Future for petroleum engineers

“There’s tremendous opportunity for travel,” he says.

“(Petroleum engineering) is very multicultural.

“You end up working with a whole variety of people from around the world.

“I’m sure a civil engineer gets a pretty good chance to travel for building projects but the chances of being able to (travel) is higher as a petroleum engineer.

“For many people, (petroleum engineering) can get them into a place they might never have thought of – it can be truly a life, family and career-changing experience.”

Petroleum engineers typically are employed by two groups – companies that own oil and gas interests, such as BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil, and the service companies that provide workers to the industry, such as Halliburton and Schlumberger.

Professor Begg, who spent 19 years in the oil and gas industry, working in Alaska and Texas, says both groups of employers have their advantages.

“When you are younger and freer, there are good opportunities to go to a service company and pick up lots of experience (in various countries),” he says.

“It does offer a move-around kind of lifestyle. Working for an operator is a bit more stable.”

Pay also is a huge drawcard, with petroleum engineering the highest paid of all fields of engineering.

Graduates can expect to start their careers on at least $80,000 a year.

“That’s pretty good for someone straight out of finishing their degree with no experience,” Prof Begg says.

“And you don’t have to go into management to get (further) pay rewards.

“You can stay in the technical field (and progress to positions such) as a chief petroleum engineer, which is a really good career.” About 30 undergraduate students a year complete their studies in petroleum engineering at the University of Adelaide, with similar numbers graduating from Curtin University and the University of New South Wales.

Before the global financial crisis, most graduates secured jobs before they finished their studies.

A few now find employment only after graduation but early demand is increasing.

Prof Begg says demand will keep rising over the next decade as large numbers of older workers reach retirement age.

“To my knowledge, in the last five years only one (graduate) hasn’t found work in the industry,” he says. “It’s a fantastic career. And a long-term one. At the moment we have still got 40 years’ worth of (oil and gas) reserves.

“If you look at a 40-year (working) lifetime, for someone (graduating) now, the chances are the oil and gas industry, whether you like it or not, will be going strong for that time.”

Hayden Moriarty, 24, graduated with honours from the University of Adelaide’s petroleum engineering program last year and is employed as a graduate reservoir engineer with Santos.

With good grades in science and maths at school, studying engineering was a logical option.

“All other things being equal, the energy industry is the world’s largest industry and they’ve got some really good development and training strategies (for workers),” he says.

“The opportunities that are available (as a petroleum engineer) aren’t really parallel to any other industry . . . and the amount of training which they make you do allows you to be an excellent technician or a manager.”

Mr Moriarty says he has already been given the task of helping develop plans for a gas field, which, if successful, could result in capital expenditure of up to $15 million.

“The world is your oyster. I’m hoping to work in Adelaide for a few years, to be able to finish my graduate program and then Santos has a few opportunities in Asia that might appeal to me,” he says.

“I’m definitely open to the concept of travel.”

Fuel to work