What is a Reservoir Engineer?

Reservoir engineers, also known as pipeline or petroleum engineers, are individuals responsible for the development and production operations of fossil fuel in oil reservoir companies. Your job requires you to use special equipment and tools to locate and identify various oil and gas reserves, continuously monitor and supervise the drilling process, and analyze the amount of fuel to be drilled that won't adversely affect the surrounding environment. Also, you are to determine the most efficient way to extract the oil and gas and ensure the fuel is transported safely. You will also need to oversee the removal of company equipment and the proper disposal of waste materials once extraction processes are completed.

A bachelor's degree in petroleum, civil, chemical, mechanical, or a related engineering field is required to get this job. You also need to possess excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills and the ability to handle stressful work environments. Reservoir engineers in America earn an average yearly salary of $122,845 or $59 per hour.

What Does a Reservoir Engineer Do

There are certain skills that many reservoir engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, problem-solving skills and analytical skills.

Learn more about what a Reservoir Engineer does

How To Become a Reservoir Engineer

If you're interested in becoming a reservoir engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.3% of reservoir engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 24.1% of reservoir engineers have master's degrees. Even though most reservoir engineers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Reservoir Engineer
Top Reservoir Engineer Jobs Near You

Reservoir Engineer Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a reservoir engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as senior staff engineer, progress to a title such as principal engineer and then eventually end up with the title principal engineer.

Reservoir Engineer

Average Salary for a Reservoir Engineer

Reservoir Engineers in America make an average salary of $124,309 per year or $60 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $170,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $90,000 per year.
Average Reservoir Engineer Salary
$124,309 Yearly
$59.76 hourly
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Roles and Types of Reservoir Engineer

The role of a reservoir engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general reservoir engineer responsibilities:

  • Provide reservoir engineering support within a multidisciplinary development team consisting of geoscientists, drilling
  • Monitor and evaluate well performance using analytical techniques like pta/rta
  • Perform reservoir engineering studies and activities, including, but not limited to, participating in integrated field studies, economics

There are several types of reservoir engineer, including:

Engineer

Role:

Engineers design and develop new products in a variety of different industries. They might be mechanical or software engineers or create electric machinery, design chemical or geotechnical processes, or help to structure civil or management disciplines. Whatever the case may be, engineers are involved in creating the diverse technologies that facilitate the processes of our lives in different areas. Combining creative thinking with the principles of mathematics and science using a wide range of technical skills, engineers work on the design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of various products from machines, vehicles, buildings, and roads to software or social processes serving consumers, businesses, and societies.

Engineers are creative thinkers and brilliant problem solvers. They excel at mathematical, scientific, and mechanical analysis. They follow plans and blueprints with a strong focus, yet remain flexible and work well under pressure.

Engineers develop systems for solving various problems as members of a team. They know that a single component is worthless without their counterparts, so they have to be great communicators, as well, to be successful at their job.

  • Average Salary: $92,077
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Civil Engineer

Role:

Civil Engineers are responsible for designing, building and supervising infrastructure projects and systems. A lot of times they're able to split their time between working outside and in an office. So, at least, you won't be spending all of your time outside. Which is especially important depending on the seasons. No one wants to spend all day outside in the sweltering heat, but they also probably don't want to freeze to death in the dead of winter.

  • Average Salary: $70,950
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Site Engineer

Role:

Site engineers contribute most of their time to the construction site, compared with other managers or designers. They are updated daily about the coming day's design and activities, and they implement them based on the updates. A site engineer's responsibilities are vast, as they provide sound advice and supervision when there are any technical problems or for proper management and the preparation of daily reports of the construction works.

The majority of employers recruit candidates who have a degree in a relevant engineering subject, such as civil or structural engineering, but having a degree in another related topic, like construction, can also be beneficial.

The reported average annual salary for a site engineer is approximately $62,000. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon academic qualification, having previous experience, and possession of the aforementioned skills.

  • Average Salary: $75,719
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Reservoir Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active reservoir engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where reservoir engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Reservoir Engineer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,460$130,467
2Virginia548$120,941
3Texas527$132,674
4Florida415$155,745
5New York357$113,664
6Washington336$129,677
7Maryland287$104,914
8Illinois273$110,201
9Colorado260$122,149
10Massachusetts250$108,706
11Georgia220$108,291
12North Carolina205$115,881
13Arizona192$138,281
14Oregon168$111,586
15Ohio165$95,800
16Pennsylvania164$89,831
17Michigan161$103,259
18New Jersey141$113,469
19Indiana132$120,701
20Alabama119$89,718
21Minnesota114$83,255
22Utah91$91,998
23Wisconsin87$106,058
24South Carolina70$99,330
25Delaware66$139,989
26Tennessee63$107,107
27Connecticut62$119,923
28Missouri59$119,613
29Nebraska55$117,609
30Nevada50$160,655
31Arkansas48$76,828
32Iowa47$110,348
33Louisiana46$122,649
34Kentucky40$76,974
35New Hampshire39$144,851
36Oklahoma37$128,206
37New Mexico31$131,979
38Kansas31$115,160
39Idaho28$127,628
40Rhode Island21$143,788
41Vermont21$122,139
42Alaska20$121,265
43Mississippi20$124,943
44Hawaii19$144,735
45Wyoming18$135,934
46Maine16$128,037
47West Virginia16$112,541
48Montana15$126,138
49South Dakota13$98,620
50North Dakota6$82,700

Reservoir Engineer Education

Reservoir Engineer Majors

Petroleum Engineering
61.4 %
Chemical Engineering
11.2 %
Mechanical Engineering
5.2 %

Reservoir Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

66.3 %

Masters

24.1 %

Doctorate

5.6 %

Top Colleges for Reservoir Engineers

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

4. Colorado School of Mines

Golden, CO • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,964

Enrollment

4,906

5. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Socorro, NM • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,770

Enrollment

1,333

6. Texas A&M University

College Station, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,870

Enrollment

53,194

7. University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$19,080

Enrollment

19,127

8. University of Houston

Houston, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,913

Enrollment

37,291

9. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

10. University of Utah

Salt Lake City, UT • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,222

Enrollment

23,396

Top Skills For a Reservoir Engineer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.1% of reservoir engineers listed spotfire on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and problem-solving skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Reservoir Engineer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Reservoir Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Reservoir Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Reservoir Engineer diversity

Reservoir Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
82%
Female
Female
18%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among reservoir engineers, 17.8% of them are women, while 82.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among reservoir engineers is White, which makes up 61.5% of all reservoir engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among reservoir engineers is Spanish at 37.5%.

Online Courses For Reservoir Engineer That You May Like

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Best States For a Reservoir Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a reservoir engineer. The best states for people in this position are Nevada, Florida, New Hampshire, and Hawaii. Reservoir engineers make the most in Nevada with an average salary of $160,655. Whereas in Florida and New Hampshire, they would average $155,745 and $144,851, respectively. While reservoir engineers would only make an average of $144,735 in Hawaii, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Florida

Total Reservoir Engineer Jobs: 415
Highest 10% Earn:
$217,000
Location Quotient:
0.97

$155,745

Avg. Salary

View 415 Reservoir Engineer Jobs In FL

2. Nevada

Total Reservoir Engineer Jobs: 50
Highest 10% Earn:
$221,000
Location Quotient:
0.88

$160,655

Avg. Salary

View 50 Reservoir Engineer Jobs In NV

3. Delaware

Total Reservoir Engineer Jobs: 66
Highest 10% Earn:
$197,000
Location Quotient:
1.93

$139,989

Avg. Salary

View 66 Reservoir Engineer Jobs In DE
Full List Of Best States For Reservoir Engineers

How Do Reservoir Engineers Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Reservoir Engineer Employers

Most Common Employers For Reservoir Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Devon Energy$171,438$82.4224
2California Resources$165,720$79.6727
3Shell Trading$157,728$75.8316
4Denbury Resources$156,952$75.4618
5Chesapeake Energy$148,802$71.5412
6Aera Energy$147,583$70.9528
7ConocoPhillips$144,812$69.62194
8Occidental Petroleum$144,275$69.3675
9Marathon Oil$144,011$69.2452
10Chevron$142,315$68.42152
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Reservoir Engineer Videos

01 Reservoir Engineering Overview
Position Descriptions - Oil and Gas Petroleum Engineers and Reservoir Engineers
Reservoir Engineer, Daniel Ventura Alonso

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Updated April 6, 2023