[Joker37]

When will petroleum engineers become redundant due to low oil recovery because of depleting amounts of oil throughout the world?

At what year will getting a degree in petroleum engineering be not worth it?

A close friend of mine is interested in become a petroleum engineer and I am asking here because I am curious too, if anyone knows or has any ideas...

[CraigD]

Joker37, on 15 September 2011 - 09:51 PM, said:

When will petroleum engineers become redundant due to low oil recovery because of depleting amounts of oil throughout the world?

I don’t think the diminishing of more easily obtainable oil will reduce demand for petroleum engineers. Rather, because finding and tapping remaining oil is becoming more difficult and complicated, I expect there will be increased demand for increasingly skilled professionals in this field, even as the cost of oil increases and world-wide use of it decreases.

If your friend masters some of the many specialties in this field, he could have a long and satisfying career in it. I’d encourage him to pursue his interests.

[Eclogite]

We need to estimate a) the probable onset of peak oil the duration of the decline curve in production falling peak oil c) the typical working life span of a petroleum engineer.

Let's use 2030 for the first number, forty years for the second and forty years for the third. On that basis acquring a petroleum engineering degree as late as 2030 should still allow one a full working life in the industry. If you prefer then substitute your own numbers for a, b and c. It's still going to point to this being a fine time to enter the industry. (He might even be the last one to leave and get to turn the lights out. )

Of course, this completely ignores the possibility that carbon sequestration in subterranean reservoirs could be a major industry in the latter part of the century. Techniques applicable to petroleum reservoirs would be equally applicable to that industry.