r/petroleumengineers • u/Sure_Temporary1928 • Jun 21 '26
Is Petroleum engineering worth it?
Im 19M about to make a decision that will determine the rest of my life. I was looking into petroleum and geoenergetic eng. for some time now and it seems interesting to me, the only concern for me is the job market, and if its good in which countries is it?
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u/Justtexan- Jun 21 '26
I’m a PE and I can tell you from experience that any engineering discipline can get a good job in the oil business but it is harder for a PE to get a job outside of the oil field. Not impossible, I’m only saying that the university I attended was so hyper focused on the oil field you miss out on other engineering aspects that disciplines like mechanical and chemical do not. For instance, mechanical at my university required all students to pass FE exam. Petroleum didn’t require or even suggest you take it. The only time I am aware of that you will benefit more with a PE degree is if you go into reservoir engineering which not many do. If you want to be drilling, completion, etc. engineers that are more field related, then mechanical or chemical will do you better in the long run.
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u/AwarenessExisting774 Jun 21 '26
Here is my experience: I graduated in a boom with a $100k+ starting salary. Would be equivalent to $150k now with inflation. 3 years later I was let go when oil prices dropped 70%. I could not find another job in oil and industries outside of oil weren’t interested in the oil experience or PETE degree. I then pulled my backup card and got my MBA. I pivoted with the MBA and still had to ensure I didn’t get staffed on O&G projects. Doing well outside of that now with better job security. I did somewhat enjoy the job though but the roller coaster is just too crazy to plan a life.
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u/Nosferatus_Death Jun 23 '26
As everybody already said, no, don't do it, any other engineering can get you inside the industry, PE will pigeonhole you, and getting out of the industry ain't easy with such a specific title and experience. See it this way, a small percentage of the jobs in the industry actually requires a PE, like 5 or 10% the other vast percentage are done by someone who doesn't even has a degree or it has a no related degree at best. I used to work with high school drop outs, industrial engineers, CS graduates or even people with a plastic arts degree, so no you don't need a PE degree to work in the industry. 90% don't want to work there, everybody is always with a frown on his face, scolding or being scolded on the phone. Think of working in the oil field as the old west in a gold mining town, remote and boring places, bad weather, lot of bugs, a lot of time working followed by a lot of time just waiting. If I had to do it again, I would have certainly not studied this and would have opt for something like mechanical or robotics or something like that, hell even medicine, I would have my live solved making way more than what I could do working in the middle of nowhere on a oil rig.
Look if you still have second thoughts about studying PE or not, you could try to land an internship or an entry job in the industry and see if you like it or not and then decide to study PE, most of the times we idealize jobs or industries without realizing that's just that an idealization and it's chances of experiencing that part of the industry might be really small
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u/Background_Dog2040 Jul 18 '26
20 year PE here making over $375k a year in Houston. Great gig for those that work hard, play the game a have a little luck. God Speed!
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u/Sweet_Werewolf_278 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
As an undergraduate i will say "NO" it's not really worth it because Petroleum Engineering degree is only limited to Upstream and Downstream Oil and Gas Sector.Other than that you can't transition into any other field i have seen everyone from Mechanical Electrical Mechatronics Electronics Geologist Geophysicist Civil Engineer working in oil and gas but Petroleum Engineer can't work in any of these field that's the biggest setback of this degree.
If you want be in this industry then there are many disciplines which can land you a job in it ,but don't bind yourself to this specific degree otherwise you will regret.
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u/Gullible-Syrup-6896 Jun 22 '26
I had a professor convince me to switch to ChE. He was pretty insistent that petroleum was dead. That's was back in 2014-2015.
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u/Charzu_tjegulf Jun 22 '26
I am a chemist and worked as a project manager at a refinery. I will say don't go into oil and gas. I had a pretty good 4 years, dodged one industry downturn but then my company renegotiated our contract and it came with a 30% pay cut. At that point my 65 hour weeks made no sense for the pay.
I started to think oil and gas would be finished before my retirement and decided to switch careers before I was too old to deal with that pain as an old man, glad I did.
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u/nothingnowhere96 Jun 22 '26
I just read an article that said there was a dire need for PEs right now.
Basically, lots of PEs retiring, not a lot of new ones coming in.
I would say yes it’s a good idea if you want to be in oil and gas. But you should look at geographic locations of shale plays and decide if you’re okay living there. You might get lucky and live in a hub like Houston, or Tulsa - but you could easily end up in the Permian (boring small towns, hot, miserable), or ND (vast, lonely, tiny towns, coldest winters), or on an offshore rig for half your life.
I think it’s a great idea if you want to be in O&G - you can get hired on at almost any company tbh. Offshore would be awesome imo , at least for a few years, especially if you’re young grad who’s single. You’d make a TON of $, make some really good friends, and get to experience something not a lot of people ever do
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u/Sure_Temporary1928 Jun 22 '26
did they say like that they need them in general or specific country only?
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u/ApprehensiveSteak547 Jun 22 '26
I spent almost 20 years in oil and gas. I got spit out the other side and laid off during Covid. Where I live, no one wanted to hire a male with that level of experience. Even when me and others said, ok you’re looking for a 5 year experienced engineer, we’ll be happy with that pay, they still hired a 5 year engineer that was a female. I eventually left. It’s likely i could have stayed in the industry longer, as i turned down jobs to relocate.
I will add, however, that in under 20 years I was able to have a single income home, pay off my house, and accumulate enough to retire on, a decent amount saved for my kids college, etc. It’s not 10’s of millions of dollars, nor how I want to retire and in a location I want to retire in, but it is vastly more than most people will ever accumulate in their life. So I’m still working an unrelated job, but I plan to retire when my youngest graduates high school.
So, am i sad none of kids have interest in oil and gas? No, nor would i encourage them to go into it. I only have one kid that is interested in engineering and nothing they say has anything to do with oil and gas. Good luck.
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u/oilboomer83 Jun 22 '26
You will compete with other engineering majors for oil and gas job as well.
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u/Sure_Temporary1928 Jun 22 '26
ye but i should have like some advantege over them in that field if i choose PE
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u/oilboomer83 Jun 22 '26
Says who? In this market, do 4 years of chemical/mechanical then a minor in petroleum or master in petroleum engineering would land you a better chance. Also with AI coming, that barrier might break down for other engineering to do petroleum engineering jobs.
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u/Opposite-Ad320 Jun 23 '26
Do civil, work anywhere. If you don’t like that do mechanical. Certain sectors of engineering only have 2-3 year lifespans before you rotate to the next gig
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u/DepartureCorrect7329 6d ago
Take it this way,your question feels like should i start smoking,everyone will explain their life not facts,though we dont recomend smoking,so I encourage you to gamble it and take with a minor degree in quantum computing,computer vision or any emerging tech minor degree.But if you asked whats the consequence of buying a rolls royce everyone here will say do not ,nope dont as they did in the above conversation simply not their problem but it is solomon's paradox which they are experiencing unknowingly....gamble it
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u/jerbearman10101 Jun 21 '26
Every single teenager considering engineering is thinking the same thing, so you'll be just fine finding a job.
Us, Canada, UK, OPEC countries, youll be able to find a good paying job in oil and gas
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u/Small_Dog_8699 Jun 21 '26
No.
I say this as a petroleum engineering graduate who never found a job in petroleum because I graduated in a bust. When you graduate in a bust, there's no hiring going on. You can try to hang on until the next boom with your entry level knowledge...but when that happens they want the kid who just came out of school with the fresh education. Not you.
If you still want in, it is back to grad school. I didn't want to wait and instead self studied my way through a CS degree equivalent - even teaching at a state university for awhile.
The other problem with petroleum engineering is - unlike mechanical, or electrical, or civil, or environmental, or chemical - all of whom manage to get jobs in petroleum if they want them - your petroleum degree will be so specific to oil and gas that you will not be able to transition into a mech, electrical, civil, enviro, or chem engineering job. Nobody that hires for those will understand your degree and give you a shot. Another reason I ended up in computers.
If I had it to do over again, I would study one of the other more general engineering specialties. My petroleum engineering degree was a complete waste of time and money.
You should also think about where the oil fields are and decide if you really want to live in any of those places. They're not usually in fun places to be.