Courses required for any engineering degree are often thought to be difficult, but petroleum engineering courses are particularly difficult. Students spend the first two years of college completing the foundational courses required for many four-year degrees, such as English, history, and communication, as well as the first college level math and science courses, as well as introductory engineering or basic computer classes. Aspiring engineers will eventually need to take advanced math and science courses, the majority of which cannot be taken until the prerequisite courses have been completed. Drilling, well production, and fluid dynamics are among the petroleum engineering courses offered to juniors and seniors.
Each university has its own set of requirements for degree programs, and not all schools offer all petroleum engineering courses. However, a typical degree program will include two semesters of English composition, one US history course, and at least one computer engineering course. Typically, at least one political science course, such as US government or civics, is required. Students who did not take a foreign language in high school may be required to take two semesters of college-level language classes. Typically, the fundamentals take up about 40 credit hours.
Calculus and analytic geometry are typically the first math courses taken by engineering students; most engineers complete four semesters of calculus. Differential equations are usually covered in the fifth semester. If a student did not take calculus and trigonometry in high school, he or she may need to take one or more lower-level math courses before beginning calculus and analytic geometry.
Two semesters of general chemistry and two semesters of general physics are required for most petroleum engineering degrees. Two semesters of geology are usually required, with at least one semester devoted to petroleum geology. Students are usually required to take a geophysics course as well. Materials, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics are all required engineering courses.
Students in their second year typically take two or three introductory petroleum engineering courses, such as introduction to petroleum engineering systems or rock properties. During the junior year, more advanced petroleum engineering courses such as subsurface production, reservoir engineering or fluids, drilling, and well log evaluation typically make up about half of a full-time student’s schedule. Petroleum engineering courses such as drilling and production, project evaluation, fluid mechanics, and recovery techniques typically take up the majority of the senior year. Engineering ethics, geostatistics, hydraulics, and horizontal drilling techniques may be required of students.