GRO presentation for first year engineers 12-11-2025

For the first time in many years, a new BS degree will be offered in SSOE with Sophomore classes starting in Fall 2026

Natural Gas, Renewables and Oil Engineering “GRO”

Dr. Bob Enick 807 Benedum Hall rme@pitt.edu 412-277-0154 4-10-2026

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Natural Gas, Renewables and Oil Engineering

“GRO” is designed to be accredited by ABET as a Petroleum Engineering (PetE) degree

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However, unlike every other PetE program in the country that focuses almost exclusively on fossil fuels, GRO students at Pitt will take 10-11 courses (30-33 credits) in Natural Gas & Oil Engineering and 8-9 courses (24-27 credits) in Renewable Energy

Pitt’s GRO program recognizes that natural gas, oil, renewable energy, nuclear energy and carbon capture all play a vital role in the future of the US economy, and that an expanding amount of renewable energy is highly desirable.

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The GRO program will be “housed” in the Dept of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, but it is very distinct from the “ChE” degree.

By definition, Natural Gas & Oil Engineering deals with finding, accessing, producing and handling natural gas & oil from underground layers of porous rock such as sandstone, carbonates and shale (Chemical engineering deals with the processing and separation and purification of chemicals – including “petrochemicals” found in or made from natural gas and crude oil – AFTER they have been produced and have been transported in pipelines to ABOVE GROUND chemical plants) 4

NATURAL GAS AND OIL ENGINEERING GRO includes ALL subterranean aspects and GRO includes the surface equipment near the well used to collect, separate and begin pipeline transportation

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Refinery operation

These hydrocarbons are sent to various chemical plants to make fuel, raw materials, polymers

GRO will also include gathering, pumping, dehydration, pipelines, compression, LNG

Refinery Process

Vertical well Layers of rock formations

NATURAL GAS AND OIL ENGINEERING Natural gas is methane-rich, but also contains ethane, propane, butane and impurities

Horizontal well

Oil is crude oil, a dark liquid composed of C5 – C30+ hydrocarbons and impurities 5

Production of Natural Gas from fractured underground horizontal wells completed in the Marcellus Shale in Western PA – Petroleum Engineering Produce natural gas that contains methane (used for heating homes) and a substantial amount of ethane (used to make chemicals)

7000’ below surface

Underground activity – natural gas & oil engineers

Shell’s Cracker Plant in Monaca PA – Chemical Engineering Takes ethane from the natural gas produced by petroleum engineers, and transforms it into ethylene and then polyethylene plastic pellets Above ground activity – chemical engineers 6

What are the most important traditional topics in Natural Gas & Oil Engineering Geology (using geology to understand the nature of natural gas and oil that occur in various types of underground layers of rock such as conventional formations of sandstone and carbonates with pores so big that the fluids can flow through them, and unconventional formations such as shale with pores so small that fluids must diffuse into and out of them Exploration Geophysics (using scientific tools to locate, characterize, and estimate the amount of underground natural gas and oil ) Well logging

Well

Various layers of rock.

Do any contain natural gas or oil?

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What are the Natural Gas & Oil Engineering classes?

GRO 0100/101 GRO 0201 GRO 0300 GRO 0400 GRO 0500 GRO 0600/601

ROCK AND FLUID PROPERTIES AND LAB THERMODYNAMICS AND FLUID MECHANICS LABORATORY DRILLING AND WELL COMPLETIONS AND LAB RESERVOIR ENGINEERING PRODUCTION, INJECTION, ARTIFICIAL LIFT & HANDLING FLUIDS SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT INCLUDING ETHICS AND SAFETY

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NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW

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What are some of the modern topics in Natural Gas & Oil Engineering

Greenhouse Gas Minimization while producing natural gas & oil GRO 0501

GREENHOUSE GAS MINIMIZATION IN PRODUCTION FACILITIES

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NEW

Big Data and AI for finding and characterizing huge, deep underground layers of rock containing natural gas and or oil, GRO 0150

NUMERICAL METHODS AND DATA ANALYTICS

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NEW

Hydrogen production in several classes CO2 sequestration/ CO2 disposal/ Carbon storage – in several classes

After chemical and mechanical engineers capture CO2 (i.e. “carbon”) leaving power plants and chemical plants, Natural gas & Oil engineering principles are used to inject the liquid CO2 into deep, unusable underground aquifers; and into oil bearing conventional and unconventional formations during EOR

Marcellus Shale and Bakken Shale; Horizontal Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing GRO 0303 CEE 1809

GEOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND PROCESSING OF UNCONVENTIONAL GAS HYDRAULIC FRACTURING MECHANICS AND APPLICATIONS

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NEW elective 9

The Marcellus and Utica layers of natural gas-bearing rock

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Pitt: GRO program

Utica Marcellus Utica under Marcellus

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Natural Gas and Oil Engineering Faculty members

2 new faculty with Oil and Gas expertise 2026 Appointment Stream Assistant Professor – search is in progress, candidate starts Aug 2026 Mohammad Masnadi

2027 Tenure Stream Associate Professor – search starts in March 2027, candidate start August 2027

In addition to Natural Gas & Oil Engineering courses, the curriculum provides extensive coverage of topics that will allow our graduates to Facilitate a realistic Energy Transition from a Fossil Fuel-based Economy (coal, oil and natural gas) To ever increasing proportions of cleaner natural gas and oil, rather than coal to an integrated, coordinated blend of Natural Gas & Oil and Renewable Energy aspiring to attain ever-increasing amounts and proportions of Renewable Energy While disposing of CO2 in deep underground layers of rock containing brine (aquifers) GRO 0151 GRO 0151

ENERGY RESOURCES: FROM HYDROCARBONS TO RENEWABLES ENERGY RESOURCES: FROM HYDROCARBONS TO RENEWABLES

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Why not just go to 100% Renewables?

Why are natural gas & oil still so vital?

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LLNL (Lawrence Livermore National Lab) 2023 Analysis on Energy Sources and Uses in the US Where does our energy in the US come from?

1 quad = 10 E15 BTU

82% Fossil fuels 9% Nuclear 9% Renewables

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This is not simply a domestic issue for the US. The entire world is facing these economic, energy and environmental challenges as shown in the following figures

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Global Industry Outlook for 2050

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Trump administration 2019 EIA Global Projections Energy Information Administration

80% of 615 quads 500 quads

69% of 910 quads 17 625 quads

Biden administration 2021 EIA Global Projections Energy Information Administration

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Although the % of energy from Renewables is increasing, the total demand for energy is increasing even faster.

Therefore, the need for natural gas & oil is projected to continue to slowly grow over the next 3+ decades.

It is our hope that the GRO program will educate, train and inspire you to hasten the Energy Transition, because currently, all projections indicate that this transition from fossil fuels top renewables will take many decades.

We need natural gas & oil engineers and continued growth and development of renewables.

We believe that young, creative engineers can work together to develop innovative solutions for meeting the world’s interconnected environmental concerns, energy demands, standard of living goals, and national security needs while maintaining a strong and vibrant economy.

Specifically, there is a clear consensus that the best way to hasten the energy transition is to develop creative means for making renewable energy sources more affordable.

The GRO program is intended to “future-proof” the careers of those entering the natural gas and oil engineering field by providing them with extensive training in renewable energy, which will become an increasingly important and significant part of the 19 US and global energy mixes in upcoming decades.

What are the Renewables classes?

7 required core Renewables courses The 7 required renewable energy engineering courses for the GRO student GRO 0151:

Energy Resources: From Fossil to Renewables

3 cr

GRO 0252:

Environmental, energetic and economic assessment of energy systems

3 cr

GRO 0353:

Energy storage and chemical transformations (including lithium batteries)

3 cr

GRO 0460:

Solar Energy Engineering

3 cr

GRO 0470:

Biomass and Biofuels Engineering

3 cr

GRO 0480:

Wind and Hydro Energy Engineering

3 cr

GRO 0454:

Subsurface technologies for renewables and decarbonization (including geothermal energy and CO2 disposal in aquifers)

3 cr

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What are the Renewables classes?

1 required Renewables elective The 1 Renewables elective is chosen from this Menu of Renewables electives GRO 0490

Electrification, decarbonization, and process intensification

3 cr

ENGR 1283

Exploration Energy and Electrification

3 cr

ENGR 1300

Energy Tomorrow

6 cr

ENGR 1700

Introduction to Nuclear Energy*

3 cr

MEMS 1111 Materials Energy Generation and Storage

3cr

ECE 1701

Fundamentals of Electric Power Engineering

3 cr

ECE 1710

Power Distribution Systems Engineering and Smart Grids

3 cr

ECE 1773

Power Generation, Operation, and Control

3 cr

ECE 2780

Renewable and Alternative Energy (Grad course by permission)

3 cr

*Note that Nuclear Energy is typically referred to as an Alternative Energy source 21

1 required STEM elective that may be Renewables Many electives are Renewables-related, others are Natural Gas & Oil-related, others are sustainability- or climate-related

ENGR 16xx CEE 1809 GEOL 1413 GEOL 0840 GEOL 1030 GEOL 1342 GEOL 1460 GEOL 1316 GEOL 1333 CHE 1016 ENGR 1905 CEE 1610 CEE 1609 GEOL 1333 GEOL 1030 PS 1364 PS 1542

ANY RENEWABLES COURSE FROM THE PREVIOUS LIST Emerging Sust. Energy Solutions US and Denmark Hydraulic Fracturing Mechanics and Applications Geophysical Well Logging Environmental Science The Atmosphere, Oceans and Climate Environmental Issues Intro to Remote Sensing Environmental Justice Sustainability Green Chemical Eng and Sustainability Current Issues in Sustainability Engineering and Sustainable Development Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) Methods and Tools Sustainability The Atmosphere, Oceans and Climate Climate Change and Public Policy Global Environmental Politics

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Renewables Engineering Faculty members

Alejandra Torres Velasco

Mohammad Masnadi

1 new faculty with Renewables expertise Fall 2027 Tenure Stream

The entire curriculum

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Blue courses: SSOE-required to meet school and ABET General Criteria Red courses: required Geology courses Yellow courses: Natural Gas and Oil Eng. Green courses : Renewable Energy/Energy Transition/Zero Net Carbon/Sustainability courses Gray courses: MEMS courses Olive courses: STEM elective

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Although it may seem counter-intuitive at first, natural gas & oil engineering and renewables engineering are complementary tools to address our energy needs and climate concerns

The increased production of oil & especially clean-burning natural gas has enabled us to be less reliant on coal Burning natural gas releases less CO2 than burning oil, which releases less CO2 than burning coal The same drilling and well completion technologies developed to produce natural gas and oil from the underground rock layers are also being used to inject high pressure CO2 into very deep underground aquifers for disposal (rather than emitting the CO2 into the atmosphere) The same drilling and well completion technologies developed to produce natural gas and oil from the underground rock layers are also being used to produce natural hydrogen from underground rock formation (hydrogen produces no CO2 when it is burned or used in a fuel cell) The same drilling and well completion technologies developed to produce natural gas and oil from the underground rock layers are also being used to extract energy from geothermal rock formations The same fluids handling and oil refining techniques used by chemical and petroleum engineers for crude oil can be applied to the manufacture and processing of biodiesel 26

It is extremely important to get internship experience in the Natural Gas & Oil industry and/or the Renewables industry prior to graduation.

Currently there are many more Natural Gas & Oil Eng companies in our region than Renewables companies We will be coordinating our interactions with alumni, our GRO advisory board, and industry contacts and providing this information to the SSOE Cooperative Education and Internships Office (Chris Ann Frankovic, Tyler Kimmel) 27

Current GRO Industry Advisory Board Members Adam Redling - Range Resources Will Chastka - EQT J.E.B. Bolen - EQT Andy Iezzi - Geopetro Loren Anderson - Marcellus Shale Coalition Dan Christensen - NextEra Energy Mohan Kelkar – Applied Prof, PetE, Univ. of Tulsa John Gargani – retired from Southwest Energy Bill Foley – retired from Chevron John Karish – retired from BP and Ensco Patti Tuite - Deloitte Josh Higgins - Oriden Dean Martin - Marathon

Other companies that attended the GRO Webinar in Feb 2026 H Quest Vanguard Williams Chevron EOS Energy American Gas Association

Informal members Peter Hoffman – DT Midstream Pat Vescovi - Venture Engineering & Construction 28

How can these companies interact with the GRO program at Pitt?

Suggesting improvements in the GRO curriculum and undergraduate laboratory Providing summer internships opportunities starting in Summer 2027 for the students who start as GRO sophomores in the Fall of 2026) Offering interviews for fulltime placement after graduation (our first seniors will be graduating in May 2029) Inviting students to conferences such as SHALE INSIGHT? 2026 University Research Showcase on September 2224, Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pa (Thanks to MSC)

Having industry representatives give an undergrad seminar to the GRO students (ChE can also attend).

Having industry experts give a lecture in an undergrad GRO class.

Assisting with Senior Design Projects Industry representation on our GRO Advisory Board.

Organizing a student group tour of an industry facility.

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Dr. Bob Enick 807 Benedum Hall rme@pitt.edu 412-277-0154

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BLS Stats 2024 PetE Data (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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BLS Stats 2024 PetE

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BLS Stats 2024 PetE

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Georgetown's Center on Education and the Workforce released a new study last week (Nov 2025) on outcomes associated with various undergraduate fields and majors. Petroleum engineering is all over it: "Median earnings by major show even larger differences, ranging from $51,000 for early childhood education majors to $146,000 for petroleum engineering majors."

"At the individual major level, architecture and engineering degrees yield the highest earnings, led by petroleum engineering, metallurgical engineering, and nuclear engineering majors."

"The most lucrative majors are not always the most common. Workers who majored in petroleum engineering, metallurgical engineering, and nuclear engineering make up less than half of a percent (per major) of all workers with a bachelor’s degree. Colleges and universities are more likely to offer majors such as chemical engineering..."

Notably, it does note that "high earnings do not always correlate with broad job availability," and that there will be "relatively few" annual job openings for petro engineering over the next decade. Which is just another reason your program's broader focus on other kinds of energy engineering is so relevant!

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The Marcellus layer of natural gas-bearing rock is about 7000 feet below you, and about 100 feet thick

Maps, Graphics, and Videos | Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR)

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Many natural gas companies, oil companies and energy companies have been/are active in or near our region.

We also have contacts at companies in different parts of the US. We are/will be reaching out to them to determine their interest in GRO students.

Deloittee, NextEra Energy, Marcellus Shale Coalition, American Gas Association, EQT, Range Resources, Williams, Chevron, H Quest Vanguard, EOS Energy, Marathon Petroleum, GeoPetro, Coterra, CNX, EOG, Columbia Gas, Exxon Mobil, Alliance Coal, Guttman Energy, National Fuel, Sonneborn, Schlumberger, Cabot, West Penn Energy, Anadarko, Atlas, Chesapeake, Chief, Cameron, Shell, Universal Well Services, Deep Well Services, Oriden Active Oil and Gas Companies in Pennsylvania and companies with interest in renewable

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