Architecture & Engineering
Petroleum Engineers
Also called: Completion Engineer, Drilling Engineer, Engineer, Operations Engineer
US median pay
$144,910
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+2%
about average or slower
Openings a year (US)
1,000
18,500 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 4/5 · Considerable preparation
What this job is
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.
What they do day to day
- Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery.
- Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.
- Maintain records of drilling and production operations.
- Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production.
- Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems.
- Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys.
- Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment.
- Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites.
- Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems.
- Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Systems Evaluation3.9/5
- Systems Analysis3.9/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.9/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.9/5
- Time Management3.6/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.6/5
- Coordination3.6/5
- Service Orientation3.0/5
Knowledge
- Engineering and Technology4.4/5
- Mathematics4.1/5
- Physics3.5/5
- Computers and Electronics3.5/5
- Chemistry3.4/5
- Administration and Management3.4/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 4 of 5 — Considerable preparation. Usually a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Bachelor's degree72%
- Post-master's certificate15%
Who this job suits
Mostly Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.