There are four major fields of Petroleum Engineering that you can choose from as your major. You can pick from these specializations:
Drilling Engineering
As one of the oldest technologies in extraction practices, drilling engineering involves complicated earth-penetration methods with many factors to be considered (well performance, treatments, production stimulation, corrosion prevention). Drilling can pose a threat to the safety of people on-site, so engineers in this field must have strong knowledge of geology to understand the nature of rocks before deciding on a drilling technique.
Reservoir Engineering
This field focuses on analyzing the rock-fluid system. Engineers devise strategies for maximum efficient production and well-drainage. Oil and gas reservoirs are also examined thoroughly to predict the extraction availability of these resources. Besides that, reservoir engineers also calculate recovery factors to help manage a drilling site.
Production Engineering
After drilling an oil well, there is a thorough process of bringing petroleum to the surface. This process falls under production engineering, where engineers will liaise with geoscientists and fellow petroleum engineers to design field developments and maintain existing oil wells in order to safely and efficiently extract petroleum. You get to work on drilling sites and also in the office.
Petrophysical Engineering
Petrophysical engineering is vital for the search and recovery of oil and gas reserves. Engineers in this area are skilled at analyzing properties of oil, gas, soil, and also rocks. They also manage mineral resources, analyzing extraction potentials, and studying the porousness of rocks.