Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Petroleum Engineers
Occupation · SOC 17-2171.00
Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Oversee drilling and offer technical advice.
Also called: Drilling Engineer · Engineer · Petroleum Engineer · Reservoir Engineer · Completion Engineer · Operations Engineer · Petroleum Production Engineer · Project Production Engineer · Project Reservoir Engineer · Reservoir Engineering Consultant · Certification Engineer · Completions Engineer
Job family: Architecture and Engineering Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-17-2171-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- About average employment outlook (+1.3% by 2034)
- 1,200 openings/yr
- High AI exposure
- Median pay $141,280/yr
- Can largely be done remotely (teleworkable)
- A reversal from 2013 — rated low automation risk then (32nd), high AI task-overlap now (77th)
77th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,200 openings a year (+1.3% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) High | 84th | 1.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) High | 76th | 0.9 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) High | 68th | 0.2 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.2), with simple added tooling (β 0.5), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.9). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.2 · 32nd percentile among occupations · Low
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems. | 0.4% | |
| Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment. | 0.2% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +1.3% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,200 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 19,600 → 19,800 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Petroleum Engineers sits at the 55th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure rose from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
29% mean task exposure (2025)
55th percentile of 427 placed occupations
+2 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Related Professionals · 2146 | 29% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 23 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery. Core · importance 4.2
- Test machinery and equipment to ensure that it is safe and conforms to performance specifications. Supplemental · importance 4.1
- Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production. Core · importance 4.1
- Maintain records of drilling and production operations. Core · importance 4.0
- Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production. Core · importance 4.0
- Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems. Core · importance 4.0
- Assign work to staff to obtain maximum utilization of personnel. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys. Core · importance 4.0
- Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment. Core · importance 4.0
- Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites. Core · importance 3.8
- Simulate reservoir performance for different recovery techniques, using computer models. Supplemental · importance 3.8
- Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems. Core · importance 3.8
- Design and implement environmental controls on oil and gas operations. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Supervise the removal of drilling equipment, the removal of any waste, and the safe return of land to structural stability when wells or pockets are exhausted. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel. Core · importance 3.7
- Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development. Core · importance 3.6
- Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed. Supplemental · importance 3.6
- Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel. Core · importance 3.6
- Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes. Core · importance 3.5
- Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Take samples to assess the amount and quality of oil, the depth at which resources lie, and the equipment needed to properly extract them. Supplemental · importance 3.4
- Design or modify mining and oil field machinery and tools, applying engineering principles. Supplemental · importance 3.1
- Conduct engineering research experiments to improve or modify mining and oil machinery and operations. Supplemental · importance 3.1
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Use drone technology for aerial surveying and monitoring of drilling sites.
Work activities
- Analyze costs and benefits of proposed designs or projects.
- Monitor the productivity or efficiency of industrial operations.
- Develop technical methods or processes.
- Analyze physical, survey, or geographic data.
- Determine operational methods.
- Direct energy production or management activities.
- Direct quality control activities.
- Resolve operational performance problems.
- Prepare detailed work plans.
- Maintain operational records or records systems.
- Confer with other personnel to resolve design or operational problems.
- Prepare technical reports for internal use.
- Interpret design or operational test results.
- Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.
- Explain engineering drawings, specifications, or other technical information.
- Design environmental control systems.
- Direct installation activities.
- Direct equipment maintenance or repair activities.
- Inspect equipment or systems.
- Create models of engineering designs or methods.
- Collect samples of raw materials or finished products.
- Direct design or development activities.
- Design industrial equipment.
- Test performance of electrical, electronic, mechanical, or integrated systems or equipment.
- Research advanced engineering designs or applications.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Engineering and Technology | 4.4 | |
| Mathematics | 4.1 | |
| Physics | 3.5 | |
| Computers and Electronics | 3.5 | |
| Chemistry | 3.4 | |
| Administration and Management | 3.4 | |
| Economics and Accounting | 3.2 | |
| Administrative | 3.2 |
Essential skills
| Reading Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Critical Thinking | 4.0 | |
| Active Listening | 3.9 | |
| Writing | 3.9 | |
| Speaking | 3.9 | |
| Active Learning | 3.8 | |
| Monitoring | 3.8 | |
| Science | 3.4 | |
| Mathematics | 3.3 |
Abilities
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Written Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 4.0 | |
| Written Expression | 4.0 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 4.0 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 4.0 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 4.0 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.9 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.8 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.8 | |
| Near Vision | 3.6 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.5 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.5 | |
| Originality | 3.4 | |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 3.3 | |
| Visualization | 3.3 |
Transferable skills
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.9 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.9 | |
| Systems Analysis | 3.9 | |
| Systems Evaluation | 3.9 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.6 | |
| Coordination | 3.6 | |
| Time Management | 3.6 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 45.
Tools & technology
Showing the top 40 of 44.
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
- Preparation level
- SVP (7.0 to < 8.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Engineering . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Bachelor's Degree | 71.6% | |
| High School Diploma | 7.5% | |
| Master's Degree | 5.4% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Work styles
| Dependability | 8.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 7.0 | |
| Integrity | 6.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 5.0 | |
| Intellectual Curiosity | 4.0 | |
| Achievement Orientation | 3.0 |
Interest areas
| Engineering | 6.4 | |
| Physical Science | 5.3 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 4.9 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 3.3 | |
| Management/Administration | 3.1 | |
| Information Technology | 2.7 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 5.4 | |
| Investigative | 5.3 | |
| Conventional | 4.3 | |
| Enterprising | 3.0 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $78,840 |
| 25th percentile | $107,330 |
| Median (50th) | $141,280 |
| 75th percentile | $191,100 |
| 90th percentile | $228,790 |
| People employed | 18,970 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 10,780 | $149,990 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 2,220 | $170,090 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,780 | $159,940 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 1,720 | $118,400 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 1,250 | $127,930 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 870 | $126,070 |
| Utilities · Sector | 300 | $99,000 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 120 | $167,050 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 90 | $135,360 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 152.78× | 10,780 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 6.42× | 2,220 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 6.12× | 870 |
| Utilities · Sector | 4.21× | 300 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 1.37× | 1,250 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 1.3× | 1,720 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1.13× | 1,780 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 0.16× | 120 |
Related occupations
Part of the Energy & Natural Resources career cluster.
- Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers · 17-2151.00 Compare →
- Chemical Engineers · 17-2041.00 Compare →
- Geothermal Production Managers · 11-3051.02 Compare →
- Water/Wastewater Engineers · 17-2051.02 Compare →
- Industrial Engineers · 17-2112.00 Compare →
- Mechanical Engineers · 17-2141.00 Compare →
- Electrical Engineers · 17-2071.00 Compare →
- Environmental Engineers · 17-2081.00 Compare →
- Civil Engineers · 17-2051.00 Compare →
- Manufacturing Engineers · 17-2112.03 Compare →
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers · 51-8093.00 Compare →
- Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians · 19-4043.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Petroleum Engineers — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Bachelor's degree · typical entry level
- Job zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Engineering · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 55th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Petroleum Engineers show 77th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,200 annual U.S. openings
- Petroleum Engineers rank in the 77th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 1,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be about average (+1.3%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $141,280, across about 18,970 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Petroleum Engineers show 77th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,200 annual U.S. openings • Petroleum Engineers rank in the 77th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 1,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+1.3%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $141,280, across about 18,970 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Petroleum Engineers". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2171-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Petroleum Engineers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2171-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Petroleum Engineers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2171-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-17-2171-00,
title = {Petroleum Engineers},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2171-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.