What does a Petroleum engineer do?

What are the top courses you need to become a petroleum engineer?

  • More specifically what math subjects does my son need to excel in to grasp being a petroleum engineering.

  • Answer:

    In high school -- take as many math and science classes as your school offers. Pre-calc, physics, and chemistry are important. Get good grades and do as many extracurriculars as you can without your grades dropping or social life perishing. The name of the university you get into does matter a bit, and anything you can test out of will save a ton of money and time. (AP tests are awesome.) In college -- If the course is in the curriculum at a reputable program it's almost certainly important. PEs need a specific set of skills, and courses are usually tailored for this because it is a specialist discipline. When you really look at the subject matter, a PE degree is a very specific type of Chemical Engineering degree. For example ChEs learn the general formulas for fluid flow through porous/granular media of various geometries (eg catalyst reactor vessels), whereas PEs learn specific formulas for inward radial flow through permeable rocks (eg oil reservoir production). ChEs learn basic properties of a wide range of industrially significant substances, whereas PEs learn details of hydrocarbons and geologically important fluids (brine etc). Get good at algebra and back of a napkin calculations. Math skills are important, but to be honest I don't know any engineers who use calculus in their normal job duties. Oil company engineers don't do much design or FEA type work unless they're in a technology group. (We sub out complicated stuff to vendors and experts.) Fluency with calculation and modeling software (Excel/VBA, Hysis, etc) is far more important than outright math skill. Calculating economics of a particular decision in an attractive and understandable spreadsheet/powerpoint will get you noticed. Communication and writing skills are very important to getting hired. Geology is absolutely critical. Thermodynamics is very important when it comes to PVT behavior of liquids/vapors/gases. Fluid dynamics and process measurement are big. Everything in the 3rd and 4th year of a BSPE is very important, especially the poli-sci coursework. You need to understand the legal framework of mineral rights and the energy industry's long-standing pariah status. This stuff is very country-specific but it really does matter a lot.

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If you enjoy all things math & science, you will get through any accredited BSPE program. Once you have that BSPE degree, a job with a major that will train you for real-world assumptions & correlations is essential.

Nick Privett

The Master's degree in Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College London is a top course in the field. Most applicants have a 1st class honours bachelor's degree in an engineering subject such as Chemical Engineering,  Mechanical Engineering, or  General Engineering.  Others have degrees in Physics, Civil Engineering, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, Ocean / Offshore Engineering,  Aeronautical Engineering, also Theoretical Chemistry.   The bottom line is you need to be good at university level maths to get through a Master's degree in Petroleum Engineering.  The A levels needed to get on to any of the above named undergraduate courses are Mathematics,  Further Mathematics, Physics , & Chemistry.  Further Mathematics is a more difficult version of A level Maths  The top universities will be impressed if your son gets a good grade in A level Further Maths. It's an A level  for the brightest kids.  Apart from Imperial College, the Petroleum Engineering programs at Heriot Watt University,  and University of Manchester are the UK courses recommend by the industry. The programs at Heriot Watt are long established courses. HW's MSc programme can also be completed by Distance Learning. The undergraduate Petroleum Engineering programme at University of Manchester is very popular. Graduates from that programme enjoy a very high rate of employment within the industry. Although most engineering graduates at Imperial College get graduate jobs, I'm not sure of the percentages who actually get jobs within the oil industry or in Engineering more generally. This is because Imperial Engineering graduates have a reputation for getting jobs as Investment bankers rather than as engineers. Imperial College being one of the UK universities targeted by Investment banks each year; along with Oxford, Cambridge, The LSE,  Durham, & UCL.

Joseph Hall

Online Petroleum Engineering Degree – Shоuld Yоu Cоnѕidеr Them? Thеrе аrе a limited number оf online universities offering online petroleum engineering programs. Thiѕ makes sense ѕinсе it iѕ ԛuitе a niche career. Sо whаt dо уоu dо if уоu wаnt tо pursue a degree but dо nоt wаnt tо relocate tо whеrе thе school is? Fortunately, thеrе iѕ a select number оf programs thаt offer online petroleum engineering degrees. Hеrе аrе a fеw reasons whу уоu might соnѕidеr dоing аn online program versus studying оn campus: Yоu wоuld likе tо continue working уоur full-time job whilе completing thе degree online Yоu аrе nоt аblе tо relocate fоr a number оf reasons including family аnd work Yоu аrе nоt interested in living in thе area оf уоur school Sоmеtimеѕ аlѕо called distance learning, gеtting a petroleum engineering degree online makes a lot оf sense fоr mаnу working professionals. Obtaining a degree соuld mеаn a huge difference in уоur salary, аnd саn lead tо starting salaries оf potentially $100,000 оr mоrе a year. Aѕ аn online student, уоu will ѕtill enjoy mаnу оf thе benefits thаt аrе offered tо regular students. Thiѕ includes job placements, industry-specific software training, аnd more. Lectures will bе recorded ѕо уоu саn easily access it whеn you’re available, аѕ lоng аѕ уоu meet уоur deadlines. Fоr thоѕе interested in a receiving a Bachelor оf Science in Petroleum Engineering, thе ’University оf North Dakotas College оf Engineering & Mines offers аn excellent online program. It iѕ accredited аnd will tаkе 6+ years tо complete depending оn уоur ability tо tаkе courses еvеrу semester. Students interested in a Master оf Engineering in Petroleum ѕhоuld check оut Texas A&M’s http://engineering.tamu.edu/petroleum/academics/distance-learning/distance-learning-home . Thеir petroleum engineering program iѕ 100% online аnd iѕ identical tо thе degree уоu wоuld hаvе received if уоu studied оn thеir campus. Bеlоw iѕ petroleum engineering information fоr thоѕе thаt mау nоt bе аѕ familiar with thе field. Thiѕ includes information оn whаt petroleum engineers do, internships, salary, аnd future оf thiѕ lucrative field. Find Best Petroleum Engineering Schools, Colleges, Online Degree programs, Salary and Jobs in USA for start your Petroleum Engineering Career in 2014 - http://www.TopPetroleumEngineeringSchools.org

Julia Stewart

Hi as you are interested in getting your son in Petroleum engineering.. I would advise you to go for B.Tech Applied Petroleum Engineering with specialization in upstream. I hope you have heard about UPES, Dehradun, India. It is one of the most famous universities offering this program in India. UPES trains students in Petroleum Engineering and focuses primarily on exploration and production of Oil & Gas. You will gain a thorough knowledge of all major technical aspects in relation to the entire hydrocarbon value-chain and the strategic techno-commercial issues relevant to the domain. The program covers important topics pertaining to the sector such as Petroleum Operations, Fluid Mechanics, Industrial Management, Petroleum Engineering Economics and more. The curriculum has been designed to familiarize the students with exploration, production and exploitation of oil and natural gases which are the prime aspects of upstream petroleum operations. Moreover, the faculty and infrastructure is also of world class stature, so I would advise you to go for it. If you want to know more, visit http://www.upes.ac.in/btech-applied-petroleum-engineering-with-specialization-in-upstream

Devik Aggarwal

If you have a ChE degree petroleum engineering is a sub-specialty of the chemical engineering curricula. I would prepare with a math, physics and chemistry focus prior to college.  This background will help you to excel in the fluid mechanics intensive coursework. In engineering practice you will choose between jobs that are focused on equipment/plan design versus on-the-floor troubleshooting and process development.

Deborah Shnek

true even Petroleum gets dissected with reservoir engineering, exploration and process engineering! sadly petroleum engineering as a specialty is offered in lesser universities! getting into a top university is important it does hold that image thing but a good recruiter can beat you to the pulp! major training is on site but theoretical is also essential thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, petroleum technology, mass transfer, transport phenomena, process control, process equipment and design if you want to be a design engineer, but it is important to know the design basics! material and energy balance is the basic subject for almost all chemical specialties, heat transfer, fluidization engineering, catalytic processes, reaction engineering! most of what is involved is physics and mathematics (fundamental upto integration) chemistry or reaction engineering comes in petrochemical industries and fluid catalytic crackers, but most processes are physical, like distillation heat transfer and others

Jack Mason

B.E. Petroleum Engineering Course  so it should be that you are good in Logic, Analysis, Solving Problem and Science. http://hamburgtradinghouse.com/

Mariah Carrie

You basically needs to study physics, chemistry and maths. It's always good to be familiar with all math chapters if you want it to make it to a reputed college easily. You need to also find the right admission portals like http://afterplus2.com/ for finding and booking seats in the perfect colleges that offers this course.

Jack Rudolph

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