Hmmm I'm a petroleum geologist with some background in engineering and I think if I were choosing an area of petroleum engineering I'd go toward reservoir engineering but drilling could be interesting too. The reservoir engineer is needed in all phases of the business (exploration, development and production) and works (usually fairly closely with the geologist) to help characterize the reservoir and determine how well a given oil/gas field will produce. He/she is then responsible (usually working with the drilling engineer)for determining the type and number of wells needed for optimal performance, their location and the completion type. Reservoir simulation software is usually used to help determine long term performance of the field and is a key tool for the reservoir engineer.
Drilling engineers are more involved in the production end of the business. They typically work with geologists and reservoir engineers as well as the drilling crews. The responsibilities include well planning but typically lean more toward monitoring the actual drilling of the well, completions, testing the flow properties once it's drilled and abandonment procedures once the well has produced all it can.
If you prefer a lot of actual field work onsite then drilling engineering is definitely a good choice. Reservoir engineers typically work more with maps of reservoir properties and reservoir simulators and don't spend as much time actually out on the rig.
Both are challenging given the huge variety of fields being produced today. The technological capabilities of the industry are mind boggling now compared to even 10 or 15 years ago. We've only recently acquired the capability to drill wells in thousands of feet of water for instance using dynamically positioned drilling rigs that monitor their positions constantly using gps to keep precisely over the drill site. The technology is advancing at an amazing pace and the drilling engineers (all of us actually) are certainly challenged to keep up. It's a fun industry to work in.
PS: jludvig makes a good point about thinking long term. Personally I don't see the demand for petroleum decreasing any time soon considering the current conservation efforts in the US (I still see people buying up the gas hogs as fast as they roll off the assembly line albeit complaining about gas prices) and China and India, etc. are rapidly developing and requiring more and more energy to meet their needs (which can't be met with alternative sources at the moment or probably in the near future). That said, drilling engineers will always be needed, as jludwig said, for sequestration efforts. The energy companies will be heavily involved in that effort as depleted oil/gas reservoirs will make excellent targets for sequestration of CO2. The traps are obviously working or there would have been no oil/gas field. Producing reservoirs also typically use gas injection to maintain reservoir pressure and allow for greater production of hydrocarbon. Either way, petroleum engineering most likely has a bright future.Why do you think Oil Drilling could be so exciting?
Oil drilling will be especially exciting while you will be hunting for a job. I would check out a little thing called ';peak oil'; and what that means for the future of drillers...
No offense... but I don't think you are looking at very bright prospect. We will not be drilling our way out of the FF crunch.
How about hydrogen and liquid fuels from coal and solar as specialty? Probably also sequestration technologies (needs some drilling, too, but of a different kind). Now that will be a VERY bright job market.
I mean it. Try to think twenty, thirty years ahead!
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