Becoming petroleum engineer?

Question

I'm a junior in high school and I want to become a petroleum engineer. Right now im taking algebra2&trig but im not that good in math. I am however very interested in physics and chemistry. What is the job like exactly?

Answer 1

Petroleum engineering entails several aspects of the industry. There is exploration: Figuring out how to get to a reservoir, finding it, and then getting it to the surface.

Production: Getting it from the surface to the refinery and producing the reservoir at maximum efficiencies to maintain maximum sustainable production, enhanced oil recovery

and R&D- all of the above and more.

The Petroleum Engineer will take several years of advanced calculus, so if you are not good in math (because you don't "get" it as opposed to just not studying), you ought to consider another career path.

It will require a good background in Geology (many petroleum geologists are petroleum engineer wannabes that couldn't swing the math/science).

I can not tell you what the market is now. However, when I graduated from college with a BS in Pet Eng, there were not any jobs that could be had. It was shortly after the boom went bust and the best jobs a Pet Eng could get was roustabouting offshore.

The oil industry is fickle: As long as the price of oil is above $50 a barrel, you might have work. But as technology increases, oil will be replaced and Pet E's across the world will be jobless.

For us, the bottom fell out when the price of oil went from $40+/bbl to $15.

I could not recommend it unless you are very flexible in your career. Fortunately for me, I got out and was able to transition into environmental engineering. Many of my tenured peers were not so lucky.

Answer 2

well to start i have a petroleum technition diploma, this means i could go to say montana tech for 2 years and be a petroleum engineer. However i wasnt great at math either so i descided to get into the production end of things............iam learning how to run a gas/oil field with a plant.
There are a few different areas such as geolagist, reservoir engineer,facility engineer, drilling engineer etc.
> i think the main thing is u dont have to be great at calculus etc. because all the programs needed for calculation are generally built into excel worksheets. however, very important that you can think for yourself, and on your feet especially working out in the field which is the best place to learn real petroleum engineering. And be prepared nobodys going to hold your hand in the field like at school, its very different.
> id go half ways get your technition ticket and work at least a year to see how it is. Many oil companys will take u on to optamize gas wells, speed up pump jacks safely, acidize water injection wells for reservoir maintanance, work with the service rig to diagnose downhole issues, choose correct downhole pumps for pumpjacks.
>anyways u mentioned math is not ur strong point, but if you are sharp and pay close attention to details it should work, lets face it engineers arent actually filling out pages of calculus equations all day, u just have to know how it works.
>got any more questions ive been [e-mail]