MSc Petroleum Engineering (Online)

Overview

The MSc in Petroleum Engineering is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to tackle the oil and gas industry’s most challenging problems. Upon graduating students will be able to understand, frame and solve the most complex of upstream problems in today’s petroleum industry.

These courses provide specialist education tailored to the requirements of the upstream petroleum industry. The relevance of this education, combined with careful selection of candidates, has encouraged oil and oilfield service companies to target Heriot-Watt for recruitment of graduates since 1976.

The Petroleum Engineering degree is delivered by the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering, a world-leading Institute committed to delivering research and training courses that meet the needs of the international petroleum industry. Students have been attending the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University to study for the MSc course in Petroleum Engineering since 1975.

Programme content

The MSc in Petroleum Engineering is a course of lectures and project work, encompassing a wide range of petroleum engineering fundamentals, relevant to the current petroleum engineering industry.

Project work provides an opportunity for ideas and methods, assimilated through lectures and tutorials, to be applied to real field evaluation and development design problems. The courses on this course are applied in nature and have been specifically designed so that our students are technically well prepared for, and have a sound knowledge of, the industry.

Our students

Students on the Petroleum Engineering course come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including directly from undergraduate degrees such as chemical, mechanical, mining and petroleum engineering as well as geology and applied chemistry. Others are oil and gas industry professionals looking to broaden their knowledge and extend their technical expertise.

Our students come to us from all parts of the world, in the last few years the students in all three MSc courses within the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering have come from over 30 different nations.

Industry links

Students on the Petroleum Engineering MSc will benefit from the excellent links with industry and research activities by staff at the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering. The Institute also has an industry-based Strategic Advisory Board who monitors activities in the wider context of the needs of the industry and offer guidance on the course ensuring content is up to date and relevant to current industry needs. Seminar sessions are also conducted by staff from a variety of petroleum engineering companies.

Flexible study options

This course can be studied full-time, part-time or via Online Learning, ideal for those in employment or with other commitments, providing flexible study options that fit around work or family.

Career

Graduates of our Petroleum Engineering course are much sought after by oil operating and oilfield service companies both in the UK and worldwide. Graduates go on to work for major global oil and gas operating companies, service companies as well as smaller consultancies in petroleum engineering. The course also provides an excellent springboard for graduates wishing to pursue a career in research.

Students will also achieve PGDip and PGCert awards in this course.