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Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09
Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09
Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering
The objective is to prepare the student for professional work in the energy industry through completion of fundamental courses in the major field and in related sciences as well as independent research.
Students entering the graduate program are expected to have an undergraduate-level energy resources engineering background. Competence in computer programming in a high-level language (CS 106X or the equivalent) and knowledge of energy resources engineering and geological fundamentals (ENERGY 120, 130, and GES 151) are prerequisites for taking most graduate courses.
The candidate must fulfill the following requirements:
- Register as a graduate student for at least 45 units.
- Submit a program proposal for the Master's degree approved by the adviser during the first quarter of enrollment.
- Complete 45 units with at least a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0. This requirement is satisfied by taking the core sequence, selecting one of the seven elective sequences, an appropriate number of additional courses from the list of technical electives, and completing 6 units of master's level research. Students electing the course work only M.S. degree are strongly encouraged to select an additional elective sequence in place of the research requirement. Students interested in continuing for a Ph.D. are expected to choose the research option and enroll in 6 units of ENERGY 361. All courses must be taken for a letter grade.
- Students entering without an undergraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering must make up deficiencies in previous training. Not more than 10 units of such work may be counted as part of the minimum total of 45 units toward the M.S. degree.
Research subjects include certain groundwater hydrology and environmental problems, energy industry management, flow of non-Newtonian fluids, geothermal energy, natural gas engineering, oil and gas recovery, pipeline transportation, production optimization, reservoir characterization and modeling, carbon sequestration, reservoir engineering, reservoir simulation, and transient well test analysis.
RECOMMENDED COURSES AND SEQUENCES
The following list is recommended for most students. With the prior special consent of the student's adviser, courses listed under technical electives may be substituted based on interest or background.
CORE SEQUENCE
Subject and Catalog Number |
Units |
ENERGY 175. Well Test Analysis |
3 |
or ENERGY 130. Well Log Analysis |
3 |
ENERGY 221. Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow |
3 |
ENERGY 222. Reservoir Engineering* |
3 |
ENERGY 246. Reservoir Characterization and Flow Modeling with Outcrop Data |
3 |
ENERGY 251. Thermodynamics of Equilibria† |
3 |
CME 200. Linear Algebra with Application to Engineering Computations |
3 |
CME 204. Partial Differential Equations in Engineering |
3 |
Total |
21 |
* Students taking the Environmental sequence may substitute ENERGY 227.
† Optional for students taking the Geostatistics and Reservoir Modeling sequence.
ELECTIVE SEQUENCE
Choose one of the following:
Crustal Fluids:
GES 230. Physical Hydrogeology |
4 |
GES 231. Contaminant Hydrogeology |
4 |
GEOPHYS 200. Fluids and Tectonics |
3 |
Total |
11 |
Environmental:
ENERGY 227. Enhanced Oil Recovery |
3 |
GES 231. Contaminant Hydrogeology |
4 |
Plus two out of the following courses:
ENERGY 240. Geostatistics |
3-4 |
ENERGY 260. Environmental Problems in Petroleum Engineering |
3 |
CEE 270. Movement, Fate, and Effect of Contaminants in Surface Water and Groundwater |
3 |
CEE 273. Aquatic Chemistry |
3 |
CEE 274A. Environmental Microbiology |
3 |
GES 230. Physical Hydrogeology |
4 |
Total |
13-14 |
Enhanced Recovery:
ENERGY 225. Theory of Gas Injection Processes |
3 |
ENERGY 226. Thermal Recovery Methods |
3 |
ENERGY 227. Enhanced Oil Recovery |
3 |
Total |
9 |
Geostatistics and Reservoir Modeling:
ENERGY 240. Geostatistics for Spatial Phenomena |
3-4 |
ENERGY 241. Practice of Geostatistics |
3-4 |
GEOPHYS 182. Reflection Seismology |
3 |
or GEOPHYS 262. Rock Physics |
3 |
Total |
9-11 |
Geothermal:
ENERGY 269. Geothermal Reservoir Engineering |
3 |
or ENERGY 102. Renewable Energy Sources |
3 |
CHEMENG 120B. Energy and Mass Transport |
4 |
ME 131A. Heat Transfer |
3 |
Total |
10 |
Reservoir Performance:
ENERGY 223. Reservoir Simulation |
3-4 |
ENERGY 280. Oil and Gas Production Engineering |
3 |
GEOPHYS 202. Reservoir Geomechanics |
3 |
Total |
9-11 |
Simulation and Optimization:
ENERGY 223. Reservoir Simulation |
3-4 |
ENERGY 224. Advanced Reservoir Simulation |
3 |
ENERGY 284. Optimization |
3 |
Total |
9-10 |
Renewable Energy:
ENERGY 102. Renewable Energy Sources |
3 |
EE 293A. Fundamentals of Energy Processes |
3-4 |
EE 293B. Fundamentals of Energy Processes |
3-4 |
Total |
9-11 |
RESEARCH SEQUENCE
ENERGY 361. Master's Degree Research in Petroleum Engineering* |
6 |
Total units required for M.S. degree |
45 |
* Students choosing the company sponsored course-work-only for the M.S. degree may substitute an additional elective sequence in place of the research.
TECHNICAL ELECTIVES
Technical electives from the following list of advanced-level courses usually complete the M.S. program. In unique cases, when justified and approved by the adviser prior to taking the course, courses listed here may be substituted for courses listed above in the elective sequences.
ENERGY 130. Well Log Analysis |
3 |
ENERGY 224. Advanced Reservoir Simulation |
3 |
ENERGY 230. Advanced Topics in Well Logging |
3 |
ENERGY 260. Environmental Aspects of Petroleum Engineering |
3 |
ENERGY 267. Engineering Valuation and Appraisal of Oil and Gas Wells, Facilities and Properties |
3 |
ENERGY 269. Geothermal Reservoir Engineering |
3 |
ENERGY 273. Special Production Engineering Topics in |
1-3 |
ENERGY 280. Oil and Gas Production |
3 |
ENERGY 281. Applied Mathematics in Reservoir Engineering |
3 |
ENERGY 284. Optimization |
3 |
ENERGY 301. The Energy Seminar |
1 |
CME 204. Partial Differential Equations to Engineering |
3 |
EE 293A. Fundamentals of Energy Processes |
3-4 |
EE 293B. Fundamentals of Energy Processes |
3-4 |
GEOPHYS 182. Reflection Seismology |
3 |
GEOPHYS 190. Near Surface Geophysics |
3 |
GEOPHYS 202. Reservoir Geomechanics |
3 |
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