Petroleum Engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. In order to prepare for GATE Petroleum Engineering paper, candidates have to go through the syllabus that is divided into 16 broad sections. 

The syllabus for Petroleum Engineering includes topics like Linear Algebra, Calculus, Differential Equations, Numerical Methods, Petroleum Exploration, Oil & Gas Well Drilling Technology, Reservoir Engineering, Petroleum Production Operations, etc. The majority of questions that are 55 will be asked from these sections and the remaining 10 questions will be from General Aptitude.  Check GATE Exam Pattern

GATE Petroleum Engineering paper will have two types of questions namely- Objective type and Numerical Type. Read the article to know more about the syllabus, exam pattern, preparation tips, important books and much more.

Must Read:  Preparation Tips from GATE Topper

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GATE Petroleum Engineering (PE) Syllabus

There are various types of Petroleum Engineers like Reservoir engineers, Completion Engineers, Drilling Engineers, Drilling fluid engineers, Production engineers. The syllabus of Petroleum Engineering (PE) consists of 16 topics mentioned below: 

The major topics of Engineering Mathematics are:

• Linear Algebra
• Complex variables
• Calculus
• Differential Equations
• Probability and Statistics
• Numerical Methods

The major topics of Petroleum Engineering are:

• Petroleum Exploration
• Oil and Gas Well Drilling Technology
• Reservoir Engineering
• Petroleum Production Operations
• Offshore Drilling and Production Practices
• Petroleum Formation Evaluation
• Oil and Gas Well Testing
• Health Safety and Environment in Petroleum Industry
• Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques
• Latest trends in Petroleum Engineering

Direct link to download GATE Petroleum Engineering (PE) syllabus PDF 

Model Question from General Aptitude and Engineering Mathematics

• Sample Question 1: “Going by the _________ that many hands make light work, the school _______ involved all the students in the task.” The words that best fill the blanks in the above sentence are___________?
• Sample Question 2: A rectangle becomes a square when its length and breadth are reduced by 10 m and 5 m, respectively. During this process, the rectangle loses 650 m2 of area. What is the area of the original rectangle in square meters?

Weightage Of Sections

Also Check GATE Paper Analysis

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Important Topics in Petroleum Engineering 

• Sample Question 1: A cylindrical sandstone core, 7.5 cm long and 3.5 cm diameter has grain density of 3 g/cm3. If the mass of the dry core is 200 g, the porosity of the core is __________%. (rounded-off to two decimal places)
• Sample Question 2: The probability density for three binomial distributions (D1, D2, and D3) is plotted against number of successful trials in the given figure below. Each of the plotted distributions corresponds to a unique pair of (n, p) values, where, n is the number of trials and p is the probability of success in a trial. Three sets of (n, p) values are Set (n, p) I (60, 0.3) II (60, 0.2) III (24, 0.5). Pick the correct match between the (n, p) set and the plotted distribution.

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GATE Petroleum Engineering Exam Pattern 

GATE Exam Pattern is defined paper wise depending upon candidates’ discipline. There are some important points of GATE Exam Pattern. 

• GATE consists of 3 sections namely General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics and specific subject of the paper
• The question paper comprises a total 65 questions.
• There are two types of questions in GATE i.e. Multiple Choice type (MCQ) and Numerical Answer Type (NAT).
• Questions will be asked in random order and one has to select the answer (for MCQ type) and enter the answer for numerical answer type question using a mouse on a virtual keyboard.
• Students have to attempt all the questions in a duration of three hours. 
• The maximum number of questions in GATE is from the core subject.

Marking Scheme

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Books for Petroleum Engineering

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How to Prepare for PE Paper?

Your preparation plan should begin with a good knowledge of the syllabus and a better understanding of the exam pattern. After that comes the second step which you can call the secondary preparation plan and this plan should include the following:

1. Time and Target Based Study Plan

Time and target based study plans are different from each other. The time based study plan includes the proper division of time for daily study routine. You can divide your study time that is 5-6 hours into small intervals so that you can take breaks in between. 

On the other hand in target based study plan, you can divide the whole syllabus into months then into weeks and then into days. This way you can you will come to know that how much time you need to cover the whole syllabus and the time left for revision. For example, PE has 16 major topics and if you have 4 months left for the exam then you can split it into 1 topic a week that is 16 topics in 16 weeks. 

2. Revision from Notes

First of all, you have to make a habit of making notes during the time of preparation. Yes, make notes of all the important topics and revise them whenever you get time. In revision notes you can include:

• Basic concepts or important formulas.
• Tricks or short cut that can be applied in some questions.
• Important facts

This habit will save a lot of your time during your preparation as well as the exam. 

3. Right Study Material

The right study material is going to play a very important role during the time of preparations. Books, e-books, video lectures, etc are important but most of the candidates get confused and start recommending different books. Students are advised to not do this and are suggested to refer the books or study material that is easy to understand. Some of the important and best books are suggested above.

4. Practice Previous Years Papers

The previous years' papers are very helpful in understanding the exam pattern, type of questions, weightage given to each section, etc. You can include the practice papers in your daily or weekly study plan. All the candidates are advised to consider these papers as final paper and solve them with the same enthusiasm.

Download GATE Practice Paper of PE

5. Mock Test Series

Appearing for mock tests should be the last point in your preparation plan. Before appearing for mock tests you should complete your syllabus. Mock tests give the feel of real paper because it is an online test with a time limit. Some of the benefits of mock test are:

• You will come to know about your weaker areas.
• You can set your priorities like which section to solve first.
• Mock test helps in relieving stress before exam as they help you in getting an idea about the final exam.

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Syllabus Of Other Papers

Preparation time is the time when candidates need to show dedication and motivation towards study for at least two to three months. Keep a check on what you have studied and how well. If something is still left complete it and keep revising the other topics also. Start attempting the mock tests to assess your preparation levels and try to improve your weaker areas before appearing in the final exam.