How to Become a Petroleum Engineer

About Petroleum Engineer

Petroleum engineers are engineers who specialize in designing and developing different techniques and methods for extracting oil and gas from earth’s surface. Their job role is taken look for different ways to obtain natural gas or crude oil from the ground. Apart from this, petroleum engineers explore new ways and new techniques to extract oil and gas. They usually work with geologists. They also design computer simulations to predict the petroleum and natural flow on the site and areas considered as the right hand of the oil and gas company. It is because they are ones who help in the extraction and making it fit for human use.

Petroleum engineers are considered a  go-to person on sites. Most of the time, petroleum engineers work in labs doing research but, they also have to leave for the site in moments of notice and sometimes for months, if the site is an offshore oil rig.

Eligibility to become Petroleum Engineer

Aspirants can apply for the bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering by appearing in JEE Main 2020 entrance test. The ones who desire better salary packages and job opportunities can get into a master’s degree in the respective field. Entrance exams are conducted at national, state and University level for the admission into the same. GATE is a popular entrance test for admission into the M.Tech/M.E.in petroleum engineering. Most of the institutions of India consider GATE scores for granting admission. However, some of the universities conduct their own entrance test for providing admission.

Option 1:

To become a petroleum engineer, candidates can earn a B.E./B.Tech degree in the respective field.

Option 2:

The other career path through which one can become a petroleum engineer is by pursuing a master’s degree in the respective field.

A candidate must have passed class 12th from a recognised board or equivalent examination with a minimum of 50% marks. However, the passing marks for different categories and college to college.

Types of Job Roles Petroleum Engineer

Once the candidates have completed their formal education whether it is a B.Tech degree or master's degree in the respective field, there are various petroleum engineering job profiles available for them as per their interests. There are many sub-disciplines of petroleum engineering such as reservoir engineers, drilling engineers etc. Check out the most popular petroleum engineering job profile here:

Reservoir Engineers- Their job role is to estimate how much oil or gas can be recovered from underground deposits, known as reservoirs. They perform various research related to reservoirs’ and explore different methods which will help to extract most oil or gas out of the reservoirs. They also monitor operations to ensure that optimal levels of these resources are being recovered.

Drilling Engineers- They explore and determine different ways to drill oil or gas wells. Their job involves multiple roles as they have to take into account a number of factors such as capital, safety, security, efficiency and that whether it is environmentally friendly or not.

Production Engineers- Production engineers work closely with drilling engineers as they take over the wells after the drilling is completed. They mainly monitor wells’ oil and gas production and to explore different options to increase the amount of oil and gas being extracted.

Completion Engineers- They look for different ways to finish building wells so that oil or gas will flow up from the underground.

Employment Opportunities for Petroleum Engineers

Petroleum engineering is a lucrative field and petroleum engineers can find employment opportunities in the following sectors:

• Oil and Gas Industry
• Petroleum Industry

Top Recruiting Companies for Petroleum Engineers

The job and employment outlook for petroleum engineers is quite good as there is a huge demand for petroleum engineers. Companies that come under government and recruits petroleum engineers are as follows:

• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)
• Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)
• Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)
• GAIL
• Essar Oil
• Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd (HOEC)

Pay Scale/Salary of Petroleum Engineer

Petroleum engineers are paid great salary packages in India as well as abroad. It is one of the highest paid engineering disciplines. The average salary of a petroleum engineer in India is between Rs 6,00,000 to Rs.7,00,0000. However, with experience, one gets great pay packages and job perks. Remuneration in this field is similar to that offered in abroad. Those working in renowned oil and gas companies such as India Oil, ONGC and are employed at senior managerial posts can more than Rs. 30,00,000 per annum. 

Note-  The above figures are an estimate and may vary from individual to individual and company to company.

Books & Study Material to Become Petroleum Engineer

There are many good books and study material available for petroleum engineering to understand the basic concept as well as you will learn some insight questions related to this branch of engineering. Some of them are: 

• Introduction to Petroleum Engineering by Wiley- Blackwell
• Applied Petroleum Reservoir Engineering by Prentice Hall
• Khanna's Objective Questions in Petroleum Engineering

Apart from this, aspirants should solve MCQs and go through previous years GATE question papers to have a thorough understanding of the type of questions asked and paper pattern.

Pros of becoming a Petroleum Engineer

• Petroleum engineers are one of the highest paid engineering disciplines as the demand for oil and gas is very high all over the world. Therefore, they require such professionals who can extract maximum oil and gas.
• As the nature of the job is onsite one gets to travel a lot and see the world.
• The job prospects of a petroleum engineer are very high as compared to others.

Cons of becoming a Petroleum Engineer

• Petroleum engineers tend to work overseas a lot which can be very stressful at times and are required to work long hours which is not very favourable for health. Sometimes the oil fields are located in very remote locations.
• As per the statistics, it is one of the toughest engineering jobs as it involves a lot of fieldwork.
• One requires a lot of skill to become a petroleum engineer and it is not easy to obtain the petroleum engineer degree as well.