Will AI replace Petroleum Engineers?
Estimated risk score: 49 out of 100
Moderate replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (30 to 68).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 23 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 17-2171.00 · Architecture and Engineering
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 4 of its 23 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain records of drilling and production operations.
- Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel.
- Simulate reservoir performance for different recovery techniques, using computer models.
- Design or modify mining and oil field machinery and tools, applying engineering principles.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 4 of its 23 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment.
- Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed.
- Supervise the removal of drilling equipment, the removal of any waste, and the safe return of land to structural stability when wells or pockets are exhausted.
- Test machinery and equipment to ensure that it is safe and conforms to performance specifications.
What the job is
Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Oversee drilling and offer technical advice.
Also called: Drilling Engineer, Mud Engineer, Logging Engineer, Oil Well Engineer, Completion Engineer, Gas Turbine Engineer, Natural Gas Engineer, Oil and Gas Engineer.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate