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Future of Petroleum Engineering for the next 50 years 2

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14211421

14211421

Petroleum
Mar 17, 2010
1
US
I am thinking of enrolling in Texas Tech for Petroleum engineering. Is this a bad decision if petroleum production will end in the next 2 decades ? Or would it be wiser to go into chemical engineering ? If i do go into chemE, can i work as a drilling or reservoir engineer ?
 
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Kid, you have to roll the dice like the rest of us. Anyone who tells you that a particular field is bulletproof for the next 50 years is blowing smoke up your pantlegs.

David
 
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The problem as I see it is that, even if petroleum lasts another 50 years, in 15 years new commercial fields will be so rare that the expected profit, the probability of an actual find, X sales_value of the amount discovered will be lower than the actual cost of looking for it and producing it, if you did find any. Even if the sales value is high. It will be like looking for commercial gold in California, or diamonds in Arkansas. The prices are high, but nobody's doing it (except maybe as a hobby). When you reach that point, nobody will be looking for oil except those old, die-hard "prospectors" (former petroleum engineers) riding their mules out into Death Valley...

**********************
"The problem isn't working out the equation,
its finding the answer to the real question." BigInch
 
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Prediction is very hard, especially about the future - Yogi Berra
 
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Find a rich woman and tell her she is beautiful...

Propose a nice wedding....

Rid your mind of silly thoughts such as a career in petroleum engineering.

 
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Petroleum Engineering is not a bad idea so also is chemical engineering.true u can work as a drilling engineer if u study chemical engineering but my advice is if u r thinking so much about the future then its advisible to go for chemical engineering as your first degree.u could run some short courses on petroleum engineering so as to enhance your chance in getting a Job as a drilling or reservoir engineer or bettter still, after or along side your chemical engineering become proficient in the use of SIMULATION SOFT WARES LIKE HYSYS this is really great in the Oil and Gas industry.

ALL THE BEST.
 
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My sister is a petroleum engineering graduate from Texas A&M and her career has been shakey at best. Look for continued boom and bust. That said if you are entrepreneurial and smart there are opportunities to get rich. If you are looking for stability forget it. I am a chemical engineer and while more stable than petroleum engineering all I can say is prepare to have an eventful career.
 
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Don't do it. You'll only make double the starting salary of other engineering disciplines, travel the world for free, and be in high demand. Oil and natural gas are only getting harder to find. What used to take one person to find a barrel of oil, now takes atleast twice that. I guess you can say I am biased, but I don't care.
 
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Petroleum produciton is going to end in the next 20 years??? Gosh!!! I suppose we'd better start re-designing our entire way of life then!!

The oil & gas industry will see me to retirement in 30 years and it will see BabyDriller to retirement too (and he's only 4).... unless there's some incredible new free source of energy about to be patented somewhere.

You might find your career changes from drilling for oil to drilling for gas to driling for gas shale to drilling for Coal Bed Methane; or, the career becomes exclusively international in a National Oil Co, but there's still a lot of oil & gas to be found and produced, and it's going to be needed for some time.

The best advice thought, as the Oil Industry is notoriously boom & bust is 1) make sure you have a permanaent house soemwhere, even if you haven't leved there for years and 2) make sure you always have 3 months salary saved up in the bank... 6 months if you think you might need longer to get the next job.
 
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START DIGGING YOUR BACKYARD FOR SURE YOU WILL FIND OIL


LM
 
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0707 I think you have a somewhat unusual back yard. Old train engine maintenance facilities are a good place too.

**********************
"The problem isn't finding the solution, its trying to get to the real question." BigInch
 
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My backyard is plenty of oil from olive trees which is good for the health. My advice to the thread starter is go ahead study and try to be good. Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow, within 20 or 30 years the world turns several times.


lm
 
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Kid i believe that future of petroleun is not in your end on next 50 y. Think about nanotecnology and other material sciences? Think about production of auternative fuels, etc. This is not the end, is the start of a remodeling of this great industry. Remember of coal industry!
 
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I've been only in this industry for about 15 years and ride a roller coaster.........
Best your you is start to open your on business during College (what ever major you choose)
Best of luck
 
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