The Department of Chemical Engineering

About The Petroleum Studies Unit (PSU)

The Petroleum Studies Unit offers one (1) BSc programme in Petroleum Geoscience and (3) MSc programmes in Petroleum Engineering, Reservoir Engineering, and Petroleum Engineering and Management.

Petroleum Geoscience

Petroleum Geoscience is concerned with understanding the structure of the earth to depths ranging sometimes above five miles for identification of potential areas of hydrocarbon deposits and to identify the hydrocarbon bearing zones, fault patterns and water ingress, in order to model them in sufficient detail so as to be able to design development programmes for economic exploitation. The Petroleum Geoscience degree programme majors in quantitative petroleum geology and geophysics courses, but also includes significant basic training in petrophysics and reservoir engineering. It is expected to attract science students fascinated with the earth and wishing to have a productive industrial career in their areas of interest.
 

The BSc programme in Petroleum Geoscience is accredited by the Geological Society of London for 6 years from February 2016 to February 2022. The programme was first accredited by The Geological Society in 2004, becoming the first overseas programme to receive accreditation by the society's world standard accreditation scheme (The Geological Society: Accredited degrees and Universities).

The BSc Petroleum Geoscience is accredited by the Energy Institute (EI) of London for partially meeting the requirements for CEng for 5 years from 2017 to 2021.

For more information about our Petroleum Geoscience programme courses, click here.

Petroleum and Reservoir Engineering

Petroleum Engineering involves the application of earth and physical sciences to the evaluation and exploitation of natural hydrocarbon resources. The dominant problems of the petroleum engineer are those of flow and equilibrium in porous media, in vertical and horizontal well bores, in surface pipelines and in primary process equipment. The complexity of the hydrocarbon fluids, and the geological strata involved in flow in reservoirs and production systems raises problems requiring sophisticated numerical techniques for their solution. In the practical field, drilling and production engineering continually pose new engineering problems requiring engineered solutions. This is a conversion programme from other engineering and science-based degree foundations into the specialities of petroleum engineering. It is intended to provide the necessary background for employment in the oil and gas industry, or springboard for a research degree, as well as serving as a refresher for those already working in industry.
 

Reservoir Engineering is a sub-set of Petroleum Engineering where understanding of the reservoir is studied in more detail in order to economically optimise the exploration of the reservoir.
 

The MSc Petroleum Engineering is accredited by the Energy Institute (EI) of London for further learning for CEng for 5 years from 2017 to 2021.
 

The MSc Reservoir Engineering is accredited by the Energy Institute (EI) of London for further learning for CEng for 5 years from 2017 to 2021.

Petroleum Engineering and Management

The Petroleum Studies Unit re-introduced the MSc in Petroleum Engineering and Management in Semester 1 of 2017/2018 academic year. It provides the option to study the management and commercial aspect of the petroleum industry. Decision-making, contractual negotiations and arrangements, financial implications and manpower management must be well understood and executed at various stages of the petroleum sector. The re-introduction of this programme is a response to the current needs of the oil and gas industry that is entering a new phase of development, needing more qualified persons who are trained in the management aspect of the sector. The MSc will also provide the necessary springboard for a research degree in Petroleum Engineering, as well as serve as a refresher for those already working in industry and who wish to have a more defined knowledge of the management aspect.
 

For more information about our Petroleum and Reservoir Engineering programmes, click here.

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