Petroleum Engineers

 Petroleum Engineers job is to design and develop methodologies for getting out petroleum products viz, gas and oil, from the earth crust. They also develop new technologies and machinery to extract petroleum from land and shore oil rigs. Petroleum engineers work alongside geologists and geophysicists to gather knowledge about rock formation enriched with petroleum reserves. They also conduct research and development work to obtain maximum yield from an identified petroleum site on earth and sea.

Once a candidate obtain degree certificate in petroleum engineering he / she gets entry level job opportunities in industry under the guidance of established petroleum engineers. Within due course of time and as soon one gathers required industry experience, gets promoted to higher level. Major corporate also provide training to new comers and prepare them for more challenging projects. Further they moved to training departments, operations and maintenance and managerial posts etc. They also interact with other clients related to buy and sell dealings of petroleum products.

Role of a Petroleum Engineer

A petroleum engineer generally engages in the following types of activities-
  • Design machines and develop techniques to extract petroleum at cost effective rates.
  • Develop methodologies to infuse chemicals, water and other streams into an oil well to extract petroleum.
  • Execute drilling plans for oil and gas fields.
  • Performs various tests, surveys and does cost estimation to get out petroleum from different sites.
  • Looks after overall activities and operation of petroleum sites including safety of fellow workers and makes sure that drilling operations adheres to safety guidelines.

Skills Required for Petroleum Engineers


Academic requirement: Academically you need minimum bachelor’s degree i.e., B.E/B.Tech/B.S or equivalent from a recognized institute to start career as a Petroleum engineer. The bachelor’s degree in engineering is a 4year program offered to those candidates who have completed K-12 standard of education with physics, chemistry and mathematics. Working with rigorous mathematical and computational formulae and understanding the rendezvous of mechanics are some necessary trait to enroll in a bachelor’s program in Petroleum engineering.

To join postgraduate degree programs like MS, M.Tech and Ph.D etc. in petroleum engineering disciplines universities ask for a score in standardized test followed by essay test and personality interview. Minimum qualification to join masters level program and higher is graduate qualification in Petroleum engineering and related discipline.

Skills required to be a Petroleum Engineer

To be successful in career one needs to possess the following personality traits:

Analytical Skill Requirements- Petroleum Engineer must possess sound analytical skills to understand the working circumstances of the Petroleum systems.

Business Skills Requirements- Petroleum Engineer must be good in numbers to predetermine what a project will cost and how a company or government will benefit from it.

Critical Thinking Abilities- Petroleum Engineer must be able to think under what circumstances designs, materials and end product or project may fail and what should be alternative options in case of a failure so as to minimize losses. Petroleum Engineers work in highly sensitive environments where a small glitch may cost you a fortune within no time.

Team Worker- Petroleum Engineer works in team, he / she must need to be a good team worker, able to learn and make others learn in work environment.
   
Writing Skills- Petroleum Engineer works in a team with fellow engineers and other coworkers. They should have good writing and designing skills to present clear papers which other team workers could fully understand.

Scope of Petroleum Engineering in India

The main job opportunity of a petroleum engineer is in a Petroleum refinery. There are number of private as well as Government refineries. Some big Petroleum Refineries in India are- Reliance Refinery (Jamnagar), Essar (Jamnagar), Cochin Refinery etc. One may also become an engineer in Government enterprises such as ONGC and OIL! Petroleum engineers can also work in drilling sites. Some Chemical Industries  also employs petroleum engineers to a large extent. One may also find jobs in chemical factories. Though to a small extent, pharmaceutical sector also provided job opportunities. This is due to the fact that some medicines make use of petroleum and its related by products to an extent.

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