<p>What's the difference? I've been wanting to become a petroleum geologist but it seems like the smarter move would be to become a petroleum engineer because they take about the same physics, chemistry, and math courses. Petroleum engineers can get a job right out of college and petroleum geologist usually have to get a masters degree. A lot of geologist get laid off but petroleum engineers are more stable. Do you agree?</p>
<p>I know someone who is related to a petroleum geologist which means what I know is second and third hand information.</p>
<p>He has a phd which is probably the ideal requirement. He travels the world, consults for various companies although he worked for a single company at one time. The guy is multi-millionaire because of his work and research. He gets called by the department of defense, the EPA and many other government agencies, branches of the military, academia and corporations.</p>
<p>I think if research, consulting, academia and science are your primary interests, go for it but education needs to be something you like as well because the guy I know of has a lot of it. His career didn’t really kick in until he was about 30-31 almost like a lot of medical doctors but he’s more than able to pay his bills at the end of the day. </p>
<p>Again, a couple of folks were telling me about their family member who does this but they had no reason to make stuff up so I’m comfortable relaying at least this secondhand anecdotal info.</p>
<p>Petroleum geologists probably have the opportunity to earn far more money than petroleum engineers. Petroleum engineers, who design systems for extracting oil and gas from already discovered hydrocarbon deposits are pretty much interchangeable and probably are paid roughly the same. Petroleum geologists who have demonstrated that they can find new oil and gas deposits are enormously valuable and can be extremely highly compensated.</p>
<p>Extracting oil =! Finding oil, the physics and math are just general education.</p>
<p>The higher pay grades within the geology profession are usually due to the advanced education that oil companies require their geology professionals to have (i.e. MS in petroleum geology, geophysics, etc). If your not planning on grad school go for petrol engineering. Geologists are highly compensated, usually more so than engineers with the same level of education. However, there are fewer jobs open for geology than engineering. Engineers usually have a broader educational background and a less specialized set of skills. I faced the same question. I chose engineering.</p>
<p>The pay difference usually comes further along in a geologist’s career. Out of the gate, geologists with a masters usually earn the same salary as an engineer with a bachelors degree. As far as career path and future. If you want a life of research choose geology. It seems to me that engineers are usually selected to become managers and executives more often than geologists who usually get put into a chief scientist position. It really depends on what company your with, a multinational or a small private oil company.</p>
<p>Start looking up executive and manager profiles at major oil companies and you will see a lot of engineers, lawyers, and finance professionals. Geologists are there just not as often. What kind of career do you see yourself in?</p>