The World Needs Petroleum Engineers
Learn about petroleum careers in "The Quest" |
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Petroleum Engineering Career Brochure |
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Career brochure crossword puzzle answers. |
Special Feature |
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Read about the advantages of a petroleum engineering education in The Way Ahead. |
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The demand for safe, affordable, clean energy has never been greater. And you can help meet this need. If you want to make a difference in the world—and if you are looking for challenge, adventure, choices, and excellent financial rewards—consider a career in petroleum engineering.Petroleum engineers make the world run. Petroleum engineers search the far corners of the earth and the world's oceans to find and produce oil and gas supplies. They keep energy flowing to light and heat our homes. They fuel our transportation systems and keep our industries operating. They spark the creation of thousands of products, from medicines and plastics to textiles and cosmetics. And they do all these things with the highest regard for protecting the environment. If you want to make a difference in the world, make a career in petroleum engineering.
Enter a World of Choices and Challenges
Petroleum engineering isn’t just one job. It is many different specialties, each with its own unique challenges and rewards. You can be a drilling engineer, working with geologists and contractors in designing and supervising drilling operations, many of which are multimillion-dollar ventures. You can work as a production engineer, developing processes and equipment to optimize oil and gas production. Or you can become a reservoir engineer and help determine ideal recovery processes, estimate the number of wells that can be economically drilled, and simulate future performance using sophisticated computer models.You can be a manager, an entrepreneur, economist, or environmental/safety specialist. Petroleum engineers may also find rewarding opportunities in such fields as teaching, consulting, and government service. Groundwater hydrology, environmental engineering, and safety engineering are other specialties within the petroleum industry. But your choices don't stop there.
Make the World Your Marketplace
Explore the high seas, remote jungles, vast deserts, and mountain ranges, developing oil and gas reserves where no one has drilled before. Help boost the energy production (and perhaps the entire economy) of countries around the globe. Live and work in many countries. Understand other cultures. As a petroleum engineer, travel—and the opportunity to become a citizen of the world—can be an important part of your career adventure.
Choose Your Work Environment
Where you work and the type of company you join are up to you. Options include working outdoors at a field location, indoors with a computer—or both. You can develop your talents within a multinational corporation or a small company, or become an independent operator and head your own firm. Your future can be what you want it to be.Read what people in the industry say about their jobs at enerygyprofessions.org
Enjoy Personal and Financial Rewards
As a petroleum engineer, you will contribute to meeting the energy needs while safeguarding the environment. And you will be well compensated for your efforts. Entry-level salaries for college graduates are among the highest of any field. So are long-term financial rewards. Equally satisfying, petroleum engineers gain responsibility faster and supervise important projects sooner than those in other engineering fields.
Start With the Right Education
In countries with college preparatory curricula in secondary schools, a science-engineering program emphasizing math, chemistry, and physics provides the necessary background for petroleum engineering. Pre-university students who have the option of selecting their courses should follow a similar academic path. Language, composition, economics, and history—courses needed for improving communication and management skills—are also highly recommended.What are the requirements once you enroll in a university? In some countries, you will study for a bachelor’s degree, concentrating on basic engineering courses during your first two years. In other countries, the entire undergraduate engineering program will focus on mastering the fundamentals of math, science, and engineering. In either case, in the final years of university, you can begin to specialize in petroleum engineering by taking the following courses:
Geology |
Properties of reservoir fluids |
Fluid flow in reservoir rocks |
Formation evaluation
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Reservoir analysis | |
Properties of reservoir rocks |
Well drilling |
Petroleum production |
