Are you a student with deep interests in physics, geology, and engineering? Do you have the math and analytic skills to match? The growing field of Petroleum Studies could be the perfect way to launch a rewarding career that takes advantage of your academic talents.

The Petroleum Studies program was developed to prepare scientists and engineers to be able to produce novel technological solutions for enhancing recovery of the existing hydrocarbon sources (secondary and tertiary recovery methods) and developing new methods for recovering unconventional hydrocarbon reserves (tight oils, heavy oils, bituminous sands, shale oil, gas hydrates, etc.).

Petroleum Studies is a field of Petroleum engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of Crude oil or natural gas. It requires a good knowledge of many other related disciplines such as geophysics, petroleum geology, formation of evaluation, drilling, economics, reservoir simulation, reservoir engineering, well engineering, artificial lift systems, completions and petroleum production engineering.

Petroleum Engineers divide themselves into Reservoir Engineers, Drilling Engineers, Drilling fluid engineers, Completion engineers, Production engineers and Petro physicists. For which the engineers need to have a strong foundation in physics, chemistry and mathematics along with basic knowledge of geology, formulation evaluation, fluid flow in porous media, well drilling technology, economics, and geo-statistics. Petroleum engineering and Petroleum Studies has historically been one of the highest-paid engineering disciplines, although there is a tendency for mass layoffs when oil prices decline and waves of hiring as prices rise.

Entry requirements for Petroleum Studies applicants

A bachelor's degree within the following disciplines is required:

• Energy- and Petroleum Engineering;

• Geosciences with at least 20 ECTS credits in petroleum engineering courses.

Applicants with a bachelor’s degree in other engineering disciplines may also be considered if they document at least 30 ECTS credits in petroleum engineering courses. All applicants must have at least 30 ECTS credits in mathematics/statistics/calculus. The appropriate English language qualification is also required.

Career Path

Petroleum Studies is an over-arching discipline which contains a number of more specialised elements, including Reservoir Engineering and Drilling. Career prospects upon completing a Masters in Petroleum Studies include:

• Drilling Engineer;

• Operations Engineer;

• Piping Specification Engineer;

• Production Engineering;

• Reservoir Engineer;

• Reservoir Simulation Engineer;

• Subsurface Engineer;

• Wellhead Engineer.

Best Universities to study Petroleum Studies

The Top Master’s degree in Petroleum Studies can be gained in the USA, in the UK, in Australia, Turkey, Iran. The best universities to study Petroleum Studies are: Texas Tech University, Imperial College London, The University of Adelaide, Middle East Technical University, Sharif University of Technology and others.