Middle East Technical University was founded under the name of Middle East High Technology Institute on November 15th, 1956 to contribute to the development of Turkey and Middle East countries and especially to train people so as to create a skilled workforce in the fields of natural and social sciences.Owing to the quality academic education that emphasizes merit and excellence in scientific, cultural and intellectual studies as well as owing to the accomplished and qualified METU graduates, the University has become one of the distinguished and respectable institutions of Turkey.

The Department Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering was established in 1964 as an option program of Mining Engineering Department. In 1982, it became an individual program of Engineering Faculty and had a change in its name from Petroleum Engineering to Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering in 1996. Research activities in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department may be broadly categorized as follows: rheological modelling of drilling fluids; environmental effects of drilling and production activities; reservoir characterization by CT scanning, geo statistical methods, fractal mathematics and artificial intelligence methods, underground storage of natural gas; enhanced oil recovery techniques; geothermal reservoir engineering; natural gas hydrates; bioremediation; scaling in geothermal waters; reservoir modelling.

People

Professor Mahmut Parlaktuna

Professor Parlaktuna works in Middle East Technical University Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department. His expertise is on petroleum, natural gas and geothermal reservoir engineering as well as natural gas hydrates. He actively takes part in the development activities of geothermal fields of Turkey as consultant. He was first fellow of country attending the Geothermal Training Program of United Nations University in Reykjavik – Iceland. He spent 3 years in Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim – Norway as visiting professor.

Professor Çağlar Sınayuç

Professor Sınayuç is an associate professor in Middle East Technical University Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department. Before joining the department, he worked for Imperial College London as a research associate for more than 3 years. He is a former GRASP (Greenhouse- Gas Removal Apprenticeship & Research and Studentship Program) researcher. He has contributed to the short-term modelling studies performed for EU 6th Framework CO2ReMoVe Project. He is specialized in CO2 flow modelling, geomechanical effects of CO2 injection and enhanced CBM recovery.

Professor İsmail Durgut

Professor Durgut is an assistant professor in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University. He worked formerly as a research scientist in the SINTEF Marine Environmental Technology Department (Norway Trondheim) from 2002 to 2012 and a research associate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology from 1998 to 2000. He has been involved in modelling and model development projects of several physical phenomena (oil spill in marine environment, biodegradation and oxygen diffusion in coastal sediments, penetration of spilled oil into shore sediments, multiphase pipe flow, non-isothermal pipe flow, oil/chemical pollution in groundwater aquifers).