Petroleum Engineers

Nature of the Work
Employment
Job Outlook

(D.O.T. 010.061 except -014 and -026, .161-010, and .167-010 and -014)

• Nature of the Work

  Petroleum engineers search the world for underground reservoirs containing oil or natural gas. When one is 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, sometimes using computer models to simulate reservoir performance using different recovery techniques.
  
  Because only a small proportion of the 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 more of the oil out, and computer-controlled drilling or fracturing to connect a larger area of a reservoir to a single well. Since even the best techniques in use today recover only a portion of the oil and gas in a reservoir, petroleum engineers research and develop technology and methods to increase this proportion and lower the cost of drilling and production operations.

• Employment

  Petroleum engineers held over 13,000 jobs in 1996, mostly in the petroleum industry and closely allied fields. Employers include major oil companies and hundreds of smaller, independent oil exploration, production, and service companies. Engineering consulting firms, government agencies, oil field services, and equipment suppliers also employ petroleum engineers. Others work as independent consultants.
  
  Most petroleum engineers work where oil and gas are found. Large numbers are employed in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado, and California, including offshore sites. Many American petroleum engineers also work overseas in oil-producing countries. Because petroleum engineers specialize in the discovery and production of oil and gas, relatively few are employed in the refining, transportation, and retail sectors of the oil and gas industry.

• Job Outlook

  Employment of petroleum engineers is expected to decline through the year 2006 unless oil and gas prices unexpectedly rise enough to encourage increased exploration for oil in this country. In spite of this, employment opportunities for petroleum engineers should be favorable because the number of degrees granted in petroleum engineering has traditionally been low. Therefore, new graduates are not likely to significantly exceed the number of job openings arising as petroleum engineers transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force. Also, petroleum engineers work around the globe, and many employers seek U.S.-trained petroleum engineers for jobs in other countries.
  
  
  The price of oil has a major effect on the level of employment opportunities for petroleum engineers in the United States. A high price of oil and gas makes it profitable for oil exploration and production firms to seek oil and gas reservoirs, and they will hire petroleum engineers to do so. With low oil prices, however, it is cheaper to purchase needed oil from other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, which have vast oil reserves. Also, the best exploration opportunities are in other countries because many of the most likely petroleum-producing areas in the United States have already been explored. However, the implementation of new technologies that expand drilling possibilities and improve the performance of reservoirs in the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico may create new opportunities.
  
  
  (See introductory part of this section for information on training requirements, earnings, and sources of additional information.)
  
  

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