Future of Petroleum Engineering as a Career Choice

 Article by @Harmanjot Kaur, Content Writer, Chandigarh University 

Petroleum is one of the leading sources of energy in the 21st century. It is one of the most attractive and challenging career choices.

Petroleum Engineering is one of the most sought-after and valuable career opportunities available to engineering students in the contemporary era. The rising dearth of petroleum products integrated with an increase in the search operations for fresh petroleum sources has brought the focus of attention on this field again. The changed scenario has stimulated students to pursue the innovative career of a petroleum engineer. Exceptional academic programmes and lucrative career opportunities with steady growth and high packages has made petroleum engineering one of the hot career options available to students with scientific and engineering aptitude. 

WHAT IS PETROLEUM ENGINEERING?

Petroleum Engineering is an amalgamation of innovation, exploration, and expansion. This specialization provides the fundamental block for every other profession to carry out its work. Due to the immense scope and demand in the coming decade, many top-tier universities and colleges have added this specific course to their academic curriculum. Chandigarh University is the best petroleum engineering college in India with an undergraduate course and a strong academic curriculum matching the standard of the international oil and gas industry. 

Graduates of this undergraduate program:

1. Scrutinize potential oil and gas reservoirs.
2. Examine drilling activities.
3. Choose and implement appropriate recovery schemes.
4. Develop surface collection and treatment facilities.

Petroleum engineers make use of supercomputers, not only in the examination of data exploration but also in automating oilfield production and drilling operations. Petroleum engineers face a unique set of challenges and innovative opportunities during their careers. They must study to develop cutting-edge technology and apply it to recover hydrocarbons from oil and gas fields. They must also formulate avant-garde techniques to recover oil left in the ground after applying conventional producing techniques.

Top petroleum companies perform worldwide operations and petroleum engineers have ample opportunities all over the world. They resolve the different technological, political, and economic problems of different assignments. These thrilling challenges make this the most rewarding career.

Eligibility to join the Petroleum Engineering Course

Petroleum Engineering is subdivided into two sections:

Upstream Process: Encompasses the search of oil & gas reserves under the earth and ocean floors. Also, involves the development of innovative techniques for its extraction and transport.

DownStream Process: This field includes the refining and processing of natural gas and oil found during the upstream process. It also involves changing them into consumable and marketable products.

Chandigarh University, the best engineering college in India provides a specialized undergraduate course in Petroleum Engineering.

Undergraduate level: Students looking to pursue a petroleum engineering programme after completing their class 12 exam can opt for B.Tech in Petroleum Engineering. Students having a background in Physics, Chemistry, and Maths with minimum aggregate marks limit are preferred along with a relevant score in the entrance examination. 

Apart from this, students interested in further studies can enrol on Masters programme, and can further opt for M.Phil and doctorate programmes.

 

Future Career Prospects for Petroleum Engineers

Despite being an unusual and niche field of engineering, there is no shortage of great employment opportunities for Petroleum engineers. The last decade has seen a sudden transition. With the rise in shrinking natural gas resources, various petroleum companies have started enormously driving their upstream processes resulting in the creation of several new employment opportunities. After studying in the best petroleum engineering college in India,  Petroleum Engineers can have three major sources of employment in the upcoming years. 

Public Sector Units: Petroleum Engineers have a considerable scope in the governmental petroleum agencies like ONGC, HPCL, OVL and many other blue-chip brands. The public sector companies provide lucrative job opportunities in both upstream and downstream business processes of petroleum industries. Different job profiles include exploration, inventory management, handling drilling processes and personnel, management of new technology and refinement methods, and extraction.

Private Sector Units: Private companies too operate in the same niche as public sector units and are involved in both upstream and downstream business activities. However, one additional benefit that private companies offer is providing international employment opportunities for petroleum engineers. 

Research: Students who like to continue with their masters and PhD programmes in the field of petroleum engineering have excellent employment opportunities after their studies. There are many public and private sector companies as well as individual agencies that provide research facilities. It results in many job opportunities for petroleum engineers in research labs to develop safe and affordable energy solutions.

Salary of Petroleum Engineers

Petroleum Engineers are some of the highest-paid professionals in the world. Trained and qualified professionals are scarce in this field and this makes petroleum engineers grab the best packages in the market. All petroleum engineers majorly are placed in a highly reputed position even at entry-level after completing their studies.

In India, petroleum engineers get an entry-level package in the range of Rs 25,000 to 40,000 with additional perks and benefits. If we consider the international market, then in developed countries, a petroleum engineer can expect to earn $50,000 to $80,000 annually. 

With fairly attractive career prospects in this field, many students are opting for this course. BE-Petroleum Engineering at Chandigarh University -the best petroleum engineering college in India is a good option for students looking to study a global curriculum. The university has also received multi-million-pound software donations to research in the field of petroleum engineering. The training and research activities help students to develop their careers in the best possible manner.