The Department of Petroleum Engineering at Sudan University of Science and Technology was established by a decision of the University Senate in March 1990, commencing its official operations in 1991 as the first specialized department in this field among Sudanese universities to meet the requirements and challenges of the country's emerging energy sector. The department continued to grow and excel until its first batch graduated in 1996, laying the foundation and serving as the primary impetus for upgrading the specialization into the "College of Petroleum Engineering and Technology" in 2003, which later evolved in 2019 into the "College of Petroleum and Mining Engineering".
The Department of Petroleum Engineering represents the main pillar and the largest academic department within the college in terms of student enrollment, graduates, and the diversity of offered programs. It covers the core and practical domains of the oil industry, including well drilling engineering, reservoir engineering, and petroleum production engineering. The department offers two distinguished undergraduate programs: a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Petroleum Engineering and a Bachelor of Technology in Petroleum Engineering, alongside its technical oversight of diploma programs and its core contribution to managing specialized Master's and Ph.D. programs.
The department's mission is dedicated to preparing outstanding engineering personnel capable of innovation, lifelong learning, and taking the initiative to apply scientific principles and modern technologies to solve complex engineering problems. To achieve these goals, the academic curricula are designed in accordance with global engineering accreditation standards—such as those of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)—and benchmarked against leading regional and international programs. Theoretical studies are complemented by an intensive practical component that includes workshop training, field geology and geophysics camps, and direct industrial training within petroleum companies.
The educational process in the department is supported by an advanced infrastructural and research framework, led by the Drilling Fluids Laboratory, which is equipped with modern technologies for bottom-hole testing and mud properties evaluation. This is further complemented by laboratories for geology, geophysics, non-destructive testing (NDT), and engineering simulation and modeling. Additionally, the department relies on a distinguished faculty and experienced experts, actively collaborating with and consulting for reputable industrial institutions and companies, making it a prominent hub for engineering education, training, and consultancy in the petroleum and energy sectors.