Petroleum Engineering

Modules shown are for the current academic year, and are subject to change depending on your year of entry.

The course begins in early October. Formal lectures, problem classes, laboratories and computer exercises take place on a full-time structured basis from October to March, during the academic terms, and cover a total of 390 hours.

The course curriculum is organised around five teaching modules. All modules feature petroleum engineering laboratories, a field trip, seminars with industry and communication skills classes.

• Fundamental knowledge of reservoirs, fluids, production mechanisms and basic equations of flow through porous media
• Reservoir characterisation process and integration of knowledge from various types of data into a reservoir model
• Well engineering and well performance prediction (drilling, completion, NodalTM analysis, stimulation)
• Simulation of the behaviour of the reservoir model and the prediction of reservoir performance
• Surface facilities and field development

This integrated study uses the latest industry standard software and hardware to undertake the evaluation and development of a North Sea hydrocarbon field. The objective is to interrelate separate subjects taught in formal lectures:

• Characterisation
• Drilling
• Well and reservoir optimisation
• The design of surface facilities
• Economic forecasting
• Application to regulatory authorities

Data for the project is then integrated into a development proposal. The petroleum geoscience and petroleum engineering areas cooperate closely, the objective being to create a common culture enabling professionals from the various disciplines to understand their own potential contribution, particularly to the reservoir characterisation process, as well as that of others. To that end, the reservoir characterisation phase of the group project is carried out in multidisciplinary groups, which reproduce the make-up of an asset team.

The individual project provides the opportunity to study a particular aspect of petroleum engineering in depth, thus expanding the knowledge acquired in the taught modules. In many cases, the project is undertaken in collaboration with industry and you will be offered a choice of industrial placements in the UK and abroad.