Petroleum Engineers
Science, Technology, Engineering and MathematicsO*NET 17-2171.00United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $145,828
- Projected change
- +3.1%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 20.85K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
71.6% of the workforce
Growing to 21.5K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What petroleum engineers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems.
- Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production.
- Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment.
- Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys.
- 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.
- Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel.
- Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development.
- Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $80,174
- 25th percentile
- $105,208
- 50th percentile
- $145,828
- 75th percentile
- $200,512
- 90th percentile
- $258,640
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $145,828 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+3.1%average or slower
202520,851 jobs
2035 projected21,504 jobs
653 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 71.6%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 20.8%
- High school diploma or less
- 7.6%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- 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.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- 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.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- 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.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Gas Turbine Engineers241 postings
- 02Engineers179 postings
- 03Gas Engineers158 postings
- 04Oil and Gas Engineers124 postings
- 05Reservoir Engineers122 postings
- 06Petroleum Engineers104 postings
- 07Natural Gas Analysts100 postings
- 08Field Engineers84 postings
- 09Drilling Engineers78 postings
- 10Pipeline Engineers62 postings
- 11Project Engineers56 postings
- 12Completions Engineers48 postings
- 13Operations Engineers41 postings
- 14Engineering Technicians38 postings
- 15Principal Engineers37 postings
- 16Engineering Interns34 postings
- 17Electric Power Generation Engineers33 postings
- 18Diagnostic Engineers29 postings
- 19Plant Utilities Engineers28 postings
- 20Associate Engineering Managers27 postings
Top employers
- 01Siemens Energy107 postings
- 02GE Vernova102 postings
- 03Chesapeake Utilities Corporation97 postings
- 04Entrust Solutions Group86 postings
- 05Sargent & Lundy57 postings
- 06Baker Hughes52 postings
- 07Kiewit Corporation46 postings
- 08Actalent45 postings
- 09PG&E38 postings
- 10Southwestern Public Service38 postings
- 11Eversource Energy33 postings
- 12Halliburton33 postings
- 13ExxonMobil32 postings
- 14Jacobs Solutions31 postings
- 15CenterPoint Energy30 postings
- 16Energy Transfer29 postings
- 17Aramco23 postings
- 18Stellantis22 postings
- 19Insight Global21 postings
- 20Kinder Morgan20 postings
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