<p>Hello everyone, I'm a Junior in high school who is definately pursuing an engineering degree, but as of now i'm not sure what degree would suit me best. Ive looked on other threads to try and figure out what the job and life of a petroleum engineer is like, but alot of the posts seem to contradict each other and just have confused me further :-< Can anyone, preferably a petroleum engineer, provide a little clarity on the profession? Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>Can you be more specific? What about the profession are you wanting to know?</p>
<p>I’m going to piggy-back onto this post . . . I’m considering a master’s in Pet Eng, but I’m just not certain about the lifestyle. I had a friend tell me to read ‘Don’t Tell Mom I Work On The Rigs’ and ‘A Hitch In the Heart of Africa’ to get a feel for it, so we’ll see. I hear there’s better money if you work overseas, but is it worth it if I can get a job making tools with a Materials Eng. degree and not have to travel so much? What is the pay difference?</p>
<p>here are some helpful links from the US Dept of Labor:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/petroleum-engineers.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/petroleum-engineers.htm</a>
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/petroleum-engineers.htm#tab-7”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/petroleum-engineers.htm#tab-7</a>
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/materials-engineers.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/materials-engineers.htm</a>
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geoscientists.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geoscientists.htm</a></p>
<p>Petroleum engineers make a lot of money . . .</p>
<p>BLS says Petrol engineers make 130k year average. </p>
<p>At Missouri S&T, they claim their Petroleum Engineer graduates make a starting salary average of $87k/year.
<a href=“http://futurestudents.mst.edu/degrees/undergraduate/peteng/”>http://futurestudents.mst.edu/degrees/undergraduate/peteng/</a></p>
<p>In perspective, chemical engineers make 65k, mechanical engineers make 60k, and electrical engineers make 61k.</p>
<p>Anyone can go and look up “Highest paying majors” and if thats the reason why you are getting into the major I would stay clear. Remember you are coming in at the tail end of a boom. You will have to spend the hardest four years of your life vested in Physical and chemical behavior of fluids, physics, thermodynamics and the like for a major that may not even be as great as you think it is now by the time you graduate college. Unless petroleum somehow became a fixation of yours or you have experience with the processes it would be best to avoid the headache.</p>
<p>"Remember you are coming in at the tail end of a boom. "
Except there are tens thousands of older PE"s nearing retirement and way too few new ones to take their places.
“There’s good news for aspiring geoscientists. Job opportunities at all career stages are on the rise.”
<a href=“Nature Careers | Science jobs | Choose from 1,223 live vacancies”>Nature Careers | Science jobs | Choose from 1,223 live vacancies;
<p>@RedEyeJedi - What are you majoring in? I thought you were PetE? You always tell kids to stay away. The field may not be as lucrative as it was a couple of years ago but there are still jobs. If you are not in the southern oil states of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana (or the northern land of Alaska) then the major may not be the best. But for a “hometown” kid it is OK. There are decent opportunities if you are willing to leave the US.</p>