Petroleum Engineering is primarily concerned with the production of hydrocarbons (crude oil, natural gas, etc.) Each passing day, the need for such hydrocarbons increases many-fold. Therefore, oil companies are always on the lookout for new avenues to meet this demand. For this, they need young and talented engineers in various disciplines such as reservoir management, drilling, production, etc.

The scope of petroleum engineering was huge, to begin with. Now, advancements in various other disciplines like computer modeling, probability and statistics have furthered the scope of petroleum engineering in recent years. This gives loads of opportunities to petroleum engineers in the industry. Petroleum Engineers are also given incredibly lucrative packages by big multinational companies.

Also, since there are only a handful of colleges that offer Petroleum Engineering courses, the chances of getting a good job increase compared to other fields where aspirants face stiff competition. And well, along with that a petroleum engineer also travels throughout the world to find oil allowing him/her to witness and enjoy various places and their respective cultures.

Therefore, if you are thinking about pursuing a career in petroleum engineering, you are indeed making a smart choice. However, the one thing you will be to realize this dream is a quality education. In this regard, the following colleges are considered to be the best in terms of providing both, education and opportunities:

• McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering, University of Tulsa, United States (US)

  McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering offers a four year Bachelor of Science program. The main focus of this program is to prepare their students for a career in the extraction of oil and gas from the ground and find ways to increase well production and manage oil and welling sites.

• University of Texas, Austin, US

  University of Texas offers a Master of Science in Energy and Earth Resources (EER) and also a Dual Master’s Degree in EER and Public Affairs/Global Policy Studies/Business Administration. The mission of this program is to enable prudent management of energy and earth resources with a multidisciplinary consideration of science, economics, engineering, and policy.

• Colorado School of Mines, US

  Colorado School of Mines offers a four-year Undergraduate program in Petroleum Engineering. The main focus of this program is to develop skills to develop conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources while promoting cutting edge research in the field.

• University of Energy and Petroleum Studies (UPES), Dehradun, India

  UPES offers a four-year B.Tech course in Applied Petroleum Engineering.The focus is on developing core competency in the upstream sector with an emphasis on a reservoir, production, EOR, Petrophysics, drilling and well Engineering.

• Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), India

  PDPU offers a four-year B.Tech and M.Tech courses in Petroleum Engineering. PDPU has partnered with government and regional bodies like ISR, GPSC and IRS-ONGC provides good opportunities for students to research world-class research centers.

• Imperial College, London

  Imperial College provides a one year, full-time MSc program in Petroleum Geoscience and Petroleum Engineering. The main focus of these programs is to train professionals in the work-flow concepts of the industry to allow the students to work in the industry in multi-disciplinary terms.

•  Other reputed colleges include:

  1. Montanuniversitat, Leoben, Austria
  2. Delft University of Technology, Netherlands,
  3. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
  4. University of Oklahoma, US

It is safe to say that with so many opportunities and the exponentially increasing demand for energy sources, the demand for skilled petroleum engineers is guaranteed to increase. Hope this has been helpful, good luck and all the best.