STEM

Petroleum Engineer

Plan how to safely drill for and pump oil and natural gas from deep underground

Open interactive guide

What does a Petroleum Engineer do?

Petroleum engineers work for energy companies and consulting firms, in offices and on drilling sites in places like Texas, Oklahoma, and Alaska. They study rock and pressure, design wells, and track how much each one produces. Jobs rise and fall with energy markets.

A day in the life

6:30 AMDrive to the well site and meet the drilling crew
8:00 AMCheck pressure readings from a well that is producing
10:00 AMStudy rock samples to choose where to drill next
12:30 PMRun a computer model of how much oil a field might hold
2:30 PMReview safety plans with the drilling supervisor
4:00 PMWrite a cost report for the well team

What's great

  • Work in the field and in the office
  • Travel to remote and far-off sites
  • Combines geology, math, and engineering
  • Skills transfer to energy work like geothermal

The hard parts

  • Hiring rises and falls with energy prices
  • Remote sites and rotating schedules
  • Work near rigs and high pressure is dangerous
  • Public debate over fossil fuels

What is a Petroleum Engineer's salary and outlook?

$79k – $197k
Salary Range
Bachelor's degree
Typical Education
Stable

Typical pay in this guide runs from about $78,600 to $196,500 a year, with a midpoint around $131,000. These are planning figures for students, not a job offer or an official wage.

CareerLens rates the outlook as Stable.

For the official national outlook, see BLS Occupational Data.

How do you become a Petroleum Engineer?

A common path is Bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. The ladder often runs from Junior Petroleum Engineer to Reservoir Engineer, then Senior Petroleum Engineer, and Vice President of Operations. Other routes: Mechanical or chemical engineering degree with energy courses; Summer internships with energy companies; Pass the FE exam, later the PE exam; Master's degree in reservoir engineering.

  • Mechanical or chemical engineering degree with energy courses
  • Summer internships with energy companies
  • Pass the FE exam, later the PE exam
  • Master's degree in reservoir engineering

Career path

Entry level
Junior Petroleum Engineer
Mid career
Reservoir Engineer
Senior
Senior Petroleum Engineer
Executive
Vice President of Operations

Will AI replace a Petroleum Engineer?

How much will AI change this job?

A lot

AI will change many everyday tasks in this job. The work shifts toward judgment, checking, and people.

AI will handle data work, letting engineers focus on big decisions.

Petroleum engineers will use AI to crunch numbers and spot patterns in oil and gas data much faster. This means less time on repetitive calculations and more time solving tricky drilling problems. People will still make the final calls on safety and strategy.

AI can help with

  • Analyzing rock and well data quickly
  • Predicting equipment problems before they happen
  • Running simulations for drilling plans

What stays human

  • Deciding if a drilling site is safe
  • Solving unexpected problems at the well site
  • Working with teams to plan big projects

Skills to build now

  • Get comfortable with math and physics
  • Practice using spreadsheets and basic data tools
  • Join science or robotics clubs to solve real problems

Based on public research from Anthropic and OpenAI, drafted with AI, checked automatically, and read by a person. How we know

This describes how the work may change. It is not a prediction that the job will disappear.