Study petroleum engineering in the UK
tHERE are several universities in the United Kingdom that offer petroleum engineering as a specialised area of study. Students on such programmes are usually multicultural and could be from various countries such as the United Kingdom, Africa, Egypt, the United States, Kuwait, Qatar, China, Brunei and Malaysia.
Some universities offer degrees in petroleum engineering as an amalgamation of engineering and earth science subjects. Students on such courses could progress to the higher levels of the course which incorporate specific components such as drilling, reservoir and formation evaluation. Exposure to industrial applications and various software packages are additional benefits to any degree in this area of study.
Petroleum engineering courses and its students would also benefit from field trips within the United Kingdom to bridge the gap in knowledge and relate the academic to practical elements.
Some universities offer a work placement year which they call a “sandwich option”, where students are encouraged to undertake a year in the industry in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Some students opt to undertake short placements of one to three months in the industry during the Easter or summer breaks.
There are also practical laboratory sessions. These could include drilling labs, mud theology, or rock and fluids labs. Laboratories should always be equipped with most up-to-date industrial and teaching tools.
Students undertaking final year projects would benefit from industrial courses that facilitate the use of simulation and computation.
Some universities organise training packages for students with companies such as Schlumberger, Computer Modelling Group (CMG) and KAPPA Engineering.
The research element is very important to the development of any engineering department.
Specialised research these days include the non-conventional gas shale research that is run with the British Council in the United Kingdom.
Collaborative research can stretch as far as India, Egypt and North Africa. To bridge the gap from undergraduate to postgraduate research, several universities offer specialist Master-level programmes. These courses could include contemporary subjects such as economics and risk analysis.
Students on petroleum engineering courses are usually seen signing up with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) who run various activities. Some of the relevant universities host industrial events and guest lectures from multinational companies such as BP. Different chapters of this society organise career-type fairs to include workshops on CV development, as well as interview and assessment strategies shared by experts from the industry and SPE London.
This article was written by Dr Mohamed G. Hassan-Sayed, School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth. Meet the University of Portsmouth during the British Council’s education fair on March 21 and 22 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. More details on