Petroleum Engineer - How to become a Petroleum Engineer

Petroleum Engineers are professionals who are responsible for assessing the potential location, quantity and quality of hydrocarbon deposits; planning, managing and optimising extraction.

Petroleum Engineers works in all of the stages of oil and gas field evaluation, development and production. Their work aim is to maximise hydrocarbon recovery at minimum cost while maintaining a strong emphasis on reducing environmental impact. Petroleum Engineers are divided into several groups such as given below.

Reservoir Engineers – they work to optimise production of oil and gas via proper good placement, production levels and enhanced oil recovery techniques.

Production Engineers – they manage the interface between the reservoir and the well through such tasks as perforations, sand control, artificial lift, down-hole flow control and down-hole monitoring equipment.

Drilling Engineers – they manage the technical aspects of drilling both production and injection wells.

Petroleum Geologists – they find hydrocarbons by analysing subsurface structures with geological and geophysical methods.

Petroleum Engineer Eligibility

They must have a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, preferably in Petroleum Engineering.

Petroleum Engineer Required Skills

• Petroleum Engineers should have strong technical skills; team working skills; numerical skills; IT skills and good health and fitness.
• They should also be able to analyse geological data; interpreting well-logging results; ascertaining extraction risks; monitoring and evaluating reservoir performance and preparing reports and maps.
• They should be to develop oilfield production programmes; advising managerial and technical staff; using specialist computer applications and mathematical models to maximise production.
• They also possess technical capability; strong business awareness; analytical and creative skills; managerial potential and the ability to motivate staff at all levels.

How to become a Petroleum Engineer?

One has to follow below-given steps for becoming a Petroleum Engineer-

Step 1

Petroleum Engineers must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, preferably in Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical or Chemical Engineering. For this, students after completing their 12^th class in science stream, then they go for 4 years engineering degree courses. In India, colleges/universities provide admission on the basis of entrance tests conducted by them. Some of the degree courses are given below.

Degree Courses:

• B.E. (Petroleum Engineering)
• B.Tech. (Gas & Applied Petroleum Engineering)
• B.Tech. (Hons.) Petroleum Engineering
• B.Tech. (Petroleum Engineering)
• B.E. (Chemical Engineering)
• B.Tech. (Chemical Engineering)

Educational qualification-

For degree courses, students must have been passed their 12^th class in science stream with good rank in entrance tests.

Entrance Tests for Engineering Degree:

• IIT-JEE
• AIEEE
• GATE
• JET
• NIT

Step 2

Employers also value work experience, so cooperative engineering programs, in which students earn academic credit for structured job experience, are valuable as well. Some of the companies also prefer Master’s Degree holder candidates for themselves. Willing students can go for further higher studies after passing their graduation.

Masters’ Degree Courses:

• M.E. (Chemical Engineering)
• M.E. (Petrochemical Engineering)
• M.Tech. (Chemical Engineering)
• M.Tech. (Petroleum Engineering)
• M.E. (Petroleum Engineering)

Educational qualification-

For post graduation courses, they should have a pass degree in Petroleum Engineering or its related subject.

Institutes offering Courses for Petroleum Engineer

• Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Rae Bareli
• Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), Gandhinagar
• University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun
• Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad

Petroleum Engineer Job Description

The job duties of most petroleum engineers revolve around the production of oil and gas. When a new reservoir is located, petroleum engineers analyze it to determine whether it can be profitably exploited. If so, they create a drilling and extraction plan to pump out the oil or gas with as little cost as possible.

Petroleum Engineer Career Prospects

Petroleum engineering course offers wonderful job opportunities at global and domestic levels. Opportunities in the oil and gas sector are ample in the Middle East with very high annual income packages.  There are many Oil & Energy Companies, which provide opportunities for graduates, given below.

Different Roles & Designations

• Reservoir Engineer
• Technical Support Engineer
• Senior Geoscientist
• Drill Bits System Field Engineer
• Senior Petro Physicist
• Petroleum Technologist
• Drilling Engineer
• Principal Reservoir Petro Physicist
• Technical Support Specialist
• Tender and Quotations Analyst
• Geosciences Pressure Expert
• Senior Exploration Geologist
• Process Engineer.

Petroleum Engineer Salary

In every industry, earnings for Petroleum Engineers are determined according to the knowledge, skills, qualification, capabilities and experience of the candidate. Moreover, if the candidate is from top-notch engineering college he/she may get a job which can pay the salary between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 30,000 per month. People working in petroleum producing MNCs get a median annual salary of around $100, 000.