Petroleum Engineers
Also called: Drilling Engineer, Engineer, Petroleum Engineer, Reservoir EngineerDevise 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.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 16 of its 23 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 2.0% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 2.0% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 8.7 hires for every 10 job openings in mining and logging, which employs about 52% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.8.7 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | not published | not published | 50 |
| Alaska | $206,290 | $174,050 to $219,480 | 280 |
| California | $143,590 | $126,500 to $171,980 | 1,060 |
| Colorado | $172,190 | $112,070 to $214,220 | 1,390 |
| Florida | not published | not published | 40 |
| Kansas | $115,640 | $92,650 to $127,820 | 110 |
| Louisiana | $139,640 | $89,880 to $178,810 | 710 |
| Michigan | not published | not published | 580 |
| Minnesota | not published | not published | 40 |
| Montana | $104,060 | $80,380 to $137,540 | not published |
| Nebraska | $100,800 | $95,960 to $135,540 | 150 |
| New Mexico | $99,900 | $93,200 to $127,490 | 260 |
| North Dakota | $132,120 | $98,510 to $158,280 | 130 |
| Ohio | $99,260 | $93,760 to $134,940 | 200 |
| Oklahoma | $153,020 | $124,460 to $178,470 | 1,450 |
| Pennsylvania | $101,880 | $96,040 to $138,890 | 600 |
| Tennessee | not published | not published | 70 |
| Texas | $164,860 | $123,450 to $220,330 | 9,140 |
| Utah | $172,840 | $122,000 to $186,860 | 280 |
| Washington | $134,800 | $129,510 to $176,740 | 190 |
| West Virginia | $93,360 | $82,370 to $148,350 | 380 |
| Wyoming | not published | not published | 280 |
Nationally: $144,910. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 16 of its 23 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI + software | Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems. | Not published |
| AI + software | Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery. | Not published |
| AI + software | Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production. | Not published |
| AI alone | Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Maintain records of drilling and production operations. | Not published |
| AI + software | Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites. | Not published |
See all 23 tasks
| AI + software | Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys. | Not published |
| AI + software | Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems. | Not published |
| AI + software | Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes. | Not published |
| Not much | Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development. | Not published |
| AI + software | Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production. | Not published |
| AI + software | Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment. | Not published |
| AI + software | Simulate reservoir performance for different recovery techniques, using computer models. | Not published |
| AI + software | Assign work to staff to obtain maximum utilization of personnel. | Not published |
| AI + software | Design and implement environmental controls on oil and gas operations. | Not published |
| Not much | Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment. | Not published |
| AI alone | Conduct engineering research experiments to improve or modify mining and oil machinery and operations. | Not published |
| Not much | Take samples to assess the amount and quality of oil, the depth at which resources lie, and the equipment needed to properly extract them. | Not published |
| Not much | 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. | Not published |
| Not much | Test machinery and equipment to ensure that it is safe and conforms to performance specifications. | Not published |
| Not much | Design or modify mining and oil field machinery and tools, applying engineering principles. | Not published |
| Not much | Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 2 of the 23 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 23 tasks fall under 24 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #7 Explain technical details of products or services
- #20 Present research or technical information
- #27 Research technology designs or applications
- and 1 more, in the table below
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures | |||
| Explain technical details of products or services | |||
| Present research or technical information | |||
| Research technology designs or applications | |||
| Determine operational methods or procedures | |||
| Plan work activities | |||
| Analyze performance of systems or equipment | |||
| Develop models of systems, processes, or products |
Show all 24 activities
| Coordinate with others to resolve problems | |||
| Develop operational or technical procedures or standards | |||
| Evaluate designs, specifications, or other technical data | |||
| Test performance of equipment or systems | |||
| Resolve personnel or operational problems | |||
| Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance | |||
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Manage control systems or activities | |||
| Analyze environmental or geospatial data | |||
| Develop systems or practices to mitigate or resolve environmental problems | |||
| Direct scientific or technical activities | |||
| Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment | |||
| Collect samples of products or materials | |||
| Supervise personnel activities | |||
| Design industrial systems or equipment | |||
| Direct construction or extraction activities |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- An explanation or answer39%
- A document or report37%
- An analysis or summary6%
- A chart or visualization4%
- A plan or strategy3%
How they worked with Claude
55% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for petroleum engineers specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 7,462 moves out
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 12%
- 2 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 8%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 7%
- 4 Architectural and Engineering Managers High +5.5% 6%
- 5 Engineers, All Other Very high +3.7% 6%
Where people moved in from
of 7,966 moves in
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 10%
- 2 Engineers, All Other Very high +3.7% 6%
- 3 Architectural and Engineering Managers High +5.5% 6%
- 4 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 5%
- 5 Industrial Engineers Very high +12.4% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 8% high school
- 72% bachelor's
- 5% master's
- 15% not published
O*NET marks 15% of the answers as too uncertain to publish, so the parts shown don't add up to 100%.
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 20 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 10% high school
- 4% some college
- 4% associate's
- 51% bachelor's
- 19% master's
- 2% professional degree
- 8% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 270 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
2 programs: Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and Petroleum Engineering.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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