what degree should I do to become a petroleum engineer

Hello I finished my Alevel last year and got pretty decent grades and also had an offered to study Civil engineering at Surrey university. However, I decided to take a gap year and just rethink my options. So I was doing some research and came across petroleum engineering it looks quit interesting and was wondering what degree should I do in order to become a petroleum engineer. Also I was wondering as the world is developing and moving to a new era is there gonna be a high demand for petroleum engineers in the future

Hi I am a 3rd year chemical engineering student at the University of Bath.

Many engineering disciplines allow you to go into the petroleum industry, specficially mechanical engineering and chemical engineering.

For a chemical engineer working in the peteroleum industry, you would be working to design and optimise oil refining processes. Crude oil would come into the refinery and this is then separated, purified and often reacted with other reagents to make final products. This may involve using process modelling software to design distillation columns etc. Many of our students at Bath go on to do year long placements and graduate jobs at oil and gas companies so it is a good route into the industry!

My best advice would be to not necessarily focus on the end goal, but have a look at what the degree entails - after all, you will be studying it for 3/4 years! In chemical engineering, we learn a little bit about the specifics of the oil and gas industry but mostly it is about the core engineering principles. Have a look through course modules and specifications to get an idea of what you will be studying. Try not to focus too much on graduate job statistics as the industries and markets change so much that it will be quite different by the time you graduate and what you want to do when you finish university might have changed anyway. Have a research into all of the different engineering types to see which of the modules align most with your interests

Feel free to quote me if you have anymore questions about engineering or Bath!

Leah
3rd Year Chemical Engineering

Thank you very much for all the advice you shared I really appreciate it. Just one last question like anywhere I read I come across post like engineers are unemployed or they are super under paid. Like don't get me wrong it's not all about money but than at the same time it is, and those sort of post is making be reconsider an engineering degree, so what's your thought on that

Hi there!

That is a difficult question to answer. I personally would disagree with that statement - if you are really interested in engineering, put the work in, try and get some relevant work experience it is highly likely you will get a good engineering job. There is an international of shortage of talented, well-qualified engineers as technology is continually being and needs to be developed. Bath has excellent grad prospects for their engineers and this is mostly due to their placement scheme - we have dedicated placement staff to help you get a placement and you are supported whilst on placement. Getting this engineering experience early on in your careers put you in a much better position going forward.

I feel like the graduate job market is quite dynamic and looking at it now when you won't graduate for 3-5 years is not particularly beneficial. An engineering degree opens many doors - you do not just have to do an engineering job and many choose not to. Engineering is a fairly well paid profession. Sure, there are many jobs, particularly in finance which have higher salaries but an engineering will definitely have as good salary, so please don't let that put you off.

The best advice I can give is pick a degree you will actually enjoy studying and do not let the employment prospects make your final decision. If you attend a well respected university like Bath and do well in a course you actually enjoy, you will be able to find the right job for you in the end.

Let me know if you have anymore questions

Leah
3rd Year Chemical Engineering