Skip to content
Brent$117.6Gas TTF$1,192USD453.87 ₸
MunaiHub

Learning paths

Recommended reading orders for beginners and for readers entering a new discipline.

Start here: from reservoir to money

Basic

A short route through the whole chain of an oil and gas project for those who are just entering the industry: where oil forms, how a reservoir is built, how a well is drilled and completed, how it performs and how the economics are calculated.

  1. 1Petroleum system and the play conceptGeoscience
  2. 2PorosityReservoir engineering
  3. 3Rock permeabilityReservoir engineering
  4. 4Fluid saturationReservoir engineering
  5. 5Types of reservoir fluidsReservoir engineering
  6. 6Volumetric estimation of hydrocarbons in placeGeoscience
  7. 7Reservoir drive mechanismsReservoir engineering
  8. 8How a well is drilled: the process and the people involvedDrilling
  9. 9Well completion: opening the reservoir and the tubing stringProduction
  10. 10Nodal analysis of the production systemProduction
  11. 11Project cash flowEconomics
  12. 12Net present value (NPV)Economics

Reservoir engineer: the essentials

Intermediate

Fluid and rock properties, the laws of flow, reservoir drive mechanisms, material balance and displacement — the core knowledge of a reservoir engineer.

  1. 1Reservoir engineering: tasks across the life of a fieldReservoir engineering
  2. 2Reservoir pressure and temperatureReservoir engineering
  3. 3Composition of reservoir fluidsReservoir engineering
  4. 4Phase behaviour: pure substances and binary mixturesReservoir engineering
  5. 5Types of reservoir fluidsReservoir engineering
  6. 6Black oil model: solution gas–oil ratio and formation volume factorsReservoir engineering
  7. 7Ideal and real gas: the gas deviation factor (Z)Reservoir engineering
  8. 8Gas formation volume factor, compressibility and viscosityReservoir engineering
  9. 9Wettability and interfacial phenomenaReservoir engineering
  10. 10Relative permeabilityReservoir engineering
  11. 11Capillary pressure and the transition zoneReservoir engineering
  12. 12Flow regimesReservoir engineering
  13. 13Reservoir drive mechanismsReservoir engineering
  14. 14General material balance equation for oil reservoirsReservoir engineering
  15. 15Material balance for gas reservoirsReservoir engineering
  16. 16Straight-line material balance (Havlena–Odeh method)Reservoir engineering
  17. 17Why water is injected: pressure maintenance and oil displacementReservoir engineering
  18. 18Fractional flow function and mobility ratioReservoir engineering
  19. 19Buckley–Leverett theory and the Welge methodReservoir engineering

Well test interpretation

Intermediate

From radial flow and the diffusivity equation to drawdown and build-up analysis, wellbore storage, the derivative and reservoir boundaries.

  1. 1Well testing: purposes and types of testWell testing
  2. 2Steady-state radial flowWell testing
  3. 3Pseudo-steady-state flow and the shape factorWell testing
  4. 4Skin factorWell testing
  5. 5Diffusivity equationReservoir engineering
  6. 6Line-source solution and the pressure functionReservoir engineering
  7. 7Pressure drawdown analysisWell testing
  8. 8Superposition principleReservoir engineering
  9. 9Pressure build-up analysisWell testing
  10. 10Wellbore storageWell testing
  11. 11Type-curve matchingWell testing
  12. 12Diagnosis with the pressure derivativeWell testing
  13. 13A sealing fault near the well: the method of imagesWell testing
  14. 14Reservoir limit testWell testing
  15. 15Build-up in a bounded reservoir and average reservoir pressureWell testing

Quick-look log interpretation

Intermediate

The minimum set of methods needed to pick out reservoirs and estimate porosity and saturation from a standard suite of well logs.

  1. 1Open-hole logging: why, how and whenLogs and petrophysics
  2. 2Overview of logging toolsLogs and petrophysics
  3. 3Borehole environment: invaded zone and mudcakeLogs and petrophysics
  4. 4Gamma ray log and natural gamma ray spectrometryLogs and petrophysics
  5. 5Determining shale volumeLogs and petrophysics
  6. 6Density log and photoelectric factor (Pe)Logs and petrophysics
  7. 7Neutron logLogs and petrophysics
  8. 8Porosity from the density logLogs and petrophysics
  9. 9Porosity from the neutron logLogs and petrophysics
  10. 10Lithology and porosity from crossplotsLogs and petrophysics
  11. 11Resistivity logs: electrical and induction toolsLogs and petrophysics
  12. 12Spontaneous potential (SP) logLogs and petrophysics
  13. 13Formation water and formation temperatureLogs and petrophysics
  14. 14Determining formation water resistivityLogs and petrophysics
  15. 15Archie's equation and saturation of clean reservoirsLogs and petrophysics
  16. 16Log interpretation workflowLogs and petrophysics

Well pressures and drilling safety

Intermediate

Formation and overburden pressure, abnormal pressures, fracture gradient, drilling fluid and well control — what drilling safety depends on.

  1. 1Pore pressure and overburden pressureDrilling
  2. 2Abnormal formation pressures: origin, prediction and recognitionDrilling
  3. 3Fracture gradient and leak-off testingDrilling
  4. 4Drilling fluids: functions and propertiesDrilling
  5. 5Well control: primary barrier and kick indicatorsDrilling
  6. 6Well kill methodsDrilling
  7. 7Blowout prevention equipmentDrilling
  8. 8Casing: purpose, types, properties and standardsDrilling
  9. 9Casing designDrilling

Well productivity and inflow stimulation

Intermediate

Why a well produces less than it can and how to put that right: skin, inflow and lift, formation damage, acid treatments, hydraulic fracturing and artificial lift.

  1. 1Well inflow: the well performance diagramWell testing
  2. 2Skin factorWell testing
  3. 3Nodal analysis of the production systemProduction
  4. 4Inflow performance relationship (IPR)Production
  5. 5Multiphase flow in tubingProduction
  6. 6Well performance sensitivity analysisProduction
  7. 7Formation damage and damage skinProduction
  8. 8Acid treatments: principle, economics and candidate selectionProduction
  9. 9Hydraulic fracturing: purpose and well selectionProduction
  10. 10Inflow to a hydraulically fractured wellProduction
  11. 11Artificial lift: when it is needed and how to choose the methodProduction
  12. 12Sucker-rod pumpingProduction
  13. 13Electric submersible pumps (ESP)Production

Project economic evaluation

Basic

From cash flow and discounting to NPV and IRR, fiscal regimes and the treatment of risk in decision-making.

  1. 1Project cash flowEconomics
  2. 2Interest and compoundingEconomics
  3. 3Discounting and present valueEconomics
  4. 4Inflation: nominal and real moneyEconomics
  5. 5Choosing the discount rateEconomics
  6. 6Net present value (NPV)Economics
  7. 7Internal rate of return (IRR)Economics
  8. 8Cumulative cash flow and payback periodEconomics
  9. 9Cash flow model of an oil and gas projectEconomics
  10. 10The state and the subsoil: ownership of resourcesEconomics
  11. 11Licences and contracts for subsoil useEconomics
  12. 12Petroleum fiscal systems and taxationEconomics
  13. 13Sensitivity analysis and scenariosEconomics
  14. 14Expected monetary value and preference theoryEconomics
  15. 15Decision trees and the value of informationEconomics

In order within a discipline

Petroleum geoscience
  1. Structure and composition of the Earth
  2. Minerals and rocks
  3. Plate tectonics and sedimentary basins
  4. Stratigraphy and geologic time
  5. Sedimentary rocks and their classification
  6. Sediment texture: grain size, sorting and shape
  7. Reservoir quality: geological controls on porosity and permeability
  8. Primary sedimentary structures
  9. Diagenesis: compaction, cementation and dissolution
  10. Facies, facies successions and sedimentary logs
  11. Continental environments: aeolian and fluvial
  12. Coastal, shallow-marine and deep-marine environments
  13. Carbonate sediments, environments and carbonate porosity
  14. Petroleum system and the play concept
  15. Reservoir and seal
  16. Source rocks, maturation and migration
  17. Traps and timing
  18. Geological risk and chance of success
  19. Stress, strain and structural analysis
  20. Faults
  21. Folds, salt diapirs and their relationship to faults
  22. Fractures and naturally fractured reservoirs
  23. Structural styles and tectonic history
  24. Practical structural geology
  25. Geophysical exploration methods
  26. Seismic waves, acoustic impedance and reflections
  27. Seismic acquisition and processing
  28. Seismic interpretation
  29. Well correlation
  30. Reservoir architecture and performance
  31. Structure maps and contouring
  32. Cross-sections from maps, map combination and faults on maps
  33. Gross rock volume from maps
  34. Descriptive statistics in geology
  35. Distributions and sample size
  36. Spatial correlation and the variogram
  37. Volumetric estimation of hydrocarbons in place
  38. Probabilistic volumetrics by Monte Carlo simulation
  39. Classification of reserves and resources
Formation evaluation from well logs
  1. Open-hole logging: why, how and when
  2. Log acquisition, processing and presentation
  3. Borehole environment: invaded zone and mudcake
  4. Formation water and formation temperature
  5. Log interpretation workflow
  6. Overview of logging tools
  7. Gamma ray log and natural gamma ray spectrometry
  8. Spontaneous potential (SP) log
  9. Sonic log
  10. Density log and photoelectric factor (Pe)
  11. Neutron log
  12. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging
  13. Resistivity logs: electrical and induction tools
  14. Microresistivity tools and flushed-zone resistivity
  15. Porosity from the sonic log
  16. Porosity from the density log
  17. Porosity from the neutron log
  18. Gas, shale, carbonate and pressure effects on porosity logs
  19. Lithology and porosity from crossplots
  20. Lithology from the photoelectric factor and spectral gamma ray
  21. M–N and MID plots for complex lithologies
  22. Archie's equation and saturation of clean reservoirs
  23. Determining formation water resistivity
  24. Resistivity–porosity crossplots
  25. Resistivity ratio methods and movable oil
  26. Determining shale volume
  27. Water saturation in shaly sands
  28. Interpretation charts: how to read them
Reservoir engineering
  1. Reservoir engineering: tasks across the life of a field
  2. Systems of units: SI, oilfield and metric oilfield
  3. Reservoir pressure and temperature
  4. Composition of reservoir fluids
  5. Phase behaviour: pure substances and binary mixtures
  6. Types of reservoir fluids
  7. Ideal and real gas: the gas deviation factor (Z)
  8. Gas formation volume factor, compressibility and viscosity
  9. Cubic equations of state
  10. Black oil model: solution gas–oil ratio and formation volume factors
  11. Density and compressibility of reservoir oil
  12. PVT correlations for oil and gas condensate
  13. Oil viscosity and interfacial tension
  14. Vapour–liquid equilibrium
  15. Separator calculations and optimum separator pressure
  16. Equilibrium ratios: correlations and equations of state
  17. Reservoir fluid sampling
  18. Laboratory PVT tests
  19. How to read a PVT report
  20. Retrograde condensation, wax, asphaltenes and high-pressure fluids
  21. Porosity
  22. Fluid saturation
  23. Core analysis
  24. Rock permeability
  25. Rock compressibility and the effect of stress on core properties
  26. Wettability and interfacial phenomena
  27. Capillary pressure and the transition zone
  28. Relative permeability
  29. Reservoir heterogeneity and permeability averaging
  30. Flow regimes
  31. Diffusivity equation
  32. Line-source solution and the pressure function
  33. Superposition principle
  34. Reservoir drive mechanisms
  35. Material balance for gas reservoirs
  36. General material balance equation for oil reservoirs
  37. Straight-line material balance (Havlena–Odeh method)
  38. Performance prediction for solution gas drive reservoirs
  39. Aquifer models: water influx
  40. Unsteady-state water influx: the van Everdingen–Hurst method
  41. History matching of aquifer parameters
  42. Simplified water influx models: Fetkovich and Carter–Tracy
  43. Why water is injected: pressure maintenance and oil displacement
  44. Fractional flow function and mobility ratio
  45. Buckley–Leverett theory and the Welge method
  46. Segregated flow and gravity displacement
  47. Displacement in heterogeneous reservoirs
  48. Displacement of oil by gas
Well testing and pressure transient analysis
  1. Well inflow: the well performance diagram
  2. Steady-state radial flow
  3. Pseudo-steady-state flow and the shape factor
  4. Skin factor
  5. Partial penetration and well deviation
  6. Water and gas coning
  7. Inflow at high rates: non-Darcy flow
  8. Well testing: purposes and types of test
  9. Dimensionless well solutions: skin, radius of investigation and units
  10. Pressure drawdown analysis
  11. Pressure build-up analysis
  12. Wellbore storage
  13. Type-curve matching
  14. Diagnosis with the pressure derivative
  15. Effect of producing time on build-up analysis
  16. Nonideal wellbore storage, well clean-up and changing skin
  17. A sealing fault near the well: the method of images
  18. Several boundaries: parallel faults and wedge-shaped blocks
  19. Semi-infinite systems: theory and test analysis
  20. Partially communicating faults
  21. Reservoir limit test
  22. Build-up in a bounded reservoir and average reservoir pressure
  23. Equivalent producing time and synthetic flowing time
  24. Testing in a developed reservoir: Slider's method
  25. Pressure measurement with the wireline formation tester
  26. Supercharging and permeability from formation-tester pretests
  27. Comparing formation-tester, core and well-test data
  28. Pressure gradients, fluid contacts and capillary equilibrium
  29. Forced-gradient technique and multi-well analysis
  30. Perched and tilted contacts, trapped water
  31. Pressure measurements in producing reservoirs: barriers and accuracy
  32. Two-phase flow and reservoir description from formation-tester data
  33. Lumped multi-tank material balance model
Reservoir simulation
  1. What a reservoir simulation model is and why it is needed
  2. Types of reservoir simulation model
  3. Building a simulation model: input data and results
  4. History matching
  5. Reservoir simulation in practice: case studies
  6. Grids in reservoir simulation models
  7. Interblock flow and transmissibility
  8. Well model in a grid block
  9. Pressure equation for single-phase flow
  10. Two-phase flow equations
  11. Finite differences: from equations to computation
  12. IMPES and fully implicit schemes
  13. Solving systems of linear equations in simulators
  14. Numerical dispersion
  15. Permeability upscaling for single-phase flow
  16. Two-phase upscaling: pseudo-functions
  17. Special topics in upscaling
  18. Pore-scale flow modelling
  19. Petrophysical input for simulation: relative permeability and capillary pressure
Drilling engineering
  1. How a well is drilled: the process and the people involved
  2. Drilling time and cost
  3. Drilling rig: power and hoisting systems
  4. Rig circulating and rotary systems
  5. Drill string: pipe, tool joints, drill collars and heavy-weight drill pipe
  6. Drill string design
  7. Drill bits: types and design
  8. Bit selection and dull grading
  9. Bit performance and cost per metre
  10. Pore pressure and overburden pressure
  11. Abnormal formation pressures: origin, prediction and recognition
  12. Fracture gradient and leak-off testing
  13. Well control: primary barrier and kick indicators
  14. Well kill methods
  15. Blowout prevention equipment
  16. Casing: purpose, types, properties and standards
  17. Wellheads and running casing
  18. Casing design
  19. Oilwell cements and additives
  20. Primary cementing
  21. Remedial cementing, cement plugs and cement evaluation
  22. Drilling fluids: functions and properties
  23. Field testing of drilling fluids
  24. Water-based muds and clay chemistry
  25. Oil-based muds
  26. Solids control in drilling fluids
  27. Drilling fluid rheology and flow regimes
  28. Circulating pressure losses
  29. Bit hydraulics optimisation
  30. Directional wells: applications and profile
  31. Deflection tools and downhole motors
  32. Directional survey calculations
  33. Survey instruments: magnetic, gyroscopic and inertial
  34. Measurement while drilling
  35. Offshore and subsea drilling
Oil and gas production
  1. Well completion: opening the reservoir and the tubing string
  2. Completion string equipment
  3. Multiple-zone completions: commingled and segregated production
  4. Wireline operations
  5. Horizontal wells
  6. Multilateral wells
  7. Nodal analysis of the production system
  8. Inflow performance relationship (IPR)
  9. Multiphase flow in tubing
  10. Chokes, surface pressure losses and well temperature
  11. Effect of completion on inflow
  12. Well performance sensitivity analysis
  13. Artificial lift: when it is needed and how to choose the method
  14. Sucker-rod pumping
  15. Electric submersible pumps (ESP)
  16. Hydraulic pumps: piston and jet
  17. Progressing cavity pumps and hybrid systems
  18. Gas lift: principles and choice of operating conditions
  19. Unloading a gas lift well: valves and mandrels
  20. Gas lift design
  21. Gas lift operation and optimisation
  22. Shaped-charge perforating
  23. Perforating operations: gun conveyance and procedures
  24. Formation damage and damage skin
  25. Sources of formation damage
  26. Acid treatments: principle, economics and candidate selection
  27. Acid systems and treatment design
  28. Acid treatment of carbonates and special wells
  29. Hydraulic fracturing: purpose and well selection
  30. Inflow to a hydraulically fractured well
  31. Rock mechanics for hydraulic fracturing
  32. Fracture design: size and conductivity
  33. Fracturing fluids and tip-screenout fracturing
  34. Sand production: types, prediction and cost of the problem
  35. Sand control methods
  36. Field development concepts: surface facilities
  37. Oil treating: separators, dehydration, desalting and stabilisation
  38. Gas processing and compression
  39. Produced water: composition, treatment and disposal
  40. Water injection systems
Oil and gas project economics
  1. The oil industry in history: demand, supply and prices
  2. Oil companies and investment
  3. Valuation methods: book value and market value
  4. Project cash flow
  5. Cash flow model of an oil and gas project
  6. Interest and compounding
  7. Discounting and present value
  8. Annuities and discounted production
  9. Choosing the discount rate
  10. Inflation: nominal and real money
  11. Cumulative cash flow and payback period
  12. Net present value (NPV)
  13. Unit costs per barrel
  14. Annual capital charge
  15. Internal rate of return (IRR)
  16. Acceleration projects and incremental analysis
  17. The state and the subsoil: ownership of resources
  18. Licences and contracts for subsoil use
  19. State regulation of field development
  20. Petroleum fiscal systems and taxation
  21. Sensitivity analysis and scenarios
  22. Expected monetary value and preference theory
  23. Decision trees and the value of information
  24. Geological and technical uncertainty of a project
  25. Market, financial and regulatory uncertainty
  26. Risk reduction and diversification