Department of Petroleum & Gas Engineering
The Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering has the distinction of being the pioneer in the country to offer degree program in Petroleum Engineering. It was first instituted in 1969 as a division of Mining Engineering Department. Realizing the importance of the discipline and the department by the national petroleum sector, a full-fledge department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering was established in 1975.
The department has been the major contributor towards endowing and establishing the profession of Petroleum and Gas Engineering in Pakistan. The department has always maintained a leading role in petroleum engineering education. The department has its full fledge post – graduate study program. This department is on one of the top positions of the merit list of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. Future plans include induction of world renowned research scholars to have more scholars for Ph.D. program, and to establish a strong base for research and development to face the modern day technological challenges indigenously.
The department has the facility of well-equipped labs and a well-stocked library. The library is stuffed with over 2500 volumes of books (it also includes Japanese aid through JICA program of Rs. 20 million for lab equipment that resulted in upgraded laboratories). Apart from merit scholarships, the department is offered with numerous scholarships from the Local Industry, District Government and Zakat Fund through University’s Financial Aid & Career Services Office. Majority of students get support from these scholarships.
The research interest of the faculty includes reservoir engineering, production engineering, drilling engineering, enhanced oil recovery, well testing and reservoir simulation. The department is working on a consolidated program to offer professional courses and consultancy services to the industry. The students also carry out comprehensive research projects related to the practical industrial problems as part of their final year projects.
Following a centralized students intake policy outlined for the University, every year the department attracts some of the top-merit candidates for its UG batch. The graduates of this department are offered well-paid positions in operator as well as oilfield services companies of petroleum sector, both locally and abroad. A large number of graduates from this department are serving worldwide including Middle East, Europe, North America, Africa, etc.
Liaison with the Industry
The key to the modern day success in any profession rests with the integrated working environment between different components of that profession. In this regard it is very important that institution must have a live coordination with relevant industry so is true for the Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering (Besides the fact that petroleum industry of Pakistan is based in Karachi and Islamabad, the Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering has successfully managed to establish such coordination).
Summer internships are also available to all the students of the department once during their degree program. Internship program is supported by the local industry including national as well as multinational companies.
Technical Society
The department has strong linkages with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). This forum has been very positively utilized for curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular grooming of the students. As far as curriculum is concerned, the library has a good number of text and reference books published by SPE. These books come with an added layer of authenticity and acknowledgement from the global representative forum for petroleum engineers, as the petroleum industry itself powers its operations. Likewise, students at the department avail ample technical and professional development opportunities in the form of participation in national and international conferences organized under SPE’s banner, in addition to a variety of technical competitions – student paper contests, PetroBowl etc. – that focus on developing leadership qualities and teamwork attributes among them. The local chapter of SPE – SPE UET Lahore Chapter – regularly organizes guest lectures and workshops conducted by industry professionals to provide enhanced learning opportunities to the students.
Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC)
Since Pakistan became a signatory to the Washington Accord, following the directions issued by Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), the department has been working day in and day out to shift the ongoing teaching-learning system to modern Outcome-Based Education (OBE) system. The efforts by the department’s faculty and staff bore fruit under the able leadership of incumbent Chairman, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Khurram Zahoor, when department’s UG program became Pakistan’s first UG program in Petroleum & Gas Engineering to earn coveted OBE accreditation (Level-II) by PEC since Session 2015. The department also holds the honour of being Pakistan’s first and only Petroleum & Gas Engineering department ranked in the 51-100 bracket by QS World University Rankings consecutively since 2020.