Program Structure and Requirements (with only B.Sc. Degree)
Overall Program Structure
The PhD in Petroleum Engineering consists of a minimum 72 credit hours, distributed as follows: 12 credit hours of Program Core courses, 24 credit hours of Program Technical Elective courses, 36 credit hours of Dissertation research and two zero credit PhD Research Seminar courses. The technical background of the student will be assessed by a Written Qualifying Examination (WQE), followed by a Research Proposal Examination (RPE) which the student must successfully complete in order to progress further in the program. The components of the PhD program are summarized in the table below.
| Category |
Credit Hours |
| Core Courses |
12 |
| Technical Electives |
24 |
| PhD Research Seminar I |
0 |
| PhD Research Seminar II |
0 |
| PhD Written Qualifying Exam |
0 |
| PhD Research Proposal Exam |
0 |
| PhD Research Dissertation |
36 |
| Total |
72 |
All the courses that the students will take are at the PhD level. Students will be able to attempt the PEEG 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam (WQE) only after successfully completing a minimum of 27 credits of formal coursework.
Program Requirements
Students seeking the degree of PhD in Petroleum Engineering must successfully complete a minimum of 72 credit hours as specified in the program requirements detailed below, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Course selection should be made in consultation with the student’s Main Advisor and must be aligned with the chosen area(s) of research. All courses have a credit rating of three credits each, except the PhD Research Seminar, Written Qualifying Exam, Research Proposal Exam, and the PhD Dissertation.
Program Core (12 credit hours)
Students must complete the core courses listed below.
Petroleum Engineering - Core Courses
Core Courses
| ENGR 701 | Research Methods in Engineering | 3 |
| PEEG 781 | Well Pressure Transient Analysis | 3 |
| PEEG 782 | Advanced Characterization & Reservoir Engineering | 3 |
| PEEG 783 | Advanced Well Performance Evaluation | 3 |
| CEPS 703 | PhD Research Seminar I | 0 |
| CEPS 704 | PhD Research Seminar II | 0 |
Program Electives (24 credit hours)
Students must complete a minimum of eight technical elective courses from the list below. Subject to the approval of the dissertation Main Advisor, up to two elective courses (6 credit hours) can be taken from other PhD programs at Khalifa University.
The elective courses of PhD program in Petroleum Engineering are listed below (all 3cr)
Electives
| PEEG 723 | Stimulation of Conventional and Unconventional Reservoirs | 3 |
| PEEG 730 | Fluid Flow and Transport Processes in Porous Media | 3 |
| PEEG 731 | Chemical Flooding | 3 |
| PEEG 732 | Hybrid Enhanced Oil Recovery | 3 |
| PEEG 733 | Miscible Gas Flooding | 3 |
| PEEG 741 | Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide | 3 |
| PEEG 742 | Hydrogen Energy Resources, Storage, and Utilization | 3 |
| PEEG 752 | Simulation of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs | 3 |
| PEEG 794 | Selected Topics in Petroleum Engineering | 3 |
PhD Research Dissertation (minimum 36 credit hours)
Students must complete a PhD Research Dissertation that involves novel, creative, research-oriented work under the direct supervision of at least one full-time faculty advisor from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and at least another full-time KU faculty member who acts as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal Dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination. Furthermore, the research must lead to publishable quality scholarly journal articles.
Dissertation
Total Credit Hours: 72