Entry requirements

A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree, or its non-UK equivalent in an engineering subject or a physical or earth science discipline, including evidence of a good understanding of mathematics. Degrees in chemistry, maths, physics, geology or computing may also be considered with demonstrable maths ability.

In addition, work or project experience in a related company role will be taken into consideration, please include your CV as part of your application.

Months of entry

January, September

Course content

MSc Petroleum Engineering equips you with knowledge and skills to work internationally in the oil and gas industry to the standard required. It will appeal to science and engineering graduates or those of you from a different numerate academic background who are interested in developing sustainable oil and gas assets to meet global energy and resource demands.

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.

You will learn at our Edinburgh campus and benefit from teaching and research activities at the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering. The institute is a leading centre of excellence in geoenergy engineering and applied geoscience and offers postgraduate programmes of study which meet the needs of the wider energy industry.

We work closely with industry to ensure our course content is up-to-date and reflects the current and emerging needs of industry and employers. You’ll gain the right blend of knowledge, practical skills, and soft skills to set you up for life after graduation. 

Information for international students

If your first language is not English, we'll need to see evidence of your English language ability.

The minimum English language requirement for entry to this programme is IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) with no score lower than 5.5.

If you do not have IELTS 6.0, we offer a range of English language courses to help you meet the English language requirement for this programme prior to commencing your studies.

Please see our detailed English language requirements.