Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
This master's gives you an integrated view of the design, operation and maintenance of offshore oil and gas installations. You will cover platform types and structural design, marine petroleum geology, drilling and well completion, subsea production systems, offshore processing and export, process safety and emergency response, environmental management and decarbonization, project economics and contracts, asset integrity and decommissioning.
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What is the Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms?
This master's gives you an integrated view of the design, operation and maintenance of offshore oil and gas installations. You will compare fixed platforms, jack-ups, semi-submersibles, TLPs, spars and FPSOs, analyze environmental loads, stability and fatigue, interpret seismic data and evaluate reservoirs, follow drilling programs, well control and completion, and design subsea architectures with trees, manifolds, umbilicals, flowlines and risers. You will also study separation, gas processing and produced water treatment, export by pipeline and tanker, HAZID and HAZOP studies, emergency shutdown and evacuation, spill response, emissions reduction and electrification, contract models, risk-based inspection and well plugging and abandonment.
What sets this master's apart: the complete offshore value chain, from exploration and drilling to processing, export and decommissioning, in a single program; solid engineering of platforms, structures and subsea systems; process safety and major accident prevention treated in depth; environmental management, ESG and decarbonization of offshore assets; and a Final Project in which you develop an offshore field development or asset modernization project.
Program highlights
- Full value chain: exploration, drilling, production, processing, export and decommissioning.
- Platform engineering: fixed and floating platforms, structural design and integrity.
- Subsea systems: trees, manifolds, umbilicals, flowlines, risers and flow assurance.
- Process safety: HAZID, HAZOP, major accident prevention and emergency response.
- Environment and transition: spill response, emissions reduction, electrification and ESG.
- Final Project: a complete offshore development or modernization project.
Syllabus of the Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
11 modules. Select a module to see its content.
Foundations of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry, Global Energy Context and Platform Types
- 1.1. Historical evolution of the offshore industry and the strategic role of marine hydrocarbons in the world energy system
- 1.2. Characterizing offshore oil and gas resources and the differences between shallow, deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration
- 1.3. The offshore value chain: exploration, development, production, processing, transport and abandonment of installations
- 1.4. Offshore platform types: fixed, jack-up, semi-submersible, TLP, spar, FPSO, FSO and specialized units
- 1.5. Main offshore producing regions and geostrategic analysis of the world's oil and gas basins
- 1.6. Industry players: operators, EPC contractors, drilling contractors, service providers and regulators
- 1.7. Economic, technological and environmental factors that shape offshore projects
- 1.8. Operational, environmental, financial and geopolitical risks of offshore production
- 1.9. Current trends in digitalization, automation, decarbonization and offshore asset optimization
- 1.10. A systems approach to offshore platforms as an integration of engineering, operations, safety and sustainability
Offshore Naval Engineering, Structural Design and Platform Architecture
- 2.1. Naval architecture principles applied to floating and fixed offshore structures
- 2.2. Conceptual and basic design of oil and gas platforms in different ocean environments
- 2.3. Environmental load analysis: waves, currents, wind, temperature, corrosion and structural fatigue
- 2.4. Structural systems of jackets, topsides, piles, process modules and auxiliary structures
- 2.5. Floating platform design: stability, subdivision and hydrodynamic behavior
- 2.6. Structural materials: offshore steels, special alloys and selection criteria
- 2.7. Structural integrity, service life analysis and assessment of offshore asset degradation
- 2.8. Corrosion protection systems, cathodic protection and specialized coatings
- 2.9. International rules for the design and certification of offshore structures
- 2.10. Advanced methods to ensure structural safety and reliability
Offshore Exploration, Marine Petroleum Geology and Reservoir Evaluation
- 3.1. Geological fundamentals of hydrocarbon accumulation in marine environments
- 3.2. Offshore sedimentary basins and associated petroleum systems
- 3.3. Seismic methods: acquisition, processing and interpretation of offshore geophysical data
- 3.4. Geological prospecting, stratigraphic analysis and characterization of productive structures
- 3.5. Evaluating oil and gas reservoirs with integrated geological models
- 3.6. Estimating resources and reserves and the economic feasibility of offshore developments
- 3.7. Geological uncertainty and exploration risk analysis
- 3.8. Integrating geophysical, geological and reservoir engineering information
- 3.9. Emerging technologies for high-precision offshore exploration
- 3.10. Building integrated models for decision-making in offshore exploration projects
Offshore Drilling, Well Completion and Subsea Intervention Technologies
- 4.1. Fundamentals of offshore drilling and the differences between onshore and marine operations
- 4.2. Drilling equipment on jack-ups, semi-submersibles and drillships
- 4.3. Offshore well design, drilling programs and trajectory selection
- 4.4. Well control systems, blowout prevention and subsea BOP equipment
- 4.5. Drilling fluids, cementing and geomechanical wellbore stability
- 4.6. Completion techniques for offshore oil and gas wells
- 4.7. Workover, intervention and maintenance of subsea wells
- 4.8. Operational risks of drilling in deep and ultra-deep water
- 4.9. Technology innovation in drilling automation and real-time monitoring
- 4.10. Integrated management of offshore drilling projects with safety and efficiency criteria
Subsea Production Systems, Umbilicals, Flowlines and Subsea Networks
- 5.1. Architecture of subsea systems for offshore oil and gas production
- 5.2. Subsea trees, manifolds, control systems and subsea production equipment
- 5.3. Electro-hydraulic umbilicals and integrated remote control systems
- 5.4. Flowlines, risers and subsea pipelines for hydrocarbon transport
- 5.5. Subsea separation and subsea processing technologies
- 5.6. Installing subsea equipment with specialized vessels and ROVs
- 5.7. Subsea system integrity and monitoring of operating conditions
- 5.8. Managing corrosion, hydrates, wax and scale in subsea networks
- 5.9. Maintenance and reliability strategies for complex subsea systems
- 5.10. Technical and economic optimization of integrated subsea developments
Offshore Processing, Hydrocarbon Treatment and Export Systems
- 6.1. Primary separation of oil, gas and water on offshore platforms
- 6.2. Crude treatment, stabilization and conditioning for transport and sale
- 6.3. Natural gas processing, compression, dehydration and quality control
- 6.4. Power generation and industrial utilities on offshore platforms
- 6.5. Produced water handling and environmental treatment of operational effluents
- 6.6. Floating storage with FPSOs and FSOs
- 6.7. Hydrocarbon transport by oil pipelines, gas pipelines and tankers
- 6.8. Operational management of oil and gas exports to international markets
- 6.9. Energy optimization of offshore process facilities
- 6.10. Integrating production and export systems to maximize operating profitability
Offshore Safety, Major Hazard Management and Industrial Emergency Response
- 7.1. Fundamentals of process safety in offshore oil installations
- 7.2. Hazard identification with HAZID, HAZOP, FMEA and quantitative risk analysis
- 7.3. Preventing explosions, fires, hydrocarbon releases and major accidents
- 7.4. Gas and fire detection, isolation and emergency shutdown systems
- 7.5. Occupational safety in complex offshore work
- 7.6. Managing evacuation, rescue, platform abandonment and survival at sea
- 7.7. Incident investigation, root cause analysis and operational safety culture
- 7.8. Contingency plans for spills, blowouts and high-impact events
- 7.9. Organizational resilience and business continuity in critical offshore installations
- 7.10. Building integrated safety management systems and major hazard prevention
Offshore Environmental Management, Sustainability and the Energy Transition of Marine Hydrocarbons
- 8.1. Environmental impacts of offshore exploration, drilling and production
- 8.2. Environmental impact assessment for marine oil and gas projects
- 8.3. Managing waste, emissions, spills and operational discharges offshore
- 8.4. Protecting sensitive marine ecosystems and ocean biodiversity
- 8.5. Oil spill control and response in marine environments
- 8.6. Carbon emission reduction strategies for offshore installations
- 8.7. Offshore electrification, carbon capture and hybrid energy solutions
- 8.8. International environmental rules for the offshore sector
- 8.9. Circular economy and sustainability applied to marine oil and gas assets
- 8.10. Integrating ESG objectives into the strategic management of offshore platforms
Economics, Contracts, Regulation and Strategic Management of Offshore Projects
- 9.1. Offshore project economics and financial analysis of capital-intensive investments
- 9.2. EPC, EPCI and EPIC contract models and procurement of specialized services
- 9.3. Managing costs, schedules, financial risks and budget control
- 9.4. International regulation of offshore hydrocarbons and concession frameworks
- 9.5. Licenses, permits, taxation and relations with regulators
- 9.6. Supply chain management, offshore logistics and specialized procurement
- 9.7. Asset management strategies, operational integrity and value maximization
- 9.8. Project evaluation with sensitivity analysis and market scenarios
- 9.9. Corporate governance, compliance and enterprise risk management offshore
- 9.10. Building strategic models to ensure competitiveness and financial sustainability
Asset Integrity, Decommissioning and Offshore Contract Management
- 10.1. Platform integrity management
- 10.2. Risk-based inspection (RBI)
- 10.3. Corrosion and protection of structures
- 10.4. Life extension of mature assets
- 10.5. Well plugging and abandonment
- 10.6. Platform decommissioning
- 10.7. OSPAR rules and reuse
- 10.8. Offshore service contracts
- 10.9. Supply chain management
- 10.10. Case study: a decommissioning plan
Final Project
- 11.1. Defining an offshore exploration, development, production or asset modernization project
- 11.2. Geological, technical, economic, environmental and regulatory diagnosis of the selected scenario
- 11.3. Conceptual design of the platform, production system and associated subsea network
- 11.4. Preparing the drilling, completion and well start-up plan
- 11.5. Developing the processing, storage and export architecture
- 11.6. Assessing operational risks, process safety and contingency plans
- 11.7. Integrating environmental criteria, sustainability and international regulatory compliance
- 11.8. Economic, financial, contractual and strategic analysis of the proposed investment
- 11.9. Writing the full technical report with modeling, calculations, schedule, risks and technical justification
- 11.10. Presentation and defense of the project with technical, economic, environmental and operational validation of the offshore development
Duration and format of the Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
It is 1,500 hours. Tell us how many you can study each week and we will tell you when you will really finish.
This is the pace at which most students finish. It fits well with the installment plan.
Academic leadership and faculty
The Navalis teaching team: working professionals who teach and supervise the programs.
Dr. Marina AlcoverAcademic Director and Head of Quality Assurance
Eng. Diego CifuentesSenior Lecturer in Naval Welding and Non-Destructive Testing; Head of QA/QC for Welded Joints
Capt. Javier Abaroa (MCA)Senior Lecturer in Ship Handling, Electronic Navigation (ECDIS/Radar/ARPA) and GMDSS; STCW Compliance and Bridge Resource Management Coordinator
Dr. Pau FerrerSenior Lecturer in Naval Architecture and Simulation; Director of the Hydrodynamics and CFD Laboratory
Dr. Nuria LlobregatSenior Lecturer in Marine Meteorology, SAR and Operational Safety; Navigation Risk Management Coordinator
Eng. Javier BañulsSenior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Automation and ETO Engineering; Electronic Integration and Engine Alarms Coordinator
Eng. Sofía MarquinaSenior Lecturer in Materials, Composites and Corrosion Protection; Coordinator of the Advanced Paints and Coatings Line
Eng. Tomás RieraSenior Lecturer in Propulsion, Alternative Energy and Hybrid Systems; Energy Performance and Vibration CoordinatorObjectives of the Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
Career opportunities after the Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
Questions about the Master's in Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms
It focuses entirely on offshore installations: fixed and floating platforms, drilling at sea, subsea production systems and the processing and export of hydrocarbons produced at sea.
No. An engineering or science background is advisable, and the first module introduces the offshore value chain, platform types, industry players and the main risks before moving into specialized topics.
Yes. Module 5 covers subsea architecture, trees and manifolds, umbilicals, flowlines and risers, subsea processing, installation with ROVs, integrity monitoring and flow assurance issues such as hydrates, wax and scale.
A great deal. Module 7 covers process safety, HAZID, HAZOP, FMEA and quantitative risk analysis, detection and shutdown systems, evacuation and survival, incident investigation and contingency plans for spills and blowouts.
Yes. Module 8 covers emissions reduction, electrification and carbon capture, and Module 10 covers asset integrity, life extension, well plugging and abandonment, platform decommissioning and OSPAR rules.
No. The program teaches offshore safety management, but the mandatory safety and survival training required to work on installations is delivered by approved training centers under industry and national requirements.
Through case studies and practical exercises in each module and a Final Project in which you develop a complete offshore development or modernization project, presented before a panel.
The master's is taught online, with live classes and downloadable content, and comprises 1500 hours of study across 11 modules of about 136 hours each, ending with a Final Project.
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Admission process
No waiting for a call back. If your documents are in order, you can enroll in the same session.
- Profile: aimed at civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, industrial and petroleum engineers, geologists, environmental scientists, energy professionals, project managers and technical consultants; demonstrable professional experience in the offshore oil and gas industry is also a valid route.
- Language: sufficient command of English to follow the classes and the technical documentation.
- Technical resources: a computer with a high-speed internet connection, software to view PDF documents, a microphone and, optionally, a camera for live sessions.
- Admission: online application, review of your profile and a short interview with the academic team.
- 01ApplicationYour details, background and documents.
- 02Instant reviewWe check that everything is complete and in order.
- 03EnrollmentChoose full payment or instalments and reserve your place.
Admission is provisional until the committee validates the documents provided. If you do not meet the requirements, the full amount is refunded.
Ask us before you enroll
Leave your details and admissions will write to you to answer any questions. If you are already sure, you can apply and pay in the same session.