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How exposed to AI is a Petroleum Engineer?

Of the 23 tasks O*NET lists for petroleum engineers, 2 could be done in half the time with a chat window today. 7 cannot be sped up at all. Here is which.

Exposure means published research judged an AI could halve the time a task takes, at the same quality. It does not mean the task stops needing a person. How to read this

Also called
Completion EngineerDrilling EngineerEngineerOperations EngineerPetroleum EngineerPetroleum Production EngineerProject Production EngineerProject Reservoir EngineerReservoir EngineerReservoir Engineering Consultant
Reachable today Needs software built first Cannot be sped up
23
tasks rated for this occupation
92%
hold a degree, from a survey of 20
22k
people do this job in the US
23 of 56
least protected in architecture and engineering

Every task, and what AI can do with it

These are O*NET's task statements for this occupation, exactly as written, sorted into the three bands by the ratings behind this report. Nothing has been reworded.

Reachable with a chat window today

2
  • Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel
  • Conduct engineering research experiments to improve or modify mining and oil machinery and operations

Only with software built on top

14
  • Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery
  • Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production
  • Maintain records of drilling and production operations
  • Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production
  • Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems
  • Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys
  • Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment
  • Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites
  • Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems
  • Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel
  • Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes
  • Assign work to staff to obtain maximum utilization of personnel
  • Simulate reservoir performance for different recovery techniques, using computer models
  • Design and implement environmental controls on oil and gas operations

Cannot be sped up

7
  • Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development
  • Test machinery and equipment to ensure that it is safe and conforms to performance specifications
  • 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
  • Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed
  • Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment
  • Take samples to assess the amount and quality of oil, the depth at which resources lie, and the equipment needed to properly extract them
  • Design or modify mining and oil field machinery and tools, applying engineering principles
What this does not say

This is not a prediction about your job

Nobody surveyed an employer. Tasks are counted equally, so a percentage here is a share of the list rather than a share of your week. And the ratings were made in 2023, which makes every figure a floor rather than a ceiling.

It must never be used to select anyone for redundancy. The full limits are here.

Where to go next

This is the standard task list for the title. The useful next question is which of the tasks you actually do should go near AI, and which should not.

Sort your own tasks Read the full report

Exposure ratings from Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs, Science 384, 1306–1308, 2024, used under the MIT licence. This page includes information from the O*NET Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. People Team AI has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Employment figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.