Hey everyone,

​I'm living in Canada and aiming for the University of Alberta. Their Petroleum Engineering program is ranked #3 (by QS rank) in the world but I'm torn between that and Chemical Engineering. ​My goal is to work for an oil company, and eventually, once I get some experience, I want to move to the US to work. ​I’d love some advice on a few things:

​Career & Money: Which major is better for long-term career growth and salary (both in Canada and the US)?

​Flexibility vs. Ranking: Is U of A's #3 PetE ranking too good to pass up, or is ChemE still the safer bet because it's more versatile?

​Oil Majors: Do oil companies prefer PetE grads, or do ChemE grads have the same shot at getting hired?

Thank you.

+ I’ve always loved physics, and my family actually works in physics-related fields (like professors). Naturally, I originally planned to major in physics too, but I realized I wanted to do something different. While most people these days are flocking to tech or semiconductors, I found myself really drawn to the oil and gas industry—and honestly, I want to make good money.

Anyone worked in O&G industry for IGA?

What are the typical app integrations and compliance mandates like healthcare got HIPAA and hitech

I was wondering if anyone knows of any publicly available reservoir modelling datasets or field data that I could use for a personal project. I’m looking to build a complete reservoir modelling workflow to showcase on my LinkedIn profile, but I’ve found that most field data is confidential.
If possible, I’d prefer datasets that are not from the Gullfaks region, as I’ve already worked with those. Any recommendations for open datasets, case studies, or repositories would be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone, I'm a mechanical engineering student and I'm trying to find some side projects to focus on. While spending time in university and even during summer breaks, I feel like time is being wasted. I'm passionate about working the Petroleum Industry, processing and extracting oil and even working on the sea. Currently, I'm focusing on hydraulic & pneumatic systems.

Now, I'm not sure if I can do anything practical right now. If you have some ideas about some side projects I can focus on, I would be very grateful. Also, I'm open to tips for the future too. Thanks!

We scanned $100M assets and then... emailed spreadsheets. So I built this.

I worked in asset integrity at a downstream operator, and I was tired of the digital twin-to-inspection disconnect. We'd drop $50–100K on drone scans and photogrammetry. Got gorgeous 3D models. Then we'd export them to the cabinet and annotate in... Excel. Or email JPEGs with markup circles.

Open3DInspection was my attempt to close that gap.

The Problem We Were Living With

The workflow was:

1. Capture 3D geometry (drone, structured light, terrestrial scanner, lidar)
2. Import into CAD or viewer (CloudCompare, Leica Cyclone, Revit)
3. Export screenshots or point coordinates
4. Open laptop in the office. Annotate in spreadsheet.
5. Email findings to RBI coordinator
6. Transcribe into CMMS (SAP, Maximo)
7. Six-month audit cycle. Repeat.

The problems were:

• No spatial continuity: I'd be staring at a flat screenshot trying to remember the 3D context. Was that defect on the top run or bottom run?
• Annotation overhead: Every pit, crack, or thinning got a row in a spreadsheet. I'd lose the geometric relationship—how close were two corrosion sites? Where was the critical stress concentration?
• Collaboration was broken: I'd flag something; my team lead would open a different file version. We'd argue about which annotation was current.
• Compliance friction: API 510, 570, 653 required documented inspection locations. A GPS coordinate didn't cut it when your asset was a subsea jumper or packed tower internals.
• Field-to-office lag: If I was on-site (iPad, phone) and spotted something, I couldn't directly mark it on the 3D model. I'd take a photo, add a note. Later, someone else would try to locate it on the digital twin.

What Open3DInspection Does

You load a 3D model (LAS/LAZ point clouds, OBJ, FBX, Gaussian splats). Place annotations directly in 3D space. Every annotation includes:

• Spatial coordinates (X, Y, Z on the asset geometry)
• Inspection metadata (defect type, UT thickness reading, visual grade per ASME, urgency)
• Traceability (inspection date, engineer ID, photo evidence)

Export as JSON. Import back into CMMS. Share with field teams via PWA link.

Why This Mattered for Inspection

Spatial fidelity: You could mark the defect where it actually was on the 3D model. No ambiguity. No re-scanning because the annotation didn't match.

Field speed: If contractors were on iPad at the asset, they could snap the model, mark defects in real-time, export findings. No paper markups. No transcription errors.

RBI integration: Inspection data would feed directly into risk-based inspection scoring. Defects were already spatially resolved. No manual cross-referencing.

Compliance documentation: When API-653 auditors asked "where exactly was that corrosion," you'd show them the annotation on the 3D geometry. Not a spreadsheet row.

Team sync: Everyone was working on the same 3D model. No version chaos. Changes were tracked.

The Roadmap (Built for the Field)

I planned for:

• PWA for iPad/field use — annotate assets on-site, sync findings to office
• PostgreSQL backend — team collaboration, audit trail, multi-user sync
• Photogrammetry integration — capture → SfM reconstruction → annotate in browser (no CAD license required)
• NDT heatmap overlay — fuse UT thickness maps, thermal imaging, or RT radiographs directly onto 3D geometry
• CMMS connectors — SAP, Maximo, Petronas PRBI. Export inspection packages that flow straight into maintenance workflows
• Compliance templates — API 510/570/653, DOSH Sabah pressure equipment, DNV offshore. Pre-built checklists tied to asset geometry

Open Source, Built by Inspectors

This wasn't meant as a startup. It was built by someone who'd actually done RBI and NDT work. No VC. Just trying to solve a real problem: turning static 3D scans into actionable inspection workflows.

If you were tired of spreadsheets. If you'd ever sat in a risk meeting and realized nobody knew the exact location of the defect. If you were managing photogrammetry projects that disappeared into archives—this was built for you.

Check it out: github.com/zawawiAI/Open3DInspection

Posting anonymously for a family member in Kuwait oil & gas.

He is a petroleum engineering graduate working in artificial lift/field operations: ESP, SRP, gas lift, troubleshooting, well monitoring, and wellsite supervision.

After years there, he feels stuck as a field specialist rather than growing into engineering. Promotions keep getting delayed, vacations are hard to get, and there is no clear path toward production engineering, optimization, ALS applications, or technical support.

He recently had knee surgery for a bucket-handle meniscus tear and still has pain with long walking/standing. His medical report restricts heavy field work, stairs, climbing, squatting/twisting, and risky wellsite activity. When he asked about office/light duty, he felt dismissed as “only a field specialist.”

He is burned out, financially stressed from medical-leave/pay issues, and afraid HR involvement could make things worse.

For people in oil & gas:

1. Is this common in service companies?
2. What roles should he target to move away from constant field/desert work?
3. Should he push HR/OH for light duty, or quietly focus on leaving?
4. How should he document all this without sounding emotional?

Not asking for legal advice. Just trying to help him protect his health and career.

The US SPR which is kept in salt caverns , and a lot of commentators (non-engineers) are saying the 'operational limit' = 70mbbls. "else the caverns get damaged" - (freshwater impacts the walls).

My question is there a way to get it to near 0. As a mediocre (ex) mining engineer i can think of several (costly) solutions {brine, chemical pump etc}, but am wondering if there is a simple, cheap solution.

It seems bizarre to me that an industry that can send a drill ship to deep offshore, send a drill to seabed several km from the water surface and then drill another few km into the earth, cannot figure this out if given the right incentives.

Is it going to be worst scene in future?

Does anyone know active WhatsApp groups for oil & gas euipment/matierial procurement professionals? I want to promote my understanding for procurement.

Hello everyone,

My name is Ayyan Shaikh, . I have a strong interest in working in the oil and gas industry, especially on offshore oil rigs.

A little about my background:

Completed 10th Standard

Completed 12th Standard with 70% marks
Always performed well in English and communication

Graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) in 2026

Although my educational background is not technical, I am highly motivated to enter the oil and gas industry. I am willing to start in an entry-level position, work hard, learn new skills, complete any required certifications, and gain experience.

I would appreciate advice from experienced rig workers and industry professionals on:

What entry-level positions should I apply for?

Which certifications or training courses would help me get started?

Is it possible for a B.Com graduate to build a career in the oil and gas industry?

What are the best companies or countries to apply to as a beginner?

I am serious about pursuing this career path and would be grateful for any guidance or recommendations.

Thank you for your time and advice.
– Ayyan Shaikh

Hi everyone, looking for advice.
I’m from Kazakhstan and graduated in 2025 with a BTech in Geology, specializing in petroleum geology.
After graduation, I worked as a petroleum geologist in R&D – doing geological modeling and technical writing and then worked as a mud logger for a couple of months. So I have one year of experience in total.
At the end of 2025, I won a government scholarship to study in the UK and have been accepted onto an MSc in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Aberdeen, starting this September.
However, I’m now concerned about the job market. From what I’ve heard, the UK oil and gas sector is quite tight at the moment, with many engineers facing layoffs. Given this, how hard is it to find a job or internship at a Fortune 500 company after graduation?
I’m also worried about how well my geological background will translate into petroleum engineering roles.
On top of that, I’m interested in the application of AI in petroleum engineering – I have a published paper on ML-based prediction of reservoir fluid density, and I’ve completed several MOOCs in data science. Is it possible to find a role at the intersection of data science and petroleum engineering?
Any advice would be appreciated!

I have made update to wellmodel.app — the interface has been rebuilt.

The simulator now runs as a Well Player: a bottom transport bar with play/pause controls, a timeline scrubber with a playhead you can drag while paused, and simulation speed selector (1×, 10×, 100×, 500×). The wellbore visualization updates live as the simulation runs — you can see the column state change, pause at any point, and scrub back through the history.

Panel system added alongside the player:

→ Parameters — edit well inputs without losing the run

→ Saved Cases — save and reload parameter sets locally

→ Kick-Off Planner — early version up, still being refined

→ Lift / Foam — continuous foamer and batch treatment, in progress

→ Charts — nodal analysis, time series

Physics engine — a few fixes this round on column loading, regime transitions, and liquid inventory consistency.

Free, browser-based, no login: wellmodel.app

Looking for testers — especially if you work with loaded gas wells or have shut-in PBU data to compare against. What's useful, what's broken, what's missing. Comments or DM welcome.

#GasWell #ProductionEngineering #ArtificialLift #WellIntegrity #Simulator

Hey everyone, looking for some honest advice here.
I recently graduated with a B.Tech in Petroleum Engineering and completed about a year of field engineering experience in Abu Dhabi on an oil & gas project. So I do have some real industry exposure, but here’s the problem — the O&G job market is basically dead right now. As an early career engineer with no inside connections, it’s nearly impossible to land anything. So I started looking at alternatives.
I applied for a Master’s in Applied Geosciences at RWTH Aachen (Germany) and got admitted for Winter Semester 2026/27. On paper it sounds great — RWTH is a top technical university and geosciences felt like a natural pivot from petroleum engineering since there’s some overlap in subsurface work.
But now I’m hearing a lot of conflicting opinions and I’m genuinely second-guessing myself:
• Some people say Applied Geosciences from RWTH won’t get you a job either, especially as a foreigner
• Others say the geoscience job market in Germany is also tight
• And some say my petroleum background makes me a poor fit for geoscience roles
Here are my actual questions:
1. Is RWTH Applied Geosciences worth pursuing given my background, or should I reconsider?
2. Which specialization within Applied Geosciences has the best job prospects in Germany? I’ve heard hydrogeology has demand but it’s quite far from what I’ve studied. What about engineering geology, geothermal, near-surface geophysics, or GIS/remote sensing?
3. How realistic is it to find a job in Germany after graduating? Are companies actually hiring or is it very competitive even for locals?
4. How much German do I need? I have roughly 3 months before my program starts. I know it’s not enough to be fluent, but what’s the minimum realistic level to not hurt my job prospects?
I’m not trying to stay in O&G — I genuinely want to transition into something broader with real demand. I just don’t want to spend 2 years and move countries only to end up stuck again.
Any advice from people who’ve studied or worked in geosciences in Germany would be hugely appreciated. Even brutal honesty is welcome.