Petroleum industry is undergoing a rebound with an increase in the job prospects. There are more job opportunities for entry-level petroleum engineers. The environmental area will continue to need more qualified people to comply with new regulations, and international, arctic and deepwater frontier applications will require more qualified and trained employees.

Salaries for engineers in the industry range from an overall average of $84,903 to a U.S. average of $93,013, depending on experience (entry-level petroleum engineers average $63,272 to $72,052 in the United States). Depending on the industry sector, engineers in this industry can be involved in decision-making regarding drilling sites, interpretation of prospecting data, developing and testing new processing techniques, and helping to improve current applications of petroleum and its derivative products.

Petroleum engineers are certainly not the only group employed by the industry. Developing new technologies and techniques to deal with oil and its related products requires a wide range of engineering professionals, from electrical and chemical engineers to computer scientists. The industry is also moving toward integrating and improving e-business and Internet applications, as well as increasing and improving the role of computers in prospecting, refining and petroleum chemistry.