Petroleum Engineering

1

• Petroleum Engineering

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
2
Petroleum Engineering

• Overview
• Petroleum engineers search the world for
  reservoirs containing oil or natural gas. Once
  these resources are discovered, petroleum
  engineers work with geologists and other
  specialists to understand the geologic formation
  and properties of the rock containing the
  reservoir, determine the drilling methods to be
  used, and monitor drilling and production
  operations.
• They design equipment and processes to achieve
  the maximum profitable recovery of oil and gas.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
3
Petroleum Engineering

• Overview (continued)
• Because only a small proportion of oil and gas in
  a reservoir will flow out under natural forces,
  petroleum engineers develop and use various
  enhanced recovery methods.
• These include injecting water, chemicals, gases,
  or steam into an oil reservoir to force out more
  of the oil, and computer-controlled drilling or
  fracturing to connect a larger area of a
  reservoir to a single well.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
4
Petroleum Engineering

• Preparation
• A bachelor's degree in engineering is required
  for almost all entry-level engineering jobs.
• Admissions requirements for undergraduate
  engineering schools include a solid background in
  mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and
  calculus) and science (biology, chemistry, and
  physics), and courses in English, social studies,
  humanities, and computer and information
  technology.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
5
Petroleum Engineering

• Preparation (continued)
• Bachelor's degree programs in engineering
  typically are designed to last 4 years, but many
  students find that it takes between 4 and 5 years
  to complete their studies.
• In a typical 4-year college curriculum, the first
  2 years are spent studying mathematics, basic
  sciences, introductory engineering, humanities,
  and social sciences. Petroleum engineering
  students may also take courses such as Reservoir
  Petrophysics, Petroleum Engineering Systems, and
  Physical Geology during these years.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
6
Petroleum Engineering

• Preparation (continued)
• In the last 2 years, a petroleum engineering
  program might include courses in Drilling and
  Production Systems, Geostatistics, Well
  Performance, Reservoir Fluids, Petroleum Project
  Evaluation, Engineering Ethics, and Well
  Completion and Stimulation.
• Those interested in a career in petroleum
  engineering should consider reviewing engineering
  programs that are accredited. A full list is on
  the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center website.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
7
Petroleum Engineering

• Day in the Life
• A degree in petroleum engineering can lead to
  many career paths. While most work directly for
  oil and gas production companies, the options for
  work are broad and cross over many industries.
  Petroleum engineers focus on a wide range of
  projects and activities. Some focus on production
  challenges, identifying, testing, and
  implementing methods for improving oil and gas
  production. They might focus on economics,
  helping a team determine the optimum number of
  wells appropriate for a given operation.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
8
Petroleum Engineering

• Day in the Life (continued)
• A petroleum engineer may focus on safety issues,
  or maintenance support, identifying and planning
  upgrades of equipment or systems. A petroleum
  engineer may choose to teach, or to serve as a
  consultant to investors, banks, or other
  financial services firms.
• The type of job a petroleum engineer has will
  often determine whether how much they work inside
  or outside. Many petroleum engineers work on job
  sites, but others work in an office setting.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
9
Petroleum Engineering

• Day in the Life (continued)
• A consultant to the financial industry, for
  example, may spend most of their time working in
  an office setting. There are strong
  international travel opportunities for petroleum
  engineers, as it is very much a global business.
  Many companies have offices and sites in multiple
  countries and transfers are common.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
10
Petroleum Engineering

• Earnings
• According to a 2005 salary survey by the National
  Association of Colleges and Employers, bachelor's
  degree candidates in petroleum engineering
  received starting salary offers averaging 61,516
  a year. They are among the highest paid
  engineers.
• The Society of Petroleum Engineers conducts a
  global salary survey of members. For the most
  recent survey (2004), worldwide, respondents (all
  ages, education levels, and years in the field)
  reported an average income of 101,634.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
11
Petroleum Engineering

• Employment
• Petroleum engineers, held about 16,000 jobs in
  2004, mostly in oil and gas extraction,
  professional, scientific and technical services,
  and petroleum refining. Employers include major
  oil companies and hundreds of smaller,
  independent oil exploration, production, research
  institutes, and service companies. Most petroleum
  engineers work where oil and gas are found. Large
  numbers are employed in Texas, Louisiana,
  Oklahoma, Alaska, and California, and many work
  overseas in other oil-producing countries.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
12
Petroleum Engineering

• Career Path Forecast
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau
  of Labor Statistics, petroleum engineers are
  expected to have a decline in employment through
  2014 because most of the potential
  petroleum-producing areas in the United States
  already have been explored.
• Even so, favorable opportunities are expected for
  petroleum engineers because the number of job
  openings is likely to exceed the relatively small
  number of graduates.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
13
Petroleum Engineering

• Career Path Forecast (continued)
• All job openings should result from the need to
  replace petroleum engineers who transfer to other
  occupations or leave the labor force. Petroleum
  engineers work around the world and, in fact, the
  best employment opportunities may be in other
  countries. Many foreign employers seek
  U.S.-trained petroleum engineers, and many U.S.
  employers maintain overseas branches where
  petroleum engineers work.

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
14
Petroleum Engineering

• Resources
• More information about Petroleum Engineering is
  available at the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center,
  including employer lists, Petroleum Engineering
  programs, suggestions for precollege students, a
  free monthly careers newsletter, and a PDF that
  summarizes the field.
• Associations
• American Association of Petroleum Geologists
• American Gas Association
• American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and
  Petroleum Engineers
• American Petroleum Institute
• Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration
• Society of Petroleum Engineers

Overview Preparation Day in the Life
Earnings Employment Career Path Forecast
Resources
Developed by the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.