Curtin petroleum engineering students learn about using PROSPER for well completions design

Miri – 25 October 2022 – Third- and final-year petroleum engineering students of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently attended a technical workshop on the use of commercial software ‘Petroleum Experts’ (PROSPER) for wells completion design as part of their Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering (Honours) course.

The workshop was conducted by Graeme Rae, Director of Engineering at ALECA Sdn. Bhd, a Kuala Lumpur-based software development company that provides bespoke cloud-based tools to help companies deliver technical, commercial and sustainability goals.

Associate Professor Hisham Khaled Ben Mahmud of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science said Graeme was invited to conduct the workshop as he has over 30 years of experience in the petroleum engineering field and ALECA is a proven cloud-based software and as a service, provides the foundation for a global consulting network of experts within its technical and commercial modules to collaborate seamlessly

Prior to ALECA, Rae held various technical leadership positions in the petroleum industry, including Production Technology Advisor with Integrated GGRE Asia Sdn. Bhd, Production Technology Advisor (Technical Authority on Well Integrity) with Petrofac, and Head of Technology and Engineering with Talisman Energy Malaysia.

During the workshop, Rae gave an overview of PROSPER, which is one of the most widely- used and well-liked software for reservoir and production engineers. It can be implemented to estimate the effects of future changes to various reservoir and production characteristics and optimise the operating conditions of an existing well system.

The software also enables the evaluation of the productivity of oil, gas, and condensate wells for production and injection scenarios, with or without artificial lift.

Rae also demonstrated a step-by-step typical industrial example where he started by developing an inflow performance relationship (IPR), followed by a tubing performance relationship (TPR). He then showed the effects of various operating conditions such as water cut, gas-oil ratio and wellhead pressure on the optimum well production

According to Rae, the chosen well correlation can be very complicated and depends on multiphase flow regime behaviour. The well correlation will differ from time to time as the well condition changes, which can be challenging as it requires knowledge from practical experience.

Rae expressed his gratitude for the chance to impart his knowledge and experience to the students, and he hoped that the lessons learned by professionals in the field such as himself would help students in their future careers as engineers.

Curtin’s four-year Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering (Honours) offered at Curtin Malaysia covers a wide range of topics that are essential to the petroleum engineering field. It is accredited by both Engineers Australia and the Board of Engineers Malaysia and recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. Since its launch in 2011, it has continued to be one of the most popular engineering courses at Curtin Malaysia.

Graduates of the course are highly sought-after by industry in Malaysia and abroad, and many are able to secure jobs immediately upon graduation or even before they complete their studies. To find out more about the Bachelor of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering, visit courses.curtin.edu.my.

Information on Curtin Malaysia can be found on its website at www.curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok.

Rae and Associate Professor Hisham (3rd & 4th left) and two students pose for group photo after the talk.