ESIB relaunches its master’s in oil and gas

In terms of professional training, this is good news. The Beirut Graduate School of Engineers (ESIB) at Saint-Joseph University (USJ) has just resumed registration for its Oil & Gas master’s degree. Launched in 2013, in partnership with the French Petroleum Institute (IFP School) and the company Total, when potential oil and gas deposits were discovered in the Lebanese seabed, the program has been, over the past two years, shelved because of the pitfalls and political complications linked to this strategic file which, according to Wassim Raphael, dean of the faculty of engineering, director of ESIB and pedagogical manager of the program, resulted in “a chill” and a “demotivation” of candidates vis-à-vis the program. “Today, given the regional context and following the agreement on the southern maritime border and the return of TotalEnergies, there is a chance that things will move and get underway, especially in the two blocks 4 and 9” , he says. Wassim Raphael stresses the importance of training managers capable of taking up this challenge and of supporting all actions related to the exploitation of this large market, taking into account all the potential resources it represents, the opportunities and horizons it opens up to young Lebanese. Between 2015 and 2020, 54 candidates graduated and three of them are currently working in the oil sector in Qatar and two others in Saudi Arabia.

A complete program

Intended therefore to develop skills for future professions in the oil and gas industry in the country, this master’s degree stands out, as Mr. Raphael would like to point out, by the fact that it encompasses all aspects of the chain of this industry, ranging from offshore exploration and production to management, sales and marketing. “It’s really a complete program co-signed with the IFP School that will allow us to train quality Lebanese human resources who will have the advantage of benefiting from a very high-level training program. This program will enable them to monitor the entire circuit of downstream actions (refining of oil and distribution of gas and refined products, editor’s note) and upstream (which includes research and production activities, editor’s note), and to integrate the labor market, to assume tasks of responsibility and to intervene at all levels of the chain and this, from the end of their course”, he adds. Delivered entirely in English, the professional training spread over three semesters will be provided half by great experts from the IFP School but also by local and regional specialists. “Indeed, since this is a nascent industry, it is very important to have the expertise of people in this sector for decades and to forge partnerships with players in this field, whether they are local, such as the Energy Authority (the Lebanese Petroleum Energy or LPA), or regional and international”, he remarks. Speakers from the IFP School, from Lebanon or, for example, from Qatar, will come to teach for 5 to 10 days, supervise the professional internships and ensure the follow-up of the learners’ dissertation projects. Moreover, given that the oil and gas industry is distinguished by a diversity of professions interacting with each other throughout the chain of exploration of natural resources and their production and marketing, this master is aimed primarily at engineers with a background in mechanical, chemical, petrochemical or even civil engineering. “The only prerequisite is that the candidate applying is an engineer or has a diploma deemed equivalent,” says the dean of the faculty of engineering. To find out more, visit the site https://usj.edu.lb/esib/diplome.php? diploma=647#

In terms of professional training, this is good news. The Beirut Graduate School of Engineers (ESIB) at Saint-Joseph University (USJ) has just resumed registration for its Oil & Gas master’s degree. Launched in 2013, in partnership with the French Petroleum Institute (IFP School) and the company Total, during the discovery of potential deposits of…