Petroleum Engineering
- Master of Science in Engineering
- Doctor of Philosophy
Objectives
This program is designed to educate engineers to solve problems related to exploring and recovering subsurface resources such as oil and gas. The program allows students to take courses in a broad range of areas, including computational geosystems engineering, drilling engineering, environmental and geosystems engineering, formulation evaluation, petroleum economics, production engineering, and reservoir engineering.
Once students have chosen a degree option, they may choose to work closely with a faculty member conducting research in their area of interest. The program offers a doctoral degree based on a combination of coursework and research, and a master's degree based on either a thesis or a report, or on coursework alone.
Facilities for Graduate Work
Excellent facilities for graduate research in petroleum and geosystems engineering are available in the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Building. In addition to departmental offices and classrooms, the building houses over forty thousand square feet of laboratory space, providing unique capabilities for studies in production logging, vertical and inclined flow in wells, artificial lift, core flooding for enhanced oil recovery, subsurface environmental remediation, drilling, stimulation, rock mechanics, well log digitizing and interpretation, and PVT analysis. Additional laboratory space at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus is used for research. A machine shop is maintained to fabricate and support research equipment.
In addition to the facilities of Information Technology Services, students have access to a host of computers housed in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, including numerous microcomputers and workstations. Excellent library facilities include the Mallet Chemistry Library, the McKinney Engineering Library, the Walter Geology Library, and the Kuehne Physics Mathematics Astronomy Library.
Graduate Studies Committee
The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 2006–2007.
- Steven L. Bryant
- Mojdeh Delshad
- Kenneth E. Gray
- Christopher Jablonowski
- Russell T. Johns
- Larry W. Lake
- Quoc P. Nguyen
- Jon E. Olson
- Ekwere J. Peters
- Augusto L. Podio
- Gary A. Pope
- Kamy Sepehrnoori
- Mukul M. Sharma
- Sanjay Srinivasan
- Carlos Torres-Verdin
- Mary F. Wheeler
Admission Requirements
All prospective degree candidates must have a background satisfactory for study of advanced petroleum engineering as determined by the Graduate Studies Committee. For students without this background, such as those without degrees in engineering or in the petroleum field, the Graduate Studies Committee will recommend a program of coursework designed to prepare the student for graduate study. Complete requirements for admission are available online.
Degree Requirements
Master of Science in Engineering
With the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee, the student elects one of three options:
- Thesis option. Thirty semester hours (including six hours in the thesis course) are required to complete the program. In addition to the thesis, eighteen semester hours of work must be completed in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering; six semester hours of supporting work must be completed outside the department.
- Report option. Thirty-three semester hours (including three hours in the report course) are required to complete the program. In addition to the report, twenty-four semester hours of work must be completed in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering; six semester hours of supporting work must be completed outside the department.
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For students who plan to continue their studies and enter the doctoral degree program, the report may be a PhD proposal.
- Option without thesis or report. Thirty-six semester hours are required to complete the program. Twenty-seven to thirty semester hours of work must be completed in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering; six to nine semester hours of supporting work must be completed outside the department.
All options must include at least eighteen semester hours of engineering courses. The program of coursework must be approved by the graduate adviser and the graduate dean. More detailed information is available online.
Doctor of Philosophy
To qualify as a doctoral candidate, the student must fulfill the following requirements:
- Hold a Master of Science degree in science or engineering. Upon formal petition by the student, the Graduate Studies Committee may waive this requirement in exceptional cases.
- Perform satisfactorily on the qualifying procedures conducted by the Graduate Studies Committee.
- Maintain a grade point average of at least 3.50 on all graduate coursework at the University of Texas at Austin.
In general, two to four years beyond the master's degree are required to complete the Doctor of Philosophy degree program. More detailed information is available online.
For More Information
Campus address: Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Building (CPE) 2.502, phone (512) 471-3161, fax (512) 471-9605; campus mail code: C0300
Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Program, Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, 1 University Station C0300, Austin TX 78712
E-mail: pgegradoffice@mail.utexas.edu