Petroleum engineering is a multidisciplinary engineering field that combines expertise in geology, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, offshore construction, materials engineering, and chemical engineering, among other areas.
Petroleum engineers perform surveys to locate and map petroleum deposits, which can include crude oils or natural gas; develop methods to extract petroleum from these deposits, and create refinement processes to convert raw petroleum sources into usable products, including gasoline, oils, plastics, and many other products and materials used in everyday life.
Because petroleum engineering impacts the environment, petroleum engineers have to be mindful of the effects of their activities, and ready to take action in the event of an oil spill, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the coast of Louisiana in April 2010.
Petroleum Engineering Education
Petroleum engineering has become a far more technical profession than it was a century ago because the “easiest” deposits to tap have been found and extracted. Today’s petroleum engineers have to look and work in more challenging locations to find viable petroleum deposits. Because of the wide breadth of the discipline, students interested in petroleum engineering need to decide what portion of the process to focus on:
- Petroleum Deposit Mapping – civil engineering, geology, fluid dynamics, computer modeling
- Petroleum Extraction – mechanical engineering, offshore construction and operations¸ geology, geomechanics, intelligent systems, drilling technology, subsurface engineering
- Petroleum Processing – chemical engineering, materials engineering
Some universities, particularly in areas where there are high levels of petroleum production, will offer distinct petroleum engineering curricula, while other universities will offer coursework in related engineering fields such as mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering that are appropriate to the petroleum engineering profession.
Petroleum Engineering Salaries and Job Prospects
Petroleum engineering is often cited as the highest paying engineering profession, both for entry level engineers and experienced engineers. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2008, an entry level petroleum engineer could earn $83,121, while the median salary for all petroleum engineers was $108,020. Employment opportunities can vary as new wells are opened or depleted, and the price of oil varies. The BLS notes that there were 21,900 petroleum engineers in the US in 2008, and the industry is expected to have an 18% growth over the next decade, a larger increase than most other engineering branches.
Petroleum Engineering Professional Societies
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is the largest professional society dedicated to the work of petroleum engineers. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) operates the International Petroleum Technology Institute (IPTI), which focuses on the mechanical engineering challenges of the profession. Other organizations include the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG) and the Society of Professional Women in Petroleum (SPWP).
Susan Kristoff - Susan Kristoff is mechanical engineer by trade, but has a diverse set of professional and personal interests. The glue that binds all of ...
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