Saturday, September 29, 2012

Engineering in Petroleum


Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Exploration and Production are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Exploration, by earth scientists, and petroleum engineering are the oil and gas industry's two main subsurface disciplines, which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology and geophysics focus 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.
The combined efforts of geologists and petroleum engineers throughout the life of a hydrocarbon accumulation determine the way in which a reservoir is developed and depleted, and usually they have the highest impact on field economics. Petroleum engineering requires a good knowledge of many other related disciplines, such as geophysics, petroleum geology, formation evaluation (well logging), drilling, economics, reservoir simulation, reservoir engineering, well engineering, artificial lift systems, completions and oil and gas facilities engineering.
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Petroleum engineers divide themselves into several types:

* Reservoir engineers work to optimize production of oil and gas via proper well placement, production rates, and enhanced oil recovery techniques.

* Drilling engineers manage the technical aspects of drilling exploratory, production and injection wells.

* Production engineers, including subsurface engineers, manage the interface between the reservoir and the well, including perforations, sand control, downhole flow control, and downhole monitoring equipment; evaluate artificial lift methods; and also select surface equipment that separates the produced fluids (oil, natural gas, and water).
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What Petroleum Engineers Do


Petroleum engineers help find oil and gas for the country’s energy needs.

Petroleum engineers design and develop methods for extracting oil and gas from deposits below the earth’s surface. Petroleum engineers also find new ways to extract oil and gas from older wells.
Duties

Petroleum engineers typically do the following:
Design equipment to extract oil and gas in the most profitable way
Develop ways to inject water, chemicals, gases, or steam into an oil reserve to force out more of the oil
Develop plans to drill in oil and gas fields, and then to recover the oil and gas
Make sure that wells, well testing, and well surveys are completed and evaluated
Use computer-controlled drilling or fracturing to connect a larger area of an oil and gas deposit to a single well
Make sure that oil field equipment is installed, operated, and maintained properly

Oil and gas deposits, or reservoirs, are located deep in rock formations underground. These reservoirs can only be accessed by drilling wells, either on land or at sea from off-shore oil rigs.

Once oil and gas are discovered, petroleum engineers work with geologists and other specialists to understand the geologic formation of the rock containing the reservoir. They then determine drilling methods, design and implement the drilling equipment, and monitor operations.

The best techniques currently being used recover only a portion of the oil and gas in a reservoir, so petroleum engineers also research and develop new ways to recover the oil and gas. This helps to lower the cost of drilling and production.
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Work Environment

Petroleum engineers held about 30,200 jobs in 2010.

Petroleum engineers generally work in offices or in research laboratories. However, they must also spend time at drilling sites, often for long periods of time. This means they must travel, sometimes with little notice.

Industries employing the largest numbers of petroleum engineers in 2010 were as follows:

Oil and gas extraction 45%
Support activities for mining 15
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing 7

Petroleum engineers work around the world; and, in fact, the best employment opportunities may include some work in other countries.
Work Schedules

Petroleum engineers typically work full time. Many work as many as 50 or 60 hours per week when traveling to and from drilling sites to help in their operation or respond to problems as they arise. When they are at a drilling site, it is common for these engineers to work in a rotation: on duty for 84 hours and then off duty for 84 hours.
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Pay

Petroleum Engineers

Median annual wages, May 2010
Petroleum Engineers
$114,080
Engineers
$83,340
Total, All Occupations
$33,840
 
 
The median annual wage for petroleum engineers was $114,080 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $63,480, and the top 10 percent earned more than $166,400.
Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of petroleum engineers in May 2010 were as follows:
Oil and gas extraction$123,410
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing113,930
Support activities for mining94,080
The Society of Petroleum Engineers reports that the median base pay in 2010 was $130,800, which was an increase of about 5 percent from their reported median in 2009.
Petroleum engineers typically work full time. Many work as many as 50 or 60 hours per week when traveling to and from drilling sites to help in their operation or respond to problems as they arise. When they are at a drilling site, it is common for these engineers to work in a rotation: on duty for 84 hours and then off duty for 84 hours.
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