Curtin petroleum engineering students learn about gas lift testing and wireline operation at Deleum Oilfield Services

Miri – 8 October 2019 – 19 petroleum engineering students of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently visited the Deleum Oilfield Services Sdn. Bhd. (DOSSB) branch office here to learn more about gas lift testing and wireline operation.

Accompanying them was petroleum engineering lecturer Associate Professor Hisham Khaled Ben Mahmud, who remarked that the visit and a technical workshop conducted for them were highly beneficial to the students.

“They were able to enhance their practical understanding of operations in the oil and gas industry, particularly the technicalities of well intervention and the all-important health, safety and environmental aspects of upstream operations,” said Associate Professor Hisham.

Gas lift is an artificial lift technology that uses an external source of high-pressure gas to supplement formation gas to improve hydrocarbon production rate. During the visit, the students gained insights into gas lift valve production and injection components and test procedure. They also learned about different gas lift valves used for injection pressure operation (IPO) and production pressure operation (PPO).

Wireline technology, meanwhile, refers to a cabling technology used by operators to install or raise equipment or measurement devices into or from production wells for the purpose of reservoir evaluation, well intervention or pipe recovery. It includes electric line (e-line) and slickline, the workings of which were also explained to the students.

DOSSB offers the most extensive slickline packages in Malaysia, supplying more than 55 per cent of the country’s requirements.

In addition, 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 to carry out such tasks as installing artificial lifts, evaluating rock properties and the location of casing collars and formation pressures, and sample recovery.

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

Associate Professor Hisham said the visit and technical workshop complemented the students’ study of the ‘Production Technology’ and ‘Well Remediation and Intervention’ units of their course.

“It was a great privilege for the students to attend the technical workshop as it was similar to those oil and gas companies conduct regularly for their staff to enhance their industry knowledge and competencies. It would be a good addition to their’ résumés,” he said.

Associate Professor Hisham thanked the Deleum Oilfield Services and AppSmiths Technology team that facilitated the visit and technical workshop. The team comprised Kelvin Goh Hock Kiong, Muhamad Ramadhan Nin, Nurul Nadia Saiful Mulok, Jason Kok, Chua Hing Leong and other technical staff.

Associate Professor Hisham added that Curtin Malaysia’s Department of Petroleum Engineering will continue to organise visits to Deleum Oilfield Services as the company is one of several industry partners the university works very closely with to enhance student learning and career development.

Curtin Malaysia offers Curtin University’s four-year Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering (Hons.) which covers a wide range of subjects that are core to the petroleum engineering field. The course 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 also meet the needs of the Malaysian oil and gas sector with the involvement of companies like PETRONAS, Sarawak Shell, Nippon Oil, Murphy Oil, Schlumberger and Talisman.

The course is double-accredited by Engineers Australia and the Board of Engineers and continues to be one of the most popular engineering courses at Curtin Malaysia. The campus also offers a Master of Petroleum Engineering by coursework. For more information on the petroleum engineering courses at Curtin Malaysia, visit courses.curtin.edu.my.

Students being briefed on various tools and how they are used in real-life operations.

Associate Professor Hisham (middle, in white shirt) and students in group photo with DOSSB and AppSmiths Technology staff.