Petroleum Engineering Program in Missouri S&T

The Missouri S&T Petroleum Engineering Program is nationally ranked, and is the only one in the state of Missouri, and is one of only 14 in the overall nation. Our program is one of only three Petroleum Engineering Programs in the nation that have a well drilling simulator available to students, which provides profound understanding and hands-on experience on well drilling. Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering is ABET accredited, and among the best engineering programs in Missouri S&T. Missouri S&T Petroleum Engineering students find great value in working in industry during their college education. Over 80% of our students secure summer internships with the major multi-national oil and gas producing and service companies working on projects such as well log evaluation and computerized reservoir simulation. Our students are recruited by companies around the world to work in multinational, multi-million dollar projects early in their careers. In recent years, 100% of our graduates have had job offers upon graduation. Student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) will provide rich information about your career and study areas by variety of activities.

What will I do as a petroleum engineer?

Producing oil and gas and other resources from the earth is the primary challenge of a petroleum engineer. A petroleum engineer is capable of planning and supervising the drilling of potential wells, designing completion schemes, assigning production criteria and rules, adjusting development and production schemes, estimating reserves, designing surface collection strategies, and analyzing economic impacts in oil field production and development. He/she should be well trained with solid multi-disciplinary knowledge in the basic sciences, including math, chemistry and physics and geology to engineering disciplines, such as mechanical, electrical, chemical and others. As the oil & gas industry is one of economical mainstay of the world, it is important for a petroleum engineer to be able to analyze the economic impacts of his/her decision.

Petroleum engineers have a future full of challenges and opportunities. They must develop and apply new technology to recover hydrocarbons from oil shale, tar sands, and offshore oil and gas fields. They must also devise new techniques to recover oil left in the ground after application of conventional producing techniques. Examples of these enhanced recovery methods are steam injection, underground combustion, and injection of chemically treated water to release oil trapped in the pores of rocks. These new methods are aimed at recovering additional petroleum from known reservoirs, beyond the 25% typically recovered with conventional technology. Since many petroleum companies conduct worldwide operations, the petroleum engineer may have the opportunity for assignments all over the world. Petroleum engineers must solve the variety of technological, political, and economic problems encountered in these assignments. These exciting technological challenges combine to offer the petroleum engineer a most rewarding career. The petroleum engineer is among the HIGHEST paid of all engineers.

What will I be studying as a petroleum engineer?

As a petroleum engineering student, you will study the technology of oil and gas drilling, production, reserves estimation, and the prediction of future production. You will also study the various techniques for evaluating the characteristics of petroleum-bearing formations and their fluid contents. Modern experimental and computational tools are used to study the technology of well logging, well testing, well stimulation, petroleum reservoir engineering, secondary and tertiary recovery. Other areas of study include: economic analysis of oil and gas production, reservoir characterization, and artificial lift methods. Recent curriculum changes have been made to keep pace with rapid advances in well testing, computer simulation, environmental concerns, and advanced drilling techniques. Go to Curriculum & Courses for a sample curriculum.

Student Organizations

There is a student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers that meets on a monthly basis and the National Petroleum Engineering honorary society, Pi Epsilon Tau.

Outstanding Research

The Missouri S&T Petroleum Engineering program is nationally ranked. She has the only Petroleum Engineering program in the state of Missouri, and is one of only 14 in the nation.

Our students are recruited by companies around the world to work in multinational, multi-million dollar projects early in their careers. In recent years, 100% of our graduates have had job offers upon graduation.

Missouri S&T is one of only three Petroleum Engineering programs in the nation to have a well drilling simulator available to its students. This gives students additional insight in well drilling operations and hands-on experience.

Missouri S&T Petroleum Engineering students find great value in working in industry during their college education. Over 80% of our students secure summer internships with the major multi-national oil and gas producing and service companies working on projects such as well log evaluation and computerized reservoir simulation.

Student organizations include the student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers which brings current industry speakers to Missouri S&T.

The small program size ensures excellent faculty contact and most class sizes are between 10-15 students.

75% of our faculty have authored textbooks that are used in their courses.

How are our graduates hired and paid?

Based on a survey conducted in 2002, the employment of students from the Petroleum Engineering Program at Missouri S&T is very prosperous, and the students are paid higher compared with those from other fields.

No. of Responses = 4
No. Receiving at least One Offer = 3
Average No. of Interviews = 3.5
Average No. of Trips = 1.3
Average No. of Offers = 0.8

For Those Responses Receiving Offers ( 3):
Percent of Offers Based On Summer Job = 66.7 (Same Company)
Percent of Offers with Summer Experience = 100.0
Percent Placed through Missouri S&T Placement = 100.0
Percent Placed through OWN Placement = 0

Average HIGH OFFER : 5375. ($/mo.) = 64504. ($/yr.)
HIGHEST OFFER : 5917. ($/mo.) = 71004. ($/yr.)
Average LOW OFFER : 5375. ($/mo.) = 64504. ($/yr.)
LOWEST OFFER : 5042. ($/mo.) = 60504. ($/yr.)
Average OFFER ACCEPTED : 5375. ($/mo.) = 64504. ($/yr.)

• Missouri S&T Career Opportunities Center
• Oil CareerFair
• WorldWideWorker Web Site
• OIL CAREER Professional Placement Services
• Global Energy Jobs Web Site

Financial Support

Several scholarship available for Petroleum Engineering students. These scholarships are:

• The Stephen & Susan Rector Endowed Scholarship
• The Thompson Endowed Scholarship for Petroleum Engineering
• The R. M. Brackbill Endowed Scholarship
• The SoMEER scholarship
• The Robert & Margaret Schafer Endowment Scholarship
• The Mimi & Lee Powell Scholarship