24-Pet-B3 Petroleum Geology · May 2016
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
National Exams, May 2016 — 98-Pet-B3, Oil and Gas Evaluation and Economics (3 hours, closed book, approved non-programmable calculator only). The exam's own cover page is titled "Oil and Gas Evaluation and Economics" and every question is property valuation / reserves & production economics / DCF-NPV screening content — no geology anywhere.
Reference texts: Thompson & Wright, Oil Property Evaluation; Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH), Vol. 1 (Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers, Calgary Chapter); National Instrument 51-101, Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (Canadian Securities Administrators); SPE/WPC/AAPG/SPEE Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS); Economides & Nolte, Reservoir Stimulation; Ahmed, Reservoir Engineering Handbook.
The exam's own instructions ask for only 7 of the 10 short-answer questions and note the Cash-Flow/Future-Value tables are graded by column; for "choose N of M" exams, every item below is answered in full as a study resource. Questions 1–10 correspond to the exam's printed Short-Answer items 1–10; Questions 11–20 correspond to the printed Multiple-Choice items 1–10; Question 21 is the Future Value table; Question 22 is the Cash Flow table.
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
(1) Steam generation capacity. A higher SOR means more steam (and hence more fuel, water treatment throughput and boiler/generator capacity) is needed to produce each barrel of oil, so the capital cost of the steam-generation plant (once-through steam generators or cogeneration units, sized to the project's peak steam demand) scales directly with SOR.
(2) Water source, treatment and disposal facilities. Steam requires large volumes of treated water; a higher SOR increases the size (and capital cost) of the water-softening/de-oiling treatment train and, for produced water that cannot be recycled, the disposal well capacity needed — both scale with the steam volume the SOR implies.
(3) Well count / pad density and facility sizing. At a fixed target oil rate, a higher SOR forces either more injector/producer well pairs (to deliver the extra steam volume within the reservoir's injectivity limits) or larger-diameter wellbores and surface steam-distribution piping — both raise drilling and facilities capital relative to a lower-SOR project targeting the same oil rate.
