Do you also want to get set for a petroleum engineer salary? The salary of petroleum engineers is among one the biggest in the engineering sector. By creating plans, creating tools, and testing new technologies to extract oil and gas from natural reservoirs, petroleum engineers help with the process. They might work to create strategies for oil and gas extraction or they might create the machinery needed for extraction.
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Who is a Petroleum Engineer?
Petroleum engineers are the individuals responsible for enabling gas and oil to be transformed into energy to heat homes and power automobiles. They do this by developing the equipment used to extract gas and oil from underground reservoirs—either on land or offshore.
By developing the equipment used, forming the plans for extraction, developing new methods of extracting gas and oil completely, and monitoring site production, petroleum engineers ensure that oil and gas are available.
Engineers that specialize in petroleum engineering play a variety of jobs. Some concentrate on creating the machinery needed for collecting gas and oil. These engineers experiment with innovative procedures in an effort to discover more productive or effective ways to extract natural resources.
They could create new equipment or develop current equipment to ensure that all the gas and oil are extracted from a reservoir. While using pressure-control or hydraulic fracturing methods, others may concentrate on building the wells that store the collected gas and oil.
Other petroleum engineers assist with collection management and planning. To identify the locations of the ideal collecting points and the kinds of equipment to be utilized during collection, they might conduct experiments and visit collection points.
In order to check collection volumes and make sure that reservoirs are being drained in accordance with expectations, they may even supervise collection while it is taking place. Additionally, they keep an eye on equipment for indications of failure or safety concerns and request maintenance as necessary.
Roles of a Petroleum Engineer
- Create the machinery necessary to extract oil and gas from onshore and offshore resources.
- Create plans for the extraction of gas and oil, specifying the tools to be used and the locations of the collection points.
- Keep track of oil and gas collection throughout the entire process to identify when reservoirs are producing less than anticipated and when they have run dry.
- Create new machinery that can be used to recover any remaining oil and gas that can’t be collected using the systems and machinery that are currently in place.
- Watch the collection for equipment problems and safety concerns.
Regular Work Hours
Most petroleum engineers work full-time hours, however, some are forced to put in extra hours. Their work patterns may be unpredictable. For instance, many people go to several pickup locations for work. They might work continuously for four days at such collection stations before taking four days off. However, they are just required to be on call and present to deal with concerns and emergencies during those four days, not working nonstop. Some people work regular business hours.
Future Job Growth
Due to the fact that many present petroleum engineers are getting close to retirement age, there will likely be a greater need for new petroleum engineers during the next ten years to fill open positions.
Engineering Specializations for Petroleum
- To ascertain how much oil or gas can be recovered from reservoirs and in what quantities, reservoir engineers conduct tests.
- Oil and gas reservoir extraction plans are created by drilling engineers, who also select the equipment to be used and the extraction spots.
- The design and construction of the wells used to store recovered oil and gas is the primary focus of completion engineers.
- Production engineers supervise collection, making sure that the amount collected is as anticipated and keeping an eye out for equipment problems.
Regular Employers
The majority of businesses in the oil and gas extraction industry employ petroleum engineers. However, they might also work for firms that manufacture coal and petroleum as well as mining and engineering firms.
Getting Into Petroleum Engineering
Petroleum engineers must hold a bachelor’s degree from an ABET-accredited institution as a minimum. Although bachelor’s degrees in petroleum engineering are ideal for aspiring professionals, mechanical or chemical engineering degrees can also be used to enter the field. You should be able to find entry-level employment as a petroleum engineer with a bachelor’s degree, though participating in petroleum engineering internships while in college will increase your chances of doing so after graduation.
A master’s degree may be necessary for positions in petroleum engineering at higher levels. Because of this, some aspirant petroleum engineers enroll in unique 5-year programs that enable them to complete both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree simultaneously.
These programs are excellent because they reduce the time needed to complete both a bachelor’s and master’s degree by one year and because they enable petroleum engineers to become eligible for promotions and more senior-level jobs after gaining experience in the industry without having to return to school for further study.
Although state licensing isn’t always necessary for petroleum engineers, it can help you stand out from the competition for higher-paying open positions if you want to switch to a different field of engineering later in your career. A bachelor’s degree from an ABET-accredited college, at least four years of experience working as an engineer, and passing the professional engineering and basics of engineering written tests are all requirements for licensure as a professional engineer. The Society of Petroleum Engineers certification is an additional option.
Petroleum Engineer Salary Information
The information below will help you learn more about this profession. The editorial material and recommendations on this page are based on our research, while the income and growth information is based on the newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national average salary is $149,590 and the hourly charge is $72.
