Decisions

[der1]

I need to make a big choice....

I've had quite a bit of advice and help from a few guys on PH namely -
Jamieduff1981
Offshorematt

I'm still puzzled so here goes

At the moment I have 3 offers from Aberdeen University for the following courses

Petroleum Engineering
Mechanical Engineering with Oil & Gas studies
Mechanical Engineering

I eventually want to become a drilling Engineer within Oil & Gas and I am hearing some diffrent things from some of my friends at the moment.

Would anyone agree with this comment:
"Well with petroleum engineering you're pretty much limited to petroleum engineering roles, i.e. subsurface. With mechanical/chemical, you can go into topsides and subsea, as drilling, which is also subsurface. A much larger range of companies hire mechanicals and chemicals too, from oil companies to the engineering contractors to the equipment manufacturers, whereas it's only really the oil companies and the services companies which hire petroleum"


I am really struggling to make a decision and would appreciate anyones input

D

Edited by der1 on Friday 1st March 21:36

[der1]

• Also posted this in the Job & employment forum*

I need to make a big choice....

I've had quite a bit of advice and help from a few guys on PH namely -
Jamieduff1981
Offshorematt

I'm still puzzled so here goes

At the moment I have 3 offers from Aberdeen University for the following courses

Petroleum Engineering
Mechanical Engineering with Oil & Gas studies
Mechanical Engineering

I eventually want to become a drilling Engineer within Oil & Gas and I am hearing some diffrent things from some of my friends at the moment.

Would anyone agree with this comment:
"Well with petroleum engineering you're pretty much limited to petroleum engineering roles, i.e. subsurface. With mechanical/chemical, you can go into topsides and subsea, as drilling, which is also subsurface. A much larger range of companies hire mechanicals and chemicals too, from oil companies to the engineering contractors to the equipment manufacturers, whereas it's only really the oil companies and the services companies which hire petroleum"


I am really struggling to make a decision and would appreciate anyones input

D

Edited by der1 on Friday 1st March 21:40

[frank hovis]

I work in wells for a major so my view is

Most of the graduates I work with come through with chemical or mech eng deg .

Some come through with physics but I would suggest that you go for chemical or mechanical

Why the desire to be a drilling engineer ? Don't limit yourself to drilling at a very early stage , from my experience drilling is very much dead man's shoes promotions yet topsides seem much more defined career paths

[der1]

frank hovis said:

I work in wells for a major so my view is

Most of the graduates I work with come through with chemical or mech eng deg .

Some come through with physics but I would suggest that you go for chemical or mechanical

Why the desire to be a drilling engineer ? Don't limit yourself to drilling at a very early stage , from my experience drilling is very much dead man's shoes promotions yet topsides seem much more defined career paths

thanks for the reply!

Would Petroleum fit the bill then?

I am really intrested in drilling but obviously Its too early for a definative decision on that

[frank hovis]

Personally I think Petroleum degree will be quite specialised and leaves the the base options of subsurface or well services

Honestly if can I would go for mechanical as this is a broad subject and leaves all of wells , topsides and subsea engineering open which leaves you the best chance of getting a foot in the door with the majors in there graduate scheme

Most coming through now have B eng opposed to standard Bsc as soo many have that

[der1]

Would specialised not be a good thing though?

I am more swaying towards the Mechanical with oil & Gas though.

Still a hard decision to make as I don't want to regret picking one and not the other.

I can take plain mechanical out of the equation at least.

Edited by der1 on Friday 1st March 19:14

[frank hovis]

Specialisation can be good if you have a defined goal , like taking geology to be come a resisvior engineer

A broad subject then look at getting a summer intern to get a idea of what floats your boat then if need be try and switch courses to specialist subjects

[Meths]

If you want to be an engineer, make sure you're very good at maths.


Just sayin'


Mech eng with oil and gas would be my choice, means you could work elsewhere if you wanted.

[der1]

Thanks for the replies.

I have a bit of time to make my mind up anyway so will research more into everything.

Plus I still need to hear back from RGU for mech with offshore engineering aswell

I'm good at maths!

[der1]

Here are the links for both courses on the Aberdeen website

Mechanical with oil & gas studies
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/prospectus/ugrad/study/H3H8/

Petroleum
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/prospectus/ugrad/study/H851/

If you look at the 4th year content it has alot of diffrent things such as drilling and well engineering

Any further thoughts?

[rog007]

Trying to second guess future demand for skills is a real challenge. How about considering which you would find the most stimulating and enjoyable and choose that one?

[Hollowpockets]

I'd say go for whatever you think you'll enjoy most rather than what might land you in a particular job.

Then if your a smart chap, demonstrate skill and knowledge to the right people and you'll be able to jump from operator to service company to consultancy or whatever takes your fancy, just make sure your good at what you do.

Graham

Edit to add, the learning never stops, there's no reason why further training can't be done to try something different at a later stage,

Edited by Hollowpockets on Friday 1st March 21:21

[der1]

Hollowpockets said:

I'd say go for whatever you think you'll enjoy most rather than what might land you in a particular job.

Then if your a smart chap, demonstrate skill and knowledge to the right people and you'll be able to jump from operator to service company to consultancy or whatever takes your fancy, just make sure your good at what you do.

Graham

Yeah, I just don't want to end up with a degree that I can do bugger all with and not be able to do the job that I want to do.

[Hollowpockets]

I understand your concern, but for example my girlfriend has a masters degree in chemistry, she started in a lab as an engineer, has worked offshore with operations running down hole equipment, now runs projects and writes procedures, you won't be limited by a type of degree, its just the foot in the door really.IMO of course, I don't have a degree though so maybe I shouldn't comment

[der1]

Hollowpockets said:

I understand your concern, but for example my girlfriend has a masters degree in chemistry, she started in a lab as an engineer, has worked offshore with operations running down hole equipment, now runs projects and writes procedures, you won't be limited by a type of degree, its just the foot in the door really.IMO of course, I don't have a degree though so maybe I shouldn't comment

Yeah I do see your point mate.
Thanks for the help! really appreciate the opinion of the guys in about it already.

[offshorematt2]

der1 said:

Here are the links for both courses on the Aberdeen website

Mechanical with oil & gas studies
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/prospectus/ugrad/study/H3H8/

Petroleum
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/prospectus/ugrad/study/H851/

If you look at the 4th year content it has alot of diffrent things such as drilling and well engineering

Any further thoughts?

Hey Derek

Further to your email, I had a look at the two courses you link to. To be honest if it's drilling you want to get into then the mech with O&G studies will definitely give you the best start in my opinion. The drilling and well engineering modules in the petroleum curriculum will just be a 12 week module covering the very basics to give you a grounding.

If you know for certain that you want to go drilling, go for the Mech with O&G. If you don't know and suspect you might want to go subsurface or production instead, then go for Petroleum to keep your options open. As any graduate drilling engineering scheme can teach you the drilling side anyway and any reasonably relevant degree should gives you a foot in the door - it'll just be a steeper learning curve when the one comes.

Regards the comment about dead man's shoes, I don't agree at all. Perhaps drill crew may experience that but as you're interested in drilling engineering / well design, you won't be sitting in an offshore role waiting for a driller to retire to move up... There is a massive hole in the number of young graduates coming through into the offshore industry and especially in well engineering. Can't hire a fraction as many as we need.

And as I said before, don't believe the hype about dying industry. There's decades of well decommissioning to come on the back of North Sea oil to keep you busy. It takes the same skill set to cement the bds up efficiently as it does to drill them in the first place.

[NewNameNeeded]

I think I'm correct in saying Petroleum Engineering lends itself more readily to Upstream sectors, so would be a closer fit for your interest in drilling. Chemical Engineering is somewhat more Downstream focused.

I did Chemical Engineering which was the right choice for me and I'm fortunate enough to have had a very varied, challenging and rewarding career (so far) in Oil.

Not easy to say what is right for you and I haven't really answered your question. But whatever your choice the Oil and Gas industry is an absolutely fantastic sector to work in.

Edited by NewNameNeeded on Friday 1st March 23:52

[Lauryn]

If it's drilling you eventually want to be involved in, personally I would say Petroleum Engineering. The course description is also a closer fit of what you're looking for compared to Mechanical Engineering:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/prospectus/ugrad/study/engin...

[messcotti]

Meths said:

Mech eng with oil and gas would be my choice, means you could work elsewhere if you wanted.

+1

Drilling will not slow own in next 30 years, but decommissioning and work overs etc will come more to the fore, that's where he future is....

[der1]

offshorematt2 said:

Hey Derek

Further to your email, I had a look at the two courses you link to. To be honest if it's drilling you want to get into then the mech with O&G studies will definitely give you the best start in my opinion. The drilling and well engineering modules in the petroleum curriculum will just be a 12 week module covering the very basics to give you a grounding.

If you know for certain that you want to go drilling, go for the Mech with O&G. If you don't know and suspect you might want to go subsurface or production instead, then go for Petroleum to keep your options open. As any graduate drilling engineering scheme can teach you the drilling side anyway and any reasonably relevant degree should gives you a foot in the door - it'll just be a steeper learning curve when the one comes.

Regards the comment about dead man's shoes, I don't agree at all. Perhaps drill crew may experience that but as you're interested in drilling engineering / well design, you won't be sitting in an offshore role waiting for a driller to retire to move up... There is a massive hole in the number of young graduates coming through into the offshore industry and especially in well engineering. Can't hire a fraction as many as we need.

And as I said before, don't believe the hype about dying industry. There's decades of well decommissioning to come on the back of North Sea oil to keep you busy. It takes the same skill set to cement the bds up efficiently as it does to drill them in the first place.

Hi Matt,

Thanks for checking the courses out

To be honest I think I might be just looking for reassurance on the Mech oil & gas course.

This is the course I originally hoped to get an offer for and the Petroleum course was a wildcard if you if like.

I sure hope drilling aint gonna be a dead end....