Personal Statement - Petroleum Engineering 2

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

I find it incredible how petroleum engineering can spark a voyage of the uncharted globe, whilst developing oil and gas reserves where no one has drilled before. It truly is an engineering feat when oil companies drill at ocean depths of 3100m to obtain a natural resource. Correspondingly, I find it appealing how every oil and gas field is unique, making each project a new challenge.

My passion for petroleum engineering developed when I was in America during the summer. My friend’s father is a petroleum engineer, who presented an outline of the subject and I was particularly intrigued by enhanced oil recovery, such as miscible gas injection. A gas, such as carbon dioxide, can mix with crude oil to reduce its viscosity, increasing flow and providing incremental oil recovery. This greener technique increases profit and provides opportunity for carbon sequestration.

I am particularly interested in organic chemistry, especially hydrocarbons because just minute changes in the number or arrangement of carbon atoms completely alters the Van der Waals forces and thus, the physical properties of the organic substance. These hydrocarbons can then be cracked into smaller ones to meet public demand or they can be polymerised into incredibly useful plastics.

I am aware that Petroleum Engineering is a challenging subject, however, I am a self-motivated, determined individual and my desire to study the subject has only been amplified through my experience of it thus far. Ultimately, I want to be a part of a new frontier, whereby petroleum engineers are constantly finding innovative fuels to invest in our planet’s future.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

I have also become interested in petrophysical properties of rocks and the sophisticated techniques used to measure: lithology, porosity and permeability, in particular, the use of NMR logs to measure a rock’s porosity. Interacting with magnetic fields alone, NMR allows measurement of properties deep within a sample. Another advantage of NMR is that it provides not only porosity, but also a distribution of pore sizes. Furthermore, NMR is a part of my chemistry course, and is a topic I thoroughly enjoy as I find it truly fascinating as to how we can fire protons or carbon-13 atoms at a sample and obtain a very detailed log of the compound’s structure.

I began learning about petroleum engineering by watching university lecture videos as well as immersing myself in as much information as I could find on the Internet, such as SPE and Rigzone.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

Additionally, during my journey in America, I went mountain climbing in Washington. I led my group to the summit of Mount Pilchuck, which was incredibly challenging, but greatly enhanced my leadership skills. Furthermore, whilst I was mountain climbing, I found it truly thrilling how the rock composition gradually changed as I ascended various mountains. It would be fascinating to learn how these geological variations can impact our ability to predict and develop a field.

Playing for a district badminton team and captaining a basketball squad at school have offered further chances to develop my leadership and teamwork skills; a part-time restaurant job has provided an experience of working under pressure, which is very beneficial for university as there will be large workloads and exams.

Universities applied to:

• University of Manchester
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Leeds
• University of Aberdeen

Grades achieved:

• Biology - B
• Chemistry - B
• Physics - B

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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