Option in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (PNGE)
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering option is concerned with the extraction of the two largest sources of energy for industrialized societies: oil and natural gas. As such, petroleum and natural gas engineers work in interdisciplinary teams with other professionals - geologists, geophysicists, environmental/regulatory specialists, safety engineers - and the combined expertise is applied to increasing oil and gas recovery. Our participation in the Petroleum GeoSystems initiative within the College of Earth and Mineral Science is another mark of our determination and desire to provide the oil industry with much needed broader skills and expertise.
Some of the current research topics our EME faculty are engaged in include:underground gas storage, unconventional gas reservoirs, fluid flow dynamics in porous media, gas transmission lines, porous media characterization, numerical simulation of hydrocarbon reservoirs, stripper wells and virtual intelligence applications. For a full listing of current research areas, please visit our individual faculty profile pages.
Required Core Courses in EME
M.S. Degree
Ph.D. Degree
- EME 500 - Energy and Mineral Project Investment Evaluation (3 credits)
Required Specialty PNGE Option Courses
M.S. Degree
- P N G 501 - Steady State Flow in Porous Media (3 credits) OR P N G 502 - Unsteady Flow in Porous Media (3 credits)
- P N G 511 - Numerical Solutions of PDEs of Flow in Porous Media (3 credits) OR P N G 512 - Numerical Reservoir Simulation (3 credits)
- P N G 520 - Phase Relations in Reservoir Engineering (3 credits) OR P N G 530 - Natural Gas Engineering (3 credits)
Ph.D. Degree
- P N G 530 - Mineral Process Plant Design (3 credits)
- EME/P N G 590 - Colloquium (1 credit)
Elective Courses
To be selected/determined in consultation with the student's advisor and thesis committee.