From oil and gas to renewables, the energy sector is one of the world’s most vital – and well-compensated – fields of study and stable employment. Still, choosing the right program and school isn’t easy, and it never hurts to get a little help from your friends. With that in mind we present Alberta Oil’s 2015 Guide to Energy Education.
The Best of the West
The School: University of Alberta
The Department: Alberta School of Business
The Program: Master of Business Administration, Specialization in Natural Resources, Energy & Environment
NREE students develop energy-related analytical expertise based on a broad understanding of the resource and energy industries, from the exploration and project development phases through extraction and transformation to transportation, logistics marketing and market issues. The program helps students address and analyze key strategic questions facing today’s business leaders and policy-makers. Throughout the curriculum, the many links between resource and energy questions and environmental issues are highlighted, analyzed and understood.
Annual Tuition: $18,406
Average Graduating Salary: $72,177
Other options at this school include:
Master of Science in Integrated Petroleum Geoscience
Bachelor and Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering
Executive Education Certificate in Energy Strategy and Finance
The School: University of Calgary
The Department: Haskayne School of Business
The Program: Bachelor of Commerce, Concentration in Petroleum Land Management
The Haskayne School of Business offers a bachelor of commerce degree with a concentration in petroleum land management that prepares graduates for careers in the Canadian oil and gas industry. This is the only such concentration in Canada and one of only nine in the world. The fourth-year PLMA concentration courses include four half-courses focusing on legal agreements, oil and gas exploration strategy and analysis, PLMA cases, and management of energy regulations. Experienced industry specialists teach PLMA courses in the evenings. The American Association of Professional Landmen and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen award scholarships to many students.
Annual Tuition: $6,818
Average Graduating Salary: $60,000
Other options at this school include:
Bachelor of Engineering, Energy and Environment Specialization
Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Geology
MBA in Global Energy Management and Sustainable Development
The School: NAIT
The Program: Petroleum Engineering Technology diploma
Petroleum engineering technology is a two-year diploma program that prepares the graduate for employment in the upstream petroleum industry. The expanding oil sands development sector also provides tremendous opportunities for petroleum engineering technology graduates. Graduates start careers as production technologists in the exploration and production sectors of the conventional and unconventional oil and gas industry. Typical employers include oil and gas producers, oilfield service companies and regulatory agencies.
Annual Tuition: $4,334
Average Graduating Salary: $70,000
Other options at this school include:
Alternative Energy Technology Diploma
Industrial Heavy Equipment Technology Diploma
Geological Technology Diploma
The School: SAIT Polytechnic
The Department: The MacPhail School of Energy
The Program: Energy Asset Management Diploma
The energy asset management (EAM) diploma program is designed to provide graduates with the skills and knowledge needed for the analysis, documentation and ongoing administration of regulatory, financial and contractual rights and obligations of companies working with oil and gas assets. Students in the EAM diploma program learn through an integrated approach all about the asset management discipline, which includes joint ventures, mineral and surface land management, well asset management, operations accounting and production accounting. This two-year program will prepare workers for entry-level EAM positions, and is now available through distance education.
Annual Tuition: $9,033
Average Graduating Salary: $52,592
Other options at this school include:
Bachelor of Applied Technology Petroleum Engineering Degree
Power Engineering Technology Diploma
Oil and Gas Production Accounting Certificate
The Best of the Rest
You don’t necessarily need a degree in engineering or geology to work in the energy sector. For those looking for a different way into the industry, these schools offer up a variety of programs and courses that can pave the way for virtually any career path.
The School: Mount Royal University
The Program: Bachelor of Communication, Public Relations
Mount Royal’s bachelor of communication program offers an alternative path to landing a career in the oil and gas sector. This hands-on program offers three majors (Journalism, Public Relations and Information Design) and requires students to complete at least one supervised work experience. There are also opportunities to study abroad or get involved with causes closer to home through recognized community-service learning projects that prepare graduates to hit the ground running.
The School: Red Deer College
The Program: Rig Technician
Students in the rig technician program develop the expertise to maintain drilling rig engines, transmissions, heating systems and other mechanical equipment. With an on-site derrick at the college, students are able to participate in real-life safety training, which includes fall protection and rescue procedures. The real-world simulations offered by the on-site derrick provide students with a solid understanding of the equipment and the precautions needed to remain safe in their work. Students also have the opportunity to participate in rig mobilization and de-mobilization and maintain logs and records for an experience that provides them with the tools needed to succeed in their careers. Students generally use the program to become motorhands, derrickhands or drillers, all of which can offer a sizable income.
The School: University of Lethbridge
The Program: Bachelor of Science, Remote Sensing Specialization
Remote sensing involves the acquisition and analysis of photographs and images from airplanes, satellites and other platforms for obtaining important information about the Earth’s land, oceans and atmosphere, as well as other planets and bodies. The remote sensing major provides applied training in laboratory and field settings coupled with a solid theoretical and experimental foundation. As a graduate in this emerging field, your skills will be in demand across a wide range of sectors – from corporate energy giants to specialized government departments. Graduates may find employment with geospatial technology companies, survey firms, mapping companies, aerospace engineering firms, positioning and navigation businesses, building or defense contractors, petroleum and energy producers, mining corporations, remote sensing companies, space agencies, geographical information companies, computer graphics businesses, public utilities or government departments.
The School: University of Regina
The Program: Petroleum Systems Engineering
Students in this program have the additional advantage of hands-on training through the U of R’s relationship with the Petroleum Technology Research Centre. The PTRC exists to fund research and development into oil recovery techniques and sustainability initiatives like carbon capture and storage research. Petroleum systems engineering students learn to evaluate oil and gas reserves, design well drilling, analyze reservoir performance for production optimization, perform advanced reservoir simulation and visualization, develop new techniques to enhance oil recovery and conduct modern reservoir management.
The School: Western University
The Program: Bachelor of Science (Earth Sciences)
The Department of Earth Sciences at Western University (London, Ontario) offers four undergraduate and graduate courses in petroleum geoscience. The course credits can be applied to all degree programs, with particular application to the professional programs in Earth sciences that are designed to meet or exceed the minimum academic requirements for professional registration as a licensed geoscientist in Canada. The course materials are designed and taught by a professor with over 20 years of oil industry experience, with an emphasis on applied methods using industry-standard software in current case studies. The classroom and laboratory instruction is augmented by field instruction and other experiential learning methods.
The School: Lambton College
The Program: Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technology Diploma
The program provides the needed technical background as well as a significant hands-on opportunity to develop skills to operate and maintain control systems that incorporate digital, pneumatic and hydraulic processes. Instruments are used in controlling process variables such as temperature, pressure, level and flow quantities in a variety of industrial and commercial buildings. The program labs duplicate a real-life manufacturing environment and the technologies developed can easily be scaled up and transferred to the actual operating unit. Moreover, students in this program will have the opportunity to work in relevant industries within the three co-op terms.
The School: Saskatchewan Polytechnic
The Program: Power Engineering Technology Diploma
Power engineering technology is a two-year diploma program offered full time at Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Saskatoon campus. You’ll gain knowledge and skills in the operation of power (steam) plants and industrial processes, including boiler operations (high and low pressure), computer monitoring of plant operations, controls and instrumentation, equipment checks and maintenance, plant safety and pump operations. The program combines classroom learning with hands-on labs, power labs, computer simulations and industry work experiences. Graduates are productive on the job from day one – something employers look for when hiring and promoting.
The School: University of Calgary
The Department: Haskayne School of Business Sustainable Energy Development
The Program: M.Sc.
This program teaches students how to handle the complexities involved in managing sustainable energy projects and operations, all the while focusing on environmental and socio-economic impacts. It is a blended program including elements from the U of C’s faculties of business, engineering, law and environmental design.
The School: University of Lethbridge School of Environmental Sciences
The Department: Environmental Assessment and Restoration
The Program: Diploma
This program offers a unique mix of environmental law, technical labs, field skills and applied science to prepare for a successful career in environmental assessment and restoration. Students will engage in theoretical and applied training through a combination of field, lab and lecture opportunities.
The School: University of Saskatchewan
The Department: Environment and Sustainability
The Program: MES, PhD
The Environment and Sustainability program allows students to research technical, political, social, economic and institutional issues related to resource extraction. Graduates study pertinent issues in energy as well as practical solutions to challenges in environmental management, policy, assessment, reclamation and consulting.
The School: Memorial University
The Department: Sustainable Resource Management
The Program: BRM
This resource management program was developed to combine scientific knowledge of natural resources with the skills necessary for policy development and management. Students receive an education balancing profitable energy resource knowledge with ethics and environment.
The School: Carleton University
The Department: Sustainable Energy Engineering and Policy
The Program: MASc, M.Eng., MA
This program is structured across two disciplines. Students in the sustainable energy engineering and policy program can graduate with either an engineering degree or a public policy degree. The program allows graduates to contribute to both public ventures and private businesses engaged in sustainability.
The School: Dalhousie University
The Department: Resource and Environmental Studies
The Program: MES
This two-year program allows students to gain knowledge and skills in a course-based environment while also completing a thesis that focuses on a pressing issue of interest. Electives include courses in economics, environmental studies, law, business, planning, politics and more.
The School:Queen’s University
The Department: Environmental Studies
The Program: MES
The master of environmental studies at Queen’s University will meet the skill demands of industry, government and non-governmental organizations. Credentials can be obtained through course-based or research-based programs; students will also gain professional interaction and networking through the program.
Going abroad
Whether you’re on the lookout for a new opportunity or on the run from an old problem, sometimes you just need a fresh start. And while we’d encourage anyone who wants to study energy to do it here in Canada, there are MBA programs across the continent – and beyond – that can offer something … different.
If you love deep-fried Mars bars (or deep-fried anything, really):
The MBA in Oil and Gas Management from Robert Gordon University
Duration: 54 weeks
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
If you love indie rock:
Texas MBA in Energy at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin
Duration: 24 months
Location: Austin, Texas
If you love college football:
MBA in Energy at the Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University
Duration: 18-24 months
Location: Houston, Texas
If you really love college football:
The Price College of Business Executive MBA in Energy at the University of Oklahoma
Duration: 15 months
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
If you loved the movie Pineapple Express:
MS in Global Energy Management at the University of Colorado Denver
Business School
Duration: 18 months
Location: Denver, Colorado
If you believe in the power of creative disruption:
MBA in Energy and Clean Technology at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley
Duration: 21 months
Location: Berkeley, California
If you love international travel:
Cross Continent MBA in Energy and the Environment from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Duration: 16 months
Location: Durham, North Carolina (with stops in New Delhi, Santiago, Shanghai and St. Petersburg)
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