Education and Career

Petroleum engineers
Petroleum Engineering  refers to the subsurface engineering activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or gas. These activities are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry which are the activities of finding and producing hydrocarbons prior to the point of refining or distribution to a market, which is referred to as the downstream sector. Petroleum geology and petroleum engineering are the two main subsurface disciplines within the oil and gas industry, which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology focuses on provision of a static description of the hydrocarbon reservoir rock, while petroleum engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water and gas within porous rock at very high pressure.

Types
There are different types of petroleum engineers. They are

  • Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of oil and gas via proper well placement, production levels, and enhanced oil recovery techniques.
  • Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling both production and injection wells.
  • Production engineers manage the interface between the reservoir and the well, including perforations, sand control, artificial lift, downhole flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment; they also select surface equipment that separates the produced fluids (oil, natural gas, and water).

    • Society Of Petroleum Engineers
    The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a professional organization whose mission is to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources and related technologies for the public benefit and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence.
    SPE provides a worldwide forum of oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) professionals for the exchange of technical knowledge and a professional home for more than 75,000 engineers, scientists, managers, and educators. SPE's eLibrary contains more than 42,000 technical papers — products of SPE conferences and periodicals, made available to the entire industry. SPE has offices in Dallas, Houston, London, Dubai, Moscow and Kuala Lumpur.

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