Petroleum Engineering in UK

There’s a worldwide shortage of qualified engineers in the petroleum-refining systems-engineering industry. Our MSc is filling that gap by providing you with the teaching you need to become a qualified and successful engineer.

Our course is taught by experts in the industry. It combines technologies, operations and economics with modelling, simulation, optimization, and process design and integration, giving you a broad understanding of the industry.

Throughout your studies, you’ll learn about the general economics of the energy sector, oil exploration and production, as well as renewable energy systems.

You’ll also discover more about petroleum refining through our unique work assignments at a virtual oil-refining and chemical company.

If you want to turbo-charge your engineering career in the gas and petroleum industry – and get a postgraduate qualification while developing your current skills and experience too – our MSc Petroleum and Gas Engineering degree course is the perfect choice.

You'll unpack key industry themes, such as Formation Evaluation, Reservoir Engineering and Reservoir Simulation. You'll learn to evaluate technologies for safe production and for enhancing the recovery of hydrocarbon oil and gas, and you'll discover new trends and technologies that are shaping the future of the industry, such as data science and artificial intelligence.

And because you'll be taught by industry professionals and expert academic staff, you'll develop a skillset that's specifically designed to meet the demand for petroleum and gas specialists in the industry.

Please note, if you're an international student, you'll need to get clearance to study this degree course from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, under the Academic Tech Approval Scheme (ATAS).

Petroleum engineering is central to safe, efficient and sustainable development of oil and gas assets to meet global energy and resource demands. Since its establishment in 1975, the Institute of Geo Energy Engineering (IGE) at Heriot-Watt University has delivered its internationally renowned petroleum engineering MSc program, providing thousands of graduates with the knowledge and skills to tackle the oil and gas industry’s most challenging problems across the globe. The program offers an interdisciplinary approach to exploration and extraction of petroleum resources. Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt is ranked 10th in the world, 3rd in the UK (QS World University Rankings by subject 2021)