Chemical and petroleum engineers are scientists who develop answers for challenging issues. These jobs are very similar to one another and can have certain duties in common. You might be able to choose the engineer career path that is best for you by learning more about the differences between these professions. In this article, we define petroleum engineers and chemical engineers, and we compare how their roles, training, working conditions, and typical salaries vary.
What is a petroleum engineer?
A petroleum engineer is a specialized engineer who designs plans to extract oil and gas from the earth. They primarily work in the oil and gas industry, although they can work in mining and manufacturing, with a focus on fuel extraction and production. They work to refine systems and create more efficient ways to extract resources. They may work with other scientists, including geologists and geoscientists, to understand the earth's surface. This can help them find oil deposits and create better extraction systems.
What does a petroleum engineer do?
A petroleum engineer can work in several industries, and their responsibilities may vary depending on their work environment and specialty. Common duties can include:
- Exploring different locations and finding new oil deposits
- Creating, testing and refining equipment to extract oil or gas efficiently
- Visiting extraction sites and drafting extraction plans
- Designing plans to drill for oil and gas both underground and underwater
- Analyzing the earth's formation and collaborating with geologists to find oil deposits
- Developing ways to recover oil during the extraction process
- Developing alternative methods or strategies to improve the oil extraction process
- Creating ways to inject materials into a reservoir to assist with the extraction
- Overseeing the installation or operation of extraction equipment
- Assessing the production of various oil wells by conducting tests
- Improving design methods and processes to increase production or profitability
- Create designs to improve welling systems to move gas and oil
- Refining systems and equipment to reduce the cost of fuel extraction and production
What is a chemical engineer?
A chemical engineer is a professional who uses the principles of chemistry to solve problems and create new solutions involving chemical processes. They help develop projects and create systems in a variety of industries manufacturing industries, including fuel, pharmaceuticals, plastics and food.
What does a chemical engineer do?
A chemical engineer may work in a variety of industries, and their responsibilities can vary depending on their specialty. Some common responsibilities include:
- Creating new development systems and methods for manufacturing processes involving chemicals
- Designing safety guidelines for professionals working with chemicals
- Planning the layout for equipment during production of chemical processes
- Researching and analyzing data to create or improve chemical manufacturing methods
- Creating alternative methods to separate liquid and gases during production
- Design alternative systems for generating electrical currents using chemical processes
- Supervising and managing the chemical processes when creating new products
- Designing new equipment and tools for chemical products or manufacturing systems
- Monitoring the performance and efficiency of production processes involving chemicals
- Maintaining equipment and systems to ensure safe and efficient operation during manufacturing
Differences between petroleum engineer and chemical engineer
These two engineering careers have some similarities, but learning how they differ could help you decide which path is best for you. Here is how the roles compare in a few key categories:
Job duties
These two types of engineers work to design, test and refine equipment, systems and production methods. Although the duties may be similar, these two engineers focus on different areas of production. A chemical engineer can work in a variety of industries with different chemical components. They might study organic chemistry or inorganic materials and can work to test and refine the manufacturing process for medical equipment, business technology or consumer products. A petroleum engineer specializes in oil and gas extractions. They test, design and refine extraction processes.
Education
Both of these positions require at least a bachelor's degree. Chemical engineers can major in chemical engineering or chemical and biomolecular engineering. They may also earn a professional engineer's license to qualify for more positions. Petroleum engineers can earn a bachelor's in petroleum engineering. They may also choose to earn a master's degree in their area of specialty to increase their job opportunities.
Chemical or petroleum engineers may seek additional certification or education to help qualify for advanced positions. There are engineering certification programs in a variety of specialties to train engineers for certain roles. Also, some engineer professionals may choose to earn a doctorate to qualify for research or teaching positions. Chemical and petroleum engineers may pursue advanced training and education in their area of focus. For example, aspiring petroleum engineers may choose to complete their doctorate in petroleum engineering.
Specializations
In these career paths, engineers may specialize in certain areas.
Chemical engineers may focus on a certain process, industry or product. Some common areas of focus can include:
- Bioprocessing
- Oxidation processing
- Polymerization processing
- Materials processing
- Environmental engineering
- Food manufacturing
- Biotechnology
- Alternative energies
- Nanomaterials
- Minerals
- Petrochemicals
- Chemical processing
- Process control
Petroleum engineers may focus on one of the following specialties within the oil and gas fields:
- Drilling engineering
- Production engineering
- Completions engineering
- Reservoir engineering
Work environment
One big difference between these two positions is the typical work environment for each role. Chemical engineers often work in offices, research labs or industrial plants. Most commonly, they work in offices and labs and travel to industry locations for on-site supervision or assistance. Petroleum engineers can work in offices, drill sites or welling locations. Their role requires more frequent travel and outdoor work as they supervise the extraction process.
Average salary
Another important difference between these two positions is the average salary. The national average salary for chemical engineers is $63,964 per year. Petroleum engineers make an average of $75,808 per year. Your average salary can vary depending on your geographic location, specialty, education, licensing and years of experience.
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