MSc / PhD PETROLEUM ENGINEERING
KPT/JPS (KA 8316) 12/12 (MSc)
KPT/JPS (KA 8317) 12/12 (PhD)

Petroleum engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the subsurface activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. The diverse topics covered by petroleum engineering are closely related to the earth sciences which involve the areas of Geophysics, Petroleum Geology, Formation Evaluation (well logging), Drilling, Economics, Reservoir Simulation, Well Engineering, Artificial Lift Systems, and Oil & Gas Facilities Engineering.

Petroleum engineering has become a technical profession that involves extracting oil in increasingly difficult situations. Improvements in computer modeling, materials and the application of statistics, probability analysis and new technologies like horizontal drilling and enhanced oil recovery, have drastically improved the toolbox of the petroleum engineer in recent decades.

The MSc in Petroleum Engineering by research in UTP offers a challenging blend of geology, fundamentals of reservoir engineering and new techniques for tertiary oil recovery. The curriculum is meticulously developed with inputs drawn from the experts of oil and gas industry in Malaysia and other parts of the world. The course is also designed to accommodate working professionals who would be able to utilise their work experience in projects. For fresh graduates, there will be opportunities to work on real projects with various companies.

RESEARCH FOCUS

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) spans a wide area of research to increase oil reserves and production.  The focus of EOR is to inject fluid or fluids to reduce surface tension and increase the swept area. The research areas ranged from fundamental studies on reservoir modelling to applied displacement processes.  Reservoirs are usually complex in structure and found in increasingly harsh areas, thus posing challenges in relating laboratory to field behaviour.  Current EOR technology can extract up to 50% of oil in place, leaving many barrels underground. Improvements on the properties of injected fluids (chemicals, gases, or combinations) are needed. Heat aided methods such as steam injection and combustion have been used to increase recovery. Research on unconventional methods is increasing, such as using electromagnetic waves, ultrasonic waves and laser.  Research on existing methods includes improving chemicals, injection methods and prediction methods.

Oil Field Chemical

The high cost of chemicals used in Chemical EOR is a major drawback even though many researchers reported an increased oil recovery by the process. Cheaper alternatives but of comparable quality can improve the economic viability of CEOR. An alternative is to develop chemicals from agricultural waste products and improve the robustness of the chemicals.  Similarly chemicals used in drilling, stimulation and production can be produced using local sources so that costly imported chemicals can be replaced.  Sources such as Jatropha and oil palm shells are two possible feedstock.

Flow Assurance

This research area covers multiphase flow, hydrates, sand, heavy oil and emulsions, wax, scale and corrosion. Within this field of research, the department is working on understanding the behavior of complex well fluids and developing tools for prediction of their behavior.

Drilling Optimization

Successful drilling operations require blending many technologies. Drilling equipment and procedures have a unique language that must be conquered in order to understand drilling operations. The research needs a fundamental, basic knowledge of the intricacies of drilling fluid, drilled solids management, drill bits, drill string design, directional & multi lateral drilling, cementing, casing, hydraulic optimization, and a predominant problems such as stuck pipe and lost circulation.

Drilling Fluid and Completion

Drilling is a complex operation requiring the marriage of different technologies and disciplines. Today’s drilling personnel must have a working knowledge of drilling fluid in order to effectively drill a well. The research includes the fundamentals necessary to drill a well, whether it is a shallow well or a complex, high pressure and temperature well, drilling fluids technology needed to improve drilling and minimise cost and wastage.

Cementing Technology

Cementing is a very important phase of the well construction plan. Operating company personnel must have a good working knowledge of cements, cementing additives and placement procedures. The use of temperature modeling, computer programs used for job design, and placement of the cement has caused some operating companies to retain a cement service company representative on a full time basis to assist in the overall cementing operations. The desire of the operator is 100 percent of the job success. This research will cover the importance being placed on the cement sheath integrity during the life of the well. This has required that additional mechanical properties of the set cement be obtained other than the compressive strength. The parameters that the cement sheath will be subjected to must be considered. The research will cover the use of cement formulations, cement additives, casing hardware, cement blending, on-site mixing equipment and a well-planned job procedure.

Unconventional Hydrocarbon

Unconventional Hydrocarbon research area is divided into the following sub-areas:

1. Methane hydrate

Methane hydrate is one of the unconventional energy sources. It is a unique chemical substance in which water molecules form an open solid lattice that encloses methane molecules. It has become a significant research subject since many recent explorations for hydrocarbons are encroaching into deep water environment where formations of methane hydrates are frequently encountered.  Even though, methane hydrate has the potential to store large magnitude of energy, many thermodynamic aspects of it are not clear before it can be commercialized. Research work mainly involves laboratory experiment to increase understanding of its formation, structure, physical and chemical properties, in order to develop technology to harness the resource economically and safely.

Coal Bed Methane

Coal bed methane is an unconventional gas resource that can be extracted from the coal bed. The unique coal characteristic results in a dual-porosity system. Potential CBM research includes :

Deep Reservoir (High Pressure High Temperature)

The department is interested in emphasizing research on the properties of high-pressure high-temperature reservoir fluids, investigation on the physical and chemical evolution of the reservoir rocks and fluids, including the impact of water, which can be quite important in such reservoirs. Studies also include the challenges in drilling and producing the fluids from the overpressured reservoir.