Aberdeen University to help develop oil and gas education in Tanzania

Aberdeen University has been awarded a £1.4million grant to help develop oil and gas education in East Africa.

The grant will be split with Dar es Salaam University in Tanzania to help develop the country’s young oil and gas sector with recent discoveries of significant gas reserves.

This will help Tanzania develop the required human resource capabilities as it still relies heavily on sector expertise from abroad.

The institutions will work on a three year programme to promote learning, research and knowledge sharing and introduce engineering, geo-sciences, business and law.

According to director of the Aberdeen Institute of Energy John Scrimgeour  the funding is a testament to the approach the university takes toward energy research.

“Our approach will combine practical training for academic staff and businesses in the oil and gas sector in Tanzania, but in a sustainable way so that the country develops the expertise that will help it respond to its own needs in the future,” he said.

The grant follows a call from the EU to European and Tanzanian universities to develop the country’s knowledge of the industry.

“This is complemented by the knowledge and skills we can call upon from our partners in the Oil and Gas Academy of Scotland, who have supported us as the lead organisation on this bid,” he added.

The university which is located in the city of Aberdeen the energy capital of Europe is ranked amongst the best colleges offering programmes in oil and gas including a Bachelor of Engineering degree in petroleum engineering,  a bachelor’s degree in geology and petroleum geology as well as a number of master’s degree courses in subjects such as ‘petroleum, energy economics and finance, oil and gas computing, oil and gas law, petrophysics among others.