The 2019 Petroleum PE Exam is now CBT and closed book except for a single reference: 2019 Update - SPE Petroleum Engineering Certification and PE License Exam Reference Guide (Ghalambor).* This has just become available from SPE.
I have read, reviewed, and used the 2014 Reference Guide (see the upper right blog link for my review). I have also purchased the 2019 Update, and I'm impressed with
the improvements! It's now a good book in its own right, one worth keeping, and not just for the exam.
Bottom line? Yes, the exam has changed and people can no longer claim it is a "battle of references". But honestly I believe it has been this way at least since 2015, with pass rates being inversely proportional to the number of pages turned during the exam. This is not a bug, it's a feature. The CBT merely formalizes this reality.
So how to study for the CBT? I don't see much change except to know the 2019 Update well. Also know the SPE Petroleum Handbook (for word problems) and the SPE Textbook Series (for word and calculation problems). I think my Guidebook and Guidebook Companion problems still hold up well as a primary framework to study from, since the Guidebook has summaries of both series.
However, we have definitely moved into a digital world, both in real life and on the PE exam. So I think it's time for me to update the Guidebook into a digital format, especially for practical day-to-day use in the field. This will be my next project.
The 2019 Update
will be provided in digital format for the exam. The search options will will be important; I'm guessing it will have a "control f" search function. Assuming so, studying from it in digital format will be useful.
The link only says soft copy, how can I get the digital version?
ReplyDeleteClick on the "Format" tab; it's available in Print, Adobe Digital Edition, Adobe Digital Edition (at least that's what it says). I haven't bought it yet so I can't speak to that. Has anyone else reading this purchased the digital version and compared it to the 2014 version?
DeleteI am new in this forum but I've read through the 2018 exam comments. Just finishing a Masters in Petroleum this term so I deem i dont have enough time to study for October. David a couple of questions:
ReplyDelete1 Petroleum PE problems is only in digital format?
2 Has somebody taken a review from "School of PE on Petroleum", is it worth paying?
1. Yes. PE problems are only digital to keep cost <$10 and also the CBT will be digital anyway.
Delete2. I've never taken School of PE on Petro but heard it sucks, but only offhand comments; if anyone can help here please do so.
First, It seems kind of crazy to me that we have to pay for this guide? The FE guides were free to us?
ReplyDeleteSecond, did anyone see that the test is on a Tuesday???
Lastly, I bought the 2014 version and it was kind of awful. It definitely is not organized like David's copy--it's confusing and there are random formulas everywhere!
The 2014 version is just a bunch of formulas, but remember that's all it's supposed to be, to support the Certification exam. I assume the new one is the same looking that the TOC. That is, the book is like a "forumula sheet", not meant to help one study at all.
DeleteBut again, anyone who has it, please let me know.
And yes, I agree SPE should give it away for free. It's unfair to require it for the exam yet not let people have it pre-exam IMO.
Just got my copy in the mail and it seems almost exactly the same as 2014. Haven't done a deep dive, but seems very similar.
DeleteIf you have both the 2014 & the new 2019, comparing what was added could be informative as to what the testers think is important for 2019. So if anyone has both, please share.
DeleteAs someone who worked on the 2019 Handbook, there was quite a bit of work that went into it. The facilities, formation evaluation sections were bulked up and many of the tables that were missing from previous 2014 version are now there in all sections. Additionally, there are many more equations that have been vetted to ensure that test questions, requiring an equation, are there. It isn't meant to be a study book or to teach anyone. It's meant to be a reference book. If something is not in the handbook, more than likely it will be given as part of the question.
DeleteThank you Anon. I will have to get the new addition for the facility equations!
DeleteI just purchased the 2019 Update, and you are correct, it's quite a bit different. I have yet to give it a through review but I'm impressed with the improvements!
DeleteIm working through my study and finding alot of omissions in reference. As I work through I will post more but I see that the salt tables are not included. To my knowledge for mud calculations with salt we need this information for solution volumes, etc. Any knowledge on this?
ReplyDeleteSure, but remember any problem may just provide you the needed tables to solve it. Just because a table is not in the provided Reference Guide doesn't mean you won't need to understand it. I can easily imagine the first CBT exam slamming with questions that provide the confusing tables from the SPE resources you need to solve it. So I would be comfortable with every table and problem type I can find in every SPE resource.
DeletePlease disregard previous comment. Salt tables included 137
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean the PE exam are more difficult since we don't the freedom to bring the references we like?
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you mean here?
DeleteThe NCEES handbook states it will be provided. It also says a free copy will be provided for studying purposes after registering for the exam which is false.
ReplyDeleteI would bet they would have a searchable pdf so no one writes notes in their personal copy. I am bringing a hard copy just in case. See below for the link to the NCEES examine guidebook.
https://ncees.org/exams/examinee-guide/
Thanks Ty! I agree with you all counts.
DeleteSo to be clear, it sounds like we will be provided with a digital copy of the SPE reference guide and not the SPE Handbook series?
DeleteI believe this all stemmed from an e-mail from Bing, but I think he has his facts mixed up.
Most I speak to think you are likely correct. Myself, I would be practicing using the digital books and learning to search them quickly on the computer. I've been spending some time in the 2019 Update and am pleasantly surprised at the improvements. But the larger skill set, IMO, is to know how to search the Handbook quickly. It will have to replace the dictionary, which means knowing it well.
DeleteGuys, I just read through the NCEES website and shocked to see the PE exam is CBT. I bought the 2019 Ali Ghalambor SPE Certification & PE Licensure Exam Reference Guide (but didn't buy it digital). I was still thinking its open book till now. I have two and a half months, do you think that's enough to study for this exam. Who plans to take it in Dallas and wants to study out here?
ReplyDeleteSee my posts on the CBT and let me know if you have any comments or questions. Sorry for the delay in reply (fishing).
DeleteI contacted my state PE board who then contacted NCEES to clear up all this reference confusion.
ReplyDeleteTheir seems to be quite a bit of confusion due to Bing sending out an email with different information. I am getting quite nervous about this exam as I don't know how to study or what to even buy to start.
Please see this excerpt from the note provided by the NCEES employee:
"You are correct. A supplied reference hand book will be provided to examinees electronically during the exam. Examinees will not be able to take anything into the exam. Please direct the examinee to our website which explains the Computer based exams and has links to where they can download the handbook at https://ncees.org/engineering/pe/petroleum/ from SPE. The reference handbook supplied to Petroleum Examinees during the exam is the "Ghalambor's 2019 Edition of SPE Petroleum Engineering Certification and PE License Exam Reference Guide".
I would also recommend they study the examinee guide which can be found at https://ncees.org/exams/examinee-guide/ for the rules for CBT exams.
The 7 volume set is not a reference that can be used during the exam. "
Thanks peteser2019. I think it's clear the reference guide will be provided digitally. Everyone seems to agree with this.
DeleteI also agree the 7 volume set I agree is unlikely to be provided. I don't know where that rumor started. Thanks for chasing that down. But I would still be ready in case they change something, and one should know the HS well anyway.
When you click on the link or even on https://account.ncees.org/reference-handbooks/ to download, it just refers you back to SPE to purchase... My boss would not approve me to attend Bing's class this year (I've attended once in the past). Did Bing mention how the past study materials would apply to studying for the CBT? Are the questions still the same?
DeleteI'm not sure Bing will know the answer and will have to guess; this is the first year of the CBT. But my guess is there won't be much change in the questions from prior exams. The CBT is merely a format change. When I took the exam in 2015 I noted people seemed to do better the less pages they flipped. So clearly this has been in the works for some time and I don't think the lack of resources is going to make much difference. However, I think the materials one uses to study is going to be critical to doing well on the CBT: practice exams, RG, HS, GB. YMMV.
DeleteAs one of the persons responsible for the CBT, you are correct that the ONLY reference will be the SPE reference handbook. (Ghalambor's 2019 Edition). Any other material that has been utilized in the past (like the 7 volume set, dictionary, McCain, Burgoyne, any other of SPE Red Book series, and even the Halliburton tables, etc.) will not be provided or allowed in. That doesn't mean you shouldn't study or know the material in those books. Remember this is a Principles and Practice exam. Some questions will have to be answered because you have practiced in real life or understand in practice petroleum engineering concepts. The test has been vetted by many professional engineers on the board but we will expect the CBT will be either easier or harder for some depending on how they take tests and how much they rely on certain study materials. Studying with the one reference book allowed on the test will be extremely helpful. I'm glad to hear our hours of work on it have been somewhat well received so far from the previous version.
DeleteThanks for that comment Anonymous! I think the new exam format is going to make the exam more reflective of an engineer's knowledge base than the open book version and the changes will be for the good. I also think your "easier or harder" comment is spot on as well; I'm constantly amazed at the variability in how engineers experience the same exam. What one gent finds easy the next one finds brutal, often just a matter of style.
DeleteCan anyone send me this book
ReplyDeleteNot sure if anyone else has realized or not, but there are a substantial amount of errors in the reference material. I have been speaking with SPE personally providing them with typos, mislabeled variables, missing part of equations, etc. I doubt they will fix it before the exam since they have already published the book. Just wanted to put that out there for everyone on here. Very disappointed in this book.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I haven't looked at the Update in detail like you have (I did review the 2014 version a bit & was unimpressed but believe the Update is a LOT better than the 2014). So my limited opinion is mostly just a comparison to the 2014 version. So thank you for this warning!
DeleteBy the way, did you find any subjects lacking?
The content is all there but too many errors and omissions. For example, they give us the Ei(x) solution to the diffusivity equation but they do not provide the chart. My main frustration is the errors. Variables and units mislabeled, minus signs that should be positive signs, etc. This is going to be fun!
DeleteThanks again for that information. Since we still have errors in SPE TS1 I'm not surprised by typos...my guess it it will take years to clean it up, but since so many people will be using that should go fast!
DeleteAs one of the writers of the guide, and seeing the errors that were passed along to us, there were not THAT many errors (especially since it's a first pass). Some of the omissions are there because the variables are defined in above equations. We have been going back and working on adding some omissions and making corrections as they are made aware to us. They should not impact anything with the exam.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for this update. It will certainly be easy to make sure exam problems are not effected by any potential typos on the text, so I don't think anyone should be concerned about it for this year's exam. Myself, I haven't delved into the text deeply but I am impressed with the amount of improvements/additions from the 2014 version. The Update seems a completely different text for the better.
DeleteThe CBT material has been updated and released via the SPE website. It is currently 20% off as an eBook through May 15. Just an FYI.
ReplyDelete