Lebanese American University

School of Engineering Natural Gas Engineering

Department of Petroleum Engineering 3 lecture credits PTE 460
Course syllabus Instructor: E. Abi Aad Spring 18
Syllabus prepared by: E. Abi Aad

1. Academic Catalogue Description and Course Prerequisites

Analysis of four-point gas deliverability tests and gas well pressure transient tests, methods for
determining wet gas and condensate reserves in volumetric and water drive reservoirs, gas
inflow performance equations and methods of forecasting future production rates, essential
surface facilities and methods for handling sour gas and hydrates.

Prerequisite: PTE322 Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering.

2. Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Learn about natural gas.
2. Learn about shale gas, hydrates and coalbed methane.
3. Appreciate the properties of natural gas.
4. Understand the flow of gas in pipes.
5. Identify the near wellbore damage in a gas well.
6. Comprehend the different stimulation methods of gas wells.
7. Acidization of gas wells.
8. Hydraulic fracturing design of gas wells.
9. Calculation of different gas flow regimes.
10. Deal with unique issues that are encountered in gas wells.

3. Relationship of Course to Student Outcomes (SO)

The course contributes to the delivery of the following student outcomes and performance indicators with
different degrees of emphasis placed on each outcome.

(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

(e) ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(h) broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global,
economic, environmental, and societal context
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic
constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety,
manufacturability, and sustainability

4. Contribution of course to meeting the professional component

Professional Component Credits

Mathematics and Basic Sciences 0
Engineering Topic 3
General Education 0

5. Course Outline

Relevant Chapters Course Content

Chap 1 Natural gas basics
Chap 2 Unique issues in natural exploration, drilling, and well completion.
Chap 3 Natural gas flow regimes.
Chap 4 Acidization of natural gas wells.
Chap 5 Underground natural gas storage.
Chap 6 Unconventional gas.
 Chap 7 Hydraulic fracturing of gas wells.
Chap 8 Horizontal gas wells w/ transverse fractures design.
Chap 9 Determining dry and wet gas reserves.
Chap 10 Forecasting future gas reserves.

6. Required tools / software / skills

None.

7. Textbook[s]

Advanced Natural Gas Production Engineering, M. J. Economides, X. Wang, Gulf Publishing Company,
2007.

8. Additional References

The instructor; class notes; the library; the web.

9. Grade Distribution

The final grade will be determined based on the following percentages:

Test 1 30% February 13th at 7 p.m.

Test 2 30% March 13th at 7 p.m.
Test 3 30% April 10th at 7 p.m.
Final Project 10% April 26th during class time

10. General Comments

Office hours: by appointment

Email: elie.abiaad@lau.edu.lb
Office: 701B

11. Course Policies

All students must take Exams as scheduled. Failure to take an exam or the final exam during the
assigned class period will result in a grade of zero on that test unless the student has personally
contacted me and received my permission to be absent from the test.

12. General Rules & Regulations

 A student can miss no more than 2 (3 hours) sessions of instruction. By the 3rd session, the
instructor may ask the student to drop the course.
 Plagiarism: students caught cheating on an exam will receive a grade of Zero on the exam in
the first cheating attempt and a warning. Students caught cheating for the second time in
the same course will receive an F grade in the course and a second warning. A grade of zero
on an exam resulting from cheating must be counted in the student’s course grade.
 Any student who receives 3 warnings will be suspended.