About Petroleum Engineering:
The study of petroleum engineering can be broadly divided
into two sectors namely the upstream and the downstream sector. The Upstream
Sector deals with the production, exploration and exploitation of
hydrocarbons which are the constituents Petroleum and Natural gas. The
Downstream Sector is mainly about refining, marketing and distribution of
petroleum products.
Most of the institutes in India offer petroleum engineering courses which mainly focus on the upstream sector, while on the other hand the downstream sector companies recruit chemical engineers.
Most of the institutes in India offer petroleum engineering courses which mainly focus on the upstream sector, while on the other hand the downstream sector companies recruit chemical engineers.
Scope
of Petroleum Engineering:
Petroleum
engineering is an attractive and high paying career option. Petroleum engineers
have global career and are hired by companies worldwide. At the current
scenario even the most developed countries such as the United States of America
depend on Petroleum and Natural gas
for the major part of their energy requirement, while renewable sources account only for a meager 9% of the country’s total energy needs.
for the major part of their energy requirement, while renewable sources account only for a meager 9% of the country’s total energy needs.
The world scenario isn't much different and it is clear
that our energy demands are increasing at an exorbitant rate and the current
technology won't be able to enable us to shift away from fossil fuels that much
easily. Hence it is evident that Petroleum Engineering is an ever green field
for an Engineering student in terms of career prospect.
Myth
surrounding Petroleum industry’s future:
Many of us find it disturbing about the daily news that
we hear about declining petroleum resources in our Earth and the need for
investing on alternative sources of energy. This puts us in a dilemma whether
to pursue this field or not as the fear on what will happen if Petroleum
available all over the world goes exhausted has been haunting us for the past
few years.
But none of the above assumptions are true and Petroleum
is not ending anytime soon. Yes, the reserves of readily available crude oil that
we have been dependent upon for years are declining, but these reserves are
still over half full. The technological advances in the field have not only
allowed us to extract more of petroleum with better efficiency, but have also
opened gates to unconventional petroleum sources such as Shale, Coal Bed
Methane etc. and hence the demand for qualified Petroleum Engineers will only
increase in the future.
Job
responsibilities of a Petroleum Engineer:
A petroleum engineer is involved in almost all the stages
of oil and gas field evaluation, development and production. The job
responsibilities of a Petroleum Engineer include the following activities:
(i)
Discover natural sources of oil and examine
the same.
(ii)
Develop the latest machines and equipments
which can be used in the extraction and processing of oil.
(iii)
Maximize hydrocarbon recovery at minimum cost.
(iv)
Maintain a strong emphasis on reducing
environmental impact during petroleum resource excavations.
Various
roles of Petroleum Engineers:
Petroleum engineers based on their field of work can be
broadly classified into the below categories:
·
Petroleum
geologists
·
Reservoir engineers
·
Production
engineers
·
Drilling engineers
·
MWD Engineer
·
Production Engineer
·
Reservoir Engineer
·
Drilling Engineer
·
Well Logging Engineer
·
Well Testing Analyst
Top Companies that hire Petroleum Engineers:
• Indian
Oil Corporation
• Aban
• Oil
India Limited
• Tata
Petrodyne
• Bongaigaon
Refinery
• IBP
Co. Limited
• Lubricants
India
• Oil
Gas India
• Petrosil
Group
• Shiv-Vani
Universal
• ONGC
• Bharat
Petroleum
• Reliance
Petroleum Limited
• Essar
Oil Limited
• Gas
Authority of India
• Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation
• Gas
Projects (India) Private Limited
• Hindustan
Oil Exploration Company Limited
• India
LPG
• Kochi
Refineries Limited
Various
Courses available in Petroleum Industry:
Students interested in pursuing courses in petroleum
engineering can take up any one of the following courses:
• BE Petroleum Engineering
• BTech Applied Petroleum Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Engineering
• BTech Petrochemical Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Refining and Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Refining and Petro Chemicals Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Reservoir and Production Engineering
Top Institutes for pursuing Petroleum
Engineering:
A profession in petroleum engineering is one of the
highest paying professions among all. There may not be as many jobs as the IT
sector, but there aren't much of petroleum engineers as well as there are only
5 popular institutes offering this particular course in India. The following institutes offer academic
qualification in petroleum engineering at present in India:
• Rajiv
Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology
• Pandit
Deendayal Petroleum University
• Bharathisadan
Institute of Engineering and Technology
• Quantum
Global Campus, Roorkee
• BR
Ambedkar Technological University
• ISM
Dhanbad
• Maharashtra
Institute of Technology- Petroleum Engineering
• Institute
of Petroleum Studies and Chemical Engineering
• Nowrosjee
Wadia College
• University
of Petroleum and Energy Studies
• Institute
of Cheminformatics Studies
• Dr.
Harising Gour University
The Oil & Gas Industry is a cyclic one and if you are capable enough to ride through the
low tides and cash in during the high ones, petroleum engineering is the one
for you. Petroleum Engineers also have a bright chance of getting
placed in PSUs and other private companies like Schlumberger, Cairn, Shell etc
and hence the post of a petroleum engineer is a lucrative one given the
humongous earning capacity offered by this sector. Once you go for a higher
degree and gain a few years of experience, you will become indispensable to the
industry as there is acute manpower shortage and a generation gap creeping into
its workforce.