2 questions about petroleum engineering

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I'm a junior in high school and have wanted to be a petroleum engineer since I was a freshman. I have 2 questions. </p>

<p>The first is what would happen to the jobs of petroleum engineers if the tech for nuclear fusion was developed tomorrow? I know a lot of people think the technology to make nuclear fusion a viable source of energy is a really long ways away, but I've read articles and watched TED talks that have said it may not be that far way, and (although I haven't researched the topic extensively, so forgive me if I'm wrong) I just read Lockheed says it may be 10 years away from developing a nuclear fusion generator. And even if it is many years away, it needs to be far enough away so that I can still be a petroleum engineer until I'm at least 50 something. So back to my question, what would happen to the jobs of petroleum engineers if the tech for nuclear fusion was developed? I know we'd still need gas for automobiles and the world couldn't build enough nuclear fusion generators to run itself overnight, but would petroleum engineers still have jobs after long if that happened? </p>

<p>My second question has to do with the work schedule for petroleum engineers, and I'm concerned over something I actually read on another thread here. Like I said before, I have been interested in petroleum engineering for a few years now and have researched it pretty extensively, so I am aware of all the travel they do working on rigs and stuff. The 2 or 3 week on, 2 or 3 week off shift on rigs is actually one of the reasons I want to do it. This is what I read that concerns me:</p>

<p>"I will be in Houston for another 2-3 years, and then will begin my international rotation, scheduled to be in Lagos, Nigeria, for another 2-3 years."</p>

<p>Basically, is the "international rotation" living years in another country talked about here something you can control? I can easily go weeks or months living in foreign countries, but I don't want to spend years. Is this something I have to worry about or something I would have control over in my career. To clarify, I want to travel on shifts on rigs, but I don't want to live in other countries for years and is that something I can decide not to do? Or is it just assigned to me and that's it? </p>

<p>Thanks in advanced and sorry for the wall of text :P </p>

2

<p>Your first question is impossible to answer. But if Lockheed says 10 years away from developing a generator, how long before the entire country has power? What will the regulations be behind fusion? What will the developments be in batteries for cars? I honestly can’t say, but I can’t imagine that the US gets fusion and the oil industry tanks. We will still have an entire fleet of automobiles and planes that run off of gasoline. So does fusion concern me as a petroleum engineer? Not a whole lot, but it might concern me a bit more if I wanted to work in coal.</p>

<p>I have never once heard of an international rotation. You can always control where you work, it might limit some opportunities, but you can always control it.</p>