An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Introduction to Petroleum Geoscience
Geology, Geophysics and Petrophysics Combined
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 2,500
Starting From
11 Jan 2027
Home Geology and Geoscience Introduction to Petroleum Geoscience
Introduction to Petroleum Geoscience
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Introduction to Petroleum Geoscience - GG-IPG-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-IPG-PEA27 | 11 - 15 Jan 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
2500 |
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Introduction to Petroleum Geoscience
Description
Petroleum geoscience is practised as an integrated activity. A geologist's depositional model constrains what the geophysicist can reasonably interpret from seismic; the geophysicist's structural picture determines where the geologist's facies are mapped; the petrophysicist's saturation and net pay determine whether the volume either of them mapped is worth anything. Work carried out in discipline isolation produces interpretations that do not reconcile, and this training teaches the subject the way it is actually practised.
The training follows the workflow. Basin analysis and petroleum system assessment are developed first, establishing where to look and why. Play and prospect concepts follow. Seismic is then covered in sufficient depth for non-geophysicists to use it properly: acquisition, processing, resolution, interpretation of structure and stratigraphy, attributes and their limits, and depth conversion with its uncertainty. Well evaluation follows through log measurement principles, lithology and fluid identification, porosity and saturation determination, core data and its integration. Prospect definition, volumetric estimation, geological risking and chance of success are then addressed. The training closes with static reservoir modelling, appraisal planning, and the handover of geoscience products into engineering and development work.
Seismic resolution is the constraint that shapes most subsurface interpretation and is routinely overstated. Seismic cannot resolve beds thinner than roughly a quarter of the dominant wavelength, which at typical reservoir depths means beds of ten to thirty metres or more. Everything thinner is below resolution and is inferred rather than seen. Interpreters who understand this treat seismic as a structural tool with limited stratigraphic capability; interpreters who do not produce maps of features the data cannot support.
Depth conversion is where structural maps most often go wrong. Seismic measures time, not depth, and converting between them requires a velocity model built from well data, seismic velocities and geological reasoning. Velocity varies laterally with lithology, compaction and fluid, and errors in the velocity model translate directly into errors in structural relief, closure area and volume. Prospects have been drilled on closures that disappeared when the depth conversion was redone.
Risking is a discipline rather than a formality. Chance of success is the product of the probabilities that each petroleum system element is present and effective: source, reservoir, seal, trap and timing. Multiplying honest probabilities produces numbers that are often uncomfortably low, and the common response is to inflate individual estimates until the answer looks acceptable. Organisations that track their predicted against actual success rates discover this quickly; those that do not continue to drill on risked values that bear no relation to outcomes.
Finally, the geoscience product is only useful if engineering can act on it. A static model delivered without clear statements of what is constrained by data, what is interpretation and what is assumption will be used as though all of it is equally reliable. Making those distinctions explicit at handover is part of the geoscience job rather than a courtesy.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Conduct basin analysis and assess petroleum system elements for a given basin
- Define plays and prospects and place them within a regional framework
- Explain seismic acquisition and processing at the level required to assess data quality
- Interpret seismic structure and stratigraphy and recognise the limits of resolution
- Apply seismic attributes appropriately and assess their calibration
- Perform depth conversion and quantify its contribution to structural uncertainty
- Interpret well logs for lithology, fluid, porosity and saturation
- Integrate core, log and seismic data into a consistent subsurface interpretation
- Estimate prospect volumes and assign geological chance of success
- Build and hand over a static reservoir model with its uncertainty stated
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Improve integration between geology, geophysics and petrophysics
- Reduce interpretations that fail to reconcile between disciplines
- Improve prospect risking and the calibration of predicted against actual success
- Improve the quality of static models handed to engineering teams
- Strengthen technical review of subsurface work produced internally and by contractors
- Build broad geoscience capability in staff specialised in one discipline
Participants will:
- Work across the geology, geophysics and petrophysics boundaries
- Interpret seismic with an accurate sense of what it can and cannot show
- Evaluate wells and integrate the results with seismic interpretation
- Risk prospects honestly and defend the assessment
- Build static models and communicate their uncertainty
- Build a foundation that supports progression across subsurface roles
- Geologists, geophysicists and petrophysicists early in their careers
- Geoscientists specialised in one discipline extending into the others
- Reservoir and petroleum engineers requiring geoscience grounding
- Exploration and new ventures staff
- Technical staff evaluating subsurface opportunities and acquisitions
- Data and technical support staff working on subsurface projects
- Professionals transferring into upstream geoscience roles
Module 1 - Basins and Petroleum Systems
- Plate tectonics and basin formation
- Basin classification and their petroleum characteristics
- Subsidence, accommodation and basin fill
- Thermal history and heat flow
- Source rock deposition and preservation
- Maturation, generation and expulsion
- Migration pathways and carrier systems
- Reservoir, seal and trap elements
- Timing and the critical moment
- Basin modelling and its outputs
- Regional screening and basin ranking
Module 2 - Plays, Prospects and Exploration Strategy
- Play definition and play-based exploration
- Play fairway mapping and common risk segments
- Prospect definition and its elements
- Lead maturation to drillable prospect
- Exploration portfolio and its construction
- Frontier, emerging and mature basin exploration
- Data requirements at each maturity stage
- Licence rounds and acreage evaluation
- Exploration economics in outline
- Learning from exploration outcomes
Module 3 - Seismic Acquisition and Processing
- Seismic method principles and wave propagation
- Acoustic impedance and reflection coefficients
- Land, marine and transition zone acquisition
- Survey design: fold, offset, azimuth, bin size
- 2D, 3D and 4D seismic
- Processing sequence and its main steps
- Noise attenuation, deconvolution and migration
- Pre-stack and post-stack data
- Seismic resolution: vertical and lateral
- Tuning thickness and its consequences
- Assessing seismic data quality for interpretation
Module 4 - Seismic Interpretation
- Interpretation workflow and its sequence
- Well to seismic tie and synthetic seismograms
- Horizon picking and its judgement element
- Fault interpretation and fault framework building
- Structural mapping in time
- Seismic stratigraphy and reflection terminations
- Seismic facies analysis
- Direct hydrocarbon indicators and their reliability
- Seismic attributes and their appropriate use
- Amplitude versus offset concepts
- Pitfalls: multiples, velocity artefacts, sideswipe
- Interpretation uncertainty and alternative scenarios
Module 5 - Depth Conversion
- Time to depth relationship and its variability
- Velocity sources: checkshot, sonic, seismic, well markers
- Velocity model types and their construction
- Layer cake and instantaneous velocity models
- Lateral velocity variation and its causes
- Anisotropy and its effect
- Depth conversion workflow
- Uncertainty in depth conversion and its quantification
- Effect on structural relief, closure and volume
- Validating depth conversion against well results
- Cases where depth conversion changed the prospect
Module 6 - Well Log Evaluation
- Logging operations and data acquisition
- Gamma ray and lithology identification
- Resistivity and fluid identification
- Density, neutron and their combination
- Sonic and acoustic measurements
- Nuclear magnetic resonance logging
- Image logs and their applications
- Environmental corrections
- Porosity determination methods
- Water saturation calculation
- Shale volume and shaly sand evaluation
- Net pay determination and cut-offs
- Formation testing and pressure data
Module 7 - Core and Rock Data
- Coring operations and core recovery
- Core handling, preservation and storage
- Core description and sedimentological logging
- Routine core analysis: porosity and permeability
- Special core analysis and its applications
- Thin section petrography
- X-ray diffraction and mineralogy
- Core to log calibration and depth matching
- Core to seismic scale relationships
- Designing a core analysis programme
Module 8 - Volumes, Risk and Prospect Evaluation
- Volumetric equation and its parameters
- Gross rock volume determination from maps
- Net to gross, porosity and saturation inputs
- Formation volume factor and recovery factor
- Deterministic and probabilistic volume estimation
- Parameter distributions and dependencies
- Monte Carlo methods and their application
- Geological chance of success and its components
- Risking source, reservoir, seal, trap and timing
- Combining risk and volume into expected value
- Calibrating risking against actual outcomes
- Presenting a prospect for drill or drop decision
Module 9 - Static Modelling and Handover
- Static model purpose and scope
- Structural framework construction
- Fault modelling and its representation
- Stratigraphic layering and zonation
- Facies modelling approaches
- Property population: porosity, permeability, saturation
- Geostatistical methods in outline
- Saturation height functions
- Model volumetrics and their reconciliation
- Uncertainty representation and multiple realisations
- Model quality control and validation
- Handover to engineering: what is data, what is interpretation, what is assumption
- Appraisal planning and value of information
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
