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Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities
related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or
natural gas. Exploration and Production are deemed to fall within the upstream
sector of the oil and gas industry. Exploration, by earth scientists, and petroleum
engineering are the oil and gas industry's two main subsurface disciplines,
which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from
subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology and geophysics focus on provision of
a static description of the hydrocarbon reservoir rock, while petroleum
engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource
using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water and gas
within porous rock at very high pressure.
The combined efforts of geologists and petroleum engineers throughout the life
of a hydrocarbon accumulation determine the way in which a reservoir is
developed and depleted, and usually they have the highest impact on field
economics. Petroleum engineering requires a good knowledge of many other
related disciplines, such as geophysics, petroleum geology, formation
evaluation (well logging), drilling, economics, reservoir simulation, reservoir
engineering, well engineering, artificial lift systems, completions and oil and
gas facilities engineering.
Recruitment to the industry has historically been from the disciplines of physics,
chemical engineering and mining engineering. Subsequent development training
has usually been done within oil companies.
Overview
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The profession got its start in 1914 within the American Institute of Mining,
Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). The first Petroleum
Engineering degree was conferred in 1915 by the University of Pittsburgh.
Since then, the profession has evolved to solve increasingly difficult situations,
as much of the "low hanging fruit" of the world's oil fields have been found and
depleted. Improvements in computer modeling, materials and the application of
statistics, probability analysis, and new technologies like horizontal drilling and
enhanced oil recovery, have drastically improved the toolbox of the petroleum
engineer in recent decades.
Deep-water, arctic and desert conditions are usually contended with. High
Temperature and High Pressure (HTHP) environments have become
increasingly commonplace in operations and require the petroleum engineer to
be savvy in topics as wide ranging as thermo-hydraulics, geomechanics, and
intelligent systems.
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is the largest professional society for
petroleum engineers and publishes much information concerning the industry.
Petroleum engineering education is available at 17 universities in the United
States and many more throughout the world - primarily in oil producing regions
- and some oil companies have considerable in-house petroleum engineering
training classes.
Petroleum engineering has historically been one of the highest paid engineering
disciplines, although there is a tendency for mass layoffs when oil prices
decline. In a June 4, 2007 article, Forbes.com reported that petroleum
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engineering was the 24th best paying job in the United States. The 2010
National Association of Colleges and Employers survey showed petroleum
engineers as the highest paid 2010 graduates at an average $125,220 annual
salary. For individuals with experience, salaries can go from $170,000 to
$260,000 annually. They make an average of $112,000 a year and about $53.75
per hour.
Types
Petroleum engineers divide themselves into several types:
Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of oil and gas via proper
well placement, production rates, and enhanced oil recovery techniques.
Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling exploratory,
production and injection wells.
Production engineers, including subsurface engineers, manage the
interface between the reservoir and the well, including perforations, sand
control, downhole flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment;
evaluate artificial lift methods; and also select surface equipment that
separates the produced fluids (oil, natural gas, and water).