Questions involving Petroleum Engineering

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I'm currently an undergrad student (Freshman) at the University of Arkansas. Although the university doesn't offer a petroleum engineering degree, I've always been interested in the field for whatever reason. Currently I'm planning on doing chemical engineering, but lately, I've been having second thoughts about maybe switching over to petroleum engineering. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that chemical/mechanical engineers can still find careers in petroleum engineering. I have a few questions, though...some about PE, others just involving engineering in general:</p>

<p>1) Will finding a job for an oil/gas company be noticeably more difficult with a ME or CE degree as opposed to a degree in PE?</p>

<p>2) Will the pay be different? I assume the starting would be lower since you'd have to be taught more on-the-job, but would you eventually be making the same money as someone who got their actual PE degree?</p>

<p>3) Are the hours of petroleum engineers significantly worse (longer, more per week) than the hours you will most likely work in other engineering fields? Again, I know whether you're just getting out of college or have been in the workforce for 10 years plays a large role. In almost any decent-paying profession you will have to have some years of "grunt-work" where you might be working long and hard hours, until eventually it levels off to a regular 40 hour work week. But just speaking generally...do petroleum engineers tend to have shorter/longer hours than other disciplines?</p>

<p>4) How beneficial is it to get a Masters in PE? Obviously the pay grade will increase, but by how significant of an amount? Is having one important to being competitive in the job market? Let's say I get my undergrad degree in CE, and then eventually get a masters in PE...would I have an easy time finding a job for an oil/gas company?</p>

<p>5) On a slightly different note...how do ME/CE/PE degrees differ in terms of their emphasis on hands-on work? One of the things that's always worried me about engineering is that, truthfully, I don't using my hands and building things. I'm more interested in learning about how things work and thinking about how I can improve on that. I feel like I'm doing a poor job of explaining the question, but hopefully someone understands.</p>

<p>6) Another more general engineering question: how important are internships/co-ops? Let's say I have a 3.5 GPA from a good university and belong to organizations such as NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers). Would I still have a hard time finding employment if I didn't have a fair amount of work experience related to engineering?</p>

<p>Sorry for the numerous, lengthy questions. Any help is much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I only really know enough to address #1. </p>

<p>Part of the chemical engineering curriculum is learning how to design a refinery. From the dimensions of the process containers, to the flow rate of the process through the pipes, to the estimated total cost of the project, you’ll have to be able to pass a class based just on that to obtain your degree. It’s safe to say you’d be easily able to find a job in oil and gas with a degree in ChemE.</p>

3

<p>1) Check with the career center and see what O&G companies recruit your campus. It will be harder to land a job, but not impossible.
2) I’m not entirely sure, but from what I hear it isn’t any lower.
3) That depends on what type of petroleum engineering you are hired to do. Reservoir engineers work 40 hours a week, 8-5. Drilling/Completion engineers might work out in the field, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off (or some other type of schedule).<br>
4) If you have an undergrad in PE, a masters won’t help much. But if you have an undergrad in ME/Chem, then a grad degree in PE will help greatly. You can also take an internship in between the two year grad program.
5) No clue about ME/ChemE, but petroleum has some hands on stuff (mostly drilling/production)
6) Internships in petroleum are everything. A 3.0 with 3 internships will get dozens of offers while a 3.8 with no experience will struggle to get interviews.</p>