Upstream Training Trust (UTT)

The Upstream Training Trust (UTT) is a South African non-profit organisation that promotes specialist skills development for the petroleum industry and the search for oil and gas. The Trust is administered through the Petroleum Agency SA (PASA), focuses on students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, and is based in Cape Town, according to a provider record checked in August 2026.

Registered name

Upstream Training Trust (UTT)

Type

Non-profit trust (petroleum exploration skills, administered through Petroleum Agency SA)

Fields funded

Geology, geophysics, chemical engineering, mathematics, IT and other oil and gas-related fields

Website

upstreamtrainingtrust.org.za

What “upstream” means

The oil and gas industry is often divided into upstream, midstream and downstream. Upstream covers exploration and production: finding oil and gas beneath land or seabed through geology and geophysics, drilling wells and bringing resources to the surface. Downstream covers refining and selling fuels. Upstream work depends on geologists, geophysicists, petroleum and chemical engineers, data specialists and environmental scientists.

Petroleum Agency SA

PASA regulates petroleum exploration and production in South Africa and is the custodian of the national petroleum exploration and production database. South Africa’s continental shelf covers some 200 000 square kilometres, and PASA issues technical cooperation permits, reconnaissance permits and exploration and production rights under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. Cabinet confirmed Dr Bongani Sayidini as PASA’s chief executive in October 2025.

A contested industry

Oil and gas exploration is controversial in South Africa. PASA has noted the Constitutional Court’s Wild Coast judgment, which it says reinforces that petroleum development cannot come at the expense of the environment, affected communities or constitutional rights, while South Africa still faces poverty and unemployment. Students considering this career should understand both the economic arguments and the environmental and community concerns.

What we know about the bursary

BursariesAfrica’s older UTT guide describes a bursary established in 1997 for South African students in fields related to upstream oil and gas, such as chemical engineering, geology, geophysics, mathematics and IT, covering tuition, accommodation, textbooks and meals, with applications usually between May and September. BursariesAfrica could not confirm any of those terms for the 2027 academic year.

The Trust’s website address did not resolve when BursariesAfrica checked on 15 September 2026, so the bursary’s current status is unconfirmed.

How to verify the bursary

Contact Petroleum Agency SA at its Century City office in Cape Town and ask whether the Upstream Training Trust bursary will run for 2027. Ask geology and geophysics departments at your university whether they have recent UTT bursars.

Energy students can compare the Shell bursary.