A New Breed of Petroleum Engineering Education in the Middle East

Abstract

As the desire for nationalizing the work force in many Middle Eastern national oil companies increases, there is an increased need to provide suitable educational programs to produce highly qualified native engineers. While petroleum engineering university graduates in the Middle East will face many of the same technical issues as their counterparts around the world, the nature of their employment and their career progression can be significantly different. The unique structure of many of the national oil companies in the Middle East as well as the unique student pool allows and calls for the establishment of petroleum engineering education programs that may differ from programs in other regions of the world. This may involve modifying the structure and delivery of traditional courses of study. Universities in the region are faced with the challenge of developing programs that can more effectively address these unique needs while maintaining academic integrity and rigor, and meeting international standards for academic accreditation and excellence. This paper discusses the nature and needs of the regions employers and potential employees, and the response of regional academic institutions to cater to these needs. Examples are given demonstrating the efforts at some regional universities that are attempting to address the specific needs of the regional industry while achieving and maintaining international standards of excellence. Introduction The rapid evolution of the petroleum industry and its technology has necessitated a concurrent change in the petroleum engineering education process. Whereas in the past oil industry employers expected recent graduates to be competent ‘plug-and-chug’ engineers who would immediately contribute and fit into the daily work environment[1], modern day employers have additional requirements. They still want technically competent engineers with a solid understanding of the various industry technologies, but are also asking for more. The modern-day ideal petroleum engineering graduate has all of the basic technical background, but is a more complete engineer with a broad view of the industry, an appetite for lifelong learning, and the teamwork, communication and computer skills essential in today's global industry.[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] The continued emergence of a more global petroleum industry has appropriately resulted in an increased interest and desire for awareness of the internal workings of the oil industries in the different regions. As the major oil producing region in the world, the Middle East is of particular interest. Many of this region's national oil companies are involved in their respective country's nationalization campaign, aiming to decrease dependence on foreign labor and expertise, and employ more local workers throughout the various industries. With this campaign comes a need to adequately educate large numbers of students in an efficient and timely manner. This paper discusses the various challenges, efforts and solutions addressing this increasingly critical issue, with a focus on the Arabian Gulf countries. Before delving into the specifics of the regional issues regarding petroleum engineering education, one must have a clear vision and firm grasp of the generally agreed-upon requirements for undergraduate level petroleum engineering graduates. This paper will start by describing some of the ideal characteristics of a petroleum engineering graduate, and the best ways to ensure that these objectives are met. This is followed by a description of the current nationalization efforts in the major oil producing Middle Eastern countries, and the implications of these efforts. Educational challenges specific to the native students in this region are then discussed, along with strategies to overcome these sometimes unique challenges. Efforts of the various national oil companies and regional universities are discussed and assessed, and the future of petroleum engineering education in the Middle East is explored. The Ideal Graduate The perception of what constitutes the ideal petroleum engineering graduate has changed as the oil industry has evolved. One of the key drivers of this change has been the rather steep rate of technological advancement.

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