Oil and Gas Geology

Profession

In the relevance of the prospecting issues development, exploration and production of oil and gas fields, especially in the countries of the Middle East, Europe, Asia, North and South America, the demand for qualified geologists who know the geological features of oil and gas basins and are able to conduct searches is increasing every day.
The profession of a geologist is analytical, creative, and attracts people with diverse life interests. It covers both conducting field research in the polar, desert, taiga and high mountain regions of the world, and making discoveries while working in scientific laboratories, as well as performing accurate work in three-dimensional modeling, reserve calculation and resource estimation.

Educational Process

During a five-years period of time students receive theoretical knowledge and practical skills related to geological surveying, prospecting and exploration of solid minerals.
The main goal of the training is to train mining geologists (specialists) who are able to apply the acquired knowledge and skills in solving issues related to the study of the Earth and its interior, the development of the mineral resource base, forecasting, prospecting, exploration, and exploitation of solid minerals to meet the needs of fuel, metallurgical, chemical industries, needs of agriculture, construction, assessment of the ecological state of territories.
During the training, students acquire skills and abilities, on the basis of which they will be able to:
— carry out geological mapping, prospecting, appraisal and exploration work;
— draw up projects for geological exploration;
— allocate promising areas;
— to design well locations, to carry out their documentation;
— carry out searches and exploration of oil, gas, gas condensate fields;
— apply highly efficient modern methods of geological and geophysical research and information processing;
— create 3D models of oil and gas deposits;
— build maps of effective oil-saturated thicknesses;
— draw up calculation plans for oil and gas deposits;
— to assess forecast resources and calculate reserves of oil, combustible gases, gas condensate;
— participate in the process of exploration and development of oil and gas fields;
— to make an economic assessment of hydrocarbon deposits;
— perform scientific and production tasks using modern specialized software (GeoPoisk, etc.).
Key disciplines: “Theoretical foundations of search and exploration of oil and gas”, “Fundamentals of oil and gas field development”, “Oil and gas field geology”, “Calculation of reserves and assessment of oil and gas resources”, “Oil and gas provinces of Russia and foreign countries”, etc.

Practice

The training process provides educational, industrial and pre-diploma practical trainings.
Educational geodetic practice is held during the spring semester of the 1st course on the campus of the university. Students gain experience with geodetic instruments in the field, learn to create topographic maps.
Educational geological practice is carried out after the 1st course in the summer for four weeks in the area of Sochi. Students gain skills in working with geological tools (hammer, compass, map, GPS navigator, etc.) in the field, study various rocks and their position in the geological section, train to build geological maps, and also perform many other activities that help to study.
Educational geological and geophysical practice is carried out after the 2nd course in the summer for four weeks at the training ground near the city of Miass, Chelyabinsk region. Students gain skills in working in the field with geophysical equipment, master the principles of work and search methods of magnetic prospecting, electrical prospecting, radiometry in the area of a gold deposit, which allows them to observe the results of work in practice. The study of the diversity of minerals in natural conditions on the territory of the Ilmensky Reserve allows students to consolidate the course of mineralogy and form the skills of diagnosing rocks and minerals in the field.
Industrial practices are held after the 3rd and 4th courses in the summer. Students gain skills and work experience at real exploration enterprises in Russia (Kursk Region, Southern and Polar Urals, Trans-Baikal Territory, Far Eastern Federal District, etc.) and foreign countries (countries in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia).
Pre-graduation practice is aimed at writing a final qualifying work.

Career

As a result of mastering the program, graduates will be able to get a job in:
— geological departments of large oil and gas companies (as a geologist, an engineer-geologist, a geochemist, a petrologist, a lithologist, a geophysicist, etc.): Schlumberger, Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil, TNK-BP Holding”, “KazMunayGas”, etc.;
— design and research institutes (as a geologist, engineer-geologist, researcher, senior researcher, etc.): “Russian Oil and Gas Research Institute named after Academician A.P. Krylov (VNIIneft)”, “All-Russian Research Geological Petroleum Institute (VNIGNI)”, “All-Russian Research Geological Institute. A.P. Karpinsky (VSEGEI)” and others;
— Institutes of the Academy of Sciences (as a researcher, junior researcher, etc.): “Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GIN RAS)”, etc.;
— other organizations related to the oil and gas industry.