Choosing a career in petroleum engineering

Petroleum engineering refers to the subsurface engineering activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or gas. These activities are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry which are the activities of finding and producing hydrocarbons prior to the point of refining or distribution to a market, which is referred to as the downstream sector. Petroleum engineers divide themselves into several types:

Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of oil and gas via proper well placement, production levels, and enhanced oil recovery techniques. Of particular interest to reservoir engineers is generating accurate reserves estimates for use in financial reporting to the SEC and other regulatory bodies. Other job responsibilities include numerical reservoir modeling, production forecasting, well testing, well drilling and workover planning, economic modeling, and PVT analysis of reservoir fluids. Reservoir engineers also play a central role in field development planning, recommending appropriate and cost effective reservoir depletion schemes such as water-flooding or gas injection to maximize hydrocarbon recovery.

Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling both production and injection wells. The planning phases involved in drilling an oil well typically involve estimating the value of sought reserves, estimating the costs to access reserves, acquiring property by a mineral lease, a geological survey, a well bore plan, and a layout of the type of equipment required to reach the depth of the well. Drilling engineers are in charge of the process of planning and drilling oil wells. Their responsibilities include:

• Designing casing strings in conjunction with drilling fluid plans to prevent blowouts (uncontrolled well-fluid release) and Formation evaluation.
• Designing or contributing to the design of casing (drill string), cementing plans, directional drilling plans, and drill bit programs.
• Specifying equipment, material and ratings and grades to be used in the drilling process.
• Providing technical support and audit during the drilling process.
• Performing cost estimates and analysis
• Developing contracts with vendors

Production engineers manage the interface between the reservoir and the well, including perforations, sand control, artificial lift, downhole flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment; they also select surface equipment that separates the produced fluids (oil, natural gas, and water).