What is Petroleum Engineering?

Petroleum Engineering, by definition, is the field of engineering which deals with production of hydrocarbons that can be either natural gas or crude oil. It mostly deals with exploration and processes related to extracting hydrocarbons and is a very high paying field of engineering.

Petroleum Engineering Sub Disciplines

Petroleum engineering has been divided into a number of sub-disciplines which are as follows:

BioPetroleum
Ceramography
Crystallography
Electronic and magnetic Petroleum
Forensic engineering
Forensic Petroleum engineering
Glass science
Petroleum characterization
Metallography
Metallurgy
Microtechnology
Nanotechnology
Rheology
Surface science/catalysis
Textile reinforced Petroleum
Tribology

Top Petroleum Engineering Universities

The top three ranked universities when it comes to Petroleum Engineering are as follows;

University of Texas Austin
Stanford University
Texas A&M University College Station

Petroleum Engineering Associations

There are a myriad of associations pertaining to Petroleum engineering but we shall list only three;

AIME
SPE
SPEE

Being a Petroleum Engineer

Being a Petroleum Engineer basically translates into two things; either you would be exploring or you would be part of the production team. Whichever the case maybe; you would be relying on simulation software and supercomputers (yes, petroleum industry owns quite a number of them). As a petroleum engineer you will be required to carry out evaluation of reservoirs, take charge of drilling activities, come up with and see through recovery schemes and be part of the design team dealing with surface collection and treatment facilities design. It is an evolving field and new methods are being introduced which are far more efficient when compared to the traditional methods.