Curtin petroleum engineering students visit Deleum Oilfield Services, attend workshop on wireline activities

Miri – 9 August 2018 – 17 petroleum engineering students of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently made an industry visit to the Deleum Oilfield Services Sdn. Bhd. (DOSSB) branch office here in Miri. They also attended a workshop on wireline activities hosted by DOSSB technical staff.

Accompanying them was Head of Department of the Petroleum Engineering at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science, Associate Professor Hasham Khaled Ben Mahmud.

The visit enabled the students to learn more about wireline, which usually refers to a cabling technology used by oil and gas production operators to lower or raise equipment or measurement devices into wells for reservoir evaluation, well intervention or pipe recovery.

Wireline technology includes the electric line (e-line) and slickline, the working mechanism of which was explained to the students during the workshop. DOSSB offers the largest slickline packages in Malaysia, supplying more than 55 per cent of the country’s s requirement.

The students learned about different wireline tools, which are instruments or devices that are lowered into well bores at the end of a wireline cable. They are designed for particular tasks such as evaluating rock properties, the location of casing collars and formation pressures, and information regarding pore size or fluid identification, and sample recovery.

The students also familiarised themselves with workover tools, running tools and downhole completion tools, and were shown examples of how the various tools are used in real-life operations.

Associate Professor Hisham remarked that the visit and technical workshop were highly beneficial to the students, enabling them to enhance their practical understanding of operations in the oil and gas industry, particularly the technicalities of well intervention, well intervention and integrity, and the all-Important health, safety and environmental practices in upstream operations.

He said that it was a privilege for the students to attend the workshop, which was similar to those oil and gas companies regularly conduct for their staff to enhance their industry knowledge and competencies. He added that it would be a good addition to the students’ résumés.

According to Associate Professor Hisham, industry visits and other forms of practical learning are critical to the petroleum engineering course at Curtin Malaysia as they help the students connect what they learn in classrooms to real-life industry applications.

“This visit to Deleum Oilfield Services complements their study of the Production Technology and Well Remediation and Intervention units of the course. We chose Deleum Oilfield Services as the company is very well known and experienced in this region and we will continue organising visits to the company in the future,” said Associate Professor Hisham.

He said that Deleum Oilfield Services is one of several industry partners Curtin Malaysia works closely with to enhance student learning and career development at the university.

Curtin Malaysia offers Curtin University’s four-year Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering (Honours) which covers a wide range of subjects that are core to the petroleum engineering field. It was developed in collaboration with global players like Chevron, Woodside, Shell, BHP Billiton and BP, and since its introduction at Curtin Malaysia in 2011, has been further refined to meet the needs of the Malaysian oil and gas sector with the involvement of companies like PETRONAS Carigali, Shell, Nippon Oil, Murphy Oil, Schlumberger and Talisman.

It is accredited by both Engineers Australia and Board of Engineers Malaysia and by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. It remains one of the most popular engineering courses at Curtin Malaysia and graduates are immediately employable in the oil and gas industry upon graduation.

Curtin Malaysia also offers the Master of Petroleum Engineering by coursework that can be completed in 18 months of full-time study.

For more information on the Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering (Honours) course, visit courses.curtin.edu.my.

Curtin Malaysia students during workshop at DOSSB.

Students being shown example of piping.