Motivation Statement For Petroleum Engineering

A common theory in the oil industry is that the “easy oil” is gone. As known reserves become depleted and production declines, both national oil companies & international oil companies (NOCs and IOCs) are forced to look for oil and gas deposits in more challenging geographical and environmental areas. Andrew George, the chairman of Marsh, an energy risk management company, stated that, “It is fair to say easy oil has gone, and oil and gas are now found in tricky areas. The risk of extraction, or the risk of problem and failure during extraction, is greater” (Mukul, 2012). New wells being drilled are becoming deeper and hotter, resulting in operating conditions in considerably higher formation pressures. It means that operators (oil and gas companies) are drilling and producing in areas that are higher risk, such as deep water (Gaurav, 2004), and environmentally sensitive areas such as the artic (Chazan, 2012).

“Petroleum Engineering – What Does a Petroleum Engineer Do?” Petroleum Engineering & Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas. Web. 17 Jan. 2012 .

A close look at my Resume will indicate that I majored in the exploitation of oil and gas fields in my undergraduate program and specialized in petroleum engineering, a similar specialty, in my Master’s program. It may well be asked why I maintain such a close affinity with petroleum. The answer is simple and straightforward—because I was born and I grew up on an oil field and I have cherished a deep love for all that it represent. Even as a child, I had a habit of watching for hours how beam-pumping units, standing as if like a miniature forest, worked, indulging myself in all kinds of fantasies and reflections about the mysterious reservoir underground with great curiosity. I imagined that someday I would be able to unveil its mysteries. With the lapse of time, I am approaching the 30th year of my age and a cursory retrospection makes me realize that, for nearly a decade, I have been making efforts toward this objective. The black petroleum continues to hold me fascinated and spellbound with its infinite attractions. In order to understand petroleum better, I consider it necessary to travel to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to improve my knowledge and expertise in petroleum research.

Oil unearthing and its growth from corner to corner of the world has mainly been associated with environmental worries. The ecological impact in oil developing countries has been more destructive, making it more of a curse than a blessing. The task is for the concern countries to develop strategies to enhance oil and gas exploration, drilling and extraction without serious consequences to the environment (Owusu et al., (2013: p. 549).

‘Peak oil’ refers to the prime of any field’s production, after which goes into terminal decline. Most major US oil fields are beyond peak oil. The largest US oil field, Prudhoe Bay, has been depleting since 1979 (Prudhoe, 2012). The US Energy Information Administration indicates much production, particularly in the Alaskan North Slope, depends on world oil prices (Energy, 2012). Geophysicists and politicians debate over specifications regarding overall US peak oil, arguing the year in which US peak oil occurred.

As anything there is always a decision having to be made, but in the petroleum industry, decision-making can be very convoluted. Reason being is because in the past couple of years a considerable amount of approaches to fix things have arisen. Said by Review, “The difference between a good decision and a bad one can be the difference between success and disaster, profit and loss, or even life and death.” Before making any critical choices always be sure to have a strategic plan that will follow though to the best end result. As some observations have shown, is that the choice of oil and gas relates to prices as well as cash flow in this industry. A key factor for companies is strategically making wise choices on what oil, gas and companies to make investments in.

Since the beginning of the oilfield in the United States, Texas has been one of the leading states in this industry. In 1866, Lyne T. Barret drilled the first producing oil well at Melrose in Nacogdoches County [7]. From here, more wells were brought in, but the big Texas oil revolution began at a well-called Lucas No. 1. It was here, In Spindle top, Beaumont, where Capt. Anthony F. Lucas drilled the well that would produce 94 percent of the state’s production at the time and produce more than 17 million barrels of oil [7]. Now, 114 years later, Texas has given up another oil field play that will revolutionize the industry. This play is named Eagle Ford Shale. Figure 1 shows where the shale outcrops

Oil is a finite resource that is ever diminishing in quantity. In coming years, it will become very scarce and hard to find. While everyone is starting to find solutions to compensate for the imminent forgoing of oil, such as car industries being one of the main ones as they use oil to run their machines mostly, it will be a while before oil can be replaced completely by other things. Even with said replacements, functions that used to be handled by oil will be diverse and complex in nature such as the multiple different energy sources being tested today. Some temporary solutions that are meant to delay the end of oil, and prolong its stay is the method of extracting oil unconventionally. Oil industries and governments across the globe are

The U.S. was supposed to be the world’s new swing oil producer, able to nimbly open and close the taps in response to market forces, thanks to its bounty of shale fields.” In the past a barrel of oil has been one hundred dollars, recently it has dropped to thirty dollars. Though some wells can be profitable at low prices it puts a serious strain on the oil industry as explained in this article.

Oil is a very important fossil fuel that is used for various sources of energy. Oil supplies power to industries, fuel for transportation, heat for buildings, and provides raw material for plastics, paints, textiles, and other materials (hybrid cars). To access this fossil fuel, oil drilling is used. Land-based oil drilling became less productive and as the global stipulation for energy increased, technology, law, and geology impacts stepped in and pushed the exploration of oil away from shores (CITE). With its historical background, offshore oil drilling is one of the most important aspects of today’s economy although we are faced with its risks and consequences, such as the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion of the Gulf of Mexico.

Prior to today’s mechanisms, Native Americans and European settlers retrieved minor amounts of crude oil from holes in the ground. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century when Colonel Edwin Drake discovered the how to retrieve even larger quantities of oil. He realized that, by drilling a hole deep enough, greater quantities of oil could be obtained. Colonel Edwin Drake established the very first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. After Colonel Edwin Drake’s discovery, the search for oil followed. Through this quest, many oil reserves were located all over North America, with the richest reserves found in Texas.

A new player -at least in the United States- is entering in the game with a lot of enthusiasm among some of the audience, and a lot of skepticism by some others, that this unconventional player will overtake the conventional ones any time soon. Although, Big hops are held on the new player in the future. This new player is oil shale. The number estimated of oil shale in place in the US is around 4.28 trillion Barrel. An immense amount that’s even hard to imagine. Unfortunately, this amount is not 100% recoverable and the actual recoverable amount is unknown due to the lack of economic methods of recovery. The extraction of economic quantities of oil shale will be true in the near future due to

It has been argued that Conventional oil production has reached its peak and is now on a terminal, global decline however, it must be noted that oil is not finishing anytime soon but certain forms of it are being experimented in terms of chemicals, geography, geological and economically. Others allege the era of oil is coming to an end. But certainly not

Through the use of advanced technologies, geologists have the capability to predict potential locations for oil. This is done by the examination of the structure of rock layers, which is then followed by a test-drill in the Earth’s surface. Not every location that gets examined contain commercially viable oil reserves as some locations will have no oil or gas, some will have tiny amounts, and others will have the oil present but it will still be trapped within the porous rock layers such as oil shale. The earth’s crust plates are constantly on the move, and the oil reserves migrate with them. The reason a lot of the oil drilling occurs at sea is particulurarly because the majority of the crust of the planet, under which the oil is located,

A lot Scientists and oil field experts have been collecting facts and scientific evidences to try to predict the period at which peak oil will occur. Two of the scientists working toward this discovery are Colin J. Campbell and Jean H laherre. Those two scientists wrote an article about the aftermath s of the 1970 's oil embargo sppured reachees over the decline of oil, which resulted in erroneous conclusions due to various factors (78). In order to truly cast light on the issue of oil decline, Campbell and Laherrère merged a variety of techniques which comprise the examination of “the decline of aging fields” and “the diminishing returns on exploration in larger regions”, the extrapolation of the size