Petroleum Engineering Department Research Articles

A Program for Improving the Technical Competence Of SPE Members

Editor's Note: The following article is a slightly revised and condensed version of a written report submitted to the Board of Directors of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME at its Oct. 11 meeting in Houston, Tex. The author, Dr. Monroe W. Kriegel, was commissioned by the Board last June to conduct a study to determine the continuing education needs of the Society's 14,000 members - a study which would result in specific recommendations for the development of a program by which SPE could assist members who are genuinely interested in improving their technical competence. At its Oct. 11 meeting, the Board directed that Dr. Kriegel's report be published in JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY for the information of interested SPE members; following publication the article will be distributed to heads of petroleum engineering departments, college and university deans, to oil company executives, to other engineering societies, and to the various oil industry trade publications, along with a letter from SPE President John C. Calhoun, Jr.. requesting comments from these groups. The Board also charged the SPE Education Committee and the Headquarters star with the responsibility of developing specific recommendations for implementing the program. Scope of Investigation The Board of Directors of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME retained the author to make a study of the continuing education needs of its members. The study was to include: a definition of the nature of the problem through extensive interviews and correspondence with members, educators and company officials; an investigation of current and proposed adult education programs offered by various major universities in petroleum and other fields of engineering; the extent of involvement of various agencies of the Federal Government in programs for Lip-dating the competence of scientists and engineers; the status of self-instruction manuals; the work being performed by other professional societies for their members: and a study of the role of various petroleum producing and service company methods of training. Finally, the future role of SPE was to be defined in recommendations for a broad program for raising the general level of technical competence of engineers engaged in the production phase of the petroleum industry. The results of this study and the author's recommendations are presented in this article. The Appendix includes the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among a sampling of the SPE membership. Approach The opinions of individual members were gained from an analysis of 300 questionnaires received from a mailing to 807 SPE members (see the Appendix), and by personal interviews with local section members at Liberal, Kans.; Hobbs, N.M.; Bartlesville, Okla.; and Amarillo, Dallas. Lubbock, Pampa and Snyder, Tex.The viewpoints of university people were obtained by personal interviews with Robert L. Whiting. Texas A and M U.; E. T. Guerrero, U. of Tulsa; John M. Campbell, The U. of Oklahoma; and Duane A. Crawford and Philip Johnson, Texas Technological College. Company opinions and attitudes were obtained by personal interviews with the officials and employees of Amerada Petroleum Corp., Pan American Petroleum Corp., Cities Service Oil Co., Sinclair Oil and Gas Co., Jersey Production Research Co., The Atlantic Refining Co., Dowell Div. of The Dow Chemical Co., Sunray DX Oil Co., and Core Laboratories, Inc. The national picture of continuing education for all engineers was obtained principally by attending the annual meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education. (Seven parts of that program dealt with various phases of adult education, indicating the degree of interest in this subject among engineering educators.)Through the courtesy of R. William Taylor, AIME General Secretary, reports were obtained on the continuing education activities of the other engineering societies, and personal interviews were held in New York with representatives of the Metallurgical Society of AIME, AIChE, IEEE and AIIE. The work of the American Society for Metals was obtained by correspondence, while a personal interview with Dr. Francis Pruitt, director of postgraduate studies for Hillcrest Medical Center, yielded the program for the medical profession. P. 1337^

Common Goals of the Professional Society and Education

Abstract In recognizing and discharging its obligations and in developing its avenues of service, the professional society will find that many of its goals of education programs. In particular, the Society of Petroleum Engineers has parallel interests to those of petroleum engineering departments. SPE is the only professional society having a vested interest in petroleum engineering education. SPE should work closely with these departments in defining petroleum engineering, outlining the educational needs of the profession, sponsoring the development of research and promoting special courses that will serve the continuing educational needs of the profession. Introduction There has been much discussion during the past several years on the subjects of petroleum engineering education, the accreditation of petroleum engineering curricula and the low enrollments in petroleum engineering programs. Most of these offerings have generally ignored two key factors:that a primary responsibility of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is a concern for petroleum engineering education, andthat the problems of educating petroleum engineers cannot be resolved until the Society assumes effective leadership toward achieving solutions. The intent of this paper is to elucidate SPE's role in educational affairs. The subject is considered from general observations about the obligations of professional societies. It is particularized for the specific problems of petroleum engineering education and the responsibilities of SPE. The thesis to be presented can be stated very simply the principal objectives of a professional society are educational in nature. A professional society can achieve its goals only by advancing the knowledge, competence and understanding of its individual members and by developing a body of knowledge that is indigenous to the profession. These goals involve processes normally identified as educational processes. The professional society is actually a part of the total educational structure of our age. Its objectives parallel and complement those of the university and other formal educational institutions. Defining Petroleum Engineering Webster's Third International Dictionary gives the following pertinent definition for a profession: "a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive preparation including instruction in skills and methods as well as in scientific, historical, or scholarly principles underlying such skills and methods, maintaining by force of organization or concerted opinion high standards of achievement and conduct, and committing its members to continued study and to a kind of work which has for its prime purpose the rendering of a public service".Look at the phrase, "maintaining by force of organization or concerted opinion high standards of achievement and conduct". Our system has evolved formal groups of members of professions to produce the "force of organization". These groups are called professional societies. Members of the profession are banded together for a common good for maintaining not only the interests of the profession, but also the interests of the public as they apply to the profession. It is important to note that the profession is made up of individuals, not of groups. Individuals have a calling, groups do not. The professional society, therefore, is not an association to represent groups involved in producing, manufacturing or other trade activities. Neither is it an association of industrialists, politicians, or tradesmen. The common binding force is not a product, or a material. The individuals of the group are professionals, and from Webster's definition, the common element is the "calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive preparation".For some reason the idea of a "calling" has passed from vogue. It is a word which expresses purpose, goals and dedication. It identifies the professional person as one of a particular fraternity. Every professional society bas an obligation to identify the specific calling which it represents and the particular specialized knowledge which gives identity to the calling. This obligation is fundamental, for unless the professional society can identify itself and determine those elements which characterize the profession, it has no basis from which to proceed to any other purpose or goal. Therefore, SPE has at least one aim in common with the petroleum engineering departments of America. They need a common understanding of what is meant by petroleum engineering. JPT P. 264^

Utilization of Petroleum Engineering Graduates By the Oil Industry

Introduction The past few years have been somewhat trying for petroleum engineering educators. We have been subjected to considerable criticism, part of which we undoubtedly deserved. On the other hand some criticisms have been unjust, and we have been put in something of a defensive position. All this has produced some good effects, and in my opinion our educational efforts are stronger, relative to the other engineering disciplines, than ever before. The purpose of this paper is not, however, to rehash the educational problem. Since we have "profited" from industry's criticism, it is only fair that industry also receive the benefit of criticism. The unique relationship between professor and student, whether current or former, gives him an insight into the truth of company-engineer relationships which few, if any, oil company administrators can attain. We hear all the gripes, compliments, etc. because the student, or former student, knows we are on his side. We often know his salary progress (or lack of it), the kind of work he is doing, whether he is happy or not, and why. The following analysis of some current industry practices and problems are my own opinions, and are largely based on conversations with other teachers, students, ex-students, and in particular with graduate students who have returned to school after a few years in industry. My purpose in presenting them formally is the hope that they will furnish industry some basis for a little soul searching of the type we in education have recently experienced. Philosophical History of Petroleum Engineering Until recently the colleges were busily occupied turning out the vast quantity of BS graduates required by industry. In nearly all cases petroleum engineering departments were understaffed, underpaid and overworked during the "boom" years. The background of this period has been discussed recently by Campbell,' and complete statistics are available in periodic reports by Whiting. During the last 20 years oil company producing departments have enjoyed a relatively unique position among American industries in that most of their recruiting problems were solved before they came to the campus. Petroleum engineers, dedicated to the industry by name tag and training, were available in considerable quantity and could be "had" with little effort. Engineers from other disciplines were also available, but had to be recruited more skillfully since they often knew nothing about the oil business. The relative ease with which a petroleum engineer could be hired by an oil company (obviously, since he had already chosen his specific career area) is at times to his disadvantage particularly at the time of employment and during his early training. "Grass always looks a little greener in the neighbor's pasture." Past Utilization of Petroleum Engineers Now and in the past oil companies hire engineers from all disciplines for work in drilling and production operations; certainly there is nothing wrong with this. Unfortunately, very few companies really capitalize on this diversity of talent; instead, they herd everyone through the same training program. The efflux from this training pipeline is presumably a homogenized mixture called junior petroleum engineers. Following this the junior engineers often go through a relatively-uniform apprentice period of a few years in the district offices where they learn company procedures. Finally they are allowed to peruse that closely-guarded document, the company manual. After this period, we are told, all engineers look alikeall are petroleum engineers. No one can argue this point. All beef looks like hamburger downstream from the grinder. A close look at most major company training programs clearly shows that they have been designed for other than the petroleum engineering graduate. The petroleum engineer is therefore retarded in his development, since he is held to the progress of a program designed for people with no formal background in the field. He is forced to mark time while the others catch up on petroleum technology. In other words, the formal petroleum engineering training has not been utilized by many major companies. I have tried to analyze the reasons behind the reluctance of many companies to utilize more effectively our product. Why do so many engineering administrators feel they have to re-educate our graduates, run them through short courses, and subject them to long and expensive training periods before they are allowed to do anything resembling a bonafide engineering job? I do not know all of the answers, but from many discussions with former students (your employees) and my own experience the following reasons emerge.Petroleum engineers are a minority group. Everyone who is a Republican knows what this means. Chemical and mechanical engineers, coming from older and more established disciplines, are better organized and more numerous. Consequently, petroleum engineers do not have equal voice in many companies. JPT P. 161^

The Role of the Small Petroleum Engineering Department

The Role of the Small Petroleum Engineering Department