Because a majority of petroleum engineers fall under the industrial exemption, registration is usually taken for granted as a procedure that is always available if needed. Even registered engineers in public practice tend to view it as a governmental requirement without relating registration to their status as a professional and their responsibility to the public's health, safety and welfare. Professional registration is not exempt from the winds of change originating in our increasingly consumer-oriented, environmenţly-conscious society. Although petroleum engineering has been a well established discipline for over fifty years, it is classified as a "minor" discipline because of the number of licensed practitioners. The increase in the number of recognized minor engineering disciplines in the last two decades has led to proposed revisions in the registering process. Lacking a well developed professional image, petroleum engineering is vulnerable to these proposed changes. Recently, two states proposed revisions that would make it more difficult to register as a petroleum engineer. Periodically, industrial exemptions come under question. These are few of the current issues that pose a possible threat to registering as a petroleum engineer. The practice of engineering is not a natural or constitutional right. The separate states have the authority to determine who is qualified to practice as an engineer. If the majority of petroleum engineers are content to earn a paycheck and achieve passable competency in a limited area with little regard for the broader aspects of professionalism, we may lack sufficient credibility as a discipline to control our destiny.
Introduction Probably the single most important piece of reservoir Probably the single most important piece of reservoir data required in the conversion of a depleted gas field to gas storage service is effective rock permeability distribution, and this information is usually not available in sufficient detail during the primary depletion of the field. Wells are drilled on relatively wide spacing; and core or buildup data, even where available, provide insufficient points of control for adequate provide insufficient points of control for adequate mapping. Matching history with a reservoir simulator can sometimes fill in the gaps, but it is not uncommon for areal history matches to be somewhat insensitive to relatively wide variations in over-all reservoir permeability and individual well descriptive parameters (such as damage, turbulence, and crossflow) at the producing rates at which the field was depleted. producing rates at which the field was depleted. As the field is being converted to storage mode, infill drilling provides the required additional points of control. Normally, good porosity limits can be obtained through logging programs, but permeability is another matter. Drilling into pressure-depleted reservoirs with gas-or nitrogen-lightened mud is often ruled out from a cost standpoint, and deep invasion is commonplace when nonaerated muds are used. Additionally, costs in general and costs and problems resulting from lost circulation usually preclude extensive coring. Completed wells more often than not have significant damage and insufficient pressure to flow out invaded and produce at rates and pressures that well permit an acceptable evaluation. In addition to filtrate invasion, it is not uncommon for some solids to drop out, completely blocking the sand face and requiring the well to be acidizing before it will even accept gas on injection. Acidizing - even a small job - is at best a necessary evil as it adds more liquids to an already invaded zone. Deep and severe damage can affect pressure transients for a substantial period of time. period of time. A testing method must be designed that can yield usable information even at low rates and in severely damaged environments. The analytical technique must be able to provide the following:Extent of damage;Permeability of the undamaged zone;Effect or significance of geological heterogeneity;Predicted injectivity capability, including theeffects on injectivity resulting from the removalof damage or from the eventual perforation ofa previous unperforated productive interval;Degree of reliability of test analysis and interpretation. If the field data are taken carefully, their trend should be valid, and the results of a test should be accurate within plus or minus a specific and determinable percentage. percentage. Injection-falloff tests provide a relatively inexpensive means of obtaining information from which adequate analyses can be made. JPT p. 494
Introduction Proposed changes in registration procedures by some states could threaten the professional status of petroleum engineers. Whether or not they are aware of it, all petroleum engineers are allowed to practice their profession at the discretion of the various states. As a discipline, petroleum engineering has little public image and exerts almost no influence on the regulatory bodies that control its destiny. The problem is not with the "system," but with petroleum engineers' not recognizing their professional responsibilities, including registration. Most petroleum engineers are not registered. They work under industrial exemptions and take the registration procedure for granted. Even registered engineers tend to view it as a requirement to be met without relating their status as a professional to their responsibility to the public's health, safety, and welfare. . Our society has become increasingly consumer-oriented and environmentally conscious; the resulting changes are affecting engineering registration. Periodically, industrial exemptions come under question. Petroleum engineering is particularly vulnerable to these changes, since it lacks a well-defined professional image and large numbers of registrants. The practice of engineering is not a natural or constitutional right; each state has the authority to determine who is qualified to practice as an engineer. If most petroleum engineers are content to earn a pay check and achieve passable competency in a limited area with little regard for the broader aspects of professionalism, we may lack sufficient credibility as a discipline to control our destiny.
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