Science expressed in petroleum engineering

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Science is always exposed to all fields of knowledge, and in this case petroleum engineering is no exception. In order for oil to be extracted efficiently, engineering skills are needed, for which the power of petroleum engineering is essential to combine and correctly associate science with practical methods so that oil can be discovered, exploited, developed and transported from the subsoil in the reservoir to the surface to be transformed and refined into the by-products that we know today and which are essential for world energy development.

In the first phase, which is petroleum exploration, petroleum engineers have to link their technical engineering knowledge with the science exposed in earth science studies. When the techniques of petroleum engineering are combined with earth science, the most optimal exploration processes are established to find the deposits that will later be exploited with the drilling of oil wells.

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Science present in geology and geophysics

Not only is science present in geology and geophysics, but it is also important the way in which this knowledge is applied, where science provides us with new ideas and methods to exploit oil based on the way in which oil formation theories indicate and give us an idea of which exploration and production methods are the most suitable to apply.

If we would not study within petroleum engineering the theories of oil formation and the ways in which the geological strata are formed, it would be very difficult to locate the areas containing oil, besides it would be impossible to predict the depths of the reservoirs containing the hydrocarbon, even if we managed to have an exploratory geological idea, we would also need geophysical knowledge where we can predict the behavior of oil and natural gas displacement through the pore space of the rock of the oil field.

The conclusion of this analysis is that the science unified with the techniques of engineering and thus be able to complement the necessary knowledge based on training areas such as geology, geophysics, physics, mathematics, chemistry, among others, which are essential to cover the processes of exploration, drilling, production and transportation of hydrocarbons.

References

[1] Petroleum Engineers: Occupational Outlook Handbook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics." www.bls.gov (in U.S. English). Accessed February 6, 2018.

[2] Petroleum Engineering. Britannica. Accessed February 3, 2012.

[3] Drilling Automation. Journal of Petroleum Technology. 14 December 2017.