What do they do?

Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Oversee drilling and offer technical advice.

Also known as:

Completion Engineer, Completions Engineer, Drilling Engineer, Engineer, Operations Engineer, Petroleum Engineer, Petroleum Production Engineer, Project Production Engineer, Project Reservoir Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, Reservoir Engineering Consultant

Typical Wages

Projected Growth Rate

Employment of Petroleum Engineers is projected to grow 4 percent from 2022 to 2032, more slowly than average compared to all occupations.

Projected Employment in OH

No Data Available
  • 4.5%

    Change

    Ranks #12 in job growth rate
    10

    Job Openings

    Ranks #24 in net job growth

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Education Level

Percent of workers in this field with these degrees:

  • Bachelor's degree  (54%)
  • Master's degree  (23%)
  • Doctorate or Professional Degree  (8%)
  • High school diploma equivalent  (6%)
  • Some college, no degree  (4%)
  • Associate's degree  (4%)
  • Less than high school diploma  (2%)

Typical College Majors

Most Popular Majors that prepare Petroleum Engineers

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People in this career often have these skills:

  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
  • Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
  • Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

People in this career often know a lot about:

  • Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  • Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
  • Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

People in this career often have talent in:

  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

People in this career often do these activities:

  • Determine operational methods.
  • Direct energy production or management activities.
  • Test performance of electrical, electronic, mechanical, or integrated systems or equipment.
  • Monitor the productivity or efficiency of industrial operations.
  • Develop technical methods or processes.
  • Maintain operational records or records systems.
  • Analyze physical, survey, or geographic data.
  • Resolve operational performance problems.
  • Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.
  • Direct quality control activities.
  • Prepare detailed work plans.
  • Analyze costs and benefits of proposed designs or projects.
  • Create models of engineering designs or methods.
  • Confer with other personnel to resolve design or operational problems.
  • Design environmental control systems.
  • Explain engineering drawings, specifications, or other technical information.
  • Direct design or development activities.
  • Prepare technical reports for internal use.
  • Inspect equipment or systems.
  • Interpret design or operational test results.
  • Direct installation activities.
  • Direct equipment maintenance or repair activities.
  • Collect samples of raw materials or finished products.
  • Design industrial equipment.
  • Research advanced engineering designs or applications.

This page includes data from:

O*NET OnLine Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Logo Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics

careeronestop logo Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development

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