Petroleum Engineering Heriot-Watt University

Overview

You’ll develop skills in the fundamental concepts, theories, and principles of the main petroleum engineering and geoscience disciplines which are:

• Reservoir engineering

• Petroleum geology

• Drilling engineering

• Formation evaluation

• Reservoir simulation

• Petroleum economics

• Production technology

• Well test analysis

You’ll use leading computer software tools for design and analysis, integrate theory into practice, and understand the ethics and standards involved in professional engineering practice, using your knowledge to problem solve in a variety of contexts.

As a graduate, you will be able to join an oil company asset team as a productive member and be able to apply your learning to real oilfield problems. Your studies will also provide you with multiple transferrable skills that may be of use for carbon storage and subsurface energy exploitation.

Your Student Experience

Our Expertise

 Your learning will be informed by experts in geoenergy engineering and applied geoscience from our Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at the Edinburgh campus, part of Heriot-Watt’s School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society. The School is one of the United Kingdom’s leading institutions for multidisciplinary research and teaching in areas critical to economic development and societal equity.  

The research relevance of this postgraduate programme ensures your studies remain innovative and industry focused.  

Your Learning Environment

 The MSc Petroleum Engineering programme is taught though a combination of lectures, tutorials, and project work allowing you to get to know and build relationships with your teaching staff, academics, and peers. You will be assessed by coursework, exams, written reports and oral presentation, including group presentations. You’ll be supported and receive feedback throughout the programme.  

During your studies, you’ll benefit from and have access to our specialist equipment, state-of-the-art computer technology and industry standard software. You will have the opportunity to work on real-world problems individually and collaboratively to deliver practical solutions with global impact.  

Outside of the classroom, you can get involved with the Heriot-Watt Student Union, based at the Edinburgh campus, by participating in student groups, becoming an Academic Rep, and joining societies.  Societies provide a great opportunity to meet likeminded people, get involved in regular social and networking events, and gain insights into career prospects.  You may be particularly interested in joining some academically related societies including:  

• Eco Society 
• Geography Society 
• Net Zero Society 

Customise Your Learning

 You’ll take eight mandatory taught courses in semester one and semester two. You’ll be introduced to geoscience and use data to calculate the volume of hydrocarbons in the subsurface. You’ll gain knowledge of drilling engineering, formation evaluation, and reservoir simulation. Petroleum economics and production technology will also be explored, along with learning the fundamentals and applications of well test analysis for improved reservoir management. 

In semester three, you’ll strengthen your collaborative and communication skills through the field development project, where you will work in groups and produce a full field evaluation and development plan, using data from a real oilfield.  

You can customise your learning in semester three to match your specific interests or desired career pathway by choosing the topic of geoscience and engineering in which you’ll complete your detailed individual project. Projects are offered by the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering and by industry, and normally include a wide choice of experimental research, computer modelling, and real-world problems.  

Employability

Graduates of the Petroleum Engineering programme 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 programme also provides an excellent springboard for graduates wishing to pursue a career in research. Graduate profiles Read our graduate profiles to find out what some of our recent graduates said about their experiences studying Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt.