Petroleum Engineering Course: Fees 2025, Admission, Top Colleges, Distance Learning, Online

Petroleum Engineering: In our daily lives, energy plays an important role. It not only powers everything from our cellphones to our automobiles, but also our homes and raises our standard of living. Across the globe, petroleum engineers provide energy through collaboration and an innovative mentality. Petroleum engineers use mathematics, physics, and geology to examine and solve significant challenges that contribute to energy security and are in great demand. 

However, one of the main sources of energy is petroleum, which is widely used in the 21st century. A career in the petroleum field attracts several candidates and is challenging too. Petroleum engineers are entangled in the production and exploration of oil and gas. They work with geo-scientists as well as other specialists. It is advanced from Mining Engineering and Geology and also linked to Geoscience.

A petroleum engineer who completes its course and gets certification is well equipped with the skills and knowledge needed for everything related to the extraction of mineral oil and gas from the core of the Earth. Some of the benefits mentioned in pursuing this specialised course of engineering, apart from the exciting curriculum, are the opportunity to stay and work in remote locations, including in the middle of the sea, desert, or islands. Therefore, it is one of the highest-paid branches of engineering and also has evergreen job prospects. Scroll down to know more about Petroleum Engineering courses, syllabus, eligibility criteria, and so on.

Petroleum Engineering: Specialisations

During the course of B.Tech Petroleum Engineering, students learn about the innovative process of extraction, including mining, drilling, etc. A petroleum engineer is recruited by the oil and gas companies to implement the most efficient methodology for the extraction of petroleum products from the earth and seafloor.

Two major specialisations under the petroleum engineering discipline are as follows:

- Petroleum Upstream Engineering: A preliminary field focusing on the fundamentals of exploration and production of oil and gas.

- Petroleum Downstream Engineering: This specialisation focuses on the practical aspects of processing techniques for petroleum refineries and natural gas, like the production phase, cost estimating, and budgeting.

Apart from these specialisations, sub-branches of petroleum engineering are mentioned below:

- Reservoir Engineering: It consists of the assessment of oil and gas deposits, mainly focusing on the estimation part of the reservoirs. It includes production engineers, geothermal engineers, surveillance engineers, and simulation engineers.

- Production Engineering: It is the designing and selecting of the equipment that is to be used for the purpose of oil and gas extraction.

- Drilling Engineering: In this, the process of drilling the well to extract gas or oil is considered with the cost factor and environmental safety. These engineers work in an office or on offshore sites.

Petroleum Engineering Course: Eligibility Criteria (UG & PG)

This course can be studied at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Eligibility criteria for candidates seeking admission to Petroleum Engineering are provided below:

- Candidates seeking admission to Petroleum Engineering at the undergraduate level must have completed a three-year Diploma in Petroleum Engineering or have passed Class 12 with major subjects including Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

- Candidates who want to take admission at the postgraduate level in Petroleum Engineering should be graduate in Petroleum Engineering. 

Petroleum Engineering Course: Admission Process

The admission for the B.Tech Petroleum Engineering programme, which is for four years, is done both on the basis of merit and entrance exam scores. In an entrance test, a candidate can appear in any national-level, state-level, or institute-level entrance examination, including JEE Main/Advanced, WBJEE, etc. and gain valid marks or valid rank. On the basis of rank or entrance examination score, a counselling process is conducted at institute-level or national-level and, after that, the final allocation of the seat takes place.

Also, some institutions offer direct admission into the B.Tech Petroleum Engineering programme. In this case, the HSC exam scores are taken into consideration and a merit list is generated. Based on the merit list, suitable candidates are offered admissions.

Petroleum Engineering Course: Entrance Exams

Admission to B.Tech/BE/MTech Petroleum Engineering programmes at most of the institutes mentioned is based on entrance exam scores.

Which of the following courses are offered for admission to the Petroleum Engineering?

The courses that are offered for admission to the Petroleum Engineering are:

• BE/BTech
• ME/MTech
• BSc
• MSc
• PhD

Petroleum Engineering Course: Syllabus

The core subjects that are included under Petroleum Engineering syllabus are mentioned below:

Scroll down for the syllabus of B.Tech. Applied Petroleum Engineering with specialization in Upstream Semester Wise

Petroleum Engineering: Career

Scroll down to know the basic classification of petroleum engineering jobs in the industry:

Upstream Engineering in PE: It includes the initial exploration of petroleum or mineral deposits and the indentification of several extraction methods possible.

Downstream Engineering in PE: It is the next step after upstream engineering. It consists of the processing and refining of crude oil to obtain final products or petroleum derivatives. 

There are several specialisations based on roles in petroleum engineering. A few specialisations include reservoir engineering, drilling engineering, and production engineering. 

Petroleum Engineering: Job Profiles

Some examples of job profiles offered in the petroleum engineering industry are as follows:

Drilling Engineers: These engineers work on gas wells or oil drilling, ensuring that the drilling process is safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly.

Completions Engineers: Such engineers look after the building of wells for the flow of oil or gas from underground. It might involve the use of tubing, hydraulic fracturing, or pressure-control techniques.

Production Engineers: Such engineers work after the drilling gets completed. They monitor the well's oil and gas production and also find ways to increase the production. 

Reservoir Engineers: Such engineers determine the characteristics of reservoirs to recover oil or gas from underground deposits. They also find out the ways to get the most oil or gas out of the reservoirs. 

Petroleum Engineering: Top Recruiters

Some of the top Petroleum Engineering companies in India are provided below:

Petroleum Engineering: Books for Upstream, Applied Upstream & Applied Petroleum Engineering

Some of the books for upstream, applied upstream and applied petroleum engineering are as follows:

- Petroleum Engineering Handbook for the Practicing Engineer, Vol. 2 by M.A. Mian

- The Petroleum Engineering Handbook: Sustainable Operations by M. Ibrahim Khan, M. Rafiqul Islam

- Petroleum Reservoir Engineering Practice by Nnaemeka Ezekwe

- Introduction to Petroleum Production by D.R. Skinner

- Petroleum Production Engineering, A Computer Assisted Approach 1st Edition by Boyun Guo

- Fundamentals of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering by Uttam Ray Chaudhuri

- Principles of Petroleum Reservoir Engineering by Chierici, Gian.L.

- Fundamentals of Petroleum Refining by M.A. Fahim, TA. Al-Sahhaf, A.S. Elkilani

- Applied Petroleum Reservoir Engineering by Ronald Terry, J. Rogers

Petroleum Engineering Course: FAQs

Q. What is Petroleum Engineering?

Q. What does Petroleum Engineers do?

Q. What are the skills required for petroleum engineering?

Q. Describe the subjects in Petroleum Engineering.

Q. How much do high school studies help an aspirant prepare to pursue the Petroleum Engineering course?

Q. Does IITs offer a BTech Petroleum Engineering course?

Q. Is there any scope for petroleum engineering at the international level?

Q. What is Reservoir Engineering?

Q. Are internships important for a good career in Petroleum Engineering?

Q. Brief description of some opportunities for advancement