<p>Right now I am a junior in high school, so I still have a good amount of time before I would be able to start my career...</p>
<p>I was looking towards a Petrolem Engineering degree, as this field interests me quite a bit. From what I read it can be a tough field, with the traveling, being assigned offshore, out of the US etc. but I do not mind. I would love nothing more than to spend a few years in Saudi Arabia or some other middle eastern country (though preferably not Iraq...) making
good money. </p>
<p>But what is the future of this field? Will I be struggling to find a job in 20-30 years or possibly lose my job when oil prices drop? Will I regret not going for Chem, Civil, or one of the other more stable engineering professions?</p>
<p>As for high school prep- I'm in an engineering course right now that sets me up for an internship with what I can only assume will be one of the local chemical plants or something of that nature, though I could be mistaken. (I live near houston, they're all over the place here) To be honest the class is useless- I haven't learned much of anything that I didn't already know, but I can only guess that it and the internship would look good on a college app to an engineering school.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>ok yeah, i live just up the road in big d, my dad got a petro e degree from ut. started off working for shell in houston, then went and got his mba. from what i've seen (altho i dont want to major in it), petroleum engineering is one of the most lucrative engineering degrees straight out of undergrad. we almost moved to alaska but my dad nixed the idea (when i was like 2 or 3). he often traveled to louisiana and down into the gulf of mexico when we lived in houston, now that we're in dallas he goes up to the panhandle a lot more(worked with that douche boone pickens for a small deal). my dad worked on rigs as a ruffneck when he was my age before they had labor safety laws i guess, and he often goes out into the field and supervises derricks (not all the time, but some of time). basically he told me that so many petro e grads want the big bucks but dont want to go out and supervise in the field (u obviously dont work with the ruffnecks, but he said it is key that u have an understanding of what they do, and respect them for the job they do, dont be an arrogant prick just cuz ur an engineer). he also told me that the industry will continue to look up for future petroleum engineers until about 20 years, when he suspects that the few universities that offer this degree will tone down(but not cut off) their recruitment significantly. bottom line, you'll be in great shape, especially if you go to a top school for petro e (ut, a&m, ou, stanford). plus, you can always run the business side later on, which is what my dad does with his own small company. hope this helped</p>
<p>Thanks a lot man, that helped.</p>
<p>So you're saying that it wouldn't be too hard to secure a good paying offshore/out of country gig because most Pete's don't want to go out there?</p>
<p>no in fact my dad knows a friend whose kid just graduated from tamu (i think its a cult, but it is a great petro e school) who is working over in liberia i believe off the western coast of africa on an offshore rig. i wouldnt say most petro e's dont want to go out of country, it's just that most are content living in america. i think going out of country is a great way to expand ur horizons before you have a family or other stuff to tie u down. my dad worked in egypt for a couple of months when i was really young, said he enjoyed it, got to ride camels and the whole deal. its a great way to explore the world, plus you'll get paid more most likely for going out of the country. i dont kno if i wud do it long term but its great for a couple of years.</p>
<p>I have another question, how different will things be for me if I go to a less known college like Texas Tech instead of one of the bigger more prestigious schools? Will I still be able to land a solid job when compared to the person from the better school?</p>
<p>cant really answer you there, my dad works with guys from tech, dont think they are petro e guys probly business guys. i mean there's nothing wrong with tech, its just ut and a&m are better for petroleum</p>
<p>I'm interested in this field as well. I'd love to be able to travel and live in a different place for a few years, especially Alaska.</p>
<p>Another question >_></p>
<p>What would a good minor be for a petro eng major? </p>
<p>Would another engineering minor be helpful? Perhaps one in a field where your petroleum engineering skills could be put to use, giving you a backup plan in case the oil industry goes bust?</p>
<p>Geology would be a good minor. Or Geo-physics.</p>
<p>yeah definitely, i mean i seriously doubt the oil and gas industry is just gonna magically disappear anytime soon</p>
<p>
[quote]
he also told me that the industry will continue to look up for future petroleum engineers until about 20 years, when he suspects that the few universities that offer this degree will tone down(but not cut off) their recruitment significantly.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Do you know why your dad thinks petroleum engineering recruitment will tone down in 20 years?</p>
<p>i imagine its cause its a hot day in jersey right before thanksgiving (GLOBAL WARMING). renewable sources are on the rise. wind, hydro, solar.</p>
<p>I thought this was a nice little article about engineers in the oil industry at the moment:
New</a> Oil Crisis: An Engineer Shortage - TIME</p>
<p>As nice as renewable fuels are, and I certainly am looking at a future in a company based off of them, I don't see renewable fuels diminishing the need for oil anytime soon. Given that we still use coal, the cost/time to migrate services and utilities to use renewable sources, and realizing that the whole world energy source will not change in a day... Oil is here and will stay here for long enough that engineers would be safe in the field. If I could stand the culture of the oil drilling world I might consider it myself.</p>
<p>I think that after 20 years the need for PetE will decline dramatically. Companies are hiring right now to secure their futures, I doubt they will be hiring nearly at this level in 2027.</p>
<p>yeah mr. payne is right. i mean the global warming fad is probably gonna die down soon. in the 70s they were talking about global cooling so go figure. however... we will be continuing to deplete out fossil fuels tho.</p>
<p>The energy industry moves too slow. It'll be a long time before any renewable comes close to taking a sizeable slice of energy consumption, longer yet before they'll unseat any of the supermajors. Assuming they allow themselves to be unseated. I think any Pet E. who starts now will - unfortunately - be able to get to retirement without going through a career shift.</p>
<p>Try going for ChemE instead since PetroE is a subset of ChemE, but you won't be specializing and pidgeonholing yourself. Most of what a ChemE learns can be applied to PetroE; however, what you learn as a PetroE can only be applied to PetroE</p>
<p>
[quote]
Try going for ChemE instead since PetroE is a subset of ChemE, but you won't be specializing and pidgeonholing yourself. Most of what a ChemE learns can be applied to PetroE; however, what you learn as a PetroE can only be applied to PetroE
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Is this actually true? I always thought PetE was closer to Geology or ME.</p>
<p>PetroE has to do with how to find, extract and refine petroleum. Finding it is Geology, extracting is a mix of ChemE and MechE and then refining it is ChemE. So it depends on the which part of the chain you want to work on.</p>
<p>When I think of PetE I just assume upstream, sorry. Upstream is very little ChemE.</p>