What does a Petroleum Engineer do?

Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Day to day that includes work like specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery and Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.

What skills should a Petroleum Engineer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Petroleum Engineer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Autodesk AutoCAD, C#, C++, Computer Modelling Group CMG STARS, and Dassault Systemes CATIA. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Petroleum Engineer work?

O*NET records 25 titles for this occupation, including Drilling Engineer, Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, and Completion Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Petroleum Engineer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 72% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Petroleum Engineer role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Petroleum Engineer resume example

A resume for a Petroleum Engineer needs to show the work itself: devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Day to day that means work like this: specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery; monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Drilling Engineer
Engineer
Reservoir Engineer
Completion Engineer
Operations Engineer
Petroleum Production Engineer
Project Production Engineer
Project Reservoir Engineer
Reservoir Engineering Consultant
SQE
Certification Engineer
Design Engineer
Exploration Engineer
Logging Engineer
Mud Engineer
Natural Gas Engineer
Oil Drilling Engineer
Oil Exploration Engineer

O*NET records 25 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery.
Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.
Maintain records of drilling and production operations.
Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production.
Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems.
Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys.
Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment.
Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites.
Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems.
Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel.
Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development.
Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel.

23 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Maintain records of drilling and production operations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Autodesk AutoCAD
C#
C++
Computer Modelling Group CMG STARS
Dassault Systemes CATIA
DFA Capital Management GEMS
Eclipse IDE
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
eProduction Solutions PanSystem
Finite element analysis FEA software
GeoGraphix ARIES Portfolio
Google Analytics
IBM Notes
IHS Petra

45 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computer scanners
Desktop computers
Laptop computers
Personal computers
Personal digital assistants PDA

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

AutoCAD

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Critical Thinking
02Reading Comprehension
03Active Listening
04Complex Problem Solving
05Judgment and Decision Making
06Speaking
07Systems Analysis
08Systems Evaluation
09Writing
10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Engineering and Technology
Mathematics
Physics
Computers and Electronics
Chemistry
Administration and Management
Economics and Accounting
Administrative

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

72%Bachelor's Degree
15%Post-Master's Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master's degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.
8%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Petroleum Engineer do?: Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Day to day that includes work like specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery and Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.
What skills should a Petroleum Engineer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Petroleum Engineer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Autodesk AutoCAD, C#, C++, Computer Modelling Group CMG STARS, and Dassault Systemes CATIA. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Petroleum Engineer work?: O*NET records 25 titles for this occupation, including Drilling Engineer, Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, and Completion Engineer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Petroleum Engineer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 72% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Petroleum Engineer role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.