<p>because before the spill the job outlook was very strong</p>
<p>I think it will remain that way
What do you all think?</p>
<p>No. The oil spill will not negatively effect the industry. In fact it may actually cause the need for Petroleum Engineers to rise.</p>
<p>Now I have to admit that BP as a company will have trouble due to the huge sum of money that it lost because of this accident. This may cause them to layoff employees that aren’t big assets to the company. Some of the last people they will likely lay off are Petroleum Engineers. This is because PEs are some of the more important employees to Oil companies.</p>
<p>Lets hypothetically say that the oil spill will cause the government to restrict drilling offshore and possibly stop any current progress of sea exploration. The demand for energy will still rise over time yet the production of oil will be constant. This will only increase the demand for Petroleum Engineers so that they may be able to find methods to get the most oil out of a reservoir or to find oil in more and more discrete locations that don’t cross government restrictions.</p>
<p>This will likely not be the case. People will forgot about it eventually and get back to their normal worries. BP may have a change of name and logo and will continue like normal.</p>
<p>This is a great time to look into the growing field of Petroleum Engineering. We will need more of you for at least 50 years to quench the thirst of out growing world economy.</p>
<p>The job outlook in petroleum engineering doesn’t depend on oil spills or on renewable energy, it depends on the economy. From 2005-early 2008, the economy was good and oil demand was high, which drove prices to record high levels. This encouraged oil companies to hire more people to meet the demand.</p>
<p>During a recession, the jobless rate spikes, fewer people are driving to work, and the people that do have jobs aren’t going to spend it on discretionary oil-consuming activities like cross-country drives and flights to faraway places. Oil prices will sink, and hiring freezes will spread through the nation’s oil companies faster than an invasive weed.</p>
<p>Given that this is an extremely cyclical industry, how do you think the economy will be by the time you graduate? If you think the economy will be good again, take petroleum engineering. If not, pick something else that isn’t so vulnerable to Miss Market’s mood swings.</p>
<p>thank you for your views</p>
<p>I think that I should major in pet. eng. still</p>
<p>you helped calm my nerves haha</p>
<p>Yes, it will absolutely affect the industry.</p>
<p>how so?</p>
<p>just asking</p>
<p>The same way that Three Miles Island affected nuclear industry. Just wait and see how things turn out.</p>
<p>There’s a world outside the West and that’s actually not in decline. Growth in China and India alone will probably compensate for any decline in petroleum use by developed countries several times over.</p>
<p>You guys act like the world ends when Americas coast ends. India is expected to surpass the US economy by 2040. Even China will surpass the US within a couple decades. This not just a phenomenon in India/China but tens of other countries. There is a growing thirst for energy that will need to be satisfied. Even if America does switch to an Alternative energies in a realistic length of time of 15 years. (Which is highly unlikely.). It will definitely still be extracting and exporting oil to other countries. American oil companies have operations all around the world! So even if the demand for oil goes down in America you still have the rest of the world that still depends on oil and relies on American oil companies to get them that oil.</p>
<p>mark my word America will go more and more Nuclear… ( like a France model which is what around 70% nuclear??) just wait and see… we will… and yeah we arent gonna be the super power we use to be but Im sure we will still be able to defend orselves and a threat to anyone who dares try us…</p>
<p>^so sad, we’ll be england…;-;</p>
<p>but I am for more nuclear energy, don’t get why we still don’t but I blame the simpsons.</p>
<p>My friend wants to be a fluids engineer in graduate school. I laugh and tell him that his final project would be “how would you fix the oil spill”.</p>
<p>I think some schools will advance their programs more cause of this disaster. Might take awhile to take in effect though.</p>
<p>Economics major here and I think I can make you feel better. Short and medium term I believe the petroleum industry is in very, very good shape. The difference between oil spills and Three Mile Island is that the global economy didn’t depend on nuclear energy the way it depends on oil. Think back to eco 101. The demand for oil is inelastic (people can’t easily switch from oil to other forms of energy because oil is the cheapest and most efficient) and the demand for nuclear energy is elastic (people can easily switch from using nuclear energy to using oil and other forms of energy). </p>
<p>The reason why it has been so hard to get the world off oil is because there is no economic incentive to switch from oil to other forms of energy. I would only start worrying once somebody finds a way to make a new, alternative form of energy more economically efficient than oil. That is not going to happen any time soon and honestly it may never happen.</p>