<p>Right now i'm looking into the big Oil Companies that have refineries in Southern California (ie Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips) and I was wondering if anyone knows what it's like working for them as an entry level engineer?</p>
<p>If you've heard stuff about them through experience or from a friend... Anything about their long-term opportunities... Work environment... Stability... etc... Pretty much anything! Any comments are appreciated!!! Thanks</p>
<p>I work for a "Big Oil" refinery in So. Cal. You can PM me if you want.</p>
<p>Big Oil now has deep pockets (due to high crude prices) and is facing a shortage of engineers due to projected retirements. Oil is a cyclical business and is currently experiencing good times.</p>
<p>Lots of opportunities. New engineers are ushered thru a job rotational program to get them exposed to different areas. Big Oil has great training for new engineers.</p>
<p>Stability long term I think is good. Energy is becoming increasingly important with global warming and oil companies are looking into diversifying their business. Many older workers are looking to retire early with fully funded pensions, and that will create opportunities for younger engineers.</p>
<p>Pay and benefits are excellent.</p>
<p>I'm going to be starting my upstream job in two months. The pay can not be beaten currently.</p>
<p>is it better to go for a B.S. in Chem E or Petro E?</p>
<p>is it worth to get a B.S.Petro E.?</p>
<p>I mean, maybe, things might drastically change 5 years from now, the oil industry might not be doing so well. Do you think B.S.Petro E graduates are going to be unemployed in a situation like this?</p>
<p>Tom - even if the industry is experiencing difficult times, you will have no problem finding a job in another industry with a degree like that. You can get many lucrative jobs in finance with a degree in ChemE or PetroE</p>
<p>Tom, that's a fair question. I personally would not want to get a PetE degree for that reason specifically. I'm ME going into Petroleum. I took a two classes and an oil centric internship.</p>
<p>The</a> Future of Your Discipline - Petroleum Engineering</p>
<p>"Today, there aren't enough of us to go around," proclaims Dr. Craig Van Kirk, professor and head of the petroleum engineering department at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. "The job market is excellent, salaries are the highest among all engineering fields, and oil and service companies are looking over the long haul to determine their staffing needs."</p>
<p>................................</p>
<p>According to salary.com,</p>
<p>the median salary for a Level I Petroleum Drilling Engineer is almost 72k.
and for the Level V its about 136k.</p>
<p>the median for the Level I Reservoir Engineer is 67k.
and the median for Level V REng is almost 131k.</p>
<p>and for the Eng managers, the median is 139k.</p>
<p>and according to my school(Penn State: College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.....Petro Eng isn't in the College of Eng.),
the starting salaries for B.S. graduates are around 90k.</p>
<p>" Placement of B.S. graduates from the Earth and Mineral Sciences
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Program is 100%. Starting salaries are around $90,000,
and median annual earnings for petroleum engineers are now well above $140,000."</p>
<p>Petroleum</a> and Natural Gas Engineering (PNGE) at Penn State - Undergraduate Program</p>
<p>Tom, no doubt Petroleum is extremely hot right now.</p>
<p>but the real question is how long is the hotness going to last?</p>
<p>^ Until the world has a huge recession and the price drops back to $20/bbl. But, we'll all be hurting then.</p>
<p>
[quote]
but the real question is how long is the hotness going to last?
[/quote]
That is the question. I suspect that within 20 years the market for PetE will die down.</p>