King Saud University

Petroleum Engineering Department
P. O. Box 800 – 11421
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Phone: 00966 1 4676898
Facsimile: 00966 1 4674422

Department website: www.eng.ksu.edu.sa/petroleum/

Dean: Abdulazeez Al-Hamed, Dean of Engineering
Chair: Emad Al-Homadhi, Chair of Petroleum Engineering

Contact Information

Petroleum Engineering Degree Information

Program Link: http://www.colleges.ksu.edu.sa

Curriculum Description

The Department of Petroleum Engineering of King Saud University was
established in the academic year 1974. It is the oldest Petroleum Engineering
Department in the entire Arabian Gulf region. Its establishment was a natural
response to the increasing demand for petroleum engineers in a country that has
more than 25% of the total world oil reserves, the largest reserve in any single
country of the world. This oil reserve translates into a production period of more
than 100 years based on the current production rates. This indicates that the oil
industry will continue to play a major role in the country’s economy for a long
period of time. Based on these facts, it is obvious that, among other engineering
disciplines, the petroleum engineers will have the most secured and rewarding
jobs in the future.

Undergraduate:

Petroleum Engineering Bachelor program covers all aspects of
natural hydrocarbons (oil and gas) starting from exploration, drilling, production,
reservoirs development, treatment operations (such as gas-oil separation, salt,
wax, and sulphur removal), oil and gas transportation, underground or tank
storage, and economics. In final year, the student should perform a graduation
project.

The study in petroleum engineering will require the applications of basic sciences
(physics, chemistry, mathematics, and earth sciences), the general engineering
sciences (thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat/mass transfer), and the
applied engineering sciences (mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering).
Knowledge and skills gained by a petroleum engineer during his education
qualify him to exploit the hydrocarbon reservoirs properly, i.e., achieving the
maximum production of oil/gas by taking into consideration the special
circumstances of each reservoir, while minimizing the costs involved for
production.

The department emphasizes and encourages the use of computers applications in
petroleum engineering studies and reservoir simulation to prepare the graduate
for practical work..

Masters:

In addition to the Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering, the department offers a Master of Science in petroleum engineering since 1983. The department’s graduate program is designed in such a way that the students, depending on their own choices, can pursue M.Sc. studies in one of the following specialized branches of petroleum engineering:

• Drilling and Exploration Engineering
• Production Engineering
• Reservoir Engineering

The Master program includes 18 hours in petroleum engineering, 6 hours
mathematics, and 6 hours master thesis.

Program Admission Requirements

Undergraduate:

College of engineering requires a minimum grade of 85% in high school and 87% in math, physics, and chemistry. Transfer students from other science colleges must have at least 3.5 cumulative GPA out of 5.0.

Masters:

The graduate must have a Bachelor in petroleum engineering with minimum 3.75 cumulative GPA out of 5.0. Graduate should sustain his cumulative GPA higher than 3.75 during study for master.

Faculty Information

Cumulative Derees Awarded

Curriculum Analysis