Career in Petroleum: Questions from a High School Student

[doggogo8]

hello,

I'm a yr12 high school student looking into many career options. Petroleum engineering attracts me the most as it seems to offer great pay and opportunity to travel. But these questions are bugging me about this profession:

1. What would happen to these engineers when oil run out?
2. Are the skills transferable, for example, could we move onto mining engineering, banking industry, etc. ?
3. Is peak oil accurate predicting oil will peak in 2010?
4. Great pay, opportunity to travel, what's the catch?
5. Is there a high demand for this profession, would I be able to get a job when I graduate?

Thanks in advance.
~Markas

 

[makethings]

Job prospects always change and it can be hard to predict what it will be like in 4-5 years when you get your degree. But oil and gas is a very big industry. After all, you need liquid fuels to fuel your cars and gas to heat your home. And you have all this stuff about syngas, biofuels, coal gasification being developed so there is lots of opportunity.

 

[tbradshaw]

I worked for Schlumberger as a field engineer. Petroleum engineering is going to still be an important field for the rest of our lifetimes. Oil is not running out. Easy to mine oil is running out. More advance techniques are needed the access the oil in the ground now a days. The most important skill you get when working in the petroleum industry is leadership. On an oil rig you will probably be the one in charge with the most education out there. There is great pay and travel, but it can become stressful if you have a family. Depending on the company and position you could change locations and even countries every year.

 

[Fearless]

1. What would happen to these engineers when oil run out?

They will always have jobs. Because fuel and fuelextraction-techniques is always something that will play an important part in technology. LIke for example biofuels, or powergenerating techniques in chemical process industry.

2. Are the skills transferable, for example, could we move onto mining engineering, banking industry, etc. ?

They are very transferable, process engineering will probably be the degree you will be aiming at. That degree can transfer between very different fields.

3. Is peak oil accurate predicting oil will peak in 2010?

Pending on this one, mainly because it isn't sure if oil will be our main source of fuel after 25 years from now, I think most governments will pressure industry to go "green" or not-so-oil-addicted. At least in europe the governments pressure industry and consumers very much.

4. Great pay, opportunity to travel, what's the catch?

There is no catch really. But I wouldn't get to enviromental if I worked for the big 5 oilproducers out there. Because they don't give a rat's *** really.

5. Is there a high demand for this profession, would I be able to get a job when I graduate?

Yes, you will be able to get a job, probably worldwide too. But it depends on your social skills, high in social skills will land you a job very fast, but if you're average it will take some time getting used to interviews and writeing a good CV and such.

 

[KennyCivE]

The catch? Some people don't like to get their hands dirty.

 

[wildman]

I worked for Schlumberger as a field engineer. Petroleum engineering is going to still be an important field for the rest of our lifetimes. Oil is not running out. Easy to mine oil is running out. More advance techniques are needed the access the oil in the ground now a days. The most important skill you get when working in the petroleum industry is leadership. On an oil rig you will probably be the one in charge with the most education out there. There is great pay and travel, but it can become stressful if you have a family. Depending on the company and position you could change locations and even countries every year.

That is true. We should be approaching peak oil according to Hubbert, but so what? That just means that the oil will become more valuable and more technical people will be hired to find what's left. It is probably a good field.