Presidency to churn out petroleum explores

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, July 2, 2007
THE PRESIDENCY College is all set to take another step in diversifying its course offering.
After starting the undergraduate course in biochemistry, the college is now gearing up to launch post-graduate diploma in petroleum exploration this August. Students who have completed their M.Sc in geology will be eligible to apply for the new course.
“We will launch this course in August. This course will make the students equipped to join the oil exploration industry. The oil exploration industry is seeing a boom and offers great career opportunity for geology students. We will also be able to provide placements as there is constant enquiry from the industry about our students,” said Haren Bhattacharya, head of geology department.
The college has handed over a letter to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on July 1 with details of the course. In the letter the college has also expressed its desire to tie up with one of the petroleum majors for the programme. In fact, it has suggested that Reliance PetroChem could sponsor the programme.
The college is ready with the syllabus and has sent relevant details to the higher education department for mandatory clearances.
Explaining the reason for introducing the course, Bhattacharya said, “After completing M.Sc in geology, students join the IITs to do their M.Tech. If we can offer the course here then students can continue with their studies here.”
The other significant advantage of the Presidency course will be its duration. While the M.Tech programme at the IITs takes three years to complete, the diploma course at the Presidency will be over in just one year.
The geology department currently has 18 teaching posts and the college feels this strength will be enough to start the new programme. But for the technical part of the course it will require visiting faculty from the industry. The college is in touch with oil giants like GAIL, ONGC and Reliance PetroChem for the purpose.
However, inviting faculties from the industry will entail huge costs. “For this we need sponsorship from the industry itself,” Bhattacharya said. The college will also need money to send students on industrial visits and trainings.
The college is, however, yet to decide on whether the course will be self-financed or not. To begin with, there will be 10 seats and applications will be invited after the M.Sc results are declared. The aspirants for the course will also have to clear a written test to be eligible for admission.
To make students ready for the industry, they will be equipped to identify various acquisition methods and legal processes involved in exploration, gain an overview of petroleum geology, geophysics and drilling, understand technical aspects of exploration, better visualize various exploration equipment/technologies and understand the major cost components and appreciate the technical and economical risks involved in petroleum exploration.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com