Advancement of the Petroleum Professional The role of the engineer is constantly evolving. Considering the industry’s expanding technology, as well as its changing environmental, safety and legislative issues, the responsibilities of an engineer are in a constant state of development.
In an effort to consistently maintain engineering’s professional standards, the
SPE Task Force on Minimal Competency was established to define the levels of proficiency required for petroleum engineers. It was also tasked with collecting data necessary in setting guidelines for professional development and coordinating curricula required in petroleum engineering degrees.
Resources Used in Defining Competency Guidelines This task force was assembled by T. Scott Hickman, former SPE president, who recruited top experts from both industry and academia. These selected professionals began reviewing the practices used to set competency levels in various organizations. Aside from simply researching the competency standards from the engineering arena, the group also looked at methods used by industries such as medicine, law and accounting.
Development Principles Protecting public welfare is a key reason for the development of minimum competency standards. It is vital that petroleum engineers are versed in a variety of areas ranging from basic production principles to environmental awareness and safety factors. Another basis for emphasizing competency criteria is to effectively promote the engineering industry. By helping create quality professionals, the
SPE Task Force on Minimal Competency is intent on increasing the levels of trust and credibility for engineers. With that, it is equally important that professionals are extremely knowledgeable regarding industry standards, multiple engineering disciplines and technical trends.
The Matrix A set of tools used in determining the minimum aptitude levels for petroleum engineers is the competency matrices. This system is structured to assess the minimal competency levels required at various stages of an engineer’s career. It also is used to establish future industry standards.
Definitions The following terms are necessary to the definition of competency for engineering professionals:
Breadth: the basic knowledge common to all areas of petroleum engineering needed by each and every engineer to demonstrate minimum competency after four to six years of practical experience.
Depth: the knowledge needed by petroleum engineers to demonstrate minimum competency within their primary area of practice after four to six years of practical experience.
Petroleum engineering sub-disciplines: drilling, completion/production/facilities, formation, evaluation and reservoir. All sub-disciplines share common knowledge and related tasks as defined above in the "Breadth" category, and each sub-discipline requires specialized knowledge accumulated through experience as defined in the "Depth" category.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all committee members of the
SPE Task Force on Minimum Competency as well as the NCEES, TSBRPE, and the Chauncey Group for participating in this important effort to improve the petroleum engineering profession.
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