| Summary: | There are many persistent local and international conflicts in oil producing countries due to power struggles among the leaders, to have a total control on oil and gas supplies, etc. These conflicts have disrupted the oil and gas production and supplies which at one point saw the world?s oil price hit an all time high of US$147.27 on 11 July 2008. The high oil price was due to escalated demand than supply, and in reality there is no shortage of conventional oil and gas resources. In fact, the Earth has nearly 1.688 trillion barrels of proven crude oil, which will last 53.3 years at current rates of extraction. The problem lies in produceability and accessibility to those resources. Currently the oil and gas industry is facing a very challenging period with the world?s oil price has dropped sharply from above US$100 per barrel to US$50 per barrel as of 5 November 2015 due to the slowing demand from China, the United States of America, Japan, and Europe. As a result, many local and international oil companies and service companies have released or terminated their technical staff. Oil companies have to reduce their production cost or break-even dollar value per barrel in order to survive in this difficult time. On the other hand, this difficult environment will not stop the Department of Petroleum Engineering from offering the same number of places for the Bachelor Degree in Petroleum Engineering programme to Malaysian and international students. Via the accredited programme and UTM Professional Skills Certificate, those petroleum students are prepared for local and global markets.
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