Training Courses

Appraising and Developing Shale Gas Reservoirs

Course Description

This 1-day course provides practical insights and tools for use in appraising and developing shale gas reservoirs. We will review the origin of shales and shale gas, and discuss the various core, log, and seismic datasets needed to characterize them. We will then review the mechanisms of shale gas production and key drilling/completion practices. This will be followed by a discussion of how to estimate resources and reserves, and a review of those factors controlling commercial success. Finally, we will apply what’s been learned to case studies including the Antrim, Barnett, Eagle Ford, Fayetteville, Haynesville, Horn River, Lewis, Marcellus, Montney, and Woodford shales. A course notebook will be provided containing Powerpoint slides.

Learning Objectives

Understand the controls on gas-in-place, resource distribution, and productivity
Learn how to collect, analyze, and interpret critical data from multiple disciplines
Understand why reservoir characterization and drilling/completion practices both play key roles
Realize why various shale gas (and shale oil) reservoirs perform differently
Know the key questions to ask and steps to take in assessing a shale accumulation
Be able to apply those appraisal and development strategies that are most cost-effective

Who Should Attend

Geoscientists, engineers, and managers who want to learn more about how to evaluate these accumulations, what controls their productivity, which techniques should be used for forecasting well performance, and how to estimate resources and reserves.

Instructor

Creties Jenkins is a Vice President for DeGolyer and MacNaughton in Dallas where he specializes in the characterization of clastic reservoirs, including sandstones, shales, and coals. He has conducted integrated studies, resources/reserves work, and training for numerous companies around the world. Creties began his career with Tenneco Oil in 1986 and worked for ARCO from 1988-2000, spending most of that time at ARCO’s research and development center. Creties has been named a Distinguished Lecturer (2000), Outstanding Technical Editor (2003), and Distinguished Author (2008) by SPE. He currently serves on the steering committee for the 2010 AAPG Hedberg Research Conference on shales and was the 2008-2009 President of the Energy Minerals Division of AAPG. Creties received an MS in Geology and a BS in Geological Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines. He is a registered professional engineer and a registered professional geologist in Texas.

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Introduction to Geomechanics for Unconventional Oil and Gas

Course Description

This 1-day course is an introduction to geomechanics principles and their application to unconventional oil and gas resources including: tight gas, heavy oil, oil sands, tight oil, shale gas, gas hydrates, and coalbed methane. Basic rock mechanics theory is reviewed and many practical problems encountered in the exploration, drilling, completion, stimulation and production workflow are described. The following topics will be covered: in-situ stresses and rock mechanical properties; caprock and casing integrity; wellbore stability; sand and solids production; hydraulic fracturing; and geomechanical monitoring. Participants will receive a recently updated course manual with some of the latest technical innovations in the industry, a comprehensive list of references and internet resources, a spreadsheet program for basic wellbore stress and stability calculations, and a demonstration of advanced geomechanical software.

Learning Objectives

Understand the key rock mechanical properties needed for geomechanical analysis and how to obtain them from cores and logs
Understand how in-situ stress magnitudes and orientations are measured or predicted
Learn what is involved in a typical geomechanical workflow for several practical problems
Learn about the pitfalls and shortcomings in several costly well failures
Learn how to know when a problem merits a significant geomechanical investigation

Who Should Attend

This course will be of interest to all E&P personnel working in subsurface disciplines, including engineers, geoscientists, and technologists.

Instructor

Pat McLellan, P. Eng is a petroleum engineer with 28 years of experience applying geomechanics to exploration, drilling, completions, stimulation, and reservoir engineering problems. He was the founder of Advanced Geotechnology Inc., a petroleum consulting and software firm that was acquired by Weatherford International in 2006. He had lead over 350 consulting and research projects for clients in Canada and abroad, and was the principal developer of two commercial software products for well design and geomechanical analysis. He currently offers consulting and training services, concentrating on unconventional resource development, to select clients through McLellan Energy Advisors Inc.

McLellan received a BSc in Eng in Geological Engineering from Queen’s University in 1979 and MSc in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical in 1983 from the University of Alberta. He was previously employed in technical and supervisory roles in drilling, production and reservoir engineering with Petro-Canada and Shell Canada. He is a member of the SPE, CADE, CHOA, CWLS, CSPG, AAPG, and APEGGA. He has given over 150 technical papers and presentations, and more than 80 short courses on geomechanics related topics in Canada and abroad. In 2002-03 he was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer and in 2007 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Petroleum Society.

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Introduction to Horizontal Well Technology

Course Description

This 1-day course introduces the subject of horizontal wells and their application. Practical examples illustrate how candidate horizontal wells are selected and designed to ensure that both technical and economic benefits are achieved. The latest technology of well drilling and completion such as new steering methods, multi-stage fracturing and multi-laterals, will be reviewed.

Uncertainties and risks; geological, engineering and economics.
Horizontal well drainage area.
Productivity estimates of Hz wells with multi-stage fraccing.
Coning prediction
Horizontal well drilling, cementing and completion
Flow geometry/regimes for Hz and slanted wells
Well test analysis techniques; conventional and history matching
Reserve estimates
Screening for horizontal well applications

Learning Objectives

This course provides a broad background necessary to understand and successfully apply the technology of horizontal wells.

Who Should Attend

This course is aimed at reservoir, petroleum and exploitation engineers/technologists, and geologists who are involved in the area of horizontal well applications.

Instructors

Saad Ibrahim has over 30 years of diversified experience in the Petroleum Industry in Western Canada and internationally, including projects in Libya, Yemen, Kazakstan, Venezuela and Argentina, with special expertise in reservoir engineering with emphasis on field development planning, evaluation of depletion strategies and production optimization of a wide spectrum of oil and gas fields. Other interests include well test planning and analysis using state of the art commercially-available software; the implementation of secondary and tertiary recovery schemes; and technical and economic evaluations of oil and gas properties for acquisition and divestiture ventures. He graduated from the University of Alexandria, Egypt with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering in 1973, and obtained a post-graduate diploma from the University of Calgary in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in 1983. Ibrahim is a member of the APEGGA, and SPE.

Roger Hough graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc in Applied Mineral Sciences, and has worked for over 40 years in the industry. He has extensive drilling, operations and research experience with Shell International and has worked in many countries during his career. He has chaired a number of Society of Petroleum Engineers technical conferences, and was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer on the topic of Slim Hole Drilling. Since retiring from Shell, Hough teaches drilling technology at the University of Calgary and elsewhere, and was recently inducted as an SPE Distinguished Member. He is a Board member of the Calgary section of SPE.

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Advanced Natural Gas Engineering

Course Description

This 2-day course discusses the increased role of natural gas in meeting the world energy demand because of its abundance, versatility, and its clean burning nature. As a result, new gas exploration, field development and production activities are under way. Because a significant portion of natural gas reserves worldwide are located across bodies of water, gas transportation (pipelines, LNG, and CNG) are becoming an issue. Natural gas is now targeted for a new generation of gas to liquid (GTL) technologies. All of these necessitate a seminar to cover the unique issues and challenges related to natural gas from upstream to midstream and downstream.

Course Outline

Natural Gas Basics

Geological Settings, Natural Gas Origin and Accumulation
Natural Gas Composition and Phase Behavior
Hydrates
Natural Gas Properties and Useful Correlations

Unique Issues in Natural Gas Exploration, Drilling, and Well Completion
Natural Gas Production for both Vertical and Horizontal Wells

Darcy and non-Darcy Inflow
Hydraulic Fracturing
Performance of a Hydraulically Fractured Well with Turbulence

Natural Gas Processing

Natural Gas and Liquid(s) Separations
Two- and Three-Phase, Horizontal and Vertical Separator Design Procedure
Natural Gas Dehydration – Water Removal
Natural Gas Hydrates

Natural Gas Transportation – Pipeline and Compressed Natural Gas

Pipeline Sizing
Marine CNG Transportation
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

Gas-To-Liquids (GTL)

GTL Processes
Direct and Indirect Conversion of Natural Gas
Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis
GTL Economics and Outlook

Underground Natural Gas Storage

Types of Underground Storage Underground Storage
Storage Measures: Gas Volume, Loss, and Injectivity

Who Should Attend

All disciplines in the oil and gas and processing industries.

Instructor

Michael Economides holds many positions such as professor at the University of Houston, managing partner of an industrial consulting firm and Editor-in-Chief of Energy Tribune. He has written 14 textbooks and over 200 journal papers and articles and is considered by many as the premier world expert on petroleum production engineering. In addition, he has written extensively on the geopolitics of energy. He is a frequent guest on national and international media such as CNBC, Fox News, Dow Jones Wire, NPR, Bloomberg, and BBC World Service.

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Training Course Prices

Training Courses in Canadian Dollars (CAD)
1-Day Training Courses	By 29 September	After 29 September
CSUG or SPE Member	695 + 5% vat	895 + 5% vat
Nonmember	895 + 5% vat	1,095 + 5% vat
2-Day Training Course	By 29 September	After 29 September
CSUG or SPE Member	895 + 5% vat	1,095 + 5% vat
Nonmember	1,095 + 5% vat	1,295 + 5% vat
Training Course Cancellation Policy A fee equal to 25% of the course will be charged for cancellations less than 15 working days before the course begins. No refunds will be made for cancellations after the course begins.