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I N T R O D U C T I O N

Engineering is the profession in which knowledge of
mathematical and natural sciences gained by study, experience and
practice applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize,
economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of
mankind. Engineers are persons, who, by reason of their special
knowledge and the use of mathematical, physical and engineering
sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis
and design, acquired by education and experience, are qualified to
practice engineering. However, the most useful approach is to
simply regard the engineer as a doer, a problem solver, who
applies science and technology to solve the problems and meet the
needs of society. The engineer is an innovator and creator of new
products and processes aimed at solving problems in a practical
and economic fashion.
The engineer’s role is to bridge the gap between an idea and
its physical reality by solving problems that exist between the two
extremes, very often with little to guide him except intuition.
This we have called the “creativity gap”. The tools of engineer
are the scientific principles, which have been formulated about the
behavior of universe and its contents. Laws of motion,
thermodynamics and matter are among the tools that permit
engineer to fashion a workable solution to a problem. The engineer
must develop sufficient depth of understanding of the basic
principles so that they indeed become like tools. He/she must be
able to devote his/her efforts to building a solution to a problem
and not concern him/her with how the tools are to be used.
Petroleum Engineers combine chemistry, physics and geology
with engineering methods in the development, recovery and field
processing of petroleum. They are concerned wit finding deposits
of oil and gas in quantities suitable for commercial use and with
the economic extraction of these materials from the ground. The
petroleum engineer will design methods for transporting oil and
gas to suitable processing plants or to places where they will be
used. The function of petroleum engineering is to provide a basis
for the design and implementation of techniques to recover

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