The Student Room Group

Petroleum engineering or chemical engineering????

Hi, i am almost done with my UCAS but having second thoughts whether to study petroleum eng or chemical eng, my colleagues have told me petroleum would not be a big industry in 20 years as we are converting to resources such as wind power, nuclear etc.

My Choices in ucas are
Portsmouth- Petroleum eng
Leeds- Petroleum eng
Manchester- Petroleum eng
Coventry- Oil and gas management (as they do not do petroleum engineering)
Loughborough- Chemical engineering

Does It matter if I apply to three different courses? which are all related (all under chemistry)
i was considering to do a bachelor in petroleum engineering and do a Msc in Chemical engineering would this benefit me??

Scroll to see replies

Original post by JoshNI
Hi, i am almost done with my UCAS but having second thoughts whether to study petroleum eng or chemical eng, my colleagues have told me petroleum would not be a big industry in 20 years as we are converting to resources such as wind power, nuclear etc.

My Choices in ucas are
Portsmouth- Petroleum eng
Leeds- Petroleum eng
Manchester- Petroleum eng
Coventry- Oil and gas management (as they do not do petroleum engineering)
Loughborough- Chemical engineering

Does It matter if I apply to three different courses? which are all related (all under chemistry)
i was considering to do a bachelor in petroleum engineering and do a Msc in Chemical engineering would this benefit me??


Oil will still be a massive industry in 20 years time. People have been saying that for years; it's never came true. Currently the oil industry in the UK is probably the strongest its ever been, especially in terms of graduate recruitment.

The thing about petroleum engineering is that most graduate petroleum engineering positions are also open to chemical (and other e.g. mechanical) engineering graduates, whereas a chemical engineering degree also opens up process engineering positions that petroleum doesn't.

Also why are you only applying to universities in England? In my experience the vast majority of upstream recruitment is from Scottish universities.
Reply 2
The above. If you do a general chemeng degree you could quite happily gain employment in the petroleum industry.

Also the Portsmouth course isn't yet accredited and the Coventry a B.Sc. so you couldn't become chartered which would present a major barrier.
Reply 3
i am currently studying a BTEC in engineering, Aberdeen does not accept a BTEC, i have heard that with a chemical engineering degree it can mostly give you a downstream job with oil refinery however with a petroleum eng degree is can get you to a more upstream job e.g. oil driller. Is this information true?
No petroleum eng degree is currently accredited at the moment. would you recommend me to apply for 2 different courses petroleum and chemical eng, because i am versatile in which degree i choose

Thanks for your advice people
many regards
You can easily get a drilling engineer job with a chemical engineering degree. I think if you want to specialise in petroleum engineering, then a bachelors in a more mainstream discipline, like chemical or mechanical, is probably a better solution overall as it keeps your options open.
Reply 5
Original post by JoshNI
Hi, i am almost done with my UCAS but having second thoughts whether to study petroleum eng or chemical eng, my colleagues have told me petroleum would not be a big industry in 20 years as we are converting to resources such as wind power, nuclear etc.

My Choices in ucas are
Portsmouth- Petroleum eng
Leeds- Petroleum eng
Manchester- Petroleum eng
Coventry- Oil and gas management (as they do not do petroleum engineering)
Loughborough- Chemical engineering

Does It matter if I apply to three different courses? which are all related (all under chemistry)
i was considering to do a bachelor in petroleum engineering and do a Msc in Chemical engineering would this benefit me??


I know someone who is working in the petrochemical industry for an oil company and he did a mechanical engineering degree with many of his colleagues doing chemical engineering degrees. I think either would be fine since they will give you the training when you start the job and as for management, you could always do a MBA after your engineering degree.
Also remember that polyester is made from petroleum

its more than just fuel
Reply 7
SHAW95-I do Petroleum Engineering at Leeds. I have completed two years so far but I am on an external year and will be returning to finish off in 2013. I can tell you the industry will DEFINITELY be around in twenty years. They are predicting a global population of around 9-10 billion by 2050. The world in general is becoming more industrialised and in developing countries oil offers a 'cheap' and effective means of energy supply! Peak oil production I think will be around 2040. The industry pays well. You have a better chance of becoming a drilling engineer if you do petroleum engineering. You can also become a general petroleum engineer, a reservoir engineer, a completions engineer, work in production, refining etc. You have LOADS of options available to you if you choose petroleum engineering as a degree. You do also as a chemical engineer but it depends what you want to learn about for your university years. I can tell you now around 50% of your lectures will be with chemical engineers anyway and it is nice to have a bit more on the side of that. It puts a bit of the theory into practice. Chemical Engineering seems mostly theoretical and it seems hard to decipher exactly where you may use the material you are learning.
All the best.
James
Reply 8
Original post by JoshNI
Hi, i am almost done with my UCAS but having second thoughts whether to study petroleum eng or chemical eng, my colleagues have told me petroleum would not be a big industry in 20 years as we are converting to resources such as wind power, nuclear etc.

My Choices in ucas are
Portsmouth- Petroleum eng
Leeds- Petroleum eng
Manchester- Petroleum eng
Coventry- Oil and gas management (as they do not do petroleum engineering)
Loughborough- Chemical engineering

Does It matter if I apply to three different courses? which are all related (all under chemistry)
i was considering to do a bachelor in petroleum engineering and do a Msc in Chemical engineering would this benefit me??


I think there would be a job at the end of your degree, certainly. Not sure about whether these jobs will dry up, you can't really tell for sure but I'd be surprised if they completely dried up and petroleum engineering graduates suddenly had no employers to take them. Perhaps chemical engineering would open more doors to you in terms of careers you'd like to follow.

Your last point, about getting the MSc. The problem with an MSc in engineering is that it's not necessarily what'll make you an engineer, which I assume is what you want to be at the end of it. It might be more academic than vocational. Go for MEng courses to become chartered at the end of your course. These are normally 4 year long courses.

Perhaps get some more opinions from people who are more knowledgeable than me. I wonder if anybody will confirm or argue against what I've said. Good luck OP.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 9
Original post by Pride
I think there would be a job at the end of your degree, certainly. Not sure about whether these jobs will dry up, you can't really tell for sure but I'd be surprised if they completely dried up and petroleum engineering graduates suddenly had no employers to take them. Perhaps chemical engineering would open more doors to you in terms of careers you'd like to follow.

Your last point, about getting the MSc. The problem with an MSc in engineering is that it's not necessarily what'll make you an engineer, which I assume is what you want to be at the end of it. It might be more academic than vocational. Go for MEng courses to become chartered at the end of your course. These are normally 4 year long courses.

Perhaps get some more opinions from people who are more knowledgeable than me. I wonder if anybody will confirm or argue against what I've said. Good luck OP.


Lol, you wouldn't be considered for a Reservoir Engineering/Petroleum Engineering graduate job without an MSc from Imperial (or even HW)
Original post by blahhhhh
Lol, you wouldn't be considered for a Reservoir Engineering/Petroleum Engineering graduate job without an MSc from Imperial (or even HW)


Absolute rubbish.
Reply 11
Original post by Smack
Absolute rubbish.


I'm currently on the MSc. Petroleum Engineering course at Imperial. I graduated on the Dean's List at a TOP FIVE UK university with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering. I secured an internship at one of the most competitive and respected companies in the world last summer.

Just to put things in perspective - most of my coursemates are in the same boat as I am. You cannot be accepted to the MSc without having graduated with a First Class Honours at least.

Without sounding arrogant or cocky, most people on this course are without doubt prime candidates for any grad reservoir role, and would undoubtedly take preference over a straight MEng candidate.

Yet only about 30% managed to secure a telephone interview with Shell/BP. Do you really think an MEng in Mech/Chem at some university like Leeds/Sheffield/Aberdeen could compete with this?
Original post by blahhhhh
I'm currently on the MSc. Petroleum Engineering course at Imperial. I graduated on the Dean's List at a TOP FIVE UK university with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering. I secured an internship at one of the most competitive and respected companies in the world last summer.

Just to put things in perspective - most of my coursemates are in the same boat as I am. You cannot be accepted to the MSc without having graduated with a First Class Honours at least.

Without sounding arrogant or cocky, most people on this course are without doubt prime candidates for any grad reservoir role, and would undoubtedly take preference over a straight MEng candidate.

Yet only about 30% managed to secure a telephone interview with Shell/BP. Do you really think an MEng in Mech/Chem at some university like Leeds/Sheffield/Aberdeen could compete with this?


Absolutely, because at the companies I've worked at there has been loads of reservoir and petroleum engineers who didn't have an MSc in petroleum engineering. You mentioned Shell, who were incidentally doing a recruitment event at my uni last week and took along some petroleum engineers with them, none of which had an MSc in petroleum engineering...

From your post you obviously understand very little about what it takes to get into industry, and if the rest of your course is the same as you I'm not at all surprised that so many of you are not even getting telephone interviews.
Reply 13
Original post by Smack
Absolutely, because at the companies I've worked at there has been loads of reservoir and petroleum engineers who didn't have an MSc in petroleum engineering. You mentioned Shell, who were incidentally doing a recruitment event at my uni last week and took along some petroleum engineers with them, none of which had an MSc in petroleum engineering...

From your post you obviously understand very little about what it takes to get into industry, and if the rest of your course is the same as you I'm not at all surprised that so many of you are not even getting telephone interviews.


Perhaps its like that at places like Dana Petroleum? Maybe the reservoir engineers graduated say 10 years ago when competition was less rife?

Dont try and bull**** me, there is no way Shell are hiring 'a couple' of MEng students from Aberdeen as graduate Reservoir Engineers. Nowadays, an MSc or even a PhD is almost a prerequisite for this role.

I can understand the need for an MSc anyway, the MEng counts for nothing abroad. As a degree it is just like a years extension to undergrad and is far from challenging. I could do an MEng in my sleep.

Hahaha, sure mate. Im in the latter stages with all and no rejections so far :wink: Good luck with your applications though - A case study exercise with you MEng boys would be a good laugh :laugh:
Original post by blahhhhh
Perhaps its like that at places like Dana Petroleum? Maybe the reservoir engineers graduated say 10 years ago when competition was less rife?

Dont try and bull**** me, there is no way Shell are hiring 'a couple' of MEng students from Aberdeen as graduate Reservoir Engineers. Nowadays, an MSc or even a PhD is almost a prerequisite for this role.

I can understand the need for an MSc anyway, the MEng counts for nothing abroad. As a degree it is just like a years extension to undergrad and is far from challenging. I could do an MEng in my sleep.

Hahaha, sure mate. Im in the latter stages with all and no rejections so far :wink: Good luck with your applications though - A case study exercise with you MEng boys would be a good laugh :laugh:


Again, you're wrong.
Reply 15
can u get into petroleum eng with level 3 diploma in engineering
Original post by ilyaso1
can u get into petroleum eng with level 3 diploma in engineering


Yes you can but only in certain universities :smile:
Guys, bit of a negative title I'll admit but I'm doing this as what could be called a public service.

I've been working as a chemical engineer for 15 years, and a few facts to paint the picture: a British graduate with a first class degree from a Russell Group uni, I'm a person of colour, worked these years in oil and gas and I'm writing this post while the industry is going through the worst downturn in a generation.

I was made redundant last year. Since then, I got to know a side of chemical engineering I wish I hadn't. And that's why I'm warning you against the subject. This post may well get a lot of replies rebutting what I say, no matter ... this is the reality of my experience.

Once you come off the treadmill in chemical engineering, there is very little else you can do. Doors close in your face everywhere. At first you think, how can this possibly be? It's a numerate, intelligent subject. Not only do other places (finance, banking) close their doors to you, even other chem eng employers close their doors to you (water, nuclear, pharma etc) You're treated as persona nongrata because 'you don't have experience'.

If it's so bad, how about re-training? I contacted the IChemE. There are no credible training programmes for a chem enger to convert into anything else, not even to go from oil&petroleum to water, for instance. For years training providers have chased the corporate pound, making training programmes extortionately expensive (say GBP 900 for a 3 day course).

Within the oil&gas sector, those managers in a position to make hiring decisions walk around with a 1970s mindset laced with implicit sexism and racism. I used to find it unbelieveable that in a modern company that does so much business with the Middle East, female engineers are quietly told there is no point in them applying for Middle East jobs - allegedly because the Arab client will not have them, but actually because the white British managers don't have to the backbone to stick up for their female staff. Indian and Chinese engineers are hired at lower cost using the excuse that the Arab client company wishes to pay less for them. Now in the middle of the downturn, I am hearing the few jobs that are available are going to surprise, surprise, old white men in their 50s, using the admittedly half-truth pretext that 'they were hired because of their experience'.

While I was in work, I was able to get international assignments, but only because I was younger and therefore cheaper to employ than these men in their 50s .... and even then I did so to get away from toxic office politics in the British head office.

As I say, when the downturn comes, no-one tells you that your chemical engineering degree is good for nothing. I am re-training at my own cost in a different subject and with no guarantee that it will get me a job.

To those of you who don't know, this is the worst oil price downturn post WWII, worse than 1974, worse than 1986, worse than 1998 - but proof positive that these crises happen cyclically, so you too will experience it if you become a chemical engineer in oil&gas. It has gone on for 2 years at the time of this post, and face it, I am looking at a period of unemployment lasting a total of 4-5 years. In a job world, where people are increasingly have to chop and change careers through their working lifetime, you are going into a dead end from which it will be hard to come out. My simple advice, don't do it.
Original post by Anon20160630
Guys, bit of a negative title I'll admit but I'm doing this as what could be called a public service.

I've been working as a chemical engineer for 15 years, and a few facts to paint the picture: a British graduate with a first class degree from a Russell Group uni, I'm a person of colour, worked these years in oil and gas and I'm writing this post while the industry is going through the worst downturn in a generation.

I was made redundant last year. Since then, I got to know a side of chemical engineering I wish I hadn't. And that's why I'm warning you against the subject. This post may well get a lot of replies rebutting what I say, no matter ... this is the reality of my experience.

Once you come off the treadmill in chemical engineering, there is very little else you can do. Doors close in your face everywhere. At first you think, how can this possibly be? It's a numerate, intelligent subject. Not only do other places (finance, banking) close their doors to you, even other chem eng employers close their doors to you (water, nuclear, pharma etc) You're treated as persona nongrata because 'you don't have experience'.

If it's so bad, how about re-training? I contacted the IChemE. There are no credible training programmes for a chem enger to convert into anything else, not even to go from oil&petroleum to water, for instance. For years training providers have chased the corporate pound, making training programmes extortionately expensive (say GBP 900 for a 3 day course).

Within the oil&gas sector, those managers in a position to make hiring decisions walk around with a 1970s mindset laced with implicit sexism and racism. I used to find it unbelieveable that in a modern company that does so much business with the Middle East, female engineers are quietly told there is no point in them applying for Middle East jobs - allegedly because the Arab client will not have them, but actually because the white British managers don't have to the backbone to stick up for their female staff. Indian and Chinese engineers are hired at lower cost using the excuse that the Arab client company wishes to pay less for them. Now in the middle of the downturn, I am hearing the few jobs that are available are going to surprise, surprise, old white men in their 50s, using the admittedly half-truth pretext that 'they were hired because of their experience'.

While I was in work, I was able to get international assignments, but only because I was younger and therefore cheaper to employ than these men in their 50s .... and even then I did so to get away from toxic office politics in the British head office.

As I say, when the downturn comes, no-one tells you that your chemical engineering degree is good for nothing. I am re-training at my own cost in a different subject and with no guarantee that it will get me a job.

To those of you who don't know, this is the worst oil price downturn post WWII, worse than 1974, worse than 1986, worse than 1998 - but proof positive that these crises happen cyclically, so you too will experience it if you become a chemical engineer in oil&gas. It has gone on for 2 years at the time of this post, and face it, I am looking at a period of unemployment lasting a total of 4-5 years. In a job world, where people are increasingly have to chop and change careers through their working lifetime, you are going into a dead end from which it will be hard to come out. My simple advice, don't do it.



Ouch.

Hold on.

If your advicr was to "not do it"; what the fyck am i supposed to do then? Do i avoid the oil & gas sector? Go down the petrolrim engineering route? What?

Here i was thinking couple years at uni, come out with a bachelors in chem eng & MSc in pet. Eng... But with your advice... Come on !
Original post by theDanIdentity
Ouch.

Hold on.

If your advicr was to "not do it"; what the fyck am i supposed to do then? Do i avoid the oil & gas sector? Go down the petrolrim engineering route? What?

Here i was thinking couple years at uni, come out with a bachelors in chem eng & MSc in pet. Eng... But with your advice... Come on !


Don't listen to that! It is only one person with a negative experience who has said this. Go with what YOU want :smile: You will be fine! I read that too and started panicking but there as I want to go into that sector too but are so many different opportunities with a Petroleum/Chemical Engineering degree!

Quick Reply

Latest