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Petroleum Engineering Operations: Reservoir, Drilling and Production
A practical petroleum engineering operations programme for petroleum engineers, oil and gas operations professionals, and graduates — covering reservoir fundamentals, drilling engineering, production optimisation, surface facilities, and HSE across the full field lifecycle, built on real upstream configurations from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt.
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Description
Programme Highlights
Full Field Lifecycle Perspective
From exploration and appraisal through development, production, and abandonment — understand how reservoir, drilling, and production disciplines interact across the full asset lifecycle.
Reservoir-to-Surface Integration
Connect reservoir performance, well design, and surface facility constraints into a single integrated operational view, the way multidisciplinary asset teams work in practice.
Well Control & HSE Interface
Understand the well control barriers, permit-to-work systems, and process safety disciplines that govern safe field operations across GCC upstream assets.
Digital Oilfield Practice
Work with production dashboards, KPI frameworks, and daily reporting discipline used across modern GCC digital oilfield operations.
Course Curriculum — 8 Modules
Petroleum Field Lifecycle — Exploration to Abandonment
This module establishes the multidisciplinary framework within which reservoir, drilling, production, and facilities engineering interact across the life of a petroleum asset — the context every subsequent module builds on. The exploration and appraisal phases are covered from an operations perspective: how seismic interpretation and wildcat drilling identify a prospect, how delineation wells and early well testing establish reservoir extent and initial resource estimates, and how this early data feeds the field development planning process. The development phase is treated as the point where subsurface, drilling, and facilities decisions converge: well count and spacing, platform or gathering-centre configuration, and the phased development strategy used to manage capital exposure on large GCC field developments. Production phase management is introduced as an ongoing surveillance and optimisation discipline rather than a static state, setting up the production engineering and digital oilfield modules that follow. Decline management and late-life operations are addressed, including the workover, recompletion, and enhanced recovery interventions used to extend field life. The module closes with abandonment and decommissioning obligations — well plugging standards and regulatory closure requirements — and reinforces the multidisciplinary workflow model throughout, referencing the scale and phasing of major GCC developments such as Saudi Aramco's Ghawar and Khurais fields, ADNOC's Upper Zakum expansion, and Qatar's North Field development.
Reservoir Engineering Essentials — Rock, Fluid & Reserves Fundamentals
This module builds the reservoir engineering foundation required to interpret field performance and support development decisions — treated at the level of practical fluency required by operations and multidisciplinary teams rather than specialist reservoir engineering depth. Rock and fluid property fundamentals are covered: porosity, permeability, and fluid saturation as controls on storage and flow capacity, and the PVT behaviour of oil, gas, and water that governs how reservoir fluids respond to pressure depletion. Drive mechanisms are addressed as the framework for understanding reservoir behaviour over time: solution gas drive, water drive, gas cap drive, and gravity drainage, and how the dominant drive mechanism shapes both recovery factor expectations and field management strategy. Reserves and resources are introduced through the SPE Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) classification framework — proved, probable, and possible categories — establishing the vocabulary used in reserves reporting across the industry. Decline curve fundamentals cover exponential, hyperbolic, and harmonic decline behaviour using the Arps framework, and their use in production forecasting. Production surveillance closes the module: well testing methods, pressure buildup interpretation, and water cut and gas-oil ratio trending as the early-warning indicators used on carbonate reservoirs such as Ghawar and sandstone reservoirs such as Kuwait's Burgan field.
Drilling Engineering Essentials — Well Planning, Systems & Risk
Drilling engineering is introduced in this module at an operations-fluency level, giving participants the vocabulary and conceptual grounding to work effectively alongside drilling engineers and rig teams rather than to design wells independently. Well planning is covered from trajectory design forward: vertical, directional, and horizontal well profiles, the factors that drive a directional plan on GCC onshore and offshore developments, and the sequencing decisions that connect subsurface targets to a drillable well path. Drilling rig systems are introduced at a functional level: the hoisting, rotating, circulating, and well control systems that make up a drilling rig, and how these systems interact during normal drilling operations. Drilling fluid (mud) systems receive dedicated coverage: the core functions of drilling fluid — hole cleaning, pressure control, formation stabilisation, and lubrication — and the water-based versus oil-based mud selection considerations relevant to different formation types. Casing and cementing are addressed as the well's structural and isolation system: casing string design logic, setting depth rationale, and cementing objectives for zonal isolation and well integrity. The module concludes with drilling risk management: stuck pipe, lost circulation, and well control kicks as the principal drilling hazards, and the risk mitigation practices applied on directional and horizontal wells across Saudi Arabia's onshore fields and offshore developments in the UAE and Qatar.
Production Engineering — Completion, Artificial Lift & Flow Assurance
With reservoir and drilling foundations established, this module addresses how a well is completed, produced, and optimised — the production engineering discipline that determines whether subsurface potential is actually realised at surface. Well completion design is covered comparatively: cased-hole versus open-hole completions, the sand control methods used in unconsolidated formations, and the completion architecture decisions that affect both initial productivity and long-term well performance. Artificial lift is treated as a selection problem rather than a single technique: electrical submersible pumps, gas lift, and rod pumping are compared against reservoir pressure, fluid properties, and production rate criteria, reflecting the mix of lift methods actually deployed across GCC onshore and offshore fields. Nodal analysis is introduced as the core production engineering diagnostic tool: inflow performance relationships, outflow (tubing) performance, and the intersection point that determines achievable production rate, using the same nodal analysis logic implemented in industry-standard software such as Prosper. Flow assurance closes the technical core of the module: wax deposition, hydrate formation, and scale — the flow assurance risks relevant to GCC offshore and high-water-cut mature fields — and the monitoring and mitigation practices used to manage them. Production optimisation ties the module together: using nodal analysis and well test data to identify underperforming wells and prioritise interventions across a field's well portfolio.
Surface Facilities and Operations — Separation, Processing & Gathering Systems
This module extends the operations view from the wellhead into the surface facility network that gathers, processes, and exports produced fluids — the interface between subsurface production and the process plant. Wellhead and manifold configuration is introduced as the starting point of the surface system, covering choke management and the pressure and flow control decisions made at the wellhead. Separation train fundamentals are covered: two-phase and three-phase separation objectives, the operating principles that make gravity separation effective, and how separator performance connects to the downstream processing and export specification requirements. Gathering system design addresses how individual wells are tied into a field-wide network: gathering centre and manifold configuration, pipeline sizing logic, and the operational constraints — pressure drop, slugging, and capacity limits — that gathering system operators manage on a daily basis. Metering and allocation are treated as a commercial and operational discipline: fiscal metering principles, well test allocation methods, and the production accounting logic that connects field measurement to reported volumes. The module closes by tying surface facility constraints back into upstream decisions: how gathering system backpressure and separator capacity limits interact with artificial lift selection and well productivity, reflecting the integrated gathering-centre operations found on major GCC onshore fields such as Ghawar and the offshore processing platforms operated across the UAE and Qatar.
HSE and Process Safety Interface — Well Control, Barriers & Emergency Response
This module addresses the well control and process safety disciplines that govern safe field operations — the interface between petroleum engineering activity and the HSE management systems that GCC operators require every field professional to understand. Well control fundamentals are covered from first principles: kick detection, the primary and secondary well control barriers that prevent an influx from becoming a blowout, and the blowout preventer (BOP) systems that provide mechanical well control. Barrier philosophy is introduced as the organising framework used across the industry: the concept of independent, verifiable barriers between the reservoir and the surface, and how barrier status is tracked and communicated during drilling, completion, and production operations. Permit-to-work systems are covered as the operational control mechanism for managing simultaneous operations and higher-risk activities: hazard identification, isolation verification, and the sign-off discipline that governs work authorisation on live facilities. Emergency response planning addresses the escalation logic from incident detection through emergency response activation, referencing the layered response structure used across GCC upstream operations. Environmental controls close the module: flaring and venting management, produced water handling, and the environmental permitting and monitoring obligations that apply to upstream operations across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt, connecting well control and HSE practice to the IADC and IWCF well control competency frameworks used across the region.
Digital Oilfield and Reporting — Dashboards, KPIs & Performance Improvement
Digital oilfield practice has become a core operational competency across GCC upstream operations, and this module covers the production monitoring and reporting workflow that petroleum professionals are expected to work within on a daily basis. SCADA and real-time data acquisition are introduced at a functional level: how wellhead and facility sensor data is collected, transmitted, and made available to production and reservoir engineering teams for surveillance and decision support. Production dashboard interpretation is covered using the data structures found in industry-standard production data management platforms such as OFM: well and field-level production trending, allocation reconciliation, and the visualisation conventions used to present production performance to multidisciplinary teams. KPI frameworks are addressed in depth: uptime and downtime tracking, decline rate monitoring, water cut and gas-oil ratio trending, and the performance indicators that distinguish normal reservoir behaviour from operational issues requiring intervention. Daily production reporting is treated as a professional discipline: report structure, exception reporting practice, and the escalation thresholds that trigger engineering review. The module closes with performance improvement methodology: using KPI trends and dashboard data to identify underperforming wells or facilities, structuring a data-driven case for intervention, and feeding findings back into the well and facility review cycles used across digital oilfield programmes such as Saudi Aramco's iField initiative and ADNOC's Panorama digital command centre.
Capstone Field Case — Diagnose, Analyse & Recommend Operational Improvements
The capstone module integrates every discipline covered across the programme into a single field diagnostic exercise, structured to mirror the multidisciplinary review process used on real GCC upstream assets. Participants are presented with a representative field production scenario — reservoir performance indicators, well test data, drilling and completion history, surface facility constraints, and production KPI trends — and are required to diagnose the operational issues affecting field performance using the analytical frameworks developed in earlier modules. Reservoir diagnosis draws on drive mechanism understanding and decline curve behaviour to assess whether declining performance reflects natural depletion or an addressable operational issue. Well-level diagnosis applies nodal analysis and artificial lift selection criteria to identify underperforming wells and prioritise candidates for intervention. Surface facility and HSE considerations are integrated throughout, requiring participants to evaluate proposed interventions against gathering system capacity constraints and well control and barrier requirements. The capstone concludes with a structured recommendation package — prioritised interventions, expected performance impact, and implementation considerations — assessed against the standard of practical, defensible operational reasoning expected of petroleum engineers and operations professionals across GCC upstream assets in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Egypt.
Software, Standards & Platforms
Course Outcome
On completing this course, you will be able to interpret reservoir, drilling, and production data across the petroleum field lifecycle, evaluate well and surface facility performance using industry-standard analytical frameworks, and apply well control and HSE principles to real operational scenarios — skills directly applicable to petroleum engineer, production engineer, and operations professional roles across the GCC upstream sector.
