Bagley CoE is bringing back Petroleum Eng Program
- Thread starter af102
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I have an ME degree and work in oil industry. I would think it would be some combo of ME, Chem E and Civil to get you the geo-tech education you need for upstream (exploration/drilling) work.
It was closed in 1994
I was a Petroleum Engineering graduate in 1985. When I went into the program, the 1981 graduates had at least 5 job offers, and the only question they had was whether they wanted to make HUGE money with the Wildcatters, or enjoy the stability of the Big Oil companies.
By the time I graduated in 1985, I was lucky to get a job as a cleaner-painter on a Drilling Rig. The price of oil went from about $60/bbl in 1981 to $11/bbl in 1986.
Now the prices are going back up again. I think it'd be better if they simply offered some petroleum classes within the Chemical Engineering department.
I was a Petroleum Engineering graduate in 1985. When I went into the program, the 1981 graduates had at least 5 job offers, and the only question they had was whether they wanted to make HUGE money with the Wildcatters, or enjoy the stability of the Big Oil companies.
By the time I graduated in 1985, I was lucky to get a job as a cleaner-painter on a Drilling Rig. The price of oil went from about $60/bbl in 1981 to $11/bbl in 1986.
Now the prices are going back up again. I think it'd be better if they simply offered some petroleum classes within the Chemical Engineering department.
My sister in law graduated from MSU in PE either 84 or 85. She moved to Dallas right when the bottom fell out of oil. She ended up going to UT and getting a pharmacy degree.
Tons of young men from Wayne County in their late teens and early twenties that are making bookoo bucks in the oil industry right now. I'm talking guys that are 20 years old who are driving $50,000 F350's, $20,000 bass boats, fully loaded BMW's for their girlfriends, and do nothing but party when they are home from work for 2 weeks at a time. The whole time I'm thinking about what happened in the mid-80s to my uncle when he lost his job in the oil field due to the oil crash. I just can't help but think that we are a few speculators away from another crash, and then all these guys are going to be in a bind with all these expensive toys and nothing but oil industry experience and a high school diploma to fall back on.
OM response:
"Big deal. Oil is going out the window anyway. In 5 years we'll all be driving hover cars powered by light bulbs. We still got the industries that are really booming like law".
"Big deal. Oil is going out the window anyway. In 5 years we'll all be driving hover cars powered by light bulbs. We still got the industries that are really booming like law".
MSU needs to try and qualify as one of the "core" schools for petroleum engineering. Once you qualify as a core school it's basically a pipeline, no pun intended, into the oil majors. Would definitely not hurt in the donation department down the road. You can make a killing working offshore but you gotta roughneck it to move up. I know engineers in Alaska that are 23-24 making and easy 125k not including bonuses and God knows what benefits. If I had kids going into college I'd try my damnedest to steer them that way.
It's a tough industry. Depending on the crew your kid got on with, he could be working with some of the most dangerous people in the working world (Meth). They won't give a dang about safety (only getting the job done fast), and he'll constantly be on call and never know for sure when he will be back home to see his family. It's different from company to company I know, but it's always a possibility that some drug head drops pipe on your hand, and suddenly you're 3 fingers short that afternoon. I've heard plenty of horror stories with all the family members I know that work in the oil field. Pay is good though....