Petroleum Engineers : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary

Petroleum engineers often travel to the oil rigs to oversee operations first-hand.

Quick Facts: Petroleum Engineers
2010 Median Pay	$114,080 per year $54.85 per hour
Entry-Level Education	Bachelor’s degree
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	None
Number of Jobs, 2010	30,200
Job Outlook, 2010-20	17% (About as fast as average)
Employment Change, 2010-20	5,100

What Petroleum Engineers Do

Petroleum engineers design and develop methods for extracting oil and gas from deposits below the earth’s surface. Petroleum engineers also find new ways to extract oil and gas from older wells.

Work Environment

Petroleum engineers generally work in offices or in research laboratories. However, they must also spend time at drilling sites, often for long periods of time.

How to Become a Petroleum Engineer

Petroleum engineers must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, preferably in petroleum engineering. Employers also value work experience, so cooperative engineering programs, in which students earn academic credit for structured job experience, are valuable as well.

Pay

The median annual wage for petroleum engineers was $114,080 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of petroleum engineers is expected to grow 17 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Oil prices will be a major determinant of employment growth, as higher prices lead to increasing complexity of oil companies’ operations and require more engineers for each drilling operation.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of petroleum engineers with similar occupations.

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What Petroleum Engineers Do About this section

Petroleum engineers help find oil and gas for the country’s energy needs.

Petroleum engineers design and develop methods for extracting oil and gas from deposits below the earth’s surface. Petroleum engineers also find new ways to extract oil and gas from older wells.

Duties

Petroleum engineers typically do the following:

Design equipment to extract oil and gas in the most profitable way
Develop ways to inject water, chemicals, gases, or steam into an oil reserve to force out more of the oil
Develop plans to drill in oil and gas fields, and then to recover the oil and gas
Make sure that wells, well testing, and well surveys are completed and evaluated
Use computer-controlled drilling or fracturing to connect a larger area of an oil and gas deposit to a single well
Make sure that oil field equipment is installed, operated, and maintained properly

Oil and gas deposits, or reservoirs, are located deep in rock formations underground. These reservoirs can only be accessed by drilling wells, either on land or at sea from off-shore oil rigs.

Once oil and gas are discovered, petroleum engineers work with geologists and other specialists to understand the geologic formation of the rock containing the reservoir. They then determine drilling methods, design and implement the drilling equipment, and monitor operations.

The best techniques currently being used recover only a portion of the oil and gas in a reservoir, so petroleum engineers also research and develop new ways to recover the oil and gas. This helps to lower the cost of drilling and production.

Work Environment About this section

Petroleum engineers generally work in an office setting, but must sometimes work on site to monitor operations.

Petroleum engineers held about 30,200 jobs in 2010.

Petroleum engineers generally work in offices or in research laboratories. However, they must also spend time at drilling sites, often for long periods of time. This means they must travel, sometimes with little notice.

Industries employing the largest numbers of petroleum engineers in 2010 were as follows:

Oil and gas extraction	45%
Support activities for mining	15
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing	7

Petroleum engineers work around the world; and, in fact, the best employment opportunities may include some work in other countries.

Work Schedules

Petroleum engineers typically work full time. Many work as many as 50 or 60 hours per week when traveling to and from drilling sites to help in their operation or respond to problems as they arise. When they are at a drilling site, it is common for these engineers to work in a rotation: on duty for 84 hours and then off duty for 84 hours.

How to Become a Petroleum Engineer About this section

Petroleum engineers must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, preferably in petroleum engineering.

Education

Students interested in studying petroleum engineering will benefit from taking high school courses in mathematics, such as algebra, trigonometry, and calculus; and science, such as biology, chemistry, and physics.

Entry-level petroleum engineering jobs require a bachelor's degree. Bachelor's degree programs typically take 4 years and include classroom, laboratory, and field studies in areas such as engineering principles, geology, and thermodynamics. Most colleges and universities offer cooperative programs in which students gain practical experience while completing their education.

Some colleges and universities offer a 5-year program that leads to both a bachelor’s degree and a master's degree. A graduate degree allows an engineer to work as an instructor at some universities or in research and development. Some 5-year or even 6-year cooperative plans combine coursework with practical work, permitting students to gain experience and to finance part of their education.

ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredits programs in petroleum engineering.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Petroleum engineers must be able to assess complex plans for drilling and anticipate possible flaws or complications before the company commits money and people to carry out the plans.

Creativity. Petroleum engineers must come up with new ways to extract oil and gas because each new drill site presents challenges. They must know how to ask the necessary questions to find possible deposits of oil and gas.

Math skills. Petroleum engineers use the principals of calculus and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work.

Problem-solving skills. Identifying problems in drilling plans is critical for petroleum engineers because drilling operations can be costly. They must be careful not to overlook any possibilities that something unwanted may happen.

Teamwork. Petroleum engineers must be able to work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including other oil and gas workers who will carry out the engineers’ drilling plans.

Licenses

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require petroleum engineers to have a license if they offer their services directly to the public. Licensed engineers are called professional engineers (PEs). Licensure generally has the following requirements:

A degree from an ABET-accredited engineering program
A passing score on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam
Relevant work experience, a minimum of 4 years
A passing score on the Professional Engineering (PE) exam

The initial Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam can be taken after earning a bachelor’s degree. Engineers who pass this exam commonly are called engineers in training (EITs) or engineer interns (EIs). After getting suitable work experience, EITs and EIs can take the second exam, called the Principles and Practice of Engineering.

Several states require continuing education for engineers to keep their license. Most states recognize licensure from other states if the licensing state’s requirements meet or exceed their own licensure requirements.

Certification

The Society of Petroleum Engineers offers certification. To be certified, petroleum engineers must be members of the Society, pass an exam, and meet other qualifications.

Advancement

Entry-level engineers usually work under the supervision of experienced engineers. In large companies, new engineers may also receive formal training. As beginning engineers gain knowledge and experience, they move to more difficult projects with greater independence to develop designs, solve problems, and make decisions.

Eventually, petroleum engineers may advance to supervise a team of engineers and technicians. Some become engineering managers or move into other managerial positions or sales work.

Petroleum engineers who go into sales use their engineering background to discuss a product's technical aspects with potential buyers and help in product planning, installation, and use. For more information, see the profile on sales engineers.

Pay About this section

Petroleum Engineers

Median annual wages, May 2010

Petroleum Engineers: $114,080
Engineers: $83,340
Total, All Occupations: $33,840

The median annual wage for petroleum engineers was $114,080 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $63,480, and the top 10 percent earned more than $166,400.

Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of petroleum engineers in May 2010 were as follows:

Oil and gas extraction	$123,410
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing	113,930
Support activities for mining	94,080

The Society of Petroleum Engineers reports that the median base pay in 2010 was $130,800, which was an increase of about 5 percent from their reported median in 2009.

Job Outlook About this section

Petroleum Engineers

Percent change in employment, projected 2010-20

Petroleum Engineers: 17%
Total, All Occupations: 14%
Engineers: 11%

Employment of petroleum engineers is expected to grow 17 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Oil prices will be a major determinant of employment growth, as higher prices lead to increasing complexity of oil companies’ operations. Additionally, job prospects should be highly favorable because many engineers are expected to retire.

Because oil and gas extraction is the largest industry employing petroleum engineers, any effects of rising oil prices will likely be noticed here first. Higher prices can cause oil and gas companies to drill in deeper waters and in less hospitable places and return to existing wells to try new extraction methods. This means that oil drilling operations will likely become more complex and will require more engineers to work on each drilling operation.

Demand for petroleum engineers in support activities for mining should also be strong, as oil and gas companies find it convenient and cost-effective to seek their services on an as-needed basis. This is partly because petroleum engineering is one of the higher paying occupations in the economy. Experienced petroleum engineers also may start their own companies and provide services to larger oil and gas companies.

Job Prospects

Job prospects are expected to be highly favorable because of projected growth and because many petroleum engineers retire or leave the occupation for other reasons.

Employment projections data for petroleum engineers, 2010-20
Occupational Title	SOC Code	Employment, 2010	Projected Employment, 2020	Change, 2010-20		Employment by Industry
Occupational Title	SOC Code	Employment, 2010	Projected Employment, 2020	Percent	Numeric	Employment by Industry
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program
Petroleum Engineers	17-2171	30,200	35,300	17	5,100	[XLS]

Similar Occupations About this section

This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of petroleum engineers.

Occupation	Job Duties	ENTRY-LEVEL EDUCATION	2010 MEDIAN PAY
Aerospace Engineers	Aerospace engineers design aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. In addition, they test prototypes to make sure that they function according to design.	Bachelor’s degree	$97,480
Architectural and Engineering Managers	Architectural and engineering managers plan, coordinate, and direct activities in architecture and engineering, including research and development in these fields.	Bachelor’s degree	$119,260
Chemists and Materials Scientists	Chemists and materials scientists study the structures, compositions, reactions, and other properties of substances. They use their knowledge to develop new and improved products, processes, and materials.	Bachelor’s degree	$69,790
Geoscientists	Geoscientists study the physical aspects of the Earth, such as its composition, structure, and processes, to learn about its past, present, and future.	Bachelor’s degree	$82,500
Industrial Engineering Technicians	Industrial engineering technicians plan ways to effectively use personnel, materials, and machines in factories, stores, hospitals, repair shops, and offices. As assistants to industrial engineers, they help prepare machinery and equipment layouts, plan workflows, conduct statistical production studies, and analyze production costs.	Associate’s degree	$48,210
Industrial Engineers	Industrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient ways to use workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.	Bachelor’s degree	$76,100
Materials Engineers	Materials engineers develop, process, and test materials used to create a range of products, from computer chips and aircraft wings to golf clubs and snow skis. They also help select materials and develop new ways to use materials.	Bachelor’s degree	$83,120
Mechanical Engineering Technicians	Mechanical engineering technicians help mechanical engineers design, develop, test, and manufacture industrial machinery, consumer products, and other equipment. They may make sketches and rough layouts, record and analyze data, make calculations and estimates, and report their findings.	Associate’s degree	$50,110
Mechanical Engineers	Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineers design, develop, build, and test mechanical devices, including tools, engines, and machines.	Bachelor’s degree	$78,160
Sales Engineers	Sales engineers sell complex scientific and technological products or services to businesses. They must have extensive knowledge of the products’ parts and functions and must understand the scientific processes that make these products work.	Bachelor’s degree	$87,390