The university, founded in 1953, was known then as
Beijing Petroleum Institute. It was founded acquiring the best petroleum associated departments in the country: • Petroleum research groups in Department of Geology, Department of Mining and Department of Chemical Engineering from
Tsinghua University • Petroleum research groups in four departments of Peiyang University (now
Tianjin University) • Part of Department of Chemical Engineering from
Peking University • Part of Department of Mathematics from Yanching University (now merged into Peking University) • Some students and faculty from fluid fuel research group in Department of Chemical Engineering from Dalian Institute of Technology (now
Dalian University of Technology) • Some students and faculty in Department of Mining and Department of Chemical Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical Institute (now the
Northwestern Polytechnical University) It moved to
Dongying,
Shandong Province in 1969, with name changed to Huadong Petroleum Institute. In 1988, it was renamed The University of Petroleum consisting of one part in
Dongying as the college and one in
Beijing as the graduate school. Each gradually developed into universities with both undergraduate and graduate students. In January 2005, its name changed to China University of Petroleum. In 2004, China University of Petroleum (Huadong) began to move to
Qingdao, and completed the relocation in 2012. The Dongying campus currently serves as the base for continuing education, remote education, research laboratories, and industry collaboration. China University of Petroleum specializes in upstream, midstream and downstream petroleum science and engineering, in the overall level of domestic lead. Its five
national key disciplines (second-level) are: • Chemical Engineering and Technology • Mineral Resources Prospecting and Exploration • Oil and Gas Well Engineering • Oil and Gas Storage and Transportation Engineering • Oil and Gas Field Development Engineering == Campus Environment ==