The petroleum engineering classes that you will be taking will depend on the university where you are studying.
For the purpose of this article, we will look at the typical classes that students need to take to get their petroleum engineering degree in North America.
Usually, the first and second year is very similar for all the engineers.
After the first year, you will have the option to choose which engineering major you want to take.
To get into petroleum engineering you will need to have good grades in your first year.
However, the grade requirements to get into petroleum engineering usually will vary depending on the number of students that want to get into this program.
In the third year, you will start to take classes mostly focused on chemical engineering with a few petroleum courses.
In the fourth year, you will be taking mainly petroleum engineering courses.
Recommended reading: Oil and Gas Industry Overview
First Year Classes
Calculus – there are quite a few calculus classes that you will be taking in your first and second year.
Math – in addition to calculus you will be taking applied math classes.
Physics – usually there is at least one physics course in the first year. The one I took was dealing mostly with electricity.
Electrical circuits – you will be learning how different electrical systems work and will build simple electrical circuits in a lab.
Statics – you will be performing various force calculations for static objects.
Chemistry – this will be very similar to the chemistry class that you took in high school. Just general chemistry.
Fluid dynamics – you will be studying how fluids and gases behave in different conditions.
Programming – you will be learning the basics of C++, Python, or similar high-level languages.
Design class – you will be working in groups on various projects and then present your findings to the rest of the class. This is a good course to practice your public speaking skills.
There are also a couple of optional classes that you might have to take.
I took economics and it really helped me to understand the financial aspects of oil and gas operations.
As you can see in your first year you will be taking classes from different branches of engineering, from mechanical to electrical and computer science.
The goal is to familiarize students with different disciplines before they choose their major.
Don’t rush and decide for yourself if you really want to take petroleum engineering.
Some mechanical engineers do the same type of work as petroleum engineers but at the same time have more flexibility when it comes to working in a different industry.
If you can’t decide, read this article – Should You Study Petroleum Engineering?
Second Year Classes
Thermodynamics – covers topics related to energy and heat.
Dynamics – another mechanics class where you will be studying about the behavior of objects in motion.
Flow in porous media – you will be learning how different fluids flow in a reservoir. I found this course helpful in understanding enhanced oil recovery and water flooding techniques.
Probability and Statistics – this course covers different ways to analyze numerical data.
You will also take several chemical engineering classes such as fluid dynamics and chemical process calculations.
Geology – a basic geology course where you will have a chance to work with core samples.
Organic Chemistry
Differential equations for engineers – another calculus class.
Related: How Hard is It to Become a Petroleum Engineer?
Third Year Classes
You will be taking more advanced chemical engineering classes such as differential equations for transport processes, heat transfer, numerical methods for chemical processes, and chemical thermodynamics.
Oil and gas process development – you will be learning how to design various chemical facilities and perform economic analysis.
Reservoir engineering – this course covers basic reservoir and hydrocarbon properties and behaviors.
Fourth Year Classes
This is the year where you will really get into petroleum engineering.
The Role and Responsibilities of the Engineer – this class mostly deals with different laws related to engineering practice. I found the knowledge I gained from this course to be very helpful for taking the Principles & Practice of Engineering Exam required to become a professional engineer.
Well testing – you be learning about various techniques used in well testing.
Transport phenomena – this course teaches how to perform analysis and modeling for different flow processes.
Well logging – you will be studying about logging operations and log interpretation.
Surface operations – oilfield and refinery facilities design.
Petroleum production – this course deals mainly with various production processes and optimization.
Drilling and completions – introduction to well drilling and completion operations.
Petroleum engineering laboratory
Water flooding and enhanced oil recovery – you will be learning techniques used for improving recovery rates from oil reservoirs.
Recommended reading: What Is Enhanced Oil Recovery?
Geological characterization of reservoirs – reservoir modeling class.
Technical electives – most of the electives that you can choose from deal with the environment, sustainable development, and energy.
Design class – you will be working for two semesters on a project in a group. This is a very important class that will prepare you for real work after you graduate. It is very important to choose a good project that you can showcase later on your resume. It is also a good idea to choose something related to the work you want to do after graduation.
For this class, you might be working with companies to help them solve certain problems.
To make your life easier be careful when choosing the people you want to work with on this project.
When I took this course, one of my group members quit this class in the middle of a semester and this significantly increased our workload.
Lastly, depending on the minor you choose you might have slightly different classes.
For example, if you choose digital engineering you will have more software engineering classes.
If you choose the environment minor, you will take more environment and sustainability courses.
Read next: 4 Types of Petroleum Engineers
References:
https://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/current/en-4-8.html