Drilling Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Provides the engineering plans required to drill oil or gas at a reservoir; develops plans for cost effective and safe drilling. Recommends drilling sites and test samples at sites.
Job Outlook
There were 0 Drilling Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 594 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Reservoir / Petroleum Engineer industry, which includes the Drilling Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Drilling Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $113,250.
State
We do not have this data at this time.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Drilling Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $84,922.
Education and Experience
Posted Drilling Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 88% |
| Master's Degree | 11% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2% |
| Other | 0% |
Posted Drilling Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 15% |
| 3 to 5 years | 47% |
| 6 to 8 years | 16% |
| 9+ years | 22% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Drilling Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication Skills (37%)
- Planning (35%)
- Teamwork / Collaboration (26%)
- Research (22%)
- Problem Solving (18%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Drilling Operations (28%)
- Scheduling (22%)
- Drill Engineering (21%)
- Well Control (14%)
- Directional Drilling (11%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Cost Estimation (20%)
- Technical Support (18%)
- Chemistry (15%)
- Project Management (14%)
- Customer Contact (14%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Well Completion (6%)
- Torque/Drag analysis (5%)
- Workover (4%)
- Engineering Analysis (3%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed along with the marginal value: the average salary difference between postings that request that skill and those that do not.
- Offshore Drilling (2%) – marginal value $3,018
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Drilling Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Senior Drilling Engineer
- Frac Field Engineer Trainee
- Early Career Program Field Engineer United States
- Early Career Program: Field Engineer (United States) - 2023 Opportunities
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Drilling Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Baker Hughes (98)
- Gulfstream Aerospace (84)
- Halliburton (36)
- Nextier (23)
- Airswift (12)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.