For more than two decades, the University of Calgary's Oil and Gas Engineering Bachelor's program was popular with students seeking a career in energy – and perhaps a job in one of the downtown office towers.
But after a long recession in the oil patch, enrollment at record lows and the changing energy landscape, the university's engineering school is suspending the admission of new students to the undergraduate program. Existing students will still be able to complete their degree.
"It has really been a great program for us; it used to be a high demand program," said Professor Arin Sen, head of the department of chemical and petroleum engineering. "It was not a decision we made lightly."
The university said it has no plans to drop out of oil and gas studies. Sen said there are still several pathways for engineering students to pursue careers in oil and gas, including a major in petroleum engineering or graduate studies among many options.
"We have had partnerships with this sector for four decades … and we will continue to do so."
The news comes during a period of change in the energy sector in general, including the growth of renewable technologies, government commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and uncertainty about long-term demand for fossil fuels.
In Canada, the oil and gas sector is also trying to emerge from a long recession that resulted in thousands of layoffs. Meanwhile, energy demand continues to increase worldwide.
The oil and gas engineering undergraduate program at the university's Schulich School of Engineering was one of several routes that students they were able to pursue a career in the petroleum industry, including chemical, mechanical, civil engineering, and others.
Typically, about 40 new students would enter the program annually, but fewer than 10 graduated last year.
The university initiated a review of the program and, after consultation with students, alumni, professors, and industry, received provincial approval to suspend it.
Sen said that oil and gas will not disappear anytime soon, but added that it is also clear that people are looking for other forms of energy, not just in Alberta, but globally.
He noted activity in areas such as hydrogen geothermal and renewable energy . The provincial government is also exploring small modular nuclear reactors .
Sen said that resources will be allocated to explore ways to better support students who want to work in the province's evolving energy industry, including oil and gas.
The energy engineering program, which has an oil and gas component but also exposes students to renewable energy and sustainability, has been an area of growth.
Engineering is not the only department that feels a change in student interests.
The U of C has also seen a five-year decline in the number of college students with a major in petroleum geology, which is offered by the geosciences department.
But science faculty has seen growing interest and demand for programs like energy science, said spokeswoman Gloria Visser-Niven.
The faculty is responding with courses in energy transformation and distribution, mature energy fields such as hydroelectricity and nuclear energy, and renewable energy, he said.
He is also consulting with the engineering school on the development of a new energy science secondary program with a variety of renewable energy courses and research opportunities.
"Energy education continues to evolve in response to global market forces and societal demand for low-carbon energy sources," Visser-Niven said in an email.
SEE | Why student interest in petroleum courses is declining:
Hard times in industry and a changing energy landscape are part of the reason why Enrollment is down, says Arin Sen, professor and head of the petroleum and chemical engineering department. 0:59
At Memorial University in St. John's, NL, where many engineering graduates have found work in the petroleum industry over the years years, there is also greater interest in renewable energies such as solar, wind and tidal energy.
"We're also looking at … focusing a little bit more on greener technologies and these kinds of things," said Dennis Peters, acting dean of the faculty of engineering and applied sciences at Memorial University.
"This is where the world is heading and… we are recognizing the environment in which we find ourselves."
According to PetroLMI, which studies workforce data in the oil and gas sector, the industry is expected to hire a net total of 19,800 people over the next three years.
He predicts that engineers and geoscientists will make up about seven percent of that number. That includes petroleum, civil, mechanical, mining and chemical engineers.
David Langille, who received a master's degree in petroleum engineering from the U of C, is the incoming president of the Petroleum Engineers Canadian Educational Foundation Society. , a group that promotes energy literacy that offers scholarships to engineering students.
He said that today's young engineers are thinking about the future and the energy transition.
"New engineers, aspiring engineers, aspiring geoscientists, they're definitely trying to prepare for the future a little bit more," Langille said.
"They're thinking, 'OK, hey, I'm a petroleum engineer now, but where else am I going to be able to work this in [to] the energy system in the future?"
Amanda Quinn wants a career in energy and sees opportunities across the spectrum.
He is entering his final year in the U of C energy engineering program and is now interning with a company that works on desalination technology to help provide potable water.
Quinn, who has two sisters in the oil and gas industry, hopes the energy transition conversation will become less polarized and stereotype-focused, and more solutions-focused.
"There is much more technology that we can develop in the future when it comes to harnessing energy," he said.
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