The hydrocarbon industry is one of our most important sectors, helping to cater for needs as diverse as domestic energy, transportation and plastics manufacturing. Our flexible MSc in Petroleum Geoscience provides you with the ideal training for a career in the hydrocarbon industry and related sectors.
Our teaching on Petroleum Geoscience at Royal Holloway, University of London is informed by leading research and links to the international oil industry, meaning that you’ll benefit from the most relevant, up-to-date learning. The programme lets you select from a range of course modules to tailor your learning to your own preferences and ambitions.
You’ll study in the renowned Department of Earth Sciences, which is consistently ranked among the UK’s top 10 (The Complete University Guide and The Guardian 2016) – contributing towards our leading research culture with your own Independent Research Project. You’ll become a part of a vibrant international graduate community, and make use of our extensive range of modern facilities as you work towards a rewarding future career.
Our Petroleum Geoscience MSc has run since 1985, and has become recognised as one of the world’s premier training centres for the hydrocarbon industry. We’ve established excellent industry links, and have helped over 600 graduates from 32 countries progress into rewarding careers. Study Petroleum Geoscience at Royal Holloway and you’ll graduate with excellent employment prospects in a well-paid sector with job opportunities across the globe.
Core modules
Optional modules
In addition to these mandatory course units there are a number of optional course units available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course units that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new units may be offered or existing units may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.
You will take either Sedimentology and Regional Tectonic Analysis or Reservoir Geoscienceand Advanced Structural Analysis.
The taught course units are assessed by a combination of written exams and coursework. Each of the six units comprises 10% of the total assessment for the MSc course. The remaining 40% of the assessment comes from the Independent Research Project.
Petroleum Geoscience at Royal Holloway, University of London was first established in 1985, giving us ample time to build valuable links with the international oil industry. We’re now recognised worldwide as one of the hydrocarbon industry’s premier training facilities, having helped more than 600 graduates from 32 countries progress into rewarding careers in the Earth Sciences.
This flexible Masters programme will equip you with a range of skills and knowledge necessary to achieve a fulfilling career in a sector with many well-paid career opportunities in the UK and abroad. There is huge demand for well qualified petroleum geoscientists, and as we’re considered world leaders in the field, you’ll graduate as a highly desirable candidate for employers in a variety of sectors.
The hydrocarbon industry is crucial to provide us with domestic energy, transportation, plastics and other everyday needs. Petroleum Geoscience by Distance Learning with the University of London lets you earn a Masters degree in this booming sector which fits around your work or family commitments.
Choose from a range of course modules to tailor your learning, studying online over a period of years to earn your MSc. This flexible programme lets you choose between the standard course structure, a postgraduate diploma or a series of individual taught courses, letting you fit your studies around your daily life.
You’ll graduate with a Masters degree from the University of London by studying with the University of London International Programmes featuring academic direction from the renowned Royal Holloway Department of Earth Sciences, which is consistently ranked among the UK’s top 10. The programme finishes with a one-week field trip and research project, letting you contribute to our leading research culture while you develop your skills and knowledge.
Royal Holloway is recognised as one of the world’s premier training centres for the hydrocarbon industry, and has run a Petroleum Geoscience MSc programme since 1985. We’ve established invaluable links within the industry while helping over 600 graduates from 32 countries progress into rewarding careers in the Earth Sciences. Study Petroleum Geoscience (by Distance Learning) to enhance your career development without the need for full-time study.
Full details of the assessment process can be found on the University of London International Programmes website.
This course may be studied up to 5 years part-time.
Petroleum Geoscience (by Distance Learning) lets you earn a desirable Masters degree while studying part-time alongside employment. You’ll graduate with excellent employment prospects in a sector with many well-paid career opportunities in the UK and abroad, as well as the option to progress into further postgraduate study.
Royal Holloway, University of London has taught a Petroleum Geoscience programme since 1985, and it’s now recognised as one of the premier training facilities in the hydrocarbon industry. You’ll benefit from strong industry links, and a track record of helping 600 graduates from 32 countries progress to rewarding careers in the Earth Sciences.
PLEASE NOTE: All applications must be made through the University of London International Programmes website University of London application.
Study petroleum and subsurface geoscience in Ireland and benefit from a modern interdisciplinary training delivered by leading researchers and industry specialists at University College Dublin.
UCD School of Earth Sciences provides a one-year full-time Petroleum Geoscience MSc. The course offers bright and motivated geoscience graduates a vocational training in the range of technical fields associated with hydrocarbon exploration and production, as a prelude to a career in the petroleum industry or to further studies at PhD level.
The UCD training experience:
· Covers all aspects of exploration, appraisal and development geoscience from pore to basin scale.
· Involves substantial field-based instruction (23 days) in classic outcrop locations including the Clare Basin, Ireland; Bristol Channel, UK; Pyrenees, Spain.
· Provides first-hand experience of typical industry workflows, experience with key industry software and a dedicated workstation for each student during the course.
· Involves problem-based learning drawing on a wide range of geophysical, subsurface, outcrop and ‘behind-outcrop’ datasets.
· Includes a three-month applied research project and possible industry placement.
Students accepted on to the course can apply for the Woodside Energy Masters Scholarship in Petroleum Geoscience (€15,000) and MSc Scholarship Opportunities in Petroleum-Related Courses from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (up to €12,000). Please see here for further details.
Graduates from the course will be equipped with all the necessary technical and transferable skills for a career in the petroleum industry or further studies at PhD level. Past students have found employment with exploration and production companies (including Shell, Petronas and Providence). Ireland is an EU country, and has a 24-month stay-back option allowing non-EU MSc graduates to remain in Ireland, working or seeking employment, for two years following graduation.
Semester 1 covers modules in Petroleum Systems, Basin Analysis and Modelling, Seismic Techniques, Petrophysics, Depositional Systems and Structural Geology.
Semester 2 then focusses on Exploration Geology and Production Geoscience with team-based exercises mimicking industry asset-team projects. Geological field excursions are a key component of the course with three trips to see classic outcrops of the Clare Basin (western Ireland), Bristol Channel and Wessex Basins (southern England) and the Ebro Basin (Pyrenees, Spain).
During the final semester students undertake a three-month independent research project on an exploration or development related theme with opportunities for summer internships working on company data.
The course builds on significant in-house research expertise in frontier exploration, rift and hyper-extended basin evolution, reservoir sedimentology, geophysical imaging techniques, fault analysis and reservoir and fluid flow modelling. Teaching is delivered by highly experienced academic staff, many of who have previously worked within industry and are recognised international leaders in a variety of petroleum geoscience disciplines.
The UCD School of Earth Sciences has an internationally recognised reputation for excellence in teaching and research. It is the lead participant and host for the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG) which conducts research in hydrocarbons, geophysics, 3D modelling and marine geoscience, as well as in geochemistry, geophysics, groundwater and raw materials.
Founded in 1854, University College Dublin is Ireland’s Global University with 235,000 alumni across 165 countries. The university is ranked number 1 in Ireland for Earth & Marine Sciences (QS World University Subject Rankings 2017).
Application can be made via the UCD webpage here. There is a rolling deadline for this course until such time as all places have been filled; therefore early application is advised. Course entry will generally require a minimum 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent in Geology, Geoscience, Earth Science, Geophysics or a cognate discipline but relevant industrial experience will also be taken into account.
Click here to visit the MSc Petroleum Geoscience page on the University College Dublin website to find out more and apply!
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.
Please visit the school website for detailed information about the course.
Please visit the school website for information on funding opportunities
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: [email protected]
The petroleum industry is the largest employer of earth science graduates, with good employment prospects in the United Kingdom and overseas in oil companies, consultancies, service companies, government bodies, the financial sector, and in teaching and research. During the research project students normally have the opportunity to work within sponsor oil company offices, gaining valuable industrial experience. The MSc course has a very strong track record for employability.
In semester 1, we typically have oil companies visiting the School to provide careers information and seek applications (typically BG, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Hess, Talsiman, Neftex, Fugro etc). Some also interview in the University. This is in addition to the University career fairs and other employment events.
Petroleum Geoscience and Engineering at the University of Manchester has well-established links with the petroleum industry. Research is funded by a large number of international oil companies. Guest speakers are invited on a regular basis to the department. There is also an AAPG Student Chapter , PESGB Student Chapter, SPE Chapter and EAGE Chapter, which arrange meetings throughout the year.
Many of the academic staff teaching on the course have considerable petroleum industry experience or consult for the oil industry. In addition the teaching team has a very strong group of external lecturers, who are all active consultants or employees in the petroleum industry, and who bring considerable expertise and industrial links.
BP staff teach on the course, Shell teaches the 'Malampaya oil game' which offers an insight into the industry.
This course is one of the premier international applied petroleum geoscience courses. Since the inception of the course in 1985 its graduates have an unparalleled employment record in the petroleum industry both in the UK and worldwide. In addition our graduates are highly sought after for further PhD research in the petroleum geosciences.
● Recognised by NERC - 5 MSc studentships each year covering fees, fieldwork and maintenance.
● Recognised by Industry - Industry scholarships
● We offer highly focused teaching and training by internationally recognised academic experts as well as by visiting staff from the petroleum industry.
The course covers the applications of basin dynamics and evolution to hydrocarbon exploration and production. The course is modular in form providing intensive learning and training in geophysics, tectonics and structural geology, sequence stratigraphy and sedimentology, hydrocarbon systems, reservoir geology, remote sensing and applied geological fieldwork.
The MSc course provides ‘state of the art’ training in -
● 3D seismic interpretation and 3D visualization;
● Fault analysis and fault-sealing;
● Seismic sequence stratigraphy;
● Applied sedimentology;
● Well log analysis;
● Remote sensing analysis of satellite and radar imagery;
● Analysis of gravity and magnetic data;
● Numerical modelling of sedimentation and tectonics;
● Applied structural geology;
● Geological Fieldwork.
● Transferable skills learned during the course include
project planning, presentation techniques, report writing and compilation, team working skills, spreadsheet and statistical analyses, GIS methods as well as graphics and visualization techniques.
● The full time MSc course runs for 50 weeks. The first half comprises one and two week course modules as well as group projects and fieldwork. The second half of the MSc course consists of an individual research project usually carried out in conjunction with the petroleum industry or related institutions such as international geological surveys.
● Part time study over 24 months is also available
● Each year independent projects are arranged with new data sets from industry – some students work in the offices of the company whereas other may use our excellent in-house facilities. All independent projects are supervised by faculty members with additional industry supervision where appropriate.
Facilities include –
● Dedicated Modern Teaching Laboratories
● 14 Dual Screen Unix Seismic Workstations
● PC and Macintosh Workstations
● Internationally Recognised Structural Modelling Laboratories
● Advanced Sedimentological Laboratories
The MSc course also greatly benefits from dynamic interaction with internationally recognised research groups within the Geology Department including –
● Project EAGLE – Evolution of the African and Arabian rift system – Professor Cindy Ebinger
● Southeast Asia Research Group – Tectonic Evolution and Basin Development in SE Asia – Professor Robert Hall
● Numerical Modelling Research Group – Numerical Modelling of Tectonics and Sedimentation – Dr Dave Waltham
● Fault Dynamics Research Group – Dynamics of Fault Systems in Sedimentary Basins – Professor Ken McClay
The 2005 MSc graduates went on to employment with Shell, BP, Amerada Hess, Gaz de France, OMV (Austria), Star Energy, First Africa Oil, Badley Ashton, ECL, PGS, Robertsons, PGL, Aceca, and to PhD research at Royal Holloway and Barcelona.
Since 2001, 85% of our graduates have gone in to work in the oil industry, 10% into geological research and 5% into environmental/engineering jobs.
Accommodation is available on campus in en-suite study bedrooms grouped in flats of eight, each with a communal kitchen and dining space.
Subsistence Costs ~£9,000 pa (including Hall of Residence fees of c. £4,500 for a full year)
APPLICATIONS can be made on line at http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Registry/Admissions/applyonline.html
This course is ideally situated to take advantage of the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen city and its industry experts who also have a strong input into the programme content and structure. This combination of academic overview and industry expertise ensures that you have a good range of skills and knowledge which is applicable to the global oil and gas and energy market so ideal if you are international or work or want to work internationally. Your skills are ideally placed to scope out maximising oil field recovery from declining field areas on top of upstream geoscience knowledge from initial exploration to mature and declining field recovery.
Aberdeen has been running this programme since 1973 to the current day, learning with the energy industry which is located in Aberdeen itself. This means that the programme is not only robust drawing on historical learning relevant to the current day, but highly regarded internationally. This strength of knowledge feeds down directly to you as a student and afterwards as a highly trained professional within the energy market.
Regarded as the best of its kind in the world the programme gives you vocational training in geoscience skills for minerals exploration and production, including: seismic interpretation, petrophysical analysis, geochemical evaluation, sedimentology, structural analysis, and reservoir modelling.
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
Find out about international fees:
Find out more about fees on the programme page
*Please be advised that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page and the latest postgraduate opportunities
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
Please be aware that this course will only be running in September 2018
A comprehensive course
This comprehensive course combines academic and practical teaching to prepare you for, or further, your career in the petroleum industry. Having received accreditation from The Geological Society, you can be confident that the course is topical and well regarded across the sector.
If you’re an international student, you must apply for the full masters course and study it over one year, starting in September. If you’re a UK or EU resident, you can study full-time or part-time. Modules are offered in four-week blocks to allow short periods of study leave from work.
Experienced teachers
Our tutors all have extensive experience and will give you a real insight into the oil industry. Teaching takes place in the classroom, laboratory, and in the field. You’ll also receive professional training to make sure your communication skills are up to industry standards.
Learning stages
The Postgraduate Certificate stage is an intensive 12-week course taught in the Autumn semester. The high degree of industry involvement means that you’ll benefit from the latest thinking in the areas of petroleum geology, petroleum techniques, and geological and commercial risk. Because it’s a short course, UK/EU students may choose to leave after gaining the Certificate and apply for entry-level work.
Alternatively, you can take the three Postgraduate Diploma modules in sequence in the Spring semester and then move on to the Independent Project for your MSc in May. If you choose to study part-time, you’ll need to be in Derby for four-week periods for each module.
The MSc stage will give you specialist knowledge and experience, because your independent project will involve working with data to address a current industry issue. You can study full-time for four months at Derby during the summer semester, or part-time while you work.
There is a lot you can do with data in any organisation. With the increase in technology and IOT plus the 'Big Data' revolution the collation of data and the power it holds to transform organisations, ensure health and safety in difficult to reach places, keep ahead of life cycles, drive change and innovation has huge potential for any organisation. Within the oil and gas and energy sectors and related supply chain the revolution of supply and demand is already happening.
If you already work in data either in the energy sector or other related sectors this programme specialises in its application to the oil and gas sector and it is partnered with Common Data Access Ltd which is a not for profit subsidiary of Oil and Gas UK. It provides data management services to the oil and gas industry. The programme is developed with academics at University of Aberdeen and industrial partners and it covers data protection, governance and quality plus project and data management and legal commercial and security aspects of data management.
The programme develops your key data management requirements working in interdisciplinary teams in the energy industry and is sponsored and input by multinationals within those industries. You can study this programme either on campus full time or part time or online part time from anywhere with an internet connection. The part time delivery is designed to fit around your work and life.
Campus Delivery
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Online Delivery:
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page for campus delivery and online delivery
Find out about international fees:
Find out more about fees on the programme page
*Please be advised that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page and the latest postgraduate opportunities
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
You may also be interested in:
Please visit the school website for detailed information about the course.
Please vist the school website for further information.
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Please visit the school website for information on funding opportunities.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: [email protected]
The petroleum industry is the largest employer of earth science graduates, with good employment prospects in the United Kingdom and overseas in oil companies, consultancies, service companies, government bodies, the financial sector, and in teaching and research. During the research project students normally have the opportunity to work within sponsor oil company offices, gaining valuable industrial experience. The MSc course has a very strong track record for employability.
In semester 1, we typically have oil companies visiting the School to provide careers information and seek applications (typically BG, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Hess, Talsiman, Neftex, Fugro etc). Some also interview in the University. This is in addition to the University career fairs and other employment events.
Petroleum Geoscience and Engineering at the University of Manchester has well-established links with the petroleum industry. Research is funded by a large number of international oil companies. Guest speakers are invited on a regular basis to the department. There is also an AAPG Student Chapter , PESGB Student Chapter, SPE Chapter and EAGE Chapter, which arrange meetings throughout the year.
Many of the academic staff teaching on the course have considerable petroleum industry experience or consult for the oil industry. In addition the teaching team has a very strong group of external lecturers, who are all active consultants or employees in the petroleum industry, and who bring considerable expertise and industrial links.
BP staff teach on the course, Shell teaches the Malampaya oil game which offers an insight into the industry.
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
Semester 2
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
for online delivery
Find out about international fees:
Find out more about fees on the programme page
*Please be advised that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page and the latest postgraduate opportunities
Find out more about:
Find out more about living in Aberdeen and living costs
Other engineering disciplines you may be interested in:
Sustainability, Earth and Atmospheric Science Masters Degrees - School of Earth and Environment
