Petroleum engineers search the world for reservoirs containing oil or natural gas. Once these resources are
discovered, petroleum engineers work with geologists and other specialists to understand the geologic formation and  properties of the rock containing the reservoir, determine the drilling methods to be used, and monitor drilling and production operations. They design equipment and processes to achieve the maximum profitable recovery of oil and gas.Petroleum engineers rely heavily on computer models to simulate reservoir performance using different recovery techniques. They also use computer models for simulations of the effects of various drilling options.

Because only a small proportion of oil and gas in a reservoir will flow out under natural forces, petroleum engineers develop and use various enhanced recovery methods. These include injecting water, chemicals, gases, or steam into an oil reservoir to force out more of the oil, and computer-controlled drilling or fracturing to connect a larger area of a reservoir to a single well. Because even the best techniques in use today recover only a portion of the oil and gas in a reservoir, petroleum engineers research and develop technology and methods to increase recovery and lower the cost of drilling and production operations.

The Field 

The word petroleum generally refers to crude oil or the refined products obtained from the processing of crude oil (gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, etc.) We find petroleum products in every area of our lives. They are easily recognized in the gasoline we use to fuel our cars and the heating oil we use to warm our homes. Less obvious are the uses of petroleum-based components of plastics, medicines, food items, and a host of other products. The United States consumes over 20 million barrels (840 million
gallons) of petroleum products each day, almost half of it in the form of gasoline used in over 200 million motor vehicles with combined travel over 7 billion miles per day.

Gasoline is made from crude oil, which was formed from the remains of tiny aquatic plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. These remains were covered with layers of sediment, which over millions of years of extreme pressure and high temperatures became the mix of liquid hydrocarbons (an organic chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon) that we know as crude oil. Because crude oil is made up of a mixture of hydrocarbons, refineries break down these hydrocarbons into different products. These "refined products" include gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gases, residual fuel oil, and many other products

Courses of Study 

Bachelor's degree programs in engineering typically are designed to last 4 years, but many students find that it takes between 4 and 5 years to complete their studies. In a typical 4-year college curriculum, the first 2 years are spent studying mathematics, basic sciences, introductory engineering, humanities, and social sciences. Petroleum engineering students may also take courses such as Reservoir Petrophysics, Petroleum Engineering Systems, and Physical Geology during these years. In the last 2 years, a petroleum engineering program might include courses in Drilling and Production Systems, Geostatistics, Well Performance, Reservoir Fluids, Petroleum Project Evaluation, Engineering Ethics, and Well Completion and Stimulation.