Fundamentals of Reservoir Simulation: An Equations-Free Overview
Date: Tuesday, April 4
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $195 for SPE members, $245 for nonmembers
Course description: The instructors introduce the fundamental concepts of reservoir simulation in a fast-paced fashion for those desiring an overview before getting more deeply involved. After completing the course, attendees inexperienced in simulation should understand the basics, such as why and how a model are built, what data sources are used, how wells are modeled and what a company looks for in a simulation study. Attendees that stand to benefit the most are those with little exposure to the technology, but who need a "quick start" on the learning curve. These attendees might include managers, non-reservoir engineers, team leaders and new college hires.

Robertson

Instructors
   Grant Robertson, coordinator of integrated studies, joined Ryder Scott in 1999. He coordinates subsurface studies integrating geology, geophysics and engineering. Robertson has a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He has worked in California, Saudi Arabia and Texas at Chevron Corp. for 15 years and at British Petroleum Plc for 10 years. For the past 19 years, he has specialized in reservoir studies; simulation software development, maintenance and user support; simulation research, schools and workshops.

Gochnour

   J. Robert Gochnour, a consulting reservoir engineer in the BP Amoco Upstream Technology Group, has more than 23 years' petroleum technology experience. He received a Ph.D. degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Gochnour has been involved in the research, development, and application of reservoir simulators and engineering and production technology with Gulf Oil Corp. (9 years), Chevron Corp. (6 years), Scientific Software-Intercomp (2 years) and PGS Tigress (5 years).

Reservoir Simulation for Practical Decision Making
Date: Wednesday, April 5, and Thursday, April 6
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days
Cost: $295 for SPE members, $345 for nonmembers
Course description: This two-day technical introduction is for those planning to conduct, review or oversee a reservoir simulation study as well as for experienced modelers wanting to review details. The instructors will discuss all-important facets of the reservoir-modeling process, especially factors that dramatically impact the model results. All material is essential for understanding simulation complexities. Topics include data acquisition, fluid properties, rock-fluid interaction, grid construction, history matching and prediction cases. Attendees will learn how to plan and conduct a reservoir study and how to review an outside study. Instructors will present models they have constructed. Attendees are encouraged to bring materials and non-confidential data, including maps, from a planned project. Using these materials, the class and instructors will discuss the best approach to achieve study objectives.

Rietz

Instructors
   Dean C. Rietz, vice president and manager-reservoir simulation at Ryder Scott, has more than a decade of diverse experience in numerical modeling approaches for evaluating oil and gas reservoirs and properties. He has built a variety of simulation models, including full field, segment and single well models (vertical and horizontal). Rietz's experience includes black-oil, compositional and thermal formulations. The applications for his studies range from waterflood development to gas-storage project development.

Palke

   Miles R. Palke, petroleum engineer at Ryder Scott, has in-depth, hands-on experience building full-field and sector models using ECLIPSE, ACRES and IMEX. In addition to constructing models, Mr. Palke has a wide range of experience auditing and revising models created by others. He also performs fluid characterizations, well-test analyses and geostatistical studies.