Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Petroleum and natural gas engineering involve the application of earth sciences and physical sciences to the evaluation and exploitation of natural hydrocarbon resources. In the practical field, the development of reservoirs under increasingly adverse conditions poses new engineering problems. This requires skilled engineers capable of producing engineered solutions to current problems. It is clear that the future exploitation of oil reservoirs in Saudi Arabia, for a secondary and tertiary crop of oil, requires intensive research over a long period. This calls for a steady output of highly trained petroleum engineering graduates.

The graduate courses are planned to emphasize the type of subject matter that addresses the petroleum production problems in Saudi Arabia. Additional courses may be added as the program progress. These include future courses on drilling, natural gas storage and utilization, and well logging. The program maintains a balance between the basic state–of–the–art technology and the particular needs of Saudi Arabia.

Area of Specialization

• Petroleum Reservoir Engineering.
• Petroleum Production Engineering.
• Oil well Drilling Engineering.

Mandatory Common Courses

• Theory of fluid flow through porous media
• Advanced drilling engineering
• Advanced petroleum production engineering

Mathematics Courses

• Probability and mathematical statistics
• Numerical linear algebra
• Ordinary and partial differential equations
• Advanced operations research

Track Petroleum Reservoir Engineering

• Waterflooding
• Tertiary oil recovery
• Reservoir simulator development
• Advanced natural gas technology
• Advanced well test analysis
• Advanced petroleum economics
• Advanced topics in petroleum engineering

Track Petroleum Production Engineering

• Waterflooding
• Advanced natural gas technology
• Advanced well stimulation technology
• Multiphase fluid flow in conduits
• Reservoir evaluation
• Advanced petroleum economics
• Advanced topics in petroleum engineering

Track Oil Well Drilling Engineering

• Advanced drilling fluids engineering
• Advanced well stimulation technology
• Oil exploration
• Advanced petroleum economics
• Rock mechanics
• Advanced topics in petroleum engineering

Requirements

• Applicants for the Master's degree must hold the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree from King Saud University or an equivalent degree from another accredited university with the minimum grade of "Very Good". It is possible, upon the recommendation of the departmental Council the approval of the College of Engineering Council and the Dean of Graduate Studies, to provide a conditional acceptance to a student with the grade of "Good". The admission is considered final only after the student had completed two semesters and attained a grade point average not less than "Very Good".
• It is possible to accept students holding Bachelor of Science degree in other engineering branches. In this case, the department may require additional courses which applicants must take and pass their exams with a minimum grade of "Very Good"
• Students will be enrolled on a full-time basis. Exceptions may be made for part-time upon the recommendation of the Department Council, and with approval of the College Council and the College of Graduate Studies Council.
• Obtain a minimum score on TOEFL or IELTS. Internet-based TOEFL 61, Computer-based TOEFL 173, Paper-based TOEFL 500, IELTS 6

Scholarships

• Global Education Program