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Welcome to the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering at LSU!

With over 90 years of distinction, our department remains one of the most respected petroleum engineering programs in the nation. From the earliest days of oilfield development to today’s complex energy transition, LSU has been a cornerstone of education, research, and innovation — preparing graduates to lead at the highest levels of industry, academia, and government.

We are proud of our deep roots and enduring legacy, but equally excited about the future. Our department is actively reshaping the role of petroleum engineers in a lower-carbon world. We are not standing still — we are leading the charge.

Undergraduate Excellence & Industry Innovation

Our undergraduate program is built on a strong foundation in drilling, production, and reservoir engineering, but is also deeply attuned to the evolving needs of the energy sector. We emphasize hands-on learning, close industry engagement, and rigorous technical training that prepares our students to contribute from day one.

We are also proud to offer the first undergraduate concentration in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) in the country — a bold step forward in redefining the petroleum engineer’s role in the energy transition. This concentration equips students with the scientific, engineering, and policy insight needed to lead in carbon management, subsurface storage, and next-generation field development.

Research That Matters

Our faculty and students are engaged in research that spans traditional upstream topics and the forefront of energy innovation. Here are just some of the topics we are making critical contributions in:

• Carbon capture and storage (CCS), and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), CO₂ Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) - developing advanced injection models, well integrity protocols, monitoring systems for long-term geologic sequestration in addition to fundamental laboratory research.
• Geomechanics and reservoir integrity — using cutting-edge modeling and field data to assess how subsurface formations respond to injection and depletion over time.
• Hydrogen storage and subsurface energy systems — applying petroleum engineering principles to enable large-scale underground hydrogen storage, a key enabler for decarbonized power and mobility.
• Machine learning and data analytics — leveraging data-driven methods to improve reservoir characterization, drilling optimization, and real-time production surveillance.
• Unconventional resources — improving our understanding of shale reservoir behavior, stimulation effectiveness, long-term production mechanisms and EOR in shale reservoirs.
• Wellbore diagnostics and monitoring — advancing fiber-optic sensing, pressure transient analysis, and smart completion systems to ensure safety and performance in complex wells.

The Nation’s Premier Petroleum Testing Facility

We are also home to the Petroleum Engineering Research, Training, and Testing (PERTT) Laboratory, a large-scale industrial research facility unmatched by any university in the world. At PERTT, we have six wells where we work with drilling mud systems, nitrogen and CO₂, full-scale well control equipment, and real-world scenarios. This lab is where theory meets field reality — and where both students and industry professionals learn to thrive under pressure. In addition, we have plans to drill a well in 2025 dedicated to CO₂ research. Stay tuned!

Leading in Louisiana and Beyond

Louisiana is positioned to become a national and global leader in CCUS and geologic carbon storage, and LSU is at the center of that effort. But this leadership is built on decades of classic petroleum engineering excellence — in drilling, completions, reservoir development, and production operations — developed right here in the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering. With our unique geology, Class VI primacy, and industrial CO₂ sources, this state is poised to lead the next wave of carbon management — and Craft & Hawkins is playing an integral role. Through collaborative research with government agencies, private partners, and peer institutions, we are helping to define best practices, train the workforce, and develop the science that will make large-scale decarbonization possible.

Whether you are a prospective student looking for a rigorous and rewarding program, a researcher interested in collaboration, or an industry leader seeking technical solutions — I invite you to connect with us. At LSU Petroleum Engineering, we’re not just studying the energy transition. We’re engineering it.

Geaux Tigers!

Dr. David S. Schechter, Ph.D.
Chair and Longwell-Leonard Distinguished Professor
Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering
Louisiana State University