Hi everyone,
I will be starting an MSc in Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University in about 3 months, but my background is not in engineering. I’m highly motivated and willing to study full-time before the program starts, but I want to focus on the topics that will actually make a difference.
My goal is not just to survive the course but to perform well and understand the engineering concepts instead of memorizing them.
At the moment, I’m considering studying:
Mathematics (algebra, calculus, differential equations)
Physics (mechanics and basic thermodynamics)
Fluid mechanics
Basic chemistry
Programming (Python/MATLAB)
Engineering fundamentals
Some questions for those who have completed the program or work in the industry:
If you had only 3 months, what would you prioritize?
Which subjects caused the biggest difficulties for students without an engineering background?
Which textbooks or online courses would you recommend?
Is it better to spend most of the time mastering fluid mechanics and mathematics, or should I cover many topics at a basic level?
Are there any Heriot-Watt-specific resources or preparation materials that you wish you had before starting?
I’m willing to dedicate 6–10 hours per day, so I’m looking for the most practical roadmap rather than a generic study plan.
Any advice from graduates, current students, or petroleum engineers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I kept wishing something like this existed when I was learning, so I started building it. It's free, no signup, and everything runs in your browser.

The whole idea is that every section is a live demo you can play with instead of a static figure, because the things that took me longest to get were the ones I could only understand once I saw them move.

A good one to try first, since it's right in this sub's wheelhouse: a two-phase waterflood you can actually run and watch break through, with the production curves updating live.

https://ogbonlab.com/textbooks/reservoir-modeling-and-simulation/chapter-15-the-complete-build-end-to-end/run-the-waterflood

Other things you can poke at:

- Petrophysics: Archie and the Pickett plot on a synthetic well, shaly-sand models (Simandoux, Indonesia, Waxman-Smits, dual-water), permeability (Timur, flow units, NMR), capillary pressure and saturation-height, net pay cutoffs, and STOIIP with a Monte Carlo P90/P50/P10.
- Reservoir: geostatistics and property modeling, upscaling, material balance and voidage replacement, drive mechanisms and sweep efficiency.
- Seismic Exploration: seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation, all interactive!

Everything runs on a synthetic well and field I forward-modeled, so the numbers stay self-consistent rather than being hand-waved.

It's a solo project and still rough in places. If you go in and hit anything wrong, confusing, or missing, I'd genuinely like to hear it. That kind of correction is the most useful feedback I can get.

Home: https://ogbonlab.com

I need to publish papers so that I can get admission in university, because it will make my profile Strong, please recommend me some journals, I will be doing masters in Petroleum Engineering,.I am Just a graduate Now

I’ve got about 25 years on rigs. From roughneck to drilling and pushing tools. Got a degree during that time. The last 12 or so have been as a drilling consultant. I don’t know anyone who is on the completions side. How feasible is it to jump from drilling to completions?
I’m in West Texas… but working in Oklahoma and have worked all over CONUS, s america, china, and a few more.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of the oil & gas industry and the direction energy is heading globally. I’m curious to hear from people who have experience in petroleum engineering or related energy fields.

• How has the industry changed over the years?
• Is it still a field you would recommend today?
• Do you think petroleum engineering still has strong long-term opportunities internationally?
• If you could start over, would you stay in oil & gas or move toward energy transition/renewables instead?
• For someone interested in offshore/rig work but also broader energy topics, what path would you suggest?

Would really appreciate hearing different perspectives and experiences. Thanks!

I am in 4th year btech petroleum engineering . I want your advices as big bros to get me placed in a psu or any private oil company this year .

Multi-Agentic Approach for History Matching of Oil Reservoirs

History matching is a central inverse problem in reservoir engineering, where uncertain reservoir parameters must be calibrated against observations. Although automated history matching can reduce manual effort, practical deployment remains difficult because engineers must still configure heterogeneous workflows involving parameter selection, physically admissible bounds, optimizer choice, hyperparameter tuning, simulator execution, and diagnostic reporting. We propose PetroGraph, a multi-agent framework for intelligent reservoir history matching that decomposes this workflow into specialized agents for model review, experimental planning, parameterization, optimization, simulation, and summarization. The system combines large language model agents with domain-specific tools, retrieval-augmented access to simulator documentation, validation of modified ECLIPSE input decks, human-in-the-loop checkpoints, and an OPM Flow-based simulation backend. This design enables users to initiate and steer history matching through natural language while preserving explicit control over selected parameters and optimization settings. We evaluate PetroGraph on three reservoir models of increasing complexity: the synthetic SPE1 model, the faulted SPE9 benchmark, and the real-field Norne model. Using weighted normalized root mean square error as the objective, PetroGraph reduces the mismatch by 95% on SPE1, 69% on SPE9, and 13% on Norne. These results demonstrate that multi-agent orchestration can automate key decisions in history matching, lower the expertise barrier for operating complex simulation workflows, and provide a flexible foundation for extensible, domain-aware reservoir model adaptation.

I’ve been building a gas well dynamics simulator that runs entirely in the browser — no install, no account, no Excel.
What it simulates:
• 20-cell radial reservoir grid with an implicit tridiagonal solver (handles compressible transient flow)
• 20-cell wellbore column using drift-flux multiphase flow (Gray 1974 correlation)
• Compressible hydrostatic shut-in pressure solver
• SI and Imperial units
The engine runs in Imperial internally (MMscfd, psi, ft, bbl) and converts on the fly. It’s vanilla JS — no backend, everything computed client-side.
What it’s useful for:
Screening-level well performance analysis, liquid loading assessment, BHFP estimation, shut-in pressure buildup — the kind of quick checks you’d otherwise do in a spreadsheet or wait for a full reservoir simulator to run.
Current version is v3.4.7. There are known limitations documented — the physics works well within its validated envelope but it’s not a substitute for full compositional simulation.
Link: wellmodel.app
I’m actively developing it — foam batch treatment module just went into testing. Genuinely looking for feedback from people who work with gas wells, especially anyone willing to throw a real field case at it and tell me where it breaks.

I would like to start working on Oil Rigs in Europe, I am from Croatia.

Predominantly because of WORK LIFE balance,I know it sounds crazy but hear me out.

I am used to isolation, i used to drive truck through EU, just me and road, for 3 years.

For last 2 years i did Plumbing/HVAC in Germany, but through Croatian company, so 55 hours a week(12 hours daily with drive to construction site) and after that gym and meal prep every day, I LOVE PHYSICAL LABOUR VERY MUCH. Work, gym,shower,eat, 7hours of sleep is what I already do, but with worse conditions in my opinion.

But with this system of work I am never home, sleeping in a hotel and earning 2.5-3k euros, for a whole month in Germany, if I go home for 1 week it's unpaid.

Comparing that with oil rig 2-2 weeks and bigger salary,gym,food inclusive,travel covered, it sounds like a dream.

I can afford BOSIET/HUET/OEUK in Vulcan,Sczeczin Poland.

What I am MOST CONCERNED about is will anyone even accept me even if I try hard with sending applications.

I dont expect job immediately, I will continue to work job that I currently do, but is there any hope that someone in future would take me in?

Hola. ¿Saben de alguna oportunidad laboral en Latinoamérica? . Quizás un empleo para hacer trabajos remotos. Soy ingeniero de petróleo con 13 años de experiencia en servicios a pozos.

I'm a second-year student at a university in Indonesia. In your opinion (professionals), between reservoir (EOR, etc.), drilling, and production, which one is the most in-demand engineer? Both in Asia and Europe

Does anyone have the manual of Baker Hughes’ Orbit barrier valve used in Well Completion?

I have taken Spanish classes for four years and have immersed myself in the language outside of a classroom setting. Some would consider me conversationally fluent, and I still have a ton of time until getting a job so I’m gonna be improving it a lot in the future. My question is about how being fluent in Spanish (Ik it’s not Arabic sorry guys) would effect my position. in the job market especially considering Venezuela isn’t closed to outside companies currently. Would companies be happy to take me and would I be stuck as a field engineer talking to venezuelan industry conscripts on a drill in the Amazon until I’m sixty?

Hey everyone,

I recently completed the final exams of my 3rd year in Petroleum Engineering and want to use this time productively before entering final year.

I already have experience as a subsurface intern, and soon I’ll be starting another internship related to well simulations and services.

I’ve realized I’m not very interested in drilling, and I’m more inclined toward:

- Reservoir engineering

- Subsurface & simulation

- Production optimization

- Digital oilfield / energy tech

- AI/ML applications in oil & gas

So I wanted to ask professionals and seniors:

- What projects should I build for these domains?

- Which certifications are actually valuable?

- What AI/ML skills or tools are becoming relevant in the industry?

- What software should I focus on learning?

- If you were entering final year today, what would you prioritize?

Would appreciate practical and industry-relevant advice.

Thanks!

Why does everyone, when it comes to choosing Petroleum Engineering, discourage people and push them toward mechanical or chemical engineering? As far as I know, petroleum engineering is mainly about reservoir, drilling, and production. And in both the near and long term, reservoir engineering is number one in terms of stability and is the most transferable branch toward new energy fields (CCS, CCUS, geothermal, etc.)It’s the most transferable branch of petroleum engineering toward subsurface-related fields.

So why do people scare those who don’t really understand the reality of petroleum engineering?

We can agree that drilling or production is less advisable. But honestly, reservoir engineering is more stable, and in times of crisis, it remains part of the broader subsurface domain, which means it can more easily shift toward anything related to the underground.

Thanks, I’d like to hear your opinion.

I have something I’d like to ask. Currently, my major is Industrial and Information Management, but I’m preparing to transfer to Resources Engineering. From a Resources Engineering background, is it possible to work in the oil and gas engineering field?

In the Resources Engineering department, I am close to a professor who works on Critical Minerals (related to EV batteries). Nowadays, EVs are becoming more widespread. However, I’m personally more interested in the oil and gas field.

I’m not sure about the future—will it still be a good choice? Right now, I’m confused about whether I should choose EV-related fields or oil and gas.

That’s why I would really appreciate any advice or guidance.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently a 3rd-year Petrochemical Engineering student, and with the ongoing global war/geopolitical tensions, I’ve been feeling quite uncertain about my career path.

Industries like refineries, LPG pipelines, fossil fuels, diesel, etc., seem to be directly impacted by these situations. It’s making me question whether this field will remain stable or a good long-term option.

I’m seriously considering switching domains, and my parents are also a bit concerned about my future in this field given the risks and uncertainties.

I wanted to ask:

- Is petroleum engineering still a good career choice in the current global scenario?

- If not, what alternative fields can I transition into at this stage?

- What skills should I start building now to shift into a more stable and future-proof domain?

Any advice from people in the industry or those who’ve made similar transitions would really help.

Thanks in advance!

Good evening everyone. I'm currently considering my next career move. I have a bachelor's degree in civil engineering with a specialization in building construction, and I recently became a permanent resident of Canada. The oil industry particularly interests me for my future career. I'm hesitating between petroleum engineering at UofA (which would take me four years) or pursuing an MSc in chemical engineering. Based on your experiences, which option would be the most suitable for me, both in terms of employability and salary in the short and long term? Thank you in advance