Petroleum Engineering

View the Mines Academic Catalog for more program-specific information

The Petroleum Engineering Department conducts research into the following areas:

• Rock and fluid properties, phase behavior, and rock mechanics
• Geomechanics
• Formation evaluation, well test analysis, and reservoir characterization
• Oil recovery processes
• IOR/EOR Methods
• Naturally fractured reservoirs
• Analytical and numerical modeling of fluid flow in porous media
• Pore-scale modeling and flow in nanopores
• Development of unconventional oil and gas plays
• Geothermal energy
• Gas Hydrates
• Completion and stimulation of wells
• Horizontal and multilateral wells
• Multi-stage fracturing of horizontal wells
• Drilling management and rig automation
• Fluid flow in wellbores and artificial lift
• Drilling mechanics, directional drilling,
• Extraterrestrial drilling
• Ice coring and drilling
• Bit vibration analysis, tubular buckling and stability, wave propagation in drilling tubulars
• Laser technology in penetrating rocks
• Environment, health, and safety in oil and gas industry

The department is home to a research institute, the Unconventional Natural Gas and Oil Institute; two research centers, the Marathon Center of Excellence for Reservoir Studies and the Center for Earth Mechanics, Materials, and Characterization; and two research consortia, the Fracturing, Acidizing, Stimulation Technology Consortium and the Unconventional Reservoir Engineering Project Consortium.

*Allowance for fees based on mandatory fees charged to all students. Does not include fees for orientation, library, yearbook, refrigerator rental, voice messaging, ect.

At less than 4.5 credit hours, you may be ineligible for financial aid.

• Aera Energy
• Antero Resources
• Aramco
• Baker Hughes
• BHP
• bp
• bpx
• Bureau of Land Management
• Caliber Midstream
• California Resources Corporation
• Callon Petroleum Company
• Campos EPC
• Chevron
• Coterra Energy
• ConocoPhillips
• Crestwood Midstream Partners
• DCP Midstream
• Enable Midstream Partners
• EnLink Midstream
• EOG Resources
• ExxonMobil
• Halliburton
• Hess Corporation
• Kiewit
• Kinder Morgan
• Liberty Oilfield Services
• Marathon
• Meritage Midstream
• Neptune Energy
• NexTier Oilfield Solutions
• Occidental Petroleum
• Ovintiv
• PBF Energy
• Petronas
• Phillips 66
• Rio Tinto
• S&P Global Platts
• Schlumberger
• Sempra LNG
• Shell
• Suncor
• Tallgrass Energy
• Total Energies
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• U.S. Geological Survey
• Venture Global LNG
• Western Midstream
• Williams Companies

Mines Career Center

The Mines Career Center helps students chart their career paths and prepare for job searches, holds networking events and brings hundreds of employers to campus, among a host of other services.

Scientific Journals

• Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
• International Journal of Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering
• Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology
• Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology
• Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production
• Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
• Open Petroleum Engineering Journal
• SPE Drilling & Completion
• SPE Journal
• SPE Production & Operations
• SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Research and Trade Publications

• Asian Oil & Gas
• American Oil & Gas Reporter
• Data Science and Digital Engineering in Upstream Oil and Gas
• HSE Now
• Journal of Petroleum Technology
• Midstream Business
• OE: Offshore Engineer
• Offshore
• Oil and Gas Facilities
• Oil & Gas Journal
• Oil and Gas Facilities
• Oil and Gas Investor
• Oil Review Middle East
• Oilfield Technology
• Oilweek
• The Way Ahead
• Unconventional Oil & Gas Report
• Upstream
• World Oil

Professional and Industry Organizations

• American Association of Drilling Engineers
• American Association of Petroleum Geologists
• American Exploration & Production Council
• American Gas Association
• American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
• American Petroleum Institute
• Association of Energy Service Companies
• Domestic Energy Producers Alliance
• Independent Petroleum Association of America
• International Association of Drilling Contractors
• International Association of Geophysical Contractors
• National Oil Shale Association
• National Stripper Well Association
• Society of Exploration Geophysicists
• Society of Petroleum Engineers
• Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts

The oil and gas industry’s challenges aside, if you have a job as a petroleum engineer, chances are you are being paid well.

Indeed.com reports that petroleum engineer was the highest-paying engineering job in the U.S. in 2020, with an average annual salary of $94,271.

PayScale pegged the average petroleum engineer salary even higher, at $101,575 per year. Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for petroleum engineers was $137,720 per year in May 2019.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of petroleum engineer jobs in the U.S. as of 2019—18,720—are located in Texas, according to the BLS. Salaries are on the higher end there, at an average of $172,890. California is a distant second with 2,440 petroleum engineer jobs, followed by Oklahoma, Colorado and Louisiana.

The top-paying states, on the other hand, may not be what you expected. Indiana was at the top, with an average annual wage of $198,170, followed by New Jersey, with $183,550. Texas, Colorado and Alaska round out the top five.

Chicago, not exactly thought of as an industry hotspot, was the highest-paying metropolitan area for petroleum engineers. Texas took the next three spots with Houston, Beaumont-Port Arthur and Wichita Falls, followed by Denver (just 15 minutes away from Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, Colorado).

Through 2019, petroleum engineer salaries were on an upward trend. The Society of Petroleum Engineers’ membership salary survey found that base pay increased an average of 29.1% in the U.S. from the previous year. Salaries in 2018 were also up from 2017.

Prior to the pandemic, the BLS had predicted a 3 percent increase in jobs from 2019 to 2029—about as fast as the average for all jobs. There were 33,400 petroleum engineer jobs in 2019.

While a bachelor’s degree is sufficient to enter the industry, an advanced degree does provide an earnings advantage.

In 2018-19, Mines students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering received an average salary offer of $87,853. Master’s graduates that year received an average offer of $128,333, a $40,480 premium.

Salaries will likely only increase when the industry recovers from the pandemic. According to OilPrice.com, “the current crisis and the tens of thousands of layoffs every month since March are setting the stage for a massive talent shortage in just a few short years.”

“When the industry enters the next boom cycle, it may not need all these jobs—some of them could be eliminated due to greater efficiency and automation. But while it might not need all those employees, it will need many,” the article continues.

This labor shortage means companies will compete for the best engineers available, and offer even more incentives for employees with the background to help the industry overcome its unique challenges.

Tom Blasingame, incoming 2021 president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, said the industry will have plenty to offer current college students, in an interview with the Journal of Petroleum Technology published in September 2020.

“Enrollments are shifting and have been for a while, but my crystal ball says that in the 2022–2024 time frame we will face a significant workforce shortage,” he said. “It is reasonable to expect that, at present, enrollments will suffer, but ultimately we will be a (very) attractive destination for the rugged individualist who likes to get up early in the morning and change the world.”