If have an engineering, science or mathematics degree and you are considering work in the oil and gas industry worldwide Petroleum Engineering can provide you with a wide range of knowledge and skills within the upstream oil and gas extraction area. The programme mainly focuses on the skills you need to extract oil which can be the initial geoscience knowledge through to core analysis and reservoir engineering. Within reservoir and well engineering there are several areas of analysis, testing and development you then specialise in. This ensures you have a very robust approach to offshore production with the type of advanced skills to problem solve and troubleshoot different situations.
The programme also develops your skills in formation evaluation, simulation, and appraisal plus safe production and enhancing the recovery of hydrocarbon oil and gas. This programme is highly regarded in the industry internationally and it is recognised by all major players in the oil and gas industry. Careers can be anything from Drilling, Operations, Piping Specification, Production, Reservoir, Subsurface and Wellhead Engineer. The degree hold accreditation from the Energy Institute and Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
This programme is relevant for any oil and gas professional or professional interested in working in the industry worldwide. It is taught by world renowned international experts from the industry, researching and teaching the skills and knowledge necessary. Aberdeen is seen as the oil and gas European capital of the industry with major FTSE 100 multinationals located in the city.
Semester 1
Fundamentals of Petroleum Geoscience
Petrophysics, Core Analysis, and Formation Evaluation
Reservoir Engineering
Well and Production Engineering
Semester 2
Reservoir Simulation
Well Test: Analysis and Design
Field Development and Petroleum Economics
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Semester 3
Project in Petroleum Engineering
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/222/petroleum-engineering/
for online visit:
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/1076/petroleum-engineering/
Find out about fees:
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/finance-funding-1599.php
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/funding/
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen:
https://abdn.ac.uk/study/student-life
Living costs
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/finance.php
This programme will provide you with the advanced knowledge and skills to pursue a successful career in the oil and gas industry.
You’ll study modules covering core topics related to the downstream activities of the industry including drilling and production technology, oilfield chemistry and corrosion, and chemical reaction processes. You’ll also have the option to take modules in topics such as separation processes, process optimisation and control, and multi-scale modelling and simulation.
Practical work supports your lectures and seminars, as you split your time between the lab and the classroom. You’ll also undertake a major research project investigating a specific topic in petroleum production engineering, which could relate to your own interests or career intentions. Taught by experts in our world-class facilities, you’ll gain the knowledge and skills to thrive in a challenging and exciting industry.You’ll benefit from the chance to study in cutting-edge facilities where our researchers are pushing the boundaries of chemical and process engineering. We have facilities for characterising particulate systems for a wide range of technological materials, as well as facilities for fuel characterisation, environmental monitoring and pollution control. In our Energy Building, you’ll find an engine testing fuel evaluation and transport emissions suite and other characterisation equipment.
We are seeking accreditation from the Energy Institute.
Most of the course revolves around core modules, giving you a range of knowledge relating to different aspects of downstream petroleum production processes. These will include chemical reaction processes, drilling and production technologies and oilfield chemistry and corrosion.
You’ll look at the principles of process performance analysis, refining theory, enhanced oil recovery, chemicals used in corrosion control and strategies for new or mature assets. On top of this, you’ll take an optional module that allows you to develop your knowledge in an area that suits your own interests.
In the summer months you’ll undertake a research project, which will demonstrate the skills you’ve gained and may even be linked to your future career plans.
Want to find out more about your modules?
Take a look at the Petroleum Production Engineering module descriptions for more detail on what you will study.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
Our groundbreaking research feeds directly into teaching, and you’ll have regular contact with staff who are at the forefront of their disciplines. You’ll have regular contact with them through lectures, seminars, tutorials, small group work and project meetings. Independent study is also important to the programme, as you develop your problem-solving and research skills as well as your subject knowledge.
You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including case studies, technical reports, presentations, in-class tests, assignments and exams. Optional modules may also use alternative assessment methods.
The research project is one of the most satisfying elements of this course. It allows you to apply what you’ve learned to a piece of research focusing on a real-world problem, and it can be used to explore and develop your specific interests.
Examples of project topics would include:
A proportion of research projects are formally linked to industry, and can include spending time at the collaborator’s site over the summer.
The programme’s main focus is on downstream petroleum industry activities such as drilling, production, refining and distribution.
With an MSc degree in Petroleum Production Engineering you could expect to pursue a successful career in the oil and gas industries in a wide range of areas as diverse as field engineering, production drilling engineering, pipeline and transportation logistics, refinery operations and management, refinery control and optimisation, and sales and marketing.
You’ll have access to the wide range of engineering and computing careers resources held by our Employability team in our dedicated Employability Suite. You’ll have the chance to attend industry presentations book appointments with qualified careers consultants and take part in employability workshops. Our annual Engineering and Computing Careers Fairs provide further opportunities to explore your career options with some of the UK’s leading employers.
The University's Careers Centre also provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
A comprehensive range of subjects is studied covering the whole spectrum of natural gas engineering, providing a sound base from which to select an area of specialised study.
You may also be eligible for membership of the Gas Engineering and Management Institute and subsequently become a Chartered Engineer. Alternatively you may wish to continue your studies to PhD level, researching gas engineering or other related subjects available within the School of Computing, Science & Engineering.
Duration:
September intake
MSc (one year full-time or two years part-time)
PgDip (nine months full-time or one year and six months part-time)
January intake
MSc (one year and four months full-time or two years and eight months part-time)
PgDip (one year full-time or two years part-time)
Teaching will take the form of traditional lectures in a class room, with PowerPoint presentations and videos and reference to laboratory work, demonstrations, workshops and tutorials and use of specialised software as applicable.
Coursework and labs – 30%
Examinations – 70%
Plus Dissertation
Graduates pursue a variety of careers in the natural gas/oil industry. The programme covers all aspects of gas technology and associated gas business management and will enable students to increase their skills and technical knowledge.
You may want to go on to further study with our Engineering 2050 Research Centre as part of the Spray Research Group.
The Spray Research Group is specialised in the production of sprays, atomiser design and turbulent spray structures. The group has a wide variety of experience in applying experimental and computational modelling techniques, utilising state-of-the-art facilities to fundamental and industrial and commercial applications of sprays, the design of atomisation devices and Petroleum Technology. We have a wide variety of experience in applying experimental and simulation modelling techniques, utilising state-of-the-art facilities to fundamental and industrial and commercial applications of Petroleum Technology.
Our expertise also extends to fluid mechanical and instrumentation related research and devoplment in the covers the production of sprays, the structures of sprays and interaction with fluid/boundary interactions, mixing, vaporization and combustion.
Research areas include:
Do you have an undergraduate degree in Chemistry or a substantive element within the subject and are you wondering what to study next to get into a specialised field? An oil and gas chemist is a highly skilled, highly paid professional with a vital impact on the world's energy industry production both now and in the future. You would not only look at the production side of energy exploration but you are looking at bioremediation, analysis, flow risk, natural gas and in depth analysis to ensure that energy producers supply the correct quality constantly.
You also get involved in corrosion prevention in terms of facilities and development of a new supply of chemical products to ensure improved production and remediation techniques are applied. This is a highly skilled profession with international applications across global facilities often working within interdisciplinary teams. The programme draws on expertise at Aberdeen which has been known for its energy production since the 1970s. This has allowed for both strong academic rigour and industry input to develop a consistently high standard of industry relevant vocational advanced degrees specifically for the oil and gas industry. Programmes are run from the university or online from Aberdeen where it is possible to do this. Aberdeen, Scotland is located at the heart of the European oil and gas industry and on a par with Houston, Texas in terms of knowledge and skills in the city.
The programme addresses a growing need for environmental responsibility looking at production and refining materials, energetics and environmental impact remediation in a constantly evolving oil and gas environment and within a constantly changing regulatory environment internationally.
Semester 1
Materials for the Oil and Gas Industry
Processes, Materials and Bioremediation for the Energy Industry
Chemistry at Interfaces and Enhanced Oil Recovery
Analytical and Instrumentation Methods
Semester 2
Flow Assurance and Oil Field Chemicals
Chemistry of Refinery and Natural Gas
Applied Analytical and Instrumental Methods
Industrial Engagement and Applications
Semester 3
Extended Research Project
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/206/oil-and-gas-chemistry/
Find out about fees:
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php
*Please be advised that some programmes have different tuition fees from those listed above and that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/finance-funding-1599.php
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/funding/
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen:
https://abdn.ac.uk/study/student-life
Living costs
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/finance.php
This industry-focused programme - run jointly by the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow - focuses on the principles, methods, techniques and technologies that underpin a vast range of needs in applications spanning from research to industry to medicine.
The programme is designed for students looking to develop the skills and knowledge that will open up opportunities in the many companies developing sensor and image based solutions.
Sensing and sensor systems are essential for advances in research across all fields of physics, engineering and chemistry and can be enhanced when multiple sensing functions are combined into arrays to enable imaging.
Industrial applications of sensor systems are ubiquitous: from mass-produced sensors found in modern smartphones and cars to the state-of-the-art, specialist high-value sensors routinely used in oil and gas recovery, scientific equipment, machine tools, medical equipment and environmental monitoring.
This programme is run over 12 months. The first semester of taught courses is run at the University of Glasgow and the second at the University of Edinburgh. The taught courses are followed by a research project, carried out at either university, leading to the production of your masters thesis.
Semester 1
Semester 1 is delivered at the University of Glasgow.
Semester 2
Semester 2 is delivered at the University of Edinburgh.
Two compulsory courses:
Two optional courses in engineering and/or chemistry:
Sensor and imaging systems (SIS) underpin a vast range of societal, research and industrial needs. Sensing is essential for advances in capability across all fields of physics, engineering and chemistry and is enhanced when individual sensing units are configured in arrays to enable imaging and when multiple sensing functions are integrated into a single smart system.
Primarily suited to hydrocarbon industry professionals who wish to further develop their knowledge and skills while working, this online version of the well-established Royal Holloway MSc course has an international reputation for excellence in the petroleum industry.
Finding new reserves is becoming ever more challenging and the enhanced recovery of reserves from existing fields is becoming increasingly important. Well-trained Petroleum Geoscientists with the ability to integrate geological and geophysical data, and to apply it on a variety of scales, have a vital role to play.
This MSc in Petroleum Geoscience provides training in the practical and technical skills to address a range of exploration and production challenges, from predicting the likely distribution of hydrocarbons in a frontier sedimentary basin, to quantifying the complex structural, stratigraphic and sedimentological architecture of individual reservoirs.
Royal Holloway, University of London is one of the leading centres for Earth Science research in the UK. It has excellent links with the international oil industry and a strong programme of industry-funded petroleum geology research, which ensures that this Masters is up-to-date, focused and commercially relevant.
Royal Holloway staff provide tutorial support for each module, plus guidance for your dissertation and for project work, which is based on industry data.
- Comprehensive learning materials delivered via a dedicated web portal: video clips, animations, audiovisual presentations, fully illustrated manuals, self-assessment quizzes, exercises and computer-based practicals including examples of subsurface data such as seismic and well-log data
- A field trip and intensive study seminars held in the UK as part of the final module on the course
- Option to be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Petroleum Geoscience if you choose not to undertake the project.
The programme has been developed by academics within the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway using the material and experience from the campus-based Petroleum Geoscience MSc course that has been running since 1985. The Royal Holloway Earth Sciences Department achieved an 'excellence' rating for teaching quality and 70% of our research was graded as world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
Many graduates of the campus-based MSc are now well-established, successful industry professionals with careers ranging from national oil companies to geoscience IT and consultancy to academia.
This course is offered online with each module running with tutor support for a three month period during the academic year, and available the rest of the time for preview and revision. This online structure enables you to fit your studies around work and family commitments. To complete an MSc in a three year period you will need to study an average of 20 hours per week during the academic session.
Fully supported by a Virtual Learning Environment, you will have the opportunity for interaction with online tutors to discuss course material and exercises; a virtual student cafe allows you to interact and network with other students.
If you have any questions, please contact our Student Advice Centre.
