The presence of reliable and affordable energy supplies is key to advancement of modern life. In the developing world, including Malawi, socio-economic growth is seriously hampered by costly and limited energy supplies. It is apparent that for the country to develop there is need to increase the energy capacity (Taulo et al., 2015).
Primary energy sources of the country consist of hydropower (2.8%), biomass (over 85%), coal and petroleum products (8.8%) and minor renewable energy sources (Gumula et al., 2013). Presently, all Petroleum and petroleum products are imported through ports in Mozambique and Tanzania. Malawi consumes about 1,000,000 million litres of petroleum products per day. The fuels are mainly used in transport sector and for power generation DEA (2018). The petroleum industry has however shown to be very sensitive to political turmoil and economic crises, which have considerably negative impacts on small economies like Malawi.
However, Malawi has potential to discover petroleum resources. This is because geologically Malawi is located within the East African Rift System, which is a proven environment for oil and gas. Several companies are already engaged in oil and gas exploration in the lower shire and Lake Malawi basins.
The oil and gas industry is very complex, requiring highly trained and skilled personnel. Despite possessing the potential to become a petroleum producing country in the future, the country does not have adequate expertise in the exploration, exploitation and management of these resources. Presently, there is no tertiary education institution offering specialized training in oil and gas to address the capacity constraints. Therefore, the programme will produce highly trained and skilled professionals who will contribute towards development and use of these oil and gas resources for socio-economic development of the country and poverty reduction (SDG 1, 2, 4 and 8; MGDS III, 6.3; Agenda 2063, Aspiration 1 and 6; Mines Mineral Policy, 2.7, 2007; Research Agenda in Energy, Industry and Engineering, 6.621, 2014). Some of the required skills are: oil and gas exploration, extraction and distribution; petroleum economics; and petroleum law and policy.

-Chemistry I
-Algebra & Trigonometry
-General Biology
-Physics I
-Language &Communication
-Introduction to Computer Application-Physics II

-Biology II
-Computer Programming
-Chemistry II
-Calculus I
-Technical & Business Communication

-Introduction to Space and Earth Sciences
-Minerals and Rocks
-Introduction to Geological Survey and Mapping
-Introduction to Petroleum Geology
-Calculus II
-Applied Mechanics and Kinetic Theory of Gases

-Fundamentals of Geochemistry
-Fundamentals of Geophysics
-Stratigraphy and Structural Geology
-Plate Tectonics and Geodynamics
-Fluid Mechanics
-Introduction to Petrology

-Probability and statistics
-Sedimentary Basin Analysis and Sequence Stratigraphy
-Petroleum Geochemistry
-Geochronology and Palaeontology
-Petroleum Exploration Techniques
-GIS and Remote sensing

-Formation Environments for Oil and Gas
-Research Methods
-Thermodynamics and Phase Behaviour
-Applied Seismology
-Reservoir Characterisation
-Geostatistics

-Drilling engineering
-Well Logging and Test Analysis
-Oil and Gas Reservoir Modelling
-Oil and Gas Prospecting and Economic Evaluation
-Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
-Research Project I

-Health and Safety in Petroleum Industry
-Oil and Gas Marketing and Economics
-Petroleum Law and Policy
-Business Management and Entrepreneurship
-Oil and Gas and the Environment
-Research Project II