English for the Petroleum Industry

Introduction

English for the Petroleum Industry is an online course, consisting of 56 units of English, and providing approximately 60 hours of study for students.

Course aims

To give students at Intermediate, CEFR B1/Upper Intermediate B2 level practice in general and business-oriented language required for business contexts at this level, specifically tailored towards the specialisation of oil and petroleum. The course blends grammatical structures necessary for this level, with vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, speaking and pronunciation.

Граматика

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Use present and past tenses correctly
  • Use the appropriate conditional forms to talk about situations and consequences.
  • Use the present perfect to describe a link between past and present events.
  • Use going to and will to talk about future predictions and intentions.
  • Use the passive form correctly
  • Distinguish and be able to correctly describe countable and uncountable nouns.

Речник

By the end of the course students will have learnt approximately 120 lexical items used in a oil and petroleum setting.

Skills

By the end of the course students will have had exposure to and practice in reading and hearing formal and informal English from a variety of accents and oil and petroleum contexts.

Unit summary

Module 1

  • Introduction to the Petroleum Industry
  • Grammar: Present tenses
  • Речник: Essential petroleum industry vocabulary
  • Четене: A history of oil exploration
  • Слушане: A life in oil
  • Писане: A day in the life of an oil worker
  • Говорене: Opinions: working in the oil industry
  • Pronunciation: Anxious and Chess + connected speech

Module 2

  • Oil Exploration and Production
  • Grammar: Past tenses
  • Речник: Exploration techniques, drilling, reservoirs and extraction methods
  • Четене: How oil exploration has changed over the last 30 years
  • Слушане: Oil exploration: a presentation
  • Писане: Extracting oil
  • Говорене: Opinions: looking for oil
  • Pronunciation: Beats and Beach + connected speech

Module 3

  • Oil Refining and Processing
  • Grammar: Going to and Will
  • Речник: Oil refining processes, distillation, cracking, product streams
  • Четене: Oil: the journey from the ground to the petrol tank
  • Слушане: Processing different types of crude oil (light and heavy)
  • Писане: Refining crude oil
  • Говорене: Opinions: making petrol
  • Pronunciation: Bet and But + connected speech

Module 4

  • Oil Transportation and Storage
  • Grammar: Present perfect
  • Речник: Oil transportation methods, pipelines, tankers, storage facilities
  • Четене: Transportation issues for oil companies
  • Слушане: Transporting oil: the problems
  • Писане: Safe transportation of oil
  • Говорене: Opinions: moving oil
  • Pronunciation: Bud and Bird + connected speech

Module 5

  • Safety and Environmental Considerations
  • Grammar: Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Речник: Safety regulations, environmental impact, risk assessment, emergency response
  • Четене: Safety and Environmental Hazards at an Oil Refinery
  • Слушане: Safety briefing on an oil rig
  • Писане: Safety concerns
  • Говорене: Opinions: oil and the environment
  • Pronunciation: Cart and Cut + connected speech

Module 6

  • Petroleum Industry Regulations and Compliance
  • Grammar: First conditional
  • Речник: Regulatory bodies, legislation, compliance, permits, inspections
  • Четене: Petroleum industry regulations and compliance
  • Слушане: Updates to regulations
  • Писане: Rules and regulations
  • Говорене: Opinions: too much regulation?
  • Pronunciation: Day and Ray + connected speech

Module 7

  • Petroleum Industry Economics and Market Trends
  • Grammar: Passive
  • Речник: Market trends, supply and demand, pricing, competition, forecasts
  • Четене: Customer feedback and service reports
  • Слушане: Oil market update
  • Писане: Investing in oil
  • Говорене: Opinions: should I invest in oil?
  • Pronunciation: Guess and Yes + connected speech

Module 8

  • What does the future hold for the oil industry?
  • Grammar: Second conditional
  • Речник: People in the oil and petroleum industry
  • Четене: The future of petrol
  • Слушане: Is there a future for oil companies?
  • Писане: Careers in the oil industry
  • Говорене: Opinions: oil or alternative energies?
  • Pronunciation: Hope and Hop + connected speech

Follow-up

Students completing the English for the Petroleum Industry course should feel confident in tackling any upper intermediate course, including our Upper Intermediate Business Power course.