Masters of Science in Petroleum Engineering

Executive Summary

University of Utah

01/28/2013

Program Description

The proposed Masters of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering will be a 33 credit hours, sixteen-month

(September through December of the following year) program of course work, practical field and design

work, and a substantial research project resulting in a project-based thesis (internal publication only). The

degree will be housed within the Department of Chemical Engineering. The course work will involve

petroleum engineering fundamentals and advanced topics, fundamental petroleum geologic concepts as

well as exposure to constraints on energy technologies (geopolitical and economic considerations,

environmental issues). The motivation and intent is a program that will meet the needs of students,

including working students, industry, the state and the nation. Teaching would be collaboratively done with

primarily the Department of Chemical Engineering, Energy & Geoscience Insititute (EGI) and Department

of Geology and Geophysics.

To meet the needs of the anticipated local ,national, and international students, classes will be offered

through class room lectures and distance education. Short-term field studies and projects will require all

students to participate locally. The University of Utah currently has a MS Chemical Engineering program

with a project-based thesis requirment that can be completed with distance education. The thesis is

defended, but it is not published through the Univeristy. All of the departments in the college of engineering

offer non-thesis Master of Science degrees. This degree is very much in line with those programs.

Role and Mission Fit

The Department of Chemical Engineering has recently received increased interest in its petroleum-related

offerings. Furthermore, students involved in specific, petroleum-related programs have indicated the need

for a more fitting title for their degree. Industry has also observed that “retraining” engineers with more

petroleum-related courses is essential. It is clear that the name “petroleum” is needed for individuals

trained in this specific area and that this degree will fill a particular niche due to its research collaborations

with EGI.

Students will learn from, and collaborate with, faculty and industry professionals who are at the forefront of

their disciplines. The program is an excellent example of collaborative scholarship, accelerated to meet the

demands of the state and the nation. It embodies domestic and international involvement and explictily

incorporates social responsibility. This degree will give exposure of the Department's research to an

international corporate audience which, in turn, will strengthen the department’s research in the areas of

Petroleum Engineering.

Faculty

The proposed degree is based in the College of Engineering. The qualified ChEn faculty available to

participate in this MS degree include: Milind Deo (Professor, Chemical Engineering); John McLennan

(Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering); Richard Roehner (Associate Professor [Lecturing], Chemical

Engineering); and Ian Walton (Adjunct Professor, Chemical Engineering). EGI will be an essential partner

due to the impressive industrial expertise and distance education experience of its faculty (i.e., R. Sorkhabi

and Bill Keach). The Geology and Geophysics Department will participate by teaching one course and by

participating in the projects as appropriate.

Both on-campus and distance education students will take the courses in this program. Total enrollment in

the production and reservoir engineering courses may grow to the point that additional sections of these

courses must be added. To support the teaching needs of the program, an additional faculty member will

be hired. The Dean of the College of Engineering and the state-wide Utah Technology Initiative Advisory

Board have supported our request for this position with the idea that the new program brings additional

students and distance education opportunities to the state. In-house faculty are recognized experts in

petroleum and natural resource engineering and will be able to lecture, mentor, advise and participate in

this program without supplementary development.

Market Demand

Alumni and industrial colleagues have encouraged the Department of Chemical Engineering to develop

graduate-level Petroleum Engineering courses (see letters of support). In addition, the U.S. Energy

Information Administration projects that the United States and the world will continue to rely on petroleum

for decades. These advocates and the Department of Energy (DOE) emphasize the following:

• The department needs to offer a degree in Petroleum Engineering. While Chemical Engineering

currently has an emphasis on energy, industrial advisors insist that it must offer a degree, as

opposed to a certificate or other specialty designation.

• Three students from Quester recently gained MS degrees in Chemical Engineering through a

professional MS. They studied in Petroleum Engineering related areas but expressed the need for

a degree that is entitled “Petroleum Engineering.”

• Innovative engineers are needed in new energy sectors to manage conventional and

unconventional opportunities efficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner.

• Demographics suggest that large numbers of engineers will soon be needed to fill the positions of

those who will soon retire. In the petroleum industry, this is often colloquially known as the Great

Crew Change.

• There will be a continuing demand for petroleum.

Student Demand

In addition to industrial support, in a spring 2012 survey of 70 juniors in Chemical Engineering, students

indicated a strong interest in petroleum engineering. Students are requesting additional electives, and the

enrollment in petroleum electives is strong. In the spring of 2012, the enrollment in two existing petroleum-

related courses offered in Chemical Engineering was over 30 students with 2/3 undergraduates and 1/3

graduate. Department alumni working in the oil and gas industry have reviewed the program, and their

suggestions have been incorporated. Local and national companies have indicated their interest in the

program (see attached letters of support).

Statement of Financial Support

Appropriated Fund ....................................

Special Legislative Appropriation .............

Grants and Contracts ................................

Special Fees/Differential Tuition ...............

Other (please describe) .............................

On-campus students will pay the regular University of Utah tuition and the College of Engineering

differential tuition. Distance-education students will join the program through continuing education by

paying special fees. A new faculty slot has been given to the department through the Engineering Initiative.

Similar Programs Already Offered in the USHE

There are no similar programs in the USHE. The program is not an attempt to duplicate others, but to

create a new educational experience, unique in Utah and in the United States. A similar program exists at

Imperial College, London, United Kingdom. A key is the synergy between people in the Department and

EGI, not replicated anywhere else. The department anticipates a strong statewide collaborative effort

because of:

• Collaboration with Uintah Basin Applied Technology College – offers hands-on training as needed

for oil and gas field operations.

• Strong partnership to USTAR - strategically well positioned to act on the state’s critical energy

needs

• Existing collaborations between the Department and EGI.

• Distance education features will allow Utah energy professionals to participate statewide

Program Description

University of Utah

Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering

09/01/2012

Section I: The Request

The University of Utah requests approval to offer an “executive” Master of Science in Petroleum

Engineering effective fall 2013.

Section II: Program Description

Complete Program Description

The MS degree in Petroleum Engineering is a sixteen-month program of course work, practical field and

design work, and a project (September through December of the following year) which results in a project-

based thesis. A written report and oral presentation are required, but the thesis is not published beyond the

department. The course work involves petroleum engineering fundamentals and advanced topics,

fundamental petroleum geologic concepts as well as exposure to constraints on energy technologies

(geopolitical and economic considerations, environmental issues). A minimum of 33 semester hours is

required.

Purpose of Degree

Justification for this request is based on several factors.

• Student Interest: Based on a spring 2012 survey of our 70 juniors, interest in petroleum

engineering is increasing and students are requesting additional courses. Current enrollments in

Production and Reservoir Engineering elective courses are 31 and 35, with approximately 1/3 of

the enrollees being graduate students and 2/3 under graduates. Clearly the topic is one of interest

to our students. However, industry has stated that a certificate or specialization is not adequate to

meet their needs for placement. The program must be a degree with Petroleum Engineering in the

name.

• Societal Contributions: Engineering students are appreciating the fact that energy is an important

component in their discipline. They are asking for more exposure to energy related courses

because there are jobs in the energy sector and because they feel that they can make a difference

by working in this field. The petroleum industry is also diversifying into cleaner energy alternatives

and graduates will have opportunities in these sectors once they are within a particular company.

• Accelerated Contribution to Employer: “A 2008 human resources benchmark study prepared for

SPE [sic, Society of Petroleum Engineers] by Schlumberger Business Consulting shows that the

fastest companies take six to seven years to develop new employees into professionals who can

work autonomously, because of the complex decision-making and ability to exploit advanced

technology needed by today’s professionals. The report concludes that human capital is the

longest lead-time component of E&P [sic: Exploration and Production] delivery.”

The professional

MS program will reduce this development period.

• Aging Workforce and Employment Opportunities:

“We have all heard about the “great crew change,” the coming decade in which 50% of

experienced and managerial personnel of international oil companies industry wide are expected to

retire. While this will not all happen on a single day, it will create simultaneous gaps of

unprecedented proportions in the staffs of many international and national oil companies.”

“An aging workforce and the “big crew change” in the oil and gas industry have been widely

publicized as a disaster waiting to happen. So much publicity has been given to this topic that

many oil and gas executives that I have spoken with have become desensitized; they no longer

see the “crew change” as a looming threat. This is understandable since this was supposed to

have started several years ago and companies are actually laying off employees now rather than

struggling to find new employees. But the crew change is upon us; however, likely delayed due to

the poor economy. Many senior employees are postponing retirement trying to rebuild their

retirement funds and waiting for the economy to stabilize. For 10 companies the results suggest

that between 30% and 46% of the total companies’ current workforces are likely to retire by 2019.”

• Meets the Needs of the State of Utah: This is a reasonable venture for a state university,

particularly in Utah, recognizing that hydrocarbon-based resources (oil, gas and coal) provide

significant royalty support to state (second only to tourism); and further recognizing an underlying

public desire for environmentally appropriate extraction and use of these resources. Natural gas

activity in the state is poised to expand, conditional on ultimate increases in commodity pricing.

Utah also provides a natural geologic classroom for students. There are abundant unconventional

hydrocarbon sources (oil shale, oil sands, and unminable coal) and the program is designed to

promote effective, environmentally sound development. “Sound” development can be achieved in

a variety of ways, including reduced surface footprints, recovery methods that require less water

and vehicular emissions, and improved monitoring.

• Meets the goals of the Department’s Strategic Plan: The proposed program will certainly

increase the visibility of the department internationally. Much of the research underway for

petroleum engineering is a result of work with companies. The projects and students will help

foster additional research which could potentially transfer to our PhD program. In addition, an

www.spe.org/press/docs/SPE_WhitePaper_GraduateHiring2010.pdf

www.spe.org/jpt/print/archives/2011/04/16TalentTechnology.pdf

http://www.jptonline.org/index.php?id=357

additional faculty member helps us meet the increasing interest in this area at the BS, MS, and

PhD level.

As evidenced by the letters of support, the department anticipates a strong statewide collaborative effort

with:

• Uintah Basin Applied Technology College – offers hands-on training as needed for oil and gas field

operations.

• Strong partnership to USTAR - strategically well-positioned to act on State’s critical energy needs

• Existing collaborations between the Department and the University’s Energy and Geoscience

Institute (EGI).

• Distance education features which will allow Utah energy professionals to participate statewide.

Institutional Readiness

As indicated in the Executive Summary, with faculty strength, the University of Utah is already positioned

with expertise to offer the program. The researchers at EGI and the Departments of Chemical Engineering

and Geology and Geophysics currently co-advise students on petroleum-related projects. One new faculty

member was approved as part of the Engineering Initiative funding for 2012, and will enable us to continue

to deliver our undergraduate electives in this area while maintaining a cohort of professionals within the

program. Space and startup funding are available for this new hire. Initially, the program will use existing

advising and administrative staff within the department. As the program grows, an additional person will be

hired for the program.

The Department of Chemical Engineering has a history of graduate education using distance learning tools.

A previous collaboration existed with ATK for PhD and MS students. This program is an off shoot of our

successful implementation of that curriculum. In addition, a project-based thesis MS (course credit is given

in Advanced Design) is already in place and operational. While the thesis is reviewed and presented, it

does not get published by the University and is only an internal publication.

The faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering has been involved in the process of the formation of

this degree. In April 2012 the concept was presented to the faculty and, in turn, our Industrial Advisory

Board (IAB). The IAB unanimously and enthusiastically supported the. Additional details and discussion

occurred during our annual faculty retreat, August 15, 2012. Comments and recommendations were

integrated from faculty and additional feedback from some industrial contacts. A final vote was taken at our

faculty meeting on September 21, 2012, and it was approved to move forward.

Faculty

The faculty will comprise tenure/tenure-track faculty, professionals working in EGI (full-time non-tenured),

and lecturing faculty in the department. In addition, faculty from Geology and Geophysics will teach, but

they are not included in the numbers below. Differential tuition will help with costs associated with having

adjunct faculty (lecturing and research) teach the courses. The existing faculty will contribute only a portion

of their FTE to the program.

Faculty Category

Faculty

Headcount –

Prior to

Program

Implementatio

Faculty

Additions

Support

Program

Faculty

Headcount at

Full Program

Implementatio

With Doctoral Degrees

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-Tenured

Part-time Tenured

Part-time Non-Tenured

With Master’s Degrees

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-Tenured

Part-time Tenured

Part-time Non-Tenured

With Bachelor’s Degrees

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-Tenured

Part-time Tenured

Part-time Non-Tenured

Other

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-Tenured

Part-time Tenured

Part-time Non-Tenured

Total Headcount Faculty

Full-time Tenured

Full-time Non-Tenured

Part-time Tenured

Part-time Non-Tenured

Total Department Faculty FTE (As

reported in the most recent A-1/S-11

Institutional Cost Study for “prior to

program implementation” and using

the A-1/S-11 Cost Study Definition for

the projected “at full program

implementation.”)

3.25 1 4.25

Staff

The program will leverage the support staff already within the Department of Chemical Engineering and

EGI in the short term. As the program becomes more established, staff will be hired to aid in administration

and advising.

Library and Information Resources

Library facilities at EGI and at the Marriott library will be appropriate for the proposed program (see letter of

support). In addition, the department, EGI and research groups subscribe to one-petro, an on-line digital

database with about 250,000 articles and papers.

Admission Requirements

The program is designed for students with a B.S. degree in engineering, typically, chemical, mechanical,

civil or geological engineering. Entering students without industrial experience will be expected to take the

GREs. Professor McLennan will oversee admissions to the program with guidance from the Departmental

Graduate Committee. Exceptions to a B.S. in engineering will be handled on a case-by-case basis,

particularly for students in the industry. For foreign students, the results of the TEOFL test will be used to

establish English competency as is the current graduate school requirement.

Student Advisement

The Department has a full-time advisor and a faculty Graduate Director. Students meet with the graduate

advisor when they arrive on campus and the advisor keeps track of paperwork and helps students stay on

track. The department will hire a TA/part-time advisor to enroll and track students in the program. As more

students become involved, the department anticipates the need to hire an additional staff for advising and

marketing.

Justification for Graduation Standards and Number of Credits

Thirty-three credit hours are required. The proposed 16 month course schedule is outlined below. The

schedule could be extended in exceptional circumstances, on a case-by-case basis.

Coursework (24 Credit Hours)

• Engineering Basics for Petroleum Engineers (3 credits). [Fall]

This will be taught by the new faculty member that is being recruited currently.

o Rock mechanics for petroleum specialists

o Fluid mechanics for petroleum specialists

o Thermal engineering for petroleum specialists

o Principles of chemistry for petroleum specialists

• Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Engineering (3 credits) [Fall]

The course will cover pipeline and refinery engineering.

• Petroleum Geology (3 credits) [Fall]

This course will cover fundamental aspects of geology that are important to a petroleum engineer.

This includes relevant stratigraphic concepts, rudimentary geochemical concepts appropriate for

exploration, structural geologic basics and their relevance to drilling, production and reservoir

management. Reservoir characterization methodologies are introduced.

• Drilling and Field Operations for Engineers and Geologists (3 credits) [Spring]

This will be two term-length courses (Production Engineering I and II, CH EN 6157 and 6159)

which are currently taught. The coursework includes all facets of well construction, including

drilling, cementing, acidizing and hydraulic fracturing; onshore and onshore for conventional and

unconventional applications.

• Reservoir Engineering (3 credits) [Spring]

This will be the current semester length course (CH EN 6155). It includes the fundamentals of

reservoir engineering principles and will include the basics for modern reservoir simulation with

hands on simulation experience.

• Petroleum Production Engineering (3 credits) [Spring]

This will be taught in four modules. These modules will be:

o Well testing and pressure transient analysis

o Logging and in-well measurements

o Pumping and surface facilities

o Operational safety

• Energy and Society (3 credits) [Summer]

o Environmental and legal considerations for petroleum specialists

o Co-location and resource utilization

o Environmental impact of drilling and hydraulic fracturing

o Air and water quality considerations and waste minimization

• Simulation (3 credits) [Summer]

This course, will use the visualization center at EGI, a unique facility, to take generic and library

three-dimensional geologic models and use these to develop rationale drilling programs, to develop

and simulate completion and stimulation campaigns and to use commercial and in-house reservoir

simulators to infer production and provide options for future reservoir management (waterflooding,

workover…). The intent is to use engineering simulators to optimize exploitation in various geologic

environments.

Field Study (3 credit hours) [Summer]

Each student will be required to spend at least two weeks in the summer in the Uintah basin on a

field study. The study will be coordinated by EGI. EGI runs a number of field trips a year and is

uniquely positioned to offer thematic field trips to students; for example, carbonates or shales or

tight sands. The field trips will consist of studying outcrops and other exposures. As appropriate,

the data and insight from the field studies will be integrated into the project.

Project (6 credit hours)

Each student will need to select a project within the first semester. The project will have specific

petroleum engineering applications – upstream, midstream or downstream. This is a research-

based project with a required written, peer-reviewed report. The project will be spread out over the

16 months with a focus during the last four months. Students will be required to present their

project to a committee of three faculty.

External Review and Accreditation

Not required.

Projected Program Enrollment and Graduates; Projected Departmental Faculty/Students:

Please note that some classes will still be offered to the undergraduates and graduate students; and the

courses will be in separate sections.

Expansion of Existing Program

N/A

Section III: Need

Program Need

On the recommendations of alumni, industrial associates and the requests of students (see letters of

support), this new degree program is intended to:

• Provide energy-related opportunities for students currently employed in petroleum producing or

related organizations, or anxious to enter those same organizations

Data Category

Current – Prior

to New

Program

Implementation

Projected

Year 1

Projecte

Year 2

Projecte

Year 3

Projecte

Year 4

Projected

Year 5

Data for Proposed Program

Number of

Graduates in

Proposed Program

N/A 0 10 25 45 65

Total # of Declared

Majors in Proposed

Program

N/A 10 15 20 20 20

Departmental Data – For All Programs Within the Department

Total Department

Faculty FTE (as

reported in Faculty

table above)

3.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25

Total Department

Student FTE (Based

on Fall Third Week)

0 10 15 20 20 20

Student FTE per

Faculty FTE (ratio of

Total Department

Faculty FTE and

Total Department

Student FTE above)

0 2.3 3.5 4.7 4.7 4.7

Program

accreditation-

required, if

applicable:

None

• Hydrocarbon production will be a critical energy component for the next few decades – at a

minimum. This degree recognizes the national interest related to energy security.

• The national interest is also served by students who recognize the environmental and legal

aspects of hydrocarbon production and who recognize pathways and requirements for

environmental stewardship.

• The need from a state perspective relates to an educated work force that can assist in

developing Utah’s abundant fossil fuel resources with a reduced energy footprint.

• Significant ancillary research funding opportunities are envisioned with the relationships

developed between the University and these professional students.

• Students recognize the opportunities associated with petroleum engineering and recognize the

opportunities for implementing greener technologies that are possible if they are employed by

larger multi-energy organizations.

• With demographics in the petroleum industry showing the requirement for engineers because

of retirements, this is an excellent employment opportunity.

Labor Market Demand

Alumni and industrial colleagues have encouraged the Department of Chemical Engineering to develop

graduate level Petroleum Engineering courses. Estimates indicate that the United States will continue to

rely on hydrocarbons for decades. These advocates emphasize the following:

• Half-measures are inadequate. This Degree needs to have “petroleum” branding – Industrial

colleagues have been clear that this must be a degree and that the degree must have the

name “petroleum engineering” as opposed to specialty designation or certificate within

Chemical Engineering.

• Local and multinational oil and gas companies have shown support for a Master’s degree in

Petroleum Engineering at the University of Utah.

• Track Record - Three students from Questar recently gained MS degrees in Chemical

Engineering through our non-thesis Master’s program. These were all in Petroleum

Engineering related areas.

• Innovative engineers are needed to manage conventional and unconventional sectors

efficiently and responsibly. The dramatic change in resource recovery methods in the United

States adds to the need for engineers trained in unconventional recovery..

• Demographics suggest that large numbers of engineers are needed to fill anticipated

retirements. In the petroleum industry, this is often colloquially known as the Great Crew

Change. Data from Schlumberger Business Consulting suggested that by 2014 there would be

a 5,000 person shortage of qualified petrotechnical staff over the age of 35.

The fossil energy sector is expected to play a dominant role in energy supply over the next decades.

These degreed students will have flexible enough backgrounds to participate in these petroleum-related

ventures as well as low-carbon, green energy efforts by the same multinational and domestic organizations

that would hire them as petroleum engineering specialists.

Student Demand

In a spring 2012 survey of 70 juniors in Chemical Engineering, students indicated a strong interest in

petroleum engineering. Students are requesting additional electives and the enrollment in petroleum

electives is strong. In the spring of 2012, the enrollment in two existing petroleum-related courses offered in

Chemical Engineering was:

Course

Name

Undergraduate

Enrollment

Graduate

Enrollment

Total

Enrollment

CH EN5155/

6155

Reservoir

Engineering

24 11 35

CH EN5157/59

6157/59

Production

Engineering

22 10 32

With this level of interest, the department believes it will be able to attract 15 on-campus students

consistently. This program will also expand this interest to industry professionals that need additional

training to work within petroleum areas. Courses will be aggressively marketed using the distance

education model. Various local and national companies have been consulted regarding the program and

its content. The companies have been very responsive to the plan. The department believes that the

program will attract 10-15 distance education students on a consistent basis.

Similar Programs

There are no similar programs in the USHE. There is a similar program at Imperial College, London,

United Kingdom. The program is not an attempt to duplicate others, but to create a new educational

experience unique in Utah and in the United States. It will be differentiated by its broad, robust curriculum,

field study, and interactions with EGI and industry.

Collaboration with and Impact on Other USHE Institutions

Due to the fact that there are strong unconventional resources in the state, the program expect

collaborations with other institutions, specifically:

• Collaboration with Uintah Basin Applied Technology College – offers hands-on training as needed

for oil and gas field operations.

• Strong partnership to USTAR - strategically well positioned to act on state’s critical energy needs

• Strengthen existing collaborations between Department and EGI

• The program is a combination of distance education (targeted toward international students and

working professionals outside of the Salt Lake metropolitan area), cohort experiences, and a two-

week field study. Engineers within the state will also be targeted as a method of developing their

skills in a new field.

Benefits

There is an inescapable need for fossil fuel over the next decades and the mutual requirement for

engineering talent to participate in more efficient recovery and use of hydrocarbons with a smaller footprint

(energy, carbon, carbon dioxide, surface disturbance minimized). In conjunction is the requirement to

develop alternative energy sources meeting evolving societal criteria. The benefits to the individual are an

accelerated pathway to contributing to a secure energy future, the flexibility, and intellectual guidance to

implement change in hydrocarbon and other energy production. These are collaterally tangible benefits to

the state and the university. There is a substantial employment opportunity and this is coupled with the

opportunities to make a difference in energy extraction processes.

Consistency with Institutional Mission

The Department of Chemical Engineering has seen a large interest in its petroleum-related offerings.

Furthermore, the students involved in specific, petroleum-related programs have indicated the need for a

more fitting title for their degree. Industry has also seen that “retraining” of an engineer toward more

petroleum-related courses is a need. It is clear that the name “petroleum” is needed and that the

Department could have a particular niche due to its close collaborations with EGI and the expertise of that

organization. For these reasons, the Department has formed the proposed program and its structure.

The proposed program will accelerate dissemination of knowledge through teaching, effective presentation

in the classroom and in the field, and will provide technology transfer with dissection of the knowledge and

principles associated with those technologies. Students will learn from and collaborate with faculty and

industry professionals who are at the forefront of their disciplines. The program is an excellent example of

collaborative scholarship, accelerated to meet the demands of the state and the nation. It embodies

domestic and international involvement and explictily incorporates social responsibility.

Section IV: Program and Student Assessment

Program Assessment

The goals for the program and the metrics for success are as follows.

• Accommodate growing enrollment;

• Continue to recruit from major companies, internationally and locally;

• Ensure that the program is financially solvent;

• Increase research opportunities and funding through faculty, student and corporate involvement.

This involves working with student projects.

Expected Standards of Performance

There is no deviation from standards already in place for the Graduate School of the University of Utah and

the Department of Chemical Engineering. In particular:

• All coursework must be completed with no grade less than C and an overall average of B.

• A project-based thesis is required. It must reflect six credit hours of effort and there must be a

written report with oral presentation of the contents. A committee of three faculty review the written

and oral work of the student. This group decides on the award of the Advanced Design credit.

Use of any proprietary or confidential information needs to be agreed upon at the commencement

of the project work and an agreement must be in place. The work is an internal publication only.

Section V: Finance

Budget

In addition to two regular and one instructional faculty with this area of expertise, the department is in the

process of recruiting a new faculty. An additional faculty search (not specifically in this area) is also

underway. Funding has been approved and searches are underway for the new faculty. These additions

will enable us to readjust teaching loads to deliver the program without significant effect on the faculty

teaching load. The program will enroll students for on-campus classes and offer these classes by distance

education. The department has offered this type of instruction to students from the industry interested in an

advanced degree. A number of students have graduated from the department by using this method. For

budgetary purposes, it is assumed that the program is able to enroll on the average five (5) distance

education students. The distance education piece is expected to increase to 10-15 students as the

program grows. However, from a budgeting standpoint, conservative estimates are used. The on-campus

number of students is expected to grow from five to 15 as the program goes into the fifth year for a total of

20 students. If additional revenue is realized, it will be used to support the core graduate mission of the

department.

To involve the industrial expertise of EGI, faculty members from the institute have been included in

teaching various courses. They are considered auxiliary faculty and must be compensated. While this is an

additional cost, they will provide a unique industrial connection to students in the program. A budget of

$20,000 per class, four classes expected, has been estimated for the classes and field study.

The distance education model is something that we have used in the department for several years.

Courses will be taped and streamed so that the distance education students will have access to the

material at their convenience. The cost of taping and streaming courses is $2,000/course.

In the field studies course, students will be expected to spend at least a week in the field studying and

gathering data. The field trip costs are estimated at $3,000/student - $340 for transportation, $1,680 for

hotel accommodations and $980 for meals and incidentals for a 14-day trip. The students are expected to

pay a course fee to cover the field-trip costs.

5-Year Budget Projection

Departmental Data

Current

Budget—

Prior to New

Program

Implementation

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Personnel Expense

Salaries & Wages

80,000

Benefits

28,800

Academic Coordinator

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

Total Personnel Expense

$123,800

$128,800

$133,800

$138,800

Non-personnel Expense

Field Studies

$30,000

$45,000

$60,000

Continuing Education

5,500

Distance Education Streaming

16,000

Miscellaneous program

management

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 3,000 3,000

Total Non-personnel Expense

$52,500

$68,500

$84,500

Total Expense

(Personnel + Current)

$176,300

$197,300

$218,300

$223,300

Departmental Funding

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Distance Education Fee

$137,500

Engineering differential tuition

$10,395

$20,790

$31,185

Field Studies Fee

$30,000

$45,000

$60,000

Total Revenue

$177,895

$203,290

$228,685

Difference

Revenue - Expense

$1,595

$5,990

$10,385

$5,385

Departmental Instructional

Cost/Student Credit Hour*

(as reported in institutional Cost

Study for “current” and using the

same Cost Study Definition for

“projected”)

$ $ $ $ $ $

* Projected Instructional Cost/Student Credit Hour data contained in this chart are to be used in the

Third-Year Follow-Up Report and Cyclical Reviews required by R411.

Funding Sources

The funding source will be distance education fee ($2,500/course), engineering differential tuition

($63/credit hour for 6000-level courses) and a course fee expected at $3,000/student for field studies as

described above. The field studies cost will be adjusted according to the real costs incurred.

Reallocation

None.

Impact on Existing Budgets

None.

Section VI: Program Curriculum

All Program Courses

All the courses are listed below. New ones are also included. Not that the existing courses will have

separate sections to meet the demands of other students, undergraduates and graduates, who are not in

the program.

Course Prefix

and Number

Title

Credit

Hours

Required Courses

CH EN 6161

Engineering Basics for Petroleum Engineers

CH EN 6157, 6159

Drilling and Production Operations

CH EN 6155

Reservoir Engineering4

CH EN 6167

Petroleum Production Engineering

CH EN 6165

Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Engineering

CH EN 6163

Petroleum Geology

CH EN 6156

Simulation

CH EN 6158

Energy and Society

CH EN 6171

Field Study

CH EN 6169

Advanced Design: Petroleum Engineering Project

Sub-Total

Elective Courses

Sub-Total

Track/Options (if applicable)

Sub-Total

Total Number of Credits

New Courses to Be Added in the Next Five Years

The degree program is new and many of the courses will be new courses implemented in the first year.

Modifications, additions, and improvements will follow as appropriate from faculty insight and student

feedback. Below is a detail of the courses and when they are offered. Also in the list are existing courses.

Existing courses

Program Schedule

Semester Course

Course Title and Description

Credit

Hours

Fall –

Year 1

CH EN

6161

Engineering Basics for Petroleum Engineers: This will be

taught in five modules. The intention is that all degree

participants be nominally on the same level by the Spring

Semester, whether they have come from a science or an

engineering background. The five course modules are:

1. Fluid mechanics for petroleum specialists – including porous

medium, multiphase flow

2. Rock mechanics for petroleum specialists

3. Thermal engineering for petroleum specialists

4. Principles of chemistry for petroleum specialists

CH EN

6163

Petroleum Geology. Petroleum Geology: This course will

cover fundamental aspects of geology that are important to a

petroleum engineer. This includes relevant sedimentary,

stratigraphic, and geochemical concepts appropriate for

exploration, structural geologic basics and their relevance to

drilling, production and reservoir management. Reservoir

characterization methodologies are introduced.

CH EN

6165

Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Engineering. Often

lost in the glamor of exploration are the midstream – pipelines,

transportation, pumping; and the downstream – refining –

aspects of petroleum engineering. The Department of Chemical

Engineering has a strong and supportive relationship with local

pipeline and refining organizations. A key component of this is

Nodal Analysis and couplin

g to subsurface constraints and

variability.

Spring –

Year 1

CH EN

6157/

6159

Drilling and Field Operations: This will cover the basics of

drilling, completions, and stimulation. The specifics may be

catered to the background of the student and their particular

specialties –

for example, their employer specializes in offshore

activities. The format of the class is designed to enfranchise

students and take advantage of previous experience in these

areas. The coursework includes all facets of well construction,

including drilling, cementing, acidizing and hydraulic fracturing,

onshore and onshore for conventional and unconventional

applications.

CH EN

6155

Reservoir Engineering: This existing course covers the basics

of single and multiphase fluid flow and flow phenomena that are

required for a production or a reservoir engineer. It includes the

fundamentals of reservoir engineering principles and will include

the basics for mode

rn reservoir simulation with hands on

simulation experience.

Existing courses

CH EN

6167

Petroleum Production Engineering:

Pumping, Wellhead and Surface Operations. After hydrocarbon is

at the surface and before it enters the pipeline there can be

complex processes required for separation of fluids and ensuring

that the product is ready for transportation by truck, pipeline.

Well testing and pressure transient analysis

Logging and in-well measurements

Monitoring (microseismicity and tracers)

Operational safety

CH EN

6169

Advanced Design

Summer

– Year 1

CH EN

6171

Field Study. Petroleum geologic principles are best illustrated by

surface exposures. The same can be said for engineering

components such as pipeline facilities, drilling operations and

refining operations.

CH EN

6158

Energy and Society. Environmental and legal considerations for

petroleum specialists. Economics, risk and PRMS (Petroleum

Resource Management Systems)

CH EN

6156

Simulation: In this course, we will use the visualization center at

EGI, a unique facility, to take generic and library three-

dimensional geologic models and use these to develop rationale

drilling programs, to develop and simulate completion and

stimulation campaigns and to use commercial and in-house

reservoir simulat

ors to infer production and provide options for

future reservoir management (waterflooding, workover …). The

intent is to use engineering simulators to optimize exploitation in

various geologic environments.

Fall –

Year 2

CH EN

6169

Advanced Design

Total

Section VII: Faculty

Qualified faculty are prepared to participate in this executive MS Program. These include:

• Milind Deo, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, and Associate Dean of Academic

Affairs, College of Engineering

(Ph.D. 1987, Chemical Engineering, University of Houston) Deo is a petroleum engineering

specialist and recognized leader in reservoir modelling. In addition, his administrative experience

will be useful for student advising, curriculum development and program assessment. He currently

teaches courses on reservoir engineering and will teach this course in the program (CH EN 6155)

• John McLennan, USTAR Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering

(Ph.D. 1980, Civil Engineering (Rock Mechanics), University of Toronto) McLennan has 30 years of

industrial experience in drilling, resource assessment, and hydrocarbon recovery. He currently

teaches courses in production engineering which encompass these aspects and he will teach this

course (CH EN 6157/9)

• Richard Roehner, Associate Professor (Lecturing), Department of Chemical Engineering

(Ph.D. 2000, Chemical & Fuels Engineering, University of Utah) Roehner is a well-known and

authoritative consultant on midstream and downstream activities, encompassing, pipeline

transportation of hydrocarbons and refineries. He will teach CH EN 6165.

• Ian Walton, Research Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, EGI

(Ph.D. 1972, Applied Mathematics, Manchester University) Walton’s areas of expertise include fluid

mechanics, near-wellbore geomechanics, rock-fluid interactions, unconventional gas production

and mathematical modeling. He has more than 20 years at Schlumberger and has taught

numerous courses at Imperial College and for EGI.

• Rasoul Sorkhabi, Research Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, EGI

Ph.D., 1991, Geology, Kyoto University) Global Structure and Tectonics expert with 22 years’

experience (Japan National Oil Company) and EGI. Sorkhabi has run major global projects for

industry from Utah and Wyoming to India, Africa, and SE Asia. In addition, he is the author of

numerous books and has taught short-courses. He has extensive expertise on structures and

faults.

• Bill Keach, Research Scientist, EGI

(M.S. 1986, Geophysics, Cornell University) Keach has 28 years of geophysical experience,

starting at Cornell, to BP and then at Landmark (as head of the GeoProbe global product line). He

is currently teaching at the BYU master’s program and has taught for the Univeristy of Utah’s

Geology and Geophysics department. He has expertise is the visualization capabilities at EGI and,

as such, will team teach CH EN 6156.

• Lauren Birgenheier, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics

(Ph.D. 2007, Geoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln) Birgenheier’s research interests lie at

the intersection of sedimentary geology and geochemistry. Recently, she has been working on

mud-dominated depositional systems that are of interest as unconventional, shale gas or shale oil,

resources.

• Lisa Stright, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics

(Ph.D. 2011, Interdisciplinary Geosciences, Stanford University) Stright’s research focuses on

combining quantitative observations from modern, outcrop and subsurface processes and deposits

with geostatistical modeling. The goal is to expand our understanding of how to build predictive

geospatial models for the purpose of more efficient hydrocarbon exploration and recovery.

Additional Faculty Requirements

A new faculty member with expertise in Petroleum Engineering is required. A search for this person,

whose home department is Chemical Engineering, begins Fall Semester 2012. This person will teach CH

EN 6167, Drilling Production.