Oil Comp Engr
38 Years Experience
Houston, TX
Female, 60
I recently retired from a major integrated oil company after 38 years. I have degrees in Civil and Petroleum Engineering. I worked with safety, health and environmental management systems and operations in the upstream (finding and producing oil and gas) and downstream (refining, chemicals and distributions) areas. I travelled all over world, enduring good & bad business cycles and good and bad managers.
You haven't provided any details about your background, so this makes it a bit tough to answer, but i'll give it a shot. Most folks that work on the rig work for the rig contractor (TransOcean, SeaDrill, Noble, etc.) or for a service company (Schlumberger, Halliburton, Weatherford, etc.). Folks working for a rig contractor have a pretty steady gig, as long as the rig is under contract. Foks working for a service company may bounce around from rig to rig, depending on the nature of their job. Some service company folks are on the rig 24/7, just like the crew, while others come in to do a special job, like running casing or running formation evaluation logs (aka, "logging"). Newer rigs have are more automated than when I first started, but it's still a physically demanding job - shifts are generally 12 hours/day and while there is some shelter from the elements, it can be grueling. You said you're applying for your TWIC certification, so I assume you're interested in the Gulf of Mexico. The Offshore Technology Conference is being held in Houston this week, so I'd check out the Houston papers to see who is hiring and/or see if there is a job fair being held in conjuction with the conference. That's the easiest way to see what's available. If that's not an option, I'd try out websites for the major rig contractors and service companies. Be aware that it will not look good if you've got an arrest record or a lot of speeding tickets.
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I think it will do neither. I think traditional oil and gas companies will continue to dabble around the margins. Oil and gas, in my opinion, is merely a commodity and will continue to be driven by the forces of the market.
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As a Petroleum Engineer, if you focus on reservoir engineering and well log analysis, there is really no reason for you to travel to the field other than a few trips to get oriented early on. The other extreme is drilling engineering where you could be in the field a lot, depending on your company.
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I don't know enough about the two programs to tell you about the differences, if any. Starting salaries likely rely on data submitted by students, who may be estimating the amount of bonus pay they expect to earn. At the end of the day, starting salaries are pretty good everywhere compared to other engineering degrees and compared to almost any other profession you can enter with an undergraduate degree. Large energy companies typically offer the same starting salary to engineers that are identical except for where they got their degree. A few years down the road, what matters is how well you are performing in your job. Are you helping the company make a good return on their investment or not. Those that do, tend to be rewarded and progress up the management chain.
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If you are asking why does water exist in oil fields, the answer is a bit complex but it stems from the fact that water exists in most permeable formations. Many formations were created with the deposition of sediments in marine and freshwater environments. Organic matter was also deposited. Over millions of years, under pressure and temperature, the organic matter decayed and was transformed into hydrocarbons. As to why there is conductivity associated with the water, I suggest you consult a reservoir engineering textbook as that is too complex a question for me to answer. The purpose of this forum is more about understanding what it is like to work in my field, not to answer technical questions.
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A good background in economics will always come in handy.
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I don't think it's that weird at all. There is a lot of work that requires familiarity with both petroleum engineering and environmental engineering. In order to get a permit to drill, for example, it is often necessary to conduct an environmental impact assessment. Someone with expertise in both areas can bring a lot of value to the process. When I was getting my Master's degree, there were folks with a wide variety of backgrounds in my program. Keep in mind, however, that I pursued that degree a few cycles ago. Right now, with the collapse in oil prices, I wouldn't recommend to anyone to pursue an advanced degree in petroleum engineering. There are massive layoffs at the service companies. Things will turn around eventually, but there's no way to predict when that will happen.
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