Oil and Gas Engineering, _MSc

Semester 1

Compulsory Courses

Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5506)

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.

Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

Detailed course information

Oil and Gas Chemistry (EG551Y)

15 Credit Points

This course includes three key components where chemistry is fundamental to upstream and downstream oil and gas transport and processing. In this course, you will learn about general pipeline flow assurance, and risks related to the chemistries of waxes, resins, asphaltenes, gas hydrates and scales. Chemical strategies for managing flow assurance are discussed. Processes involved in converting oil to valuable fuels and chemicals are investigated. These include: distillation, coking, cracking, hydrotreatment and reforming. Natural gas utilisation including transport, processing and conversion to upgraded products is also covered, to give an overview of chemistry in the oil and gas industry.

Detailed course information

Fundamentals of Petroleum Geoscience (GL5534)

15 Credit Points

The course covers aspects of geology, geophysics and prospect evaluation to illustrate how geologists deal with uncertainty and risk during the exploration process. It will look at the place of the geoscientist during the productive life of an oilfield. Another key aspect of this course will be the issue of communication between geoscientists and engineers. By the end of this course students should understand how geologists explore for oil and gas, and the main tools at their disposal; the role of the geophysicist; how to make prospect maps; petroleum volumetrics; subsurface fluid flow; and the creation of static reservoir models.

Detailed course information

Flow Assurance (EG55F8)

15 Credit Points

There are many challenges during transport of oil and gas through pipelines. These challenges require a real grasp of the fundamentals in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, phase changes, deposition and/or obstruction, erosion and new technologies to ensure a reliable and cost effective provision of oil and gas. Deep water production, heavy oils, high water production, severe slugging, hydrates, sour gases, asphaltenes and waxes make this task even harder. This course will provide a detailed explanation of the topics, a well-balanced set of tutorials with real examples, invited lectures from experienced engineers and flow assurance specific software training.

Detailed course information

Reservoir Engineering (EG551V)

15 Credit Points

The course provides an understanding of the flow of hydrocarbon fluids through reservoir rocks and the interplay between the fluid and rock properties and reservoir performance.

Detailed course information

Semester 2

Compulsory Courses

MSc Individual Project (EG59M2)

60 Credit Points

The MSc Individual Project is an independent piece of research based on a topic related to a student’s degree programme. Students are encouraged to focus on a problem confronting industry or a related area. The individual project provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate how the in-depth skills and knowledge they have gained during the taught courses can be used to provide solutions to practical problems. The individual project should contain a degree of original research.

Detailed course information

Semester 3

Compulsory Courses

Well and Production Engineering (EG50T6)

15 Credit Points

This course provides students with an understanding of the engineering science and principles that underpin the drilling of oil and gas well, production technologies, design methodologies, as well as associated safety and environmental considerations.

Detailed course information

Safety & Risk Management (EG50S2)

15 Credit Points

The course serves as the entrance to the field of safety and reliability engineering with the introduction of the basic concepts and tools of safety and risk management. Legal frames related to engineering safety are also introduced.

Contents include: Fundamentals of safety engineering; natural and man-made hazards; safety measures; accident and failure statistics; fundamentals of risk management; risk assessment techniques; classical reliability theory; modelling of engineering systems as series and parallel systems; redundancy; fault trees and event trees; availability and maintainability; UK safety legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work Act and its historical, offshore and other regulations.

Detailed course information

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (Ccus) (EG504K)

15 Credit Points

This course presents an overview of the motivations, challenges and technological solutions associated with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). The main carbon capture technologies and methods, CO2 transportation and underground storage are covered. These are introduced in terms of their technical, economic, and environmental criteria, as well as stage of development. Examples of operating pilot plants are shown, complemented by industrial guest lectures and webinars.

Detailed course information

Project Management (EG5067)

15 Credit Points

The course provides an introduction to project management and is aimed at students who expect to be working in a project related environment or are considering a potential move into project management. The course covers a number of key aspects of project management from the project managers perspective and so whilst it does cover areas such as planning and estimating it is NOT intended to prepare students for such roles. Students are expected to apply their learning by completing a piece of group project work.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
EU / International students	£27,000
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year
Home / RUK	£11,100
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year

Stage 1

Compulsory Courses

Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5006)

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.

Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

Detailed course information

Well and Production Engineering (EG50T6)

15 Credit Points

This course provides students with an understanding of the engineering science and principles that underpin the drilling of oil and gas well, production technologies, design methodologies, as well as associated safety and environmental considerations.

Detailed course information

Safety & Risk Management (EG50S2)

15 Credit Points

The course serves as the entrance to the field of safety and reliability engineering with the introduction of the basic concepts and tools of safety and risk management. Legal frames related to engineering safety are also introduced.

Contents include: Fundamentals of safety engineering; natural and man-made hazards; safety measures; accident and failure statistics; fundamentals of risk management; risk assessment techniques; classical reliability theory; modelling of engineering systems as series and parallel systems; redundancy; fault trees and event trees; availability and maintainability; UK safety legislation, including the Health and Safety at Work Act and its historical, offshore and other regulations.

Detailed course information

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (Ccus) (EG504K)

15 Credit Points

This course presents an overview of the motivations, challenges and technological solutions associated with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). The main carbon capture technologies and methods, CO2 transportation and underground storage are covered. These are introduced in terms of their technical, economic, and environmental criteria, as well as stage of development. Examples of operating pilot plants are shown, complemented by industrial guest lectures and webinars.

Detailed course information

Project Management (EG5067)

15 Credit Points

The course provides an introduction to project management and is aimed at students who expect to be working in a project related environment or are considering a potential move into project management. The course covers a number of key aspects of project management from the project managers perspective and so whilst it does cover areas such as planning and estimating it is NOT intended to prepare students for such roles. Students are expected to apply their learning by completing a piece of group project work.

Detailed course information

Stage 2

Compulsory Courses

Oil and Gas Chemistry (EG551Y)

15 Credit Points

This course includes three key components where chemistry is fundamental to upstream and downstream oil and gas transport and processing. In this course, you will learn about general pipeline flow assurance, and risks related to the chemistries of waxes, resins, asphaltenes, gas hydrates and scales. Chemical strategies for managing flow assurance are discussed. Processes involved in converting oil to valuable fuels and chemicals are investigated. These include: distillation, coking, cracking, hydrotreatment and reforming. Natural gas utilisation including transport, processing and conversion to upgraded products is also covered, to give an overview of chemistry in the oil and gas industry.

Detailed course information

Fundamentals of Petroleum Geoscience (GL5534)

15 Credit Points

The course covers aspects of geology, geophysics and prospect evaluation to illustrate how geologists deal with uncertainty and risk during the exploration process. It will look at the place of the geoscientist during the productive life of an oilfield. Another key aspect of this course will be the issue of communication between geoscientists and engineers. By the end of this course students should understand how geologists explore for oil and gas, and the main tools at their disposal; the role of the geophysicist; how to make prospect maps; petroleum volumetrics; subsurface fluid flow; and the creation of static reservoir models.

Detailed course information

Flow Assurance (EG55F8)

15 Credit Points

There are many challenges during transport of oil and gas through pipelines. These challenges require a real grasp of the fundamentals in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, phase changes, deposition and/or obstruction, erosion and new technologies to ensure a reliable and cost effective provision of oil and gas. Deep water production, heavy oils, high water production, severe slugging, hydrates, sour gases, asphaltenes and waxes make this task even harder. This course will provide a detailed explanation of the topics, a well-balanced set of tutorials with real examples, invited lectures from experienced engineers and flow assurance specific software training.

Detailed course information

Reservoir Engineering (EG551V)

15 Credit Points

The course provides an understanding of the flow of hydrocarbon fluids through reservoir rocks and the interplay between the fluid and rock properties and reservoir performance.

Detailed course information

Stage 3

Previous examples of projects:

• Modelling of down hole drilling fluid temperature profiles during drilling operations - Nemein Ltd
• Evolution of Hydraulic Fracturing Technologies for Horizontal Wells - AGR
• Corrosion Resistant Alloy Tubing Equipment and Running Recommendations - Tenaris Global Services
• Creating an Integrated Asset Model for the Greater Stella Area (GSA) - Petrofac
• Well Test Analysis and Numerical Modelling for an HPHT Gas Field - Chevron

Compulsory Courses

"The project gave me a good knowledge of what it entails to work in a team, the ability to manage my time and develop good interpersonal skills. In industry, every individual must be willing to learn something new, irrespective of their background."

MSc Individual Project (EG59F1)

60 Credit Points

The MSc Individual Project is an independent piece of research based on a topic related to a student’s degree programme. Students are encouraged to focus on a problem confronting industry or a related area. The individual project provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate how the in-depth skills and knowledge they have gained during the taught courses can be used to provide solutions to practical problems. The individual project should contain a degree of original research.

Detailed course information

Programme Fees

Fee information

Fee category	Cost
EU / International students	£27,000
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year
Home / RUK	£11,100
Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year