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Geoscientists should contact the Department of Geoscience and engineers should contact the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering for further information.

Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
Location: Schulich School of Engineering, Room B202
Program number: 403.220.4802
Fax: 403.284.4852
Email Address: chemandpetenggrad@ucalgary.ca
Web page URL:

Department of Geoscience
Location: Earth Sciences 118
Program number: 403.220.3254
Fax: 403.284.0074
Email Address: geosciencegrad@ucalgary.ca
Web page URL:

The University offers an interdisciplinary specialization in Reservoir Characterization to students registered in an existing course-based master’s program in the Departments of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering or Geoscience. The program integrates reservoir engineering, geology, geophysics, and reservoir characterization. The student will receive the degree offered by the home program:

Master of Engineering in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (MEng)
Master of Science in Geology or Geophysics (MSc)

All students will normally be considered to have full-time status. In exceptional circumstances part-time status may be considered and must be approved by the Graduate Director.

In addition to Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements, all applicants must meet the minimum standards of the home program.

Acceptance into the Master of Engineering program would normally require the completion of the equivalent of the Bachelor of Science in Oil and Gas Engineering degree offered by the Áù¾ÅÉ«ÌÃ. However, individuals with more diverse background and industry experience may be considered for admission.

Acceptance into the Master of Science program requires the completion of a Bachelor of Science in Geoscience plus a course in Well Logging and Formation Evaluation, Petroleum Engineering 507 at the Áù¾ÅÉ«ÌÃ, or equivalent.

Applicants with an undergraduate degree in geology must demonstrate acceptable proficiency in mathematics. It is an asset for geologists to have taken additional mathematics courses as technical electives during their undergraduate degree.

See departmental listings for the deadlines for the submission of completed applications.

The applicant must make advanced credit requests as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as part of another completed degree/diploma or for courses taken to bring the grade point average to a required level for admission.

To address the broad background of students entering the Reservoir Characterization Interdisciplinary Specialization, there are three streams for completion: Geology, Geophysics and Engineering.

All students must take at least six courses at the 600 and/or 700 level.

Students in the engineering stream are required to take:

Geophysics 559 – Geophysical Interpretation
Chemical Engineering 621 – Reservoir Simulation
Chemical Engineering 661 – Geostatistics for Reservoir Characterization OR Geology 697 – Advanced Geostatistics
Chemical Engineering 698/Geology 698** – Reservoir Characterization for Field Development (RCFD)
Human Resources and Organizational Dynamics 789 – Seminar in the Management of Human Resources

and select four from the following list, two of which MUST be geoscience:

Petroleum Engineering 543 – Geological Characterization of Oil and Gas Reservoirs
Chemical Engineering 649 – Naturally-Fractured Reservoirs
Chemical Engineering 657 – Advanced Reservoir Engineering
Geology 694.03 – Reservoir Evaluation and Hydrocarbon Play Assessment
Geology/Geophysics 649 – Advanced Petrophysical Techniques
Geology 655 – Unconventional Gas Reservoir Characterization and Evaluation
Geophysics 667 – Introduction to Microseismic Methods
Geophysics 671 – Inverse Theory and Applications I

Students in the geology stream are required to take:

Petroleum Engineering 523 – Introduction to Reservoir Engineering
Chemical Engineering 621 – Reservoir Simulation
Chemical Engineering 661 – Geostatistics for Reservoir Characterization OR Geology 697 – Advanced Geostatistics
Chemical Engineering 698/Geology 698** – Reservoir Characterization for Field Development (RCFD)
Human Resources and Organizational Dynamics 789 – Seminar in the Management of Human Resources

and select four from the following list, two of which MUST be engineering:

Engineering 407 – Numerical Methods in Engineering
Petroleum Engineering 513* – Flow in Porous Media
Petroleum Engineering 525 – Waterflooding and Enhanced Oil Recovery
Petroleum Engineering 533 – Petroleum Production Engineering
Petroleum Engineering 543 – Geological Characterization of Oil and Gas Reservoirs
Chemical Engineering 629 – Secondary and Tertiary Recovery
Chemical Engineering 649 – Naturally-Fractured Reservoirs
Chemical Engineering 657 - Advanced Reservoir Engineering
Geophysics 559 – Geophysical Interpretation
Geophysics 667 – Introduction to Microseismic Methods
Geology 613* – Flow in Porous Media
Geology 694.03– Reservoir Evaluation and Hydrocarbon Play Assessment
Geology/Geophysics 649 – Advanced Petrophysical Techniques
Geology 655 – Unconventional Gas Reservoir Characterization and Evaluation

Students in the geophysics stream are required to take:

Petroleum Engineering 523 – Introduction to Reservoir Engineering
Chemical Engineering 621 – Reservoir Simulation
Chemical Engineering 661 – Geostatistics for Reservoir Characterization OR Geology 697 – Advanced Geostatistics
Chemical Engineering 698/Geology 698** – Reservoir Characterization for Field Development (RCFD)
Human Resources and Organizational Dynamics 789 – Seminar in the Management of Human Resources

and select four from the following list, two of which MUST be engineering:

Engineering 407 – Numerical Methods in Engineering
Petroleum Engineering 513* – Flow in Porous Media
Petroleum Engineering 525 – Waterflooding and Enhanced Oil Recovery
Petroleum Engineering 533 – Petroleum Production Engineering
Petroleum Engineering 543 – Geological Characterization of Oil and Gas Reservoirs
Chemical Engineering 629 – Secondary and Tertiary Recovery
Chemical Engineering 649 – Naturally-Fractured Reservoirs
Chemical Engineering 657 – Advanced Reservoir Engineering
Geophysics 667 – Introduction to Microseismic Methods
Geology 613* – Flow in Porous Media
Geology 694.03 – Reservoir Evaluation and Hydrocarbon Play Assessment
Geology/Geophysics 649 – Advanced Petrophysical Techniques
Geology 655 – Unconventional Gas Reservoir Characterization and Evaluation

* Choose only one (1) of Petroleum Engineering 513 or Geology 613.
** To be taken in the final semester of study.

The RCFD course is a team-based experience with each team required to analyse and integrate various data (e.g., seismic, logs, and production) from a real field. Each member of the team is expected to have proficiency on the software packages for geophysical interpretation, geological mapping, geostatistical modelling and reservoir flow modelling. The reservoir characterization will require the development and assessment of a geostatistical model of the field that will be used for a history match and to propose future development. The project will conclude with a formal presentation to experts from both academia and industry.

None.

The applicant must make advanced credit requests as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as part of another completed degree or diploma program, or for courses taken to bring the grade point average to the required level for admission.

Expected completion time is two years and maximum completion time is six years.

Supervisors will be approved by the specialization Graduate Program Director.

After the conclusion of the Capstone Project, there will be a comprehensive oral examination of each student before an examining committee that includes a faculty member from each of the three disciplines. Each student will be expected to express in-depth knowledge in his/her area of expertise (engineering, geology, geophysics), and to have a comprehensive knowledge of the significance of the other two areas in successful reservoir characterization.

None.

None.

For information on awards, see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar.

None.

See the website of the home department of the faculty members.