2020 is history! Comments - especially suggestions for blog/Guidebook/Companion improvements - are welcome and appreciated. I enjoy hearing from all.
Please remember the blog rule: prior PE Exam questions, in whole or in part, will NOT be discussed. General topics, resource suggestions, and testing techniques only. Please don't "cross the line" by discussing specific problems from prior exams. Comments like: "...several of the drilling questions with probability...” is crossing the line. Thanks, folk!
There will be a delay between comment submission and when it appears; please be patient.
UPDATE 1: It looks like most people have their results back. Congrats to everyone who passed; you've earned it! There seems general agreement 2020 was more difficult than the 2019 CBT format exam...but it also seems (at first glance) that repeat-testers passed in larger numbers than is usual. So for all of you who did not pass, remember that repeat test takers do have a huge advantage and I encourage you to give it another try.
UPDATE 2: If anyone here did not pass, I'm going to re-vamp the Guidebook and problem sets for the 2021 CBT and I'm looking for a few guys to run problems by. This would probably benefit you for practice and help me in editing. If interested, reach me at mdavidgo on gmail.
UPDATE 3: For anyone who got bumped to the backup test in January (due to the testing facilities needing more space due to Covid) please comment here when you get your results and mention you took the backup test. Thanks!
-Next time (hoping there's not a next time!) I would focus my preparation more on facilities, both calculation problems as well as park in HS3. The conceptual felt more manageable than I was anticipating for the most part, which might have been a result of low expectations. The calculation felt more "random" than I was anticipating, I struggled less with arithmetic or correct units / dimensional analysis and more with finding the applicable equation.
ReplyDelete-In addition, it felt like there was a distinct (and I'd assume intentional) lack of overlap between the meat of the Winrock course / SPE sample exam / your 2016-2017 problem sets and the exam. I would focus more on your 2018 problem sets and pushing past the "base level" problem for a sub-topic to look for practice problems with more twists.
-As far as Guidebook improvements, I do think some aligning of equations, constants etc. with the SPE Reference would be helpful. Even after practicing for weeks with the digital SPE reference, I was surprised by Pearson's version of the Reference feeling clunky (ex. no subheadings in the Table of Contents, Chapters not labeled).
Thanks again for all of your help with preparation!
Thanks for your advice. I will take it and redo the practice problems using the new SPE Reference, starting with the 2016 and working up to the 2018.
DeleteFrom Anon: Exam seemed much tougher than the preparation exams, very heavy on the calculations [snip] facilities was definitely heavier [snip] wonder what the pass score is going to be, what has it been in past years? From last year’s comments this was definitely not the type of exam I was expecting... concepts were important but were embedded [snip].
ReplyDeleteComment: Anon, your original comment was likely fine, but I am being very careful and removing anything at all that could even possibly be construed as addressing problems on this exam. We appreciate your input, thanks!
I will not comment on the specifics of the exam, cause I have seen what happens to people that do.
ReplyDeleteI will say it was much much harder than last year (sure I didn't pass this time, as I was hopeful last time) and the scope of the exam has grown very much outside of that of traditional petroleum engineering.
Anon, I wouldn't give up hope yet! If it's that hard, it will be that hard for everyone, and there might be a helpful curve.
DeleteIs there anything I could do with practice problems or adjusting the Guidebook that would help your studying?
From Unknown: I though the exam was more difficult and more broad than expected. To study, I worked through the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2005 exams, as well as read through some of Bing's class material I borrowed from a colleague. For most of the practice exams, I would finish a 40-question block in 70-80 minutes, and the exam yesterday it took me ~120 minutes+ for a first pass.
ReplyDelete[Lots of] drilling...nothing particularly unexpected or difficult...I did find some of the wording vague.
There were waaaay more facilities questions than I...thought appropriate...
As a reservoir engineer, I was surprised how little reservoir engineering was on the test...way less than expected...
Overall, I have no idea if I passed. Fingers crossed. Thanks to David and everyone else on this site who have contributed and assisted!
Thanks Unknown. Just be aware if you need to retake, each year may bring a new emphasis (that is, next year may have a reservoir focus). What changes do you recommend on my practice problems or the Guidebook? Thanks!
DeleteWhew, I passed! The only suggestion I would have is to include more facilities, production, and drilling. For drilling and production, I think more "facts" and knowledge items would be useful rather than more equations.
DeleteThanks Unknown. I will take that advice.
DeleteTest Creator here. There are essentially the same number of drilling, production, reservoir, facilities, and project management questions every year. One year isn't more or less in any given area. NCEES has the rubric and breakdown of test topics. Some topics may bleed from one area to another where one person thinks it's a reservoir question and other may think it's a project management question.
DeleteThanks Anonymous/Test Creator! Thank you for taking the time to comment.
DeleteQ: why do you think so many engineers since 2015 believe there there is a big subject-shift year-to-year? Is this perception is merely the subject "bleed-over" effect alone? Or is there something else?
Are there two types of SPE Pe exams ? I learnt there is a monthly one. With the discussion here it looks like it is yearly and taken in october. Can someone clarify?
ReplyDeleteThis is the PE licensing exam. The SPE exam is only through SPE.
DeleteIn general there is one test a year (October). This year, because of COVID, there were not enough seats at the testing centers, so there will be some who take in January. It's a different test with different questions. The test creation committee creates a primary and backup test every year.
DeleteThanks Anonymous! Any idea what percentage got bumped to January?
DeleteAnonymous says: Simply, 2020 exam was very hard to say the least. It has very limited overlap with Bing Wines material. Not [like] old exams. [Not much] reservoir [focus] which is very sad but [focus on] facilities and drilling. As I worked through the questions, it felt that the exam committee was hijacked by chemical engineers and environmentalists. It was a sad day for reservoir engineers.
ReplyDeleteAnon, I cleaned up a few too-specific comments that could have got too close to the exam questions themselves, but I kept the substance. Thanks for the comment. I did have a good chuckle at your closing! My comment: it's quite possible the next exam may have a reservoir focus, so don't lose heart and give it another try if needed!
Results are out and I did not pass. I very much agree with all the previous comments. I am a reservoir engineer and also felt there weren't much reservoir questions. However, according to NCEES they there were pretty much equal number of items from drilling, production and reservoir (as I see from my diagnostic report).
ReplyDeleteAnyways, even though I did not pass, I have to say this blog and David's materials really helped me a lot. And it made me learn a lot of basic drilling engineering content! I'm also job searching at the moment and so I will take a break and come back to studying if/when I continue to work in petroleum.
Wow, that was fast! Thanks for letting us know. Hope you give it another shot next year, and please let me know what changes can be made to help for the next time.
DeleteWe've seen that reservoir engineers do the worst as they overestimate their reservoir ability and are not versed enough in the other areas to perform enough to pass. The test is designed that no one can pass with knowledge in one area. If you identify as a reservoir or production or drilling engineer vs. a petroleum engineer, odds are you won't pass.
DeleteThanks Anonymous! The way you describe this phenom helps me understand things better. I appreciate you taking the time.
DeletePassed. Wheew.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the help on here.
Thought it was a mostly fair exam though did have some unfair questions and felt heavily weighted towards drilling and facilities.
For guidebook improvements, maybe some diagrams on how different production and facility systems operate.
Thanks again!
Thanks for that suggestion. I'll look into it!
DeleteI passed, 1st try, I’m a mechanical engineer and had probably about 130hrs of study including the School of PE lectures. I pretty much followed your study strategy, solved 2005, 2016, 2017 and 2018 exams, reviewed questions from and old Bings textbook for context (2013 I believe which I borrowed from a friend who actually took his class) and read and reviewed well your guidebook and the SPE reference guide.
ReplyDeleteI agree the exam was hard so maybe I got lucky. For those who didn’t my only recommendation would be to hang in there and trust what you are doing... plus with the experience from this year you will be in a much better spot next year! Thanks David for your blog, definitely wouldn’t have been able to pass it without it.
Congratulations to those who passed. I passed 2nd time in 2019 using a whole new study strategy that I believe prepared me for success. For those who did not pass I encourage you to try again and consider this strategy: You will have noticed that a significant portion of the exam is fact-based rather than computation. For the computation side, continue study across ALL disciplines using the guidebook and sample exams as noted by others. Use the SPE reference for equations, but don’t ignore all of the other guides. Don’t rely on your area of expertise to pass. You will need to know significant facts from ALL disciplines to pass.
ReplyDeleteFor fact-based questions, refer to Petrowiki, and use the text information from every topic to generate your own test questions. The more the better. I used Quillionz.com (free or very cheap cost) to generate test questions using unformatted text input from Petrowiki. When you go through this process you will quickly generate hundreds of valuable questions from all disciplines and topics, and you will know the answers. You will also see your areas of weakness, and can now focus on those. You will feel great when you see a question you generated show up on the exam and you immediately zoom to the correct answer. For me, this strategy was much more helpful than just reading dry text from the PE handbooks. I also believe David may be able to use this technique to add fact-based study questions to his guidebook as well.
Thanks for commenting Jc! I like your method. I've been doing something similar, just not out of Petrowiki but out of the HS. Congratulations on your pass!
DeleteThanks David, I also was able to submit 40 questions to the SPE PetroBowl this year using this same technique. Took me about 2 hours to generate 40 good questions in Quillionz. The trick is to take the HTML text from Petrowiki, drop it Notepad and clean it up, remove formatting, dot points, spaces, etc, then upload to Quillionz. You can further refine the text once uploaded and highlight keywords, and remove non-useful text. Then generate questions. I can usually get about 8-12 solid questions per 3000 characters uploaded. All free of charge.
Delete@JcBenne, how can I reach you directly to learn how to generate questions using this method of yours? I am presently struggling with it
DeleteHi David, thanks for the great work. I am about to take the SPE EXAM IN MAY 2021.i have been away from Petroleum Engineering for almost 8years, raising my family. I am new to the platform, do you advice the same strategy as PE. Where do i start on your website please?
ReplyDeleteDo you mean the Cert Exam?
DeleteSorry for the late reply. I mean the SPE Certification Exam. Not the PE Exam. I am not in the US presently but I do need to take the SPE Certification for knowledge and Career Advancement purposes. I have been able to get all the Volumes of the Petroleum Engineering Handbook and the SPE Review Guide. I have my first degree in Petroleum Engineering. I also saw your guide books on amazon, am yet to get them. Just need a lot of guidance. I have also just purchased the SPE review course by Chase and Hughes. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI know some who have taken the Cert it's easier but similar. I've never taken it so can't speak from experience. Good luck!
DeleteI am preparing for the SPE Certification Exam. I am basically using the same prep method for the PE Exam outlined here. I am not just finding the study easy especially the SPE HB.
ReplyDeleteHi I am also preparing for the SPE Certification and using this prep guide and am trying to get Dammeyer's guide hard cover shipped here.
Deleteare you interested in studying together? Did you study petroleum?
Please I am interested in studying together. Reach me on Whatsapp at +1(832)6611533
DeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteNice blog David, found the blog very helpful. @Crespo, I am also taking the SPE Certification and PE exams. I found this book helpful for getting comfortable with the information contained in the 7 vol. set PE HB series. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/olumayowa-famodimu-spec-pe/petroleum-engineering-pe-licensure-examination-practice-question-bank/ebook/product-ykrdn6.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Hi David, its very nice you are letting other people post other resources. I also got the Famodimu question bank. I am yet to use it thoroughly but it looks well detailed with lots of resources and references to where specific questions relate. I believe it would also be great for both SPE and PE Exams. I hope to get Dammeyer's Guide and his practice PE problems as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Sir. It is my honor to know about you. During the PE license exam, which handbook will be provided during the exam? Is that the Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Volumes I-VII, or the SPE Petroleum Engineering Certification and PE License Exam Reference Guide?Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteGetting set to start preparing for the 2021 PE exam. There is a lot of great content shared in these blogs but it is somewhat difficult to pinpoint which materials you are recommending and where to find them.
Would you be able to send a quick list?
I would complete my latest problem set 2021 1-43 under the time constraints. That will tell you what your weak areas are and thus what resources you need. No matter what I would have the Handbook Series and TS12 and the GB. But some guys can limp by without anything but the internet. Everyone is different.
DeleteThanks for the prompt feedback!
DeleteJust to be clear:
1. "Handbook Series" - can you provide a link or more specific info?
2. "TS12" - ?
3. "GB" - Guidebook? The one you have published?
I apologize for the questions, just want to make sure I understand.
Thanks!
Yep Handbook Series, link on the blog. TS Textbook Series, link on the blog. GB is my Guidebook. But as I said, you may not need anything or you may need everything, and the best way to find that out is by reviewing the practice problems I show on my blog or PetroWiki.
DeleteUpdate 2 states the guidebook would be re-vamped in preparation for the 2021 test. Has this been completed already / is the re-vamped version the same one linked to on Amazon in the sidebar?
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm no longer satisfied with just doing an updated Guidebook with a closed-book exam. I think the new Guidebook will have to be more of a problem-set book following the new Resource. Still chewing over it and I will need some more feedback on what people want before doing a new one. Folk are really liking the new problem set, so I will probably just focus on more of those.
DeleteWhen you say "Resource" what are you referring to? The 2020 update to "SPE Petroleum Engineering Certification and PE License Exam Reference Guide"?
DeleteOtherwise, thank you for the material you've taken time to put out there so far.
Yes, the Reference Guide they let you use on the exam, since that's the only resource they now allow.
DeleteThe original purpose of the Guidebook was to create a reference for the open-book exam that would "guide" a person to an answer quickly. It is still useful for studying but wasn't designed for the "Reference Guide" at all. And since the Reference Guide is not very user-friendly according to most I'm struggling how build the GB around the Reference Guide without making it unusable. For now, I'm just focusing in on problem sets and chewing it over and taking suggestions.
What were you allowed to bring to the exam in 2020? Books and calculator? What type of calculator? What about this change to computer setting? Still same rules? I am going to take one in Oct. 2021. Thanks
ReplyDeleteLet's say you are 100% new on this and preparing for the 2021 exam. Could someone please tell me:
ReplyDelete1. material used to prepare the exam
2. for the material like the guidebook, how to get it (please affordable manner ... tough times)
3. thanks in advance for your help, just need very concise instructions
You will need the Reference Guide & TS12. After that, can study for free using this blog and PetroWiki.
DeleteI recently came across this new question bank. Its quite impressive in my opinion. I bought my copy from lulu bookstore but recently discovered an expanded version with more questions on ebay.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/olumayowa-famodimu-spec-pe/petroleum-engineering-pe-licensure-examination-practice-question-bank/ebook/product-ykrdn6.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Disclaimer: I am not a reservoir engineer. While working out problems I noticed the Hyperbolic Decline Method (p.30) for Rate and the Harmonic Decline Method for Rate (p.31) do not match what is written in The Reservoir Engineering Handbook (Ahmed, p.1239).
ReplyDeleteAlso if anyone is in the Austin area and taking this exam give me a shout. One more week then its game time!!