leatherman: i studied mechanical engineering, i'm working in a petroleum company and i'm doing the job of a chemical engineer. i sometimes work with electrical and mechanical engineers, while support the ministry of civil engineers with money.

kenneyyice: Tankz peepz but shuld i jugde it base on skul, base on d course or base on job opportunity.... I got petroleum engineering in uniben tru jamb and chemical engineering in unizik tru pre science.. Which one shuld i accept

Emmafrancis: Nobody is mentioning MARINE ENGINEERING. Its as important if not more than others

kenneyyice: Tankz peepz but shuld i jugde it base on skul, base on d course or base on job opportunity.... I got petroleum engineering in uniben tru jamb and chemical engineering in unizik tru pre science.. Which one shuld i accept

9ijaMan:

Virtually all the options in Elec/Elec Engineering (Power, Control, Instrumentation, Telecoms and to some extent computing) are applicable to the O&G industry. For ease of understanding, let's just assume E&P is a subset of the O&G industry. Hence O&G can be divided into two major components:
1. The E&Ps or Exploration and Production Companies (Oil Producing or Oil Majors such as Shell, Exxon, Agip, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ConOil, PanOcean, Addax, Nexen etc).
2. The Oil Field Services Companies (e.g. Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, NOV - National Oilwell Varco, TransOcean, Saipem, KCA Deutag, Noble Drilling etc).

Similarly, the E&P sector can be broken down into 2 broad groups, the Upstream and the downstream.
Upstream represents the sector that handles everything about crude oil from beneath the surface of the earth through exploration phase, discovery, drilling and subsequently flowing the well to the surface.
Downstream refers to just about all the processing the oil will pass through once it gets to the surface until it gets into the tank of your car, or generator set (literarilly).

Abeg don't ask me why upstream has to do with below the ground and downstream above the ground, 'cos I know it defies logic.

Back to your question, on what option to specialize in out of Power, Control, Instrumentation, Telecoms and to some extent computing.
Power is most applicable to the downstream sector, e.g. when you have to work with turbines etc. However the other options are applicable to both upstream and downstream, albeit at varying degrees. I chose the Instrumentation & Control option while at Ife. Although this option is actually more applicable on surface (downstream) than subsurface (upstream), I started out with an Oil field services company as a Field Engineer and today, I'm working as a Drilling Professional where I have minimal interactions with any of the 4 or options listed above, besides using my mobile phone and other mobile devices (Telecoms); my office & home computers (Power & computing); and including some sub-surface and surface gauges (instrumentation & control) when I'm completing a well.

I'm honored to be your mentor, just don't ask me too much questions about Elec/Elec Engineering o !

Tats:

LOL. But the thread is not about marine engineering and most engineering schools in Nigerian Universities don't offer marine engineering. So knowledge about it is limited.

By the way, how is marine engineering more important that others?

If there is no electrical, mechanical, civil, production, etc how will a ship (including its engines & Rudders) be constructed?

If there is no petroleum & chemical engineering, how will the ship move from point A to B?

Histrings08: ...let's watch it carefully,some of those fields are kind of related,they can perform each others function....sometimes if you check ur curriculum you'll see that there's no much difference...that's why its advisable to study a course that isn't that restricted or has a wider application...Gracias

9ijaMan:

Virtually all the options in Elec/Elec Engineering (Power, Control, Instrumentation, Telecoms and to some extent computing) are applicable to the O&G industry. For ease of understanding, let's just assume E&P is a subset of the O&G industry. Hence O&G can be divided into two major components:
1. The E&Ps or Exploration and Production Companies (Oil Producing or Oil Majors such as Shell, Exxon, Agip, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ConOil, PanOcean, Addax, Nexen etc).
2. The Oil Field Services Companies (e.g. Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, NOV - National Oilwell Varco, TransOcean, Saipem, KCA Deutag, Noble Drilling etc).

Similarly, the E&P sector can be broken down into 2 broad groups, the Upstream and the downstream.
Upstream represents the sector that handles everything about crude oil from beneath the surface of the earth through exploration phase, discovery, drilling and subsequently flowing the well to the surface.
Downstream refers to just about all the processing the oil will pass through once it gets to the surface until it gets into the tank of your car, or generator set (literarilly).

Abeg don't ask me why upstream has to do with below the ground and downstream above the ground, 'cos I know it defies logic.

Back to your question, on what option to specialize in out of Power, Control, Instrumentation, Telecoms and to some extent computing.
Power is most applicable to the downstream sector, e.g. when you have to work with turbines etc. However the other options are applicable to both upstream and downstream, albeit at varying degrees. I chose the Instrumentation & Control option while at Ife. Although this option is actually more applicable on surface (downstream) than subsurface (upstream), I started out with an Oil field services company as a Field Engineer and today, I'm working as a Drilling Professional where I have minimal interactions with any of the 4 or options listed above, besides using my mobile phone and other mobile devices (Telecoms); my office & home computers (Power & computing); and including some sub-surface and surface gauges (instrumentation & control) when I'm completing a well.

I'm honored to be your mentor, just don't ask me too much questions about Elec/Elec Engineering o !

primus_maximus:
personally, I think you should take all 3 factors seriously.. Its a very tricky situation you are in and its a decision no one can really make for you. A graduate from uniben is more likely to get a job before a grad from unizik (All other factors being equal) and a Chemical engineering grad is more likely to get a Job than a Petroleum engineering grad (all other factors being equal).. Companies with job openings will even come to uniben during your undergrad years. Halliburton, shell and Total will come offering you guys(Top 10 in your department) programs too during you undergad years at Uniben.. If in your shoes I'll have gone with Uniben

jp philips:


I agree with most of your post but the bold phrase needs to be fine tuned a little, in the upstream sector, there are a lot of power processes, i don't think there is a production platform, FSO, FPSO, Terminal in Nigeria that doesn't have a gas Turbine or Gas generator at the very least, please correct me if im wrong. i believe such dept do have elect guys, i like your choice of instrumentation but that lad isn't coming to the industry till the next 6 or 7yrs, so you should equally consider the future of the industry.

A lot of oil majors are divesting to gas im referring to these major projects in the industry;

Shell: AGG projects
Tepng/ENI: brass LNG projects
Chevron: EGTL projects
Exxon: AG re injection projects.

now, what are they seeing? they are seeing a future in liquified gas export and gas-power support.
i am not saying that instrumentation will die off neither am i insinuating that they wont need instrumentation engineers, i am only pointing out that there is a frame work that will create another super industry in power.
these Gas-power projects will create a lot of opportunities directly or indirectly with the oil industry. i foresee some power generating companies paying as much as the oil servicing companies, just like the telecom revolution, however, this power industry will be bigger than the telecoms industry.

great you did instrumentation, i like those guys.

jp philips:


chief, i asked you to get in touch with HR to streamline that opinion of yours, have you done it? an MBa is not a first degree and we are talking about Nigeria not UK, do that and get back to us. the industry operate on standards and one of such that deals with structure of an organization recognized in the industry is ISO, if ISO does not stipulate that i don't see why we should form opinions based on that.
no doubt there are companies and organizations operating below standard doesn't mean that their disposition should form a benchmark for the industry.

jp philips:


please do me a favor, can you show me a job advert from a reputable company (not one man company) who has "name of institution'' as a major criteria, please. i want to learn from you as well.

primus_maximus:
Earlier this year Total Invited 300 people for a scholarship (IFP France) aptitude test we didn't apply for.. on getting there we asked how me were selected and their HR manager told us that they went to their database and picked 2.1 and 1st class graduates from the top universities in Nigeria.. anyone that wrote that test can verify what i just said... No company will ever publish that in an advert, its more of an HR thing, and its not only happening in the oil sector

primus_maximus:
Earlier this year Total Invited 300 people for a scholarship (IFP France) aptitude test we didn't apply for.. on getting there we asked how me were selected and their HR manager told us that they went to their database and picked 2.1 and 1st class graduates from the top universities in Nigeria.. anyone that wrote that test can verify what i just said... No company will ever publish that in an advert, its more of an HR thing, and its not only happening in the oil sector

As per the bold in your comment, FPSOs fall into the purview of a transition between the Upstream and Downstream sections, often referred to as midstream. Upstream essentially ends once the oil is on surface. Midstream takes over with surface storage and transport facilities. FPSOs are meant for storage, hence outside the upstream sector, but not necessarily in the downstream sector.

In layman terms, bringing crude from subsurface to surface: Upstream
At the surface, crude storage (with minimal processing to remove poisonous gasses) and raw crude transportation: Midstream
Crude processing and all refined output fall under Downstream.

I originally left out the midstream 'cos it's not as obvious as the other two.

I do see you point on the choice of specialty. However, you should take into cognizance that no gas or hydro turbine can operate without an instrumentation and control engineer. These are the guys who'll (again in simple terms) regulate and control the flow of fuel (gas or water) to your turbines. You cannot set up a hydro or gas power plant without them else there'll be disasters all over the place.

leatherman: i studied mechanical engineering, i'm working in a petroleum company and i'm doing the job of a chemical engineer. i sometimes work with electrical and mechanical engineers, while support the ministry of civil engineers with money.

jp philips: author=9ijaMan]



[color=#000099]I may have to correct you again though i appreciate some of your valid points,

FPSO means floating production storage offshore, from its name alone, you can deduce that it produces as much as it stores,
an example in Nigeria, is Bonga owned by shell, Akpo operated by Total. i give you specifics to enable you to verify and make corrections when i am out of line.

FSO, means floating storage offshore, it has only storage capacity examples are; exxon owned Yoho, Addax (now Sinopec) owned Knocka doom and Total owned Unity.

it is not correct to say that FPSO does not produce oil, i agree with your transition analogy but in reality they are upstream.

9ijaMan:

My brother you are certainly right. No HR department will publish in the dailies that they only recruit from certain Unis and not from others. It's during the selection process that those schools they consider not to be top notch are left out.

In my final year at school some of our lecturers specifically told us that some Oil majors (names withheld) wrote them that the standards of the graduates the school was churning out from the Faculty of Tech and the department of Geology were dropping. Of course na my set our lecturers take do experiment as we went through a very crazy final year in the school. How many Unis in Nigeria do you really think these companies will send such letters to?

primus_maximus:
Floating Production Storage and Offloading

9ijaMan:

Virtually all the options in Elec/Elec Engineering (Power, Control, Instrumentation, Telecoms and to some extent computing) are applicable to the O&G industry. For ease of understanding, let's just assume E&P is a subset of the O&G industry. Hence O&G can be divided into two major components:
1. The E&Ps or Exploration and Production Companies (Oil Producing or Oil Majors such as Shell, Exxon, Agip, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ConOil, PanOcean, Addax, Nexen etc).
2. The Oil Field Services Companies (e.g. Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, NOV - National Oilwell Varco, TransOcean, Saipem, KCA Deutag, Noble Drilling etc).

Similarly, the E&P sector can be broken down into 2 broad groups, the Upstream and the downstream.
Upstream represents the sector that handles everything about crude oil from beneath the surface of the earth through exploration phase, discovery, drilling and subsequently flowing the well to the surface.
Downstream refers to just about all the processing the oil will pass through once it gets to the surface until it gets into the tank of your car, or generator set (literarilly).

Abeg don't ask me why upstream has to do with below the ground and downstream above the ground, 'cos I know it defies logic.

Back to your question, on what option to specialize in out of Power, Control, Instrumentation, Telecoms and to some extent computing.
Power is most applicable to the downstream sector, e.g. when you have to work with turbines etc. However the other options are applicable to both upstream and downstream, albeit at varying degrees. I chose the Instrumentation & Control option while at Ife. Although this option is actually more applicable on surface (downstream) than subsurface (upstream), I started out with an Oil field services company as a Field Engineer and today, I'm working as a Drilling Professional where I have minimal interactions with any of the 4 or options listed above, besides using my mobile phone and other mobile devices (Telecoms); my office & home computers (Power & computing); and including some sub-surface and surface gauges (instrumentation & control) when I'm completing a well.

I'm honored to be your mentor, just don't ask me too much questions about Elec/Elec Engineering o !

cheapgadgets6: wow!!! U rili killd it...am well exposd nw,I'll jus sit dwn n mak ma choic frm d options(pick one I av keen interst n pass4)....first fin shld b to finsh wt gud grades nw n kip learnin frm ma IT experience for nw...can I get sm certificatns b4 I finsh sku? Cs am finkin of doin sm HSE courses mayb in ma final year and also autocad 2d n 3d or autoplant or evn a projct mgt course...OR can u recomend any I cn tk?(Consider money tins too o bro)...u r funi sayin u r honord 2b ma mentor,I shld b sayin am honord for u to accept d offer(trust me I won't bombard u wt questns...lols)tnx 1c agn..

jp philips: author=9ijaMan]



I may have to correct you again though i appreciate some of your valid points,

FPSO means floating production storage offloading, from its name alone, you can deduce that it produces as much as it stores,
an example in Nigeria, is Bonga owned by shell, Akpo operated by Total. i give you specifics to enable you to verify and make corrections when i am out of line.

FSO, means floating storage offloading, it has only storage capacity examples are; exxon owned Yoho, Addax (now Sinopec) owned Knocka doom and Total owned Unity.

it is not correct to say that FPSO does not produce oil, i agree with your transition analogy but in reality they are upstream.







You dont need to make the above comment if you read this part of my post



[color=#000099]I have already agreed to that position no need over emphasizing it



Lastly, the fact that Elec/Elec Engr'g is applicable in just about all of the sections of E&P makes the profession quite unique. You cannot be wrong if you chose to specialize in any of the fields. By the way, specialization often occur only in the final year, hence you will have the necessary basic in just about any of the specialties.






I don't see how this post is quintessential to the subject of discussion, i like issues to be treated concisely and succinctly.






The answer is simple, most old universities have their Alumni in these organization and by virtue of their age, they have produced people at the highest level who wield a reasonable level of influence in the organization.
By law, there is what is called local content capacity, so these big ogas recommend their Alma matter for R and D outsourcing and the organization releases community project development funding and counterpart research funding.

that is why you may see a Total or chevron classroom block or Lab in University of Ibadan but may not find it in ESUT, it is basically natural, but we are emphasizing on its influence as an employment criteria.

About the HRO's going to lecture in schools, well, there is no industry guidelines that stipulates that but under community development and social awareness, a HR, may decide to do that, but there is no industry guideline on which school to go to.

in well structured organizations the recruitment process is sacrosanct (citeris paribus), such influence is inconsequential, when you hear "equal opportunity employers" i hope you know what that means.

9ijaMan:

Adding certification courses to your profile will surely give you an edge. You can learn AutoCAD without spending a dime, besides the cost of paying for internet connection. You are still young and very energetic, as such you can still grab a couple of certifications while in School. The option of taking a Project Management Course sounds fine to me, as long as it won't cost you an arm and a leg. However, if you need to push yourself a bit harder, ensuring it does not jeopardize your results in School, pay little attention to the cost. You'll make multiple returns once you start working. Just ensure you have a sound focus on what you really want to achieve.

As per AutoCAD, you'll learn a lot if you make good use of YouTube, there are tonnes of excellent videos there. Although I'm a drilling professional, I spend my spare time on taking management courses (for my personal business); I'm fairly good at Microsoft Excel (learnt a lot from YouTube) and I often mesmerize my colleagues and bosses using the excel skills I learnt from YouTube. Obviously I still attend drilling training courses to keep myself abreast with new developments in the industry.

Overall, any additional training you can acquire beyond what you are being taught in school will certainly be of great use for you when the time comes. I do not want to start recommending drilling (or O&G) related courses for you now because they are generally not cheap and may not be needed if you decide not to get mixed up with the sector. However any general Engineering training will do just fine.

9ijaMan:

Chief,
I didn't know this happens to be an English tutoring class. I suppose each individual has got his own way of viewing issues and we need not resort to implied insults.
In any case, FPSOs are built mainly to store crude side by side while producing and do some bit of processing. You can drill and complete an offshore well without the need for an offshore platform nor the need for an FPSO. I was part of the team that drilled a good number of the wells in the fields you mentioned (Akpo - Total, Bonga - SnepCo, Erha - Exxon and some others). I repeat, and stand very much to be corrected, FPSOs are classified under the Midstream sector of the industry. The internet is awash with the right info if you care to learn more.

On the issue of old Unis, you are essentially saying the same thing I've said all along. Perhaps you should return back and read some of my previous posts.

The reason, I'm here is simply to share experience with the up-coming ones and not to engage in a shouting match with anyone.

cheapgadgets6: yea..u guys r both hia to educate we ynga ones,I c no rison in counterin d oda person's view...jus gv your own view also,n lev us to setlin wt our choice frm d views,pls u aint competing wt each oda,jus bare ya mind,dts al.**constructive correction only**..I respct u both.Peace!

Tats:

Bros or is it Sister?....please try to write English in a normal way. its a little difficult to read your posts.

cheapgadgets6: did I hia u say difficult to rid,den u dnt send txt msgs...dey are evridae shrt frms u cm across(op u aint tryin to tackl me bro..abeg o)