Gas Engineer Or Petroleum Engineer Job: Is It A Lucrative Offshore Career?

Gas Engineer Or Petroleum Engineer Job: Is It A Lucrative Offshore Career?

Who Is A Gas Engineer?

A gas engineer, also known as a petroleum engineer, is involved in the exploration, extraction, and distribution of oil and natural gas.

A gas engineer is deeply involved in locating crude oil and natural gas reservoirs and determines if the extraction would be a beneficial exercise or not. Once the decision has been made to drill, the petroleum engineer is responsible to find out the most cost-efficient way to drill and extract the crude oil/natural gas.

Many times the petroleum engineer or the gas engineer is also called upon to stimulate an underperforming well. He is entrusted to develop new drilling tools, techniques, and ways to extract remaining oil and natural gas from the oil wells.

Responsibilities Of A Gas Engineer

Gas engineers are usually employed by the petroleum industry and related industries such as regulatory bodies, production, and service companies. It won’t be a stretch to say that the world economy runs on Petroleum and its products. Oil and gas not only fuel the bulk of the vehicles but are used in producing hundreds of products ranging from clothing to cosmetics.

Gas engineers are the vital cog in this huge wheel. They are primarily responsible for discovering oil, evaluating its potential, extracting the oil, and transporting/storing it. They analyze a huge amount of geographical and engineering data to find oil/gas and then explore the possibility of extracting it efficiently.

A gas engineer has to travel to and reside in remote areas of the planet as his presence is needed throughout the oil exploration, extraction, and distribution process.

Since oil and natural gas can found in various diverse geographical regions like offshore, tropical forests, or Alaska, a petroleum engineer also specializes in a particular aspect.

1) Reservoir Engineers

Reservoir engineers are experts in making plans for gas and oil reservoirs which includes well placement, field development, oil recovery techniques, and optimum production and injection rates. These engineers work along with the production engineer.

2) Drilling and Completion Engineers

A completion engineer plans, designs, and implements the best way to complete a well so that oil/natural gas flows upwards from the ground securely and efficiently.

3) Production Engineers

Production engineers design and select the equipment to produce oil and gas from the well after it is drilled. They also coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of the mining and oilfield equipment. They also have the important role of managing the boundary between the well and the reservoir using perforations, sand control, artificial lift, and downhole control.

A production engineer also monitors the oil or gas production and tries to get more oil from underperforming wells.

4) Subsurface Engineers

A subsurface engineer selects the most suitable equipment for the subsurface environment. Once it is selected, the engineer will monitor and adjust the equipment, ensuring optimum oil and gas production.

A gas engineer working offshore has myriad imperative responsibilities including the following:

▪︎ Correct handling of equipment for
▪︎ Fitting repairing pipelines and gas appliances
▪︎ Looking after pipeline integrity
▪︎ Vessels employed for oil drilling and extraction jobs
▪︎ Keeping an eye on the performance of the mechanical systems
▪︎ Ensures safe and environment-friendly operations
▪︎ Quality management
▪︎ Scheduling and managing projects
▪︎ Maintain low-cost expenses

Read more: Who is a subsea engineer?

Where Does a Petroleum Engineer Work?

Most petroleum engineers work in the oil and gas extraction industry. Many gas engineers are employed in the manufacture of petroleum and gas products. Another significant group of engineers works in architecture and engineering etc.

Gas engineers work in fields, offices, and laboratories. When deployed offshore or at land drilling sites, they have to stay there for a long duration.   Their work also involves extensive traveling to remote areas. They have usually 84-hour rotations while at a work site.

How To Become A Gas Engineer?

If you are willing to work for offshore programs, you must be prepared to work under hard conditions. You need to sacrifice by staying away from your loved ones for ample time. Thus, mental strength will play a crucial role in overcoming the hurdles.

Now coming to a professional perspective, you need to have a degree in engineering like civil or chemical engineering, mechanical, structural.

A degree in marine engineering will give you an edge over the others in case you wish to work for companies offering offshore jobs. A marine engineer can in turn choose from various fields which include subsea operations, marine corrosion engineers, process engineers, and many others.

You must undergo gas engineer training as an intern in order to outshine the other contenders. You can opt for such training through the help of training centers, universities, and even online training programs

The top 5 universities for pursuing gas/petroleum engineering are given below:

Additional aspects required for becoming a successful gas engineering

Apart from the qualification needed, you must adopt the following qualities in order to shine out-

  • Leadership qualities: As you are going to assist the staff working under your command, you must be capable enough to establish a good relationship with the rest of the team members as it is essential for proper and smooth coordination.
  • Time and pressure management: Sticking to deadlines and delivering excellent quality of work simultaneously is the need of the hour for such professions.
  • Proficient interpretational skills: You should be proficient at your work and ponder before executing your analysis. You must be able to understand the task given quickly.
  • Excellent communication skills: You must be fluent in the languages you speak, especially English. The better the understanding between colleagues is, the better the outcome is. You shouldn’t be hesitant to interact with people

What is the average salary of a gas engineer?

The work of a gas engineer is well acknowledged by the companies and thus they are paid a handsome amount of money as their remuneration. As an oil and gas engineer, you can expect a salary package of about $30-35 per hour for an operator’s job in oil and gas operations. As a trainee, you can expect half the amount i.e. $18-22 per hour.

The average salary per annum for a newly hired gas engineer can be up to $68,000. Whereas for a person with a good amount of experience in the field (about 7-10 years) can earn up to $153,000 per year. The amount can vary from country to country. Some of the companies offer other perks barring the salary such as insurances, more leaves, bonuses, overtime, etc.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *