a petroleum engineering office environment. A multidisciplinary approach will be the dominant approach to all presented problems. Realistic office settings and simulation of field problems will be used to enhance the learning experience. The course will emphasize problem solving and learning through well-structured assignments and class discussions. Experienced industry experts may be utilized at certain stages of the course. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor

Advanced topics are selected from the broad area of Petroleum Engineering. The contents of the course are given in detail one semester in advance of that in which it is to be offered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced topics are selected from the broad area of Petroleum Engineering. The contents of the course are given in detail one semester in advance of that in which it is to be offered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced topics are selected from the broad area of Petroleum Engineering. The contents of the course are given in detail one semester in advance of that in which it is to be offered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced topics are selected from the broad area of Petroleum Engineering. The contents of the course are given in detail one semester in advance of that in which it is to be offered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced topics are selected from the broad area of Petroleum Engineering. The contents of the course are given in detail one semester in advance of that in which it is to be offered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced topics are selected from the broad area of Petroleum Engineering. The contents of the course are given in detail one semester in advance of that in which it is to be offered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Graduate students working towards the M.S. degree are required to attend the seminars given by faculty, visiting scholars, and fellow graduate students. Additionally, each student must present at least one seminar on a timely research topic. Among other things, this course is designed to give the student an overview of research in the department, and a familiarity with the research methodology, journals and professional societies in his discipline. Graded on a Pass or Fail basis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

The student has to apply knowledge gained in course work to conduct research and perform independent study to prepare a report. This report will be presented and examined by a faculty committee. Co-Requisites: PETE 599

Pre-Requisites: PETE599*

Co-Requisites: PETE 599

This course is intended to allow M.S. students conduct research-based independent study. The faculty offering the course should submit a research plan to be approved by the PETE Graduate Program Committee. The student is expected to deliver a public seminar and a written report on his research. To select adequate subject, prior arrangement with the instructor is required. The course is graded on a Pass or Fail basis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Involves individual study by students in the field of petroleum engineering. The work should be original and the concept, data and the conclusions should contribute new knowledge to the field of petroleum engineering. The quality of the work should reflect the student’s proficiency in research and creative thinking. Following preliminary studies and a literature survey on the thesis subject, each student will present his proposed thesis subject orally and also submit a written proposal to the Deanship of Graduate Studies for approval. On satisfactory completion of his thesis work, the student is required to make a formal defense of the thesis. Co-Requisites: PETE 599

Pre-Requisites: PETE599*

Co-Requisites: PETE 599

None

This advanced course in colloids, interfaces and electrokinetics covers surface tension and surface free energy; surface films on liquid substrates, capillarity, gecko effect, electrical aspects of surface chemistry; surface of solids; solid-liquid interface, stability of dispersions; stabilization of suspensions, contact angle, emulsions, foams and aerosols; wetting of surfaces by liquids, lotus effect, flotation, aggregation and flocculation, detergency; surfactants; self-assembly, micelles and vesicles, friction, lubrication and adhesion; adsorption, characterization of colloidal particles, etc. Applications of colloid and surface science in drilling; production and Enhanced Oil Recovery will be covered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Analytical models of physical phenomena encountered in oil well drilling such as fatigue and failure or drilling equipment, mud filtration, dog-legs, corrosion, wellhead loads and buoyancy of tubular equipment. Rotary drilling optimization.

Offshore platforms and mobile vessels. Motion compensators and risers design. Offshore rigs and equipment. Offshore directional drilling. Wellhead and well control systems.

This course is intended to cover the recent advances and changes in drilling technology. Emphasis will be on the areas of horizontal and multilateral drilling and completion, slim holes and evolving drilling techniques. Optimization and cost-effective drilling practices are studied in detail with the utilization of available computer packages. Prerequisite: PETE 512

A graduate student will arrange with a faculty member to conduct an industrial research project related to the unconventional resources as the field of the study. Subsequently the students shall acquire skills and gain experiences in developing and running actual industry-based project. This project culminates in the writing of a technical report, and an oral technical presentation in front of a board of professors and industry experts.

Detailed coverage of the fundamentals of rock mechanics including the theories of elasticity, and failure mechanics, borehole stresses and acoustic wave propagation. Laboratory and field methods of acquiring rock mechanics data relevant to field applications are discussed. The course concludes with discussions of the application of rock mechanics in studying borehole stability, sand control, reservoir compaction and fracturing. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Introduction to horizontal and directional drilling. Basic terminologies types of directional drilling, horizontal well planning, long, medium, and short radius wells, directional drilling tools, drilling in sliding and rotating modes, toque, drag, bending, and buckling calculations for drill string, well survey, current and future trend in directional drilling, and casing, cementing, and completion of deviated well. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Basic fundamentals of well control during drilling and tripping in land and offshore wells. Topics include abnormal pressure detection, fracture gradient determination, casing setting depth selection, well control procedure while drilling and tripping, special conditions and problems in well control operation, well control equipment, well control while drilling from a floating rig, relief well design, underground blow out, and case study. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Study of current computer processing interpretation. Detailed study of shaleysands together with case studies. Introduction to special logging devices designed to solve specific problems. Dipmeter interpretation. Application to field studies. Prerequisite: PETE 521

Mathematical formulation of fundamental gas flow equations and solutions. Theory of superposition and application to gas well testing. Dimensionless variable land type-curve analysis. Pseudo-pressures. Gas well pressure buildup and drawdown tests. Deliverability tests. Fractured systems and non-Darcy flow.

The course is intended to introduce the graduate student to the latest technology in well interpretation and design using interactive well test computer models. Common types of well tests and reservoir models, and the identification under various conditions of oil and gas wells are presented and discussed. The graduate student will demonstrate his understanding of the course material through development of a well test program to estimate reservoir parameters based on non-linear regression techniques for several reservoir models. Prerequisite: PETE 523

The course is intended to provide the student with advanced concepts in geostatistics. Spacial correlation, variograms, and covariograms of petrophysical variables. Static (cores, logs, seismic) and dynamic (flow) data are used to characterize the reservoirs. Estimation of spacial distribution of variables using kriging, cokriging, and conditional simulation. Applications of geostatistical techniques to construct reservoir simulation models. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

Integration of important aspects of near wellbore development and management: (i) formation damage diagnosis and modeling; (ii) matrix acidizing; and (iii) hydraulic and acid fracturing of conventional and unconventional reservoirs. State-of-the art methodologies and practices will be introduced. The emphasis is on understanding the sources of formation damage and designing the appropriate stimulation treatment accordingly. Special range of topics including: stimulation fluid chemistry, tight gas reservoirs are addressed. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Inflow performance, multiphase flow in pipes, flowing wells. Theory and application of gas lift. Gas lift installation design and analysis. Compressor systems. Submersible, sucker rod other types of pumping systems.

Fundamental knowledge and tools needed to design and analyze hydraulic and acid fracturing jobs. An overview of the fundamental of rock mechanics and its application to hydraulic fracturing. Data requirements and various elements of massive hydraulic fracturing treatment design. Design of fracture treatment using analytical tools and commercial simulators. Term project to design a fracturing treatment and evaluate the post treatment performance of the well is required. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

In-depth look at artificial lift is provided. Overview of various artificial lift solution and related production optimization concept. Theory, design and analysis of topics to include: reservoir and well performance, gas lift, electric submersible pump, sucker rod pump, progressive cavity pump, plunger lift, hydraulic pump, selection and comparison of artificial lift methods and recent advancement in artificial lift technology. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Topics required for analysis of spatial variables. Topics include introductory concepts in Geostatistics, Statistical Analysis and Linear Estimation theory, Geostatistical Estimation, Geostatistical Simulation and Multipoint Simulation. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced concepts in well test analysis are covered. The course introduces the students to the mathematical concepts of convolution and deconvolution for analysis of multi-rate tests. Other topics covered include transient pressure solution in complex wells and complex reservoirs, and parameter estimation in will test analysis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Introduction to different tools of the computational chemistry and their application to Petroleum Engineering problems. Introduction to crucial equations and the physical meaning of each equation. Molecular Mechanics; Geometry optimization; Quantum mechanics; DFT; Molecular dynamics simulation; free energy calculations will be introduced. Several hands on tutorials on each topic to ensure that the students understand concepts covered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced concepts in flow of fluids through porous media are introduced. The course introduces the students to mathematical concepts that are indispensable in any advanced course on fluid flow. Other topics covered include single-phase flow, two-phase flow, transport of contaminants in porous media, flow of fluids in free-flow regions, modeling two-dimensional flows with streamlines; and non-isothermal flow of fluids in porous media. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Advanced concepts in Reservoir Simulation. Topics covered include Compositional Simulation, Non-isothermal Flow Simulation, Modeling of Horizontal and Deviated Wells in Reservoir Simulator, Streamline Simulation and Reservoir Model Upscaling. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Division of flow regimes from molecular scale to field scale and introduction to the corresponding theories and numerical methods for each regime; Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM); Pore-scale simulations of single phase and two-phase flows; Permeability calculations and its dependence on the contact angle and interfacial tension coefficient (IFT); Fortran code design based on LBM and its application on HPC. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

The practical and design aspects of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods as practiced in post-waterflood with oil reservoirs. Design, screening criteria, and field applications of Chemical (polymer, surfactant, ASP, alkaline, and low salinity water) injection EOR methods, and Microbial enhanced hydrocarbon recovery. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

This advanced course in fluid properties covers topics related to PVT of hydrocarbons, which include: the fundamentals of thermodynamics; petroleum fluid systems; characterization of reservoir fluids; PVT tests and correlations; phase and chemical equilibria; phase behavior and thermo-physical properties; Equations of State and associated calculations, advanced modeling techniques of reservoir fluids; Interfacial tension in multi-phase systems and applications in oil and gas industry. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

The practical and design aspects of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods as practiced in post-waterflood with oil reservoirs. Design, screening criteria, and field applications of Gas (LPG, CO2, Foam and WAG), and Thermal (steam, SAGD and in-situ combustion) EOR techniques. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Theoretical and programming aspects of artificial intelligence techniques with applications to the various areas of petroleum engineering. The basics of Artificial Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Programming are addressed with their applications in reservoir characterization, reservoir engineering, drilling engineering and production operations. The students are expected to do individual projects utilizing commercial software to solve real world problems. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

Introduction to fundamentals of Uncertainty Quantification and its application to stochastic analysis of heterogeneous subsurface flow and transport models. The objective of the course is to provide students with uncertainty quantification methods that can be used either to predict the uncertainty of production from the statistical information of the subsurface property, or to estimate the subsurface property from dynamic production data. Topics including introduction to concepts in forward and inverse modeling, principle component analysis, random sampling methods, polynomial surrogate methods, stochastic collocation and sparse grids, Bayesian inference, Kalman filter, Markov chain Monte Carlo method are covered. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

The course provides detailed coverage of the fundamentals of rock mechanics including the theories of elasticity and failure mechanics, borehole stresses and acoustic wave propagation. Laboratory and field methods of acquiring rock mechanics data relevant to field applications are discussed in detail. The course concludes with thorough discussions of the application of rock mechanics in studying borehole stability, sand control, reservoir compaction and fracturing. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

The course provides coverage of both theoretical and programming aspects of artificial intelligence techniques with applications to the various areas of petroleum engineering. The basics of Expert Systems, Artificial Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Programming will be covered with their applications in reservoir characterization, reservoir engineering, drilling engineering and production operations. The course is concluded with individual projects utilizing commercial software to solve real problems. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing

Attendance of departmental seminars given by faculty, graduate students and visiting scholars. Graduate students are expected to contribute seminars on literature searches of topics of current interest to Petroleum Engineering. Graded on a Pass or Fail basis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or consent of instructor

This course is intended to allow students conduct research in advanced problems in their Ph.D. area of specialization. Among other things, the course is designed to give the students an overview of research in CPG, and a familiarity with research methodology, journals and professional societies in his discipline. At the end of the course, the student is expected to deliver a public seminar to present his work and findings. To select adequate subject, prior arrangement with the instructor is required. The course is graded on a Pass or Fail basis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or Consent of Instructor

This course is intended to allow students conduct research in advanced problems in their Ph.D. area of specialization. Among other things, the course is designed to give the students an overview of research in CPG, and a familiarity with research methodology, journals and professional societies in his discipline. At the end of the course, the student is expected to deliver a public seminar to present his work and findings. To select adequate subject, prior arrangement with the instructor is required. The course is graded on a Pass or Fail basis. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or Consent of Instructor

Under the supervision of a graduate faculty member, the student selects a problem of fundamental significance to the petroleum engineering science. The student should conduct a thorough survey of the literature and formulate a clear approach to achieve the objectives. In his investigation, the student should employ analytical, numerical, and/or experimental techniques, which should demonstrate originality and independent thinking. The results and conclusions of the research work should constitute a significant contribution to petroleum engineering knowledge. The student should submit a dissertation and defend it to a dissertation committee.

This course enables the student to submit his Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal and defends it in public. The student passes the course if the Ph.D. Dissertation committee accepts the submitted dissertation proposal report and upon successfully passing the Dissertation proposal public defense. The course grade can be NP, NF. Prerequisite: Ph.D. candidacy, Pre-requisite: PETE 699

Pre-Requisites: PETE699*

Co-Requisites: PETE 699

This course enables the student to work on his Ph.D. Dissertation as per the submitted dissertation proposal, submit its final report and defend it in public. The student passes this course if the PhD Dissertation committee accepts the submitted final dissertation report and upon successfully passing the Dissertation public defense. The course grade can be NP, NF or IP. Prerequisite: PETE 711

Pre-Requisites: PETE711