MSc Petroleum Geoscience
Manchester, United Kingdom
DURATION
12 Months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
GBP 11,500 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK students. International, including EU, students per annum: £26,000
Scholarships
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Introduction
Course overview
- Build your knowledge using global datasets to investigate geological systems.
- Develop understanding through fieldwork and subsurface studies.
- Learn using industry-standard facilities and software.
- Develop a range of transferable skills to meet future career demands during the Energy Transition as we reduce carbon emissions, in areas such as carbon sequestration.
Course description
The Petroleum Geoscience MSc is taught over one calendar year by leading researchers in the field.
We will build your knowledge by examining the sedimentary and structural processes that govern the way sedimentary basins fill, and how an understanding of these complex three-dimensional systems can be usefully applied to improve models of petroleum systems in the subsurface.
The knowledge and techniques taught at Manchester are also directly applicable to developing subsurface technologies in geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage and network gas storage.
You will develop key skills for evaluating subsurface geology, using industry-standard software and through working with industry data. You will learn how to evaluate sedimentary basins and develop leads ands prospects, appraise any discovery and finally efficiently and sustainably develop the fields.
The program has close links with industry, including major energy companies, that provide additional input into our courses, deliver some of the content, and are instrumental in providing cutting- edge datasets for investigation as part of the MSc projects.
The Petroleum Geoscience MSc is ideal if you wish to pursue a career in the energy industry working in exploration for oil and gas and future mitigation measures such as carbon sequestration. These skills are also transferable to other energy industries, such as geothermal and nuclear.
The skills and knowledge you develop will also provide a solid basis for postgraduate research in the fields of sedimentology or basin research.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Curriculum
Aims
You will develop knowledge of the tools and techniques used to explore for hydrocarbons and extract them in an efficient manner.
You will develop a critical awareness of the direction of the energy industry - in particular, academic and applied advances in exploration, development and production technologies.
We will teach you the skills to evaluate subsurface geological systems in order to assess value and recovery potential of resources, or as potential repositories for geothermal fluids and for storage of CO2 or other gases.
You will learn how to effectively communicate scientific ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences, through written and spoken presentations.
Special features
Fieldwork
Fieldwork on Manchester's Petroleum Geoscience program is provided at no extra cost. In addition, you will be provided with a fieldwork package worth £250, including boots, coat, rucksack and measuring equipment.
A key element of the course is fieldwork, which aims to synthesise and reinforce material taught in lectures and practical classes. They provide the opportunity to learn relevant field techniques, and to compare field analogues with core, wireline logs and seismic sections.
Over the duration of the course several trips are conducted:
- One-day field trip to classic localities at Mam Tor, Derbyshire, UK.
- Five days on the North Yorkshire coast, UK, to investigate source, seal and reservoir elements.
- One-day excursion to gain experience of core analysis at the BGS core store, Keyworth.
You will experience a seven-day overseas field trip at the end of the taught part of the course. This is currently to the Spanish Island of Mallorca. It provides an opportunity to study both clastics and carbonate reservoirs, comparable to working petroleum systems in North Africa and the Mediterranean. This region is noted specifically for superb outcrops of the Miocene carbonates, where the depositional processes, environments and diagenesis can be observed. The trip provides insight into the distribution of carbonate facies and reservoirs in a sequence stratigraphic context.
Additional course information
Our student community
Postgraduate students from Manchester's Basins, stratigraphy and sedimentary processes research Group run award-winning AAPG and EAGE student chapters.
These groups regularly invite industry personnel to deliver talks on careers, academic projects and exploration/production activities. As well as insight into energy industry activities, these events providing valuable networking opportunities for Petroleum Geoscience students.
Teaching and learning
Taught postgraduate students have around 20 hours of contact time a week, and you are expected to spend around 30 hours in private study.
Your week will be made up of:
- Lectures
- Online materials
- Laboratory classes
- Staff-led and peer-led group work
- Individual research projects
- Computer-based tuition - you will be trained in software used to process and analyse digital subsurface data using our industry-specification dedicated computer workstation cluster.
- Workshops
Coursework and assessment
Assessment is done through various methods. Traditional examinations take place in January and May each year, while the majority is through in-course assessment of coursework, practical and project work.
One-third of the program is composed of the Independent Research Project, with an assessment based on a written thesis and a presentation made at the end-of-year MSc conference
Career Opportunities
The energy industry is the largest employer of earth science graduates and employs more than half of our recent graduating students. Good employment prospects exist within the UK and globally in oil and gas companies, service companies, consultancies and government bodies.
In addition, the technical skills in subsurface investigation and quantification taught on the program are directly applicable to employment within the growing areas of CCS (carbon capture and storage), network gas storage, compressed air energy storage, and other extractive industries.
Around one-quarter of our graduates use the research skills gained during the MSc project to continue into PhD study. Many students have the opportunity to work within sponsor energy companies during their MSc project, gaining valuable industrial experience and contacts.