Petroleum, Energy and Natural Resources

Petroleum engineers make the world run. They search the far corners of the earth and the world's oceans to find and produce oil and gas supplies. Petroleum Engineers find and produce the fossil energy to light and heat our homes, fuel our transportation systems and keep our industries operating. They produce the raw materials that have sparked the creation of thousands of products, from medicines and plastics to textiles and cosmetics. Petroleum Engineers do all these things with the highest regard for protecting the environment.

We have a geological emphasis area in Petroleum, Energy and Natural Resources.  If you choose this emphasis area, you will be taking some of the following courses:

• Petroleum Reservoir Engineering

• Rock Engineering

• Applications of Geographic Information Systems

• Subsurface Hydrology and Transport Mechanics

• Applied Petroleum Geology

• Well Logging

• Rock Mechanics

• Petroleum Economic Validation

• Well Test Analysis

A career in Petroleum Engineering involves many specialties: Drilling engineers work with geologists and contractors to design and supervise drilling operations, many of which are multi-million-dollar ventures. Production engineers design the well bore and surface equipments as well as develop the processes to optimize oil and gas production. Reservoir engineers determine the oil and gas reserves and the ideal processes to recover them. They estimate the number of wells that can be economically drilled, and simulate future recovery performance using sophisticated computer models.

In addition to the three core specialties of drilling, production, and reservoir engineering, Petroleum Engineers work as managers, entrepreneurs, economists, or environmental/safety specialists. Petroleum engineers may also find rewarding opportunities in such fields as teaching, consulting, and government services and on a variety of projects which protect and preserve the earth.