What does an oil well engineer do?
Oil well engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real oil well engineer resumes:
- Manage development and production on several large, fast-track projects including waterfloods, a steamflood, and CO2 EOR.
- Coordinate activities with ModuSpec to ensure the rig are properly inspect and in compliance with API 4F.
- Develop detailed operational sequences and cost estimation for AFE approval.
- Manage development and production on several large, fast-track projects including waterfloods, a steamflood, and CO2 EOR.
Oil well engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 37% of Oil Well Engineers are proficient in AFE, Engineering Support, and Well Design. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Creativity, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Oil Well Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- AFE, 37%
Managed, control and forecast the budget of 15 Authorization for Expenditures(AFE), reducing budget overages.
- Engineering Support, 29%
Served as office-based engineering support for well integrity.
- Well Design, 18%
Created conceptual well designs for multimillion-dollar shallow and deep-water prospects based on rig selection and drilling operations.
- Data Acquisition, 6%
Perform stimulation job planning, which includes rigging up equipment, pre-job ultrasonic calibration/set-up, target zone correlation and data acquisition.
- HSE, 6%
Coordinated full range of services, directing personnel in field applications and HSE issues.
- API, 4%
Coordinated activities with ModuSpec to ensure the rig was properly inspected and in compliance with API 4F.
Common skills that an oil well engineer uses to do their job include "afe," "engineering support," and "well design." You can find details on the most important oil well engineer responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an oil well engineer to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "petroleum engineers must be able to compile and make sense of large amounts of technical information and data in order to ensure that facilities operate safely and effectively." Oil well engineers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide engineering report and failure analysis reports based on the analysis. "
Creativity. Many oil well engineer duties rely on creativity. "because each new drill site is unique and therefore presents new challenges, petroleum engineers must be able to come up with creative designs to extract oil and gas.," so an oil well engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways oil well engineer responsibilities rely on creativity: "established the district testing laboratory for the bryan, tx district and was responsible for lab inventory control. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of oil well engineers is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday oil well engineer duties, as "identifying problems in drilling plans is critical for petroleum engineers because these problems can be costly." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided solutions and procedures for challenging and complicated thru tubing well intervention issues in kuparuk and alpine fields on north slope. "
Compare different oil well engineers
Oil well engineer vs. Gas analyst
A gas analyst is faced with different responsibilities in the workplace. They are required to manage internal physical transactions with the gas management system. They may also be called upon to train new employees in GC-MS software and how to handle cylinders properly. Another duty of theirs is to analyze high-pressure cylinders of gas and check for purity using GC-MS. They may be in charge of monitoring some SCADA alarms and alerting field technicians to any problems.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, oil well engineer responsibilities require skills like "afe," "engineering support," "well design," and "well control." Meanwhile a typical gas analyst has skills in areas such as "data analysis," "gas supply," "quantitative analysis," and "sql." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that gas analysts earn slightly differ from oil well engineers. In particular, gas analysts are 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an oil well engineer. Additionally, they're 2.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Oil well engineer vs. Mud analysis supervisor
Completion Engineers are engineering professionals who are responsible for designing and monitoring well completions and ensuring the safety of drilling completion operations. These engineers must communicate instructions to the drilling contractors for all operations while emphasizing safety, well control, and LEAN. They are required to conduct meetings on multiple onsite safety and analysis of hazardous materials to improve workplace safety. Completion Engineers must also work closely with the senior management to establish standard operating procedures that follow the industry and government regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real oil well engineer resumes. While oil well engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "afe," "engineering support," "well design," and "well control," mud analysis supervisors use skills like "autism," "executive leadership," "financial analyses," and "applied behavior analysis."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Mud analysis supervisors tend to reach higher levels of education than oil well engineers. In fact, they're 5.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Oil well engineer vs. Reservoir engineering consultant
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, oil well engineers are more likely to have skills like "well design," "well control," "action reviews," and "bha." But a reservoir engineering consultant is more likely to have skills like "eclipse," "field development," "economic analysis," and "pvt."
When it comes to education, reservoir engineering consultants tend to earn higher degree levels compared to oil well engineers. In fact, they're 25.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 10.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Oil well engineer vs. Completion engineer
Types of oil well engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
