Petroleum Engineering & Geoscience

At the Institute of Petroleum Engineering, we are committed to the development and delivery of training and research programmes to help the international petroleum industry meet the global demand for the exploitation of subsurface oil and gas resources.

Our high-calibre academic and research team fosters our growing reputation for teaching and research activity in a multi-disciplinary environment that is essential to the oil and gas industry.

Excellence in teaching & research

You'll benefit from education and training provided through taught Masters degree programmes that have been awarded an 'exemplary' rating for teaching by the QAA, while our supervised research for the degrees of MPhil and PhD forms part of our research activity that was awarded the highest (5*) Grade in the most recent government Research Assessment Exercise, confirming 10 years of internationally rated performance.

Employability

Our programmes are recognised by graduate-recruiting businesses around the world, and many of our graduates are employed at the most senior technical and management levels in international oil and gas companies.

Our programmes

Our 3 Masters programmes together cover all aspects of subsurface engineering and geoscience required by companies exploring for and producing oil and gas. They cover a range of skills from mainly engineering (Petroleum Engineering) to mainly geoscience (Petroleum Geoscience) with the unique combination of geoscience and reservoir engineering taught in the Reservoir Evaluation and Management programme. The following figure summarises the relation ship between the courses that constitute the programmes.

 

MSc Petroleum Engineering

MSc Petroleum Engineering has been our flagship petroleum programme since 1975 and has been continuously developed ever since. It focuses on petroleum and reservoir engineering and also covers petroleum geosciences and economics, making it suitable for anyone seeking to build a career in petroleum, reservoir, drilling or completions engineering.

This programme is available at our Edinburgh and Dubai Campuses, and by independent distance learning.

See the full MSc Petroleum Engineering programme description for entry requirements and how to apply.

MSc Petroleum Geoscience

MSc Petroleum Geoscience is a joint degree between Heriot-Watt University and the universities of Edinburgh and Newcastle.

This programme focuses on applied geoscience, but with some petroleum-related engineering, and covers reservoir description and exploration geoscience. It is suitable for a career in exploration / development or production geoscience and it is fully accredited by the Geological Society.

See the full MSc Petroleum Geoscience programme description for entry requirements and how to apply.

MSc Reservoir Evaluation & Management

MSc Reservoir Evaluation & Management balances reservoir engineering with geoscience studies, and places a strong emphasis on the technical management of reservoirs. This programme provides the ideal basis for a career in reservoir engineering or development / production geoscience.

See the full MSc Reservoir Evaluation & Management programme description for entry requirements and how to apply.