<p>I've been hearing rumblings that the future job prospects for those who are majoring in PetE will be dwindling and some schools are closing their PetE depts.</p>
<p>What have you heard or what do you know?</p>
<p>If it is a dwindling major, what would be a better pick?</p>
<p>I would be careful about going into the field, while oil is not going to be supplanted any time soon (among other things, the influence the oil companies have on energy policy is going to guarantee that one, the response to when oil prices shot through the roof should convince anyone of that) and there is going to be a huge effort to recover oil currently not being pumped (deep water drilling, also tertiary and quant level recover from existing wells) I suspect that the number of engineers going to be needed for this is going to decline over the next 10-20 years, simply because much of the recoverable oil is going to either be already pumping or in the process of being set up. </p>
<p>As far as an alternative, good question. It is really hard to tell at this point what the next generation of power will be, solar has some severe limitations and hydrogen is still in the future, as are possible bio fuels (not idiotic ethanol, which is nothing but a payout to agribusinesses and factory farmers but rather literally using algae to produce oil and gasoline, which is already possible in the lab). My suggestion might be toward chemical engineering, probably a safer bet compared to Pet E. There also are schools I believe with programs in alternative energy engineering but not sure what that field is like, I suspect that is still small potatoes. Potentially nuclear engineering, I suspect that when oil and natural gas prices start spiking again, there will be a big push in this regards, and if fusion ever comes into play (yeah, I know, it is 30 years out…been that way since the 1950’s <em>lol</em>)…</p>
<p>this is interesting, from CO School of Mines
[PETROLEUM</a> ENGINEERING COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES](<a href=“http://petroleum.mines.edu/description.html]PETROLEUM”>http://petroleum.mines.edu/description.html)</p>
<p>I think I read that PE programs were starting to add more emphasis on alternative energy (a field sure to grow), but not sure at which schools.</p>
<p>*I think I read that PE programs were starting to add more emphasis on alternative energy (a field sure to grow), but not sure at which schools. *</p>
<p>If that’s true, I wonder if a new name for the major will emerge since PetE won’t really be accurate.</p>
<p>I’m not surprised that Mines is placing more emphasis on alternative energy technologies. Golden is home of NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab) – a federally funded national research lab managed by DOE. Mines and NREL share a number of faculty in common. NREL has been doing major work in wind and solar technologies for the past 4 decades!</p>
<p>I would describe petroleum engineering as an evolving field, not a dwindling one. Even when solar and wind get established, there will still be an ongoing role for petroleum in the production of materials for other energy technologies.</p>
<p>So…maybe a new name would be something like Alternative Energy Engineering? It does seem that the PetE name is becoming irrelevant.</p>
<p>But, I guess that couldn’t be done until that accrediting engineering board (ABET) approves a changed name.</p>
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<p>As I recall, petroelum is used in lots of non-energy related products as well. Granted, that too may be phased out in the future, but not the immediate future.</p>
<p>So I believe the degree is still marketable, and is likely to be so in the future. I’m not 100% sure what PE entails, but I would make sure I learned skills that were transferable to other industries as well.</p>
<p>Petroleum engineering primarily involves extraction of oil from various sources. DH graduated with a Pet Eng degree in 1984, just when the US industry closed down. He returned to school for an Env Eng. degree and uses elements of both in his job.</p>