Engineering Training Needs for the New Millennium

摘要

The roles service company engineers play in the oil and gasindustry have changed drastically over the last decade. Priorto 1990, the engineering staff employed by the operatingcompany did most reservoir and production history analysis.The last decade has seen this situation change. During the90’s, while seeking to streamline their own operations, manyoperating companies began to depend much more heavilyupon service company engineers to do the background workdescribed above. Working relationships evolved to the pointthat service company engineers are often stationed at theoperating companies’ facilities while performing duties thathad previously been the responsibility of the operatingcompanies’ reservoir or production engineering departments.This creates an atmosphere of increased service companyaccountability. Directly proportional to this increase inaccountability is the degree of service company engineerresponsibility. No longer does the service company engineersimply design treatments based upon the request of thecustomer.To meet these demands, service companies have had toimplement training programs that equip their engineeringstaffs with the tools to perform these new job responsibilities,including reservoir, drilling and completions engineeringfunctions. This paper will describe a grid curriculum structuredeveloped to meet the needs of pressure pumping servicecompany engineers. A vast array of classes, some of whichwere never before available to service company engineersfrom within, have been viewed as essential to the success ofthe operating/service company partnerships.As we move into the next millennium, the curriculumstructure must be flexible enough to meet the ever-changingneeds of the industry. How will these individuals’ roleschange over the next decade? No one knows for sure. If thechanges are as profound as the last decade, the trainingprogram’s scope and flexibility are crucial for its futuresuccess.