They then choose a place to drill a well, decide how to extract it, and supervise drilling operations. Petroleum engineers work to make extracting the fuel easier. They may do research on ways of drilling and develop new ways to recover oil and gas. To get the fuel out of the ground, they may inject water, chemicals, or steam to force out more of the oil. At other times they may use horizontal drilling to connect more of a reservoir to a well.
Petroleum engineers plan systems that pipe the fuel out and treat it.
These systems receive, purify, and separate oil and gas products from wells. Engineers find safe and economical ways to move extracted oil and gas from the well to refineries for processing. Petroleum Engineers is in the Engineering, Science, and Technologies Career Cluster. Very good ability to visualize where oil or natural gas might be located based on maps and other data Good ability to see details in objects or pictures, such as maps Ability to coordinate the movement of eyes and hands, such as when using a computer Ability to find details in spoken and written material Ability to move fingers rapidly, such as when typing Ability to move hands easily and skillfully Ability to determine where petroleum is located without making many errors Ability to make decisions and solve problems Desire to be a leader and influence others Willingness to supervise others and be in charge of planning projects Willingness to perform a variety of tasks Petroleum engineers should be creative and detail oriented. They should be able to work without supervision.