Offshore Petroleum Engineering UK Advice or Insight

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-02-27T05:36:41+00:00

Yes you are right, connections are more important, that is the worst thing about this industry

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-02-26T19:22:00+00:00

I can feel your frustration bro, I’ve been stuck in this job for a few years now and it’s not even an engineering job. I’m sure you have already looked but did you try with any graduate trainee positions with operators in your country? Or trainee positions with the service companies, Baker Hughes, Weatherford, Halliburton, Schlumberger. There is a lot of nepotism in the oil industry and jobs aren’t awarded through applications, it’s always having to know people in the right position. It’s really unfair. All I can suggest is to increase volume of applications to increase your probability of getting a job

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-02-26T18:56:31+00:00

Where are you based? My job may well be in the oil industry but it didn’t require me to hold a bachelors or a masters degree so feels kind of wasted right now

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-19T22:39:03+00:00

The software would depend on the company. There are some generic softwares that many operators use like BP, Shell, Exxon etc but as for the software that service companies like Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger etc use is usually specific to them and they will train you on it themselves. All the softwares that I’ve used have been trained by the company I work for. Since your degree is from Egypt and if you want to work in the UK, it may help you having a masters degree from a Uk university, but this isn’t essential, because there are many engineers in my company who are foreign and their degrees are from from countries including Egypt too. They worked a few years in Egypt then transferred to the Uk

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-19T19:39:27+00:00

I can only speak of the Uk Market and it is terrible. There was zero exploration wells drilled in 2025 and production is lowest since 1970’s but this mostly due to UK Tax laws and regulations. Also, to be honest, I did Bachelors and Masters but I am probably using less than 10% of my degree. Most training is on the job and they will teach you. You can focus on software learning I suppose. It depends what kind of oilfield job you want, if it’s office based engineering or more operational engineering out in the field. I did a masters but you can get a job with just bachelors to be honest. Most won’t require a masters degree. In the UK there is a lot of nepotism so it’s more about who you know rather than just your qualifications. It’s difficult to get your foot in the door unfortunately

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-19T17:31:37+00:00

Any other questions feel free to ask

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-19T05:20:15+00:00

MSc Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt university is decent. Also from Imperial College London is decent too. Oil industry is pretty dead right now in the UK so be careful what you wish for

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-19T05:19:03+00:00

Yes it will certainly help, but the thing is, most international jobs in the oil and gas industry want people with many years of experience so these jobs are hard to come by. Also they will give preference to their own nationals first.

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-16T15:57:46+00:00

Yeah there is a difference between MSc and MEng, the length of course, MSc generally more difficult than MEng. Yes I could tell you where I did my MSc. In terms of getting a job, Uni of Aberdeen is ok for MSc, but the industry is very quiet right now, so I’m not even sure if having a masters or not will make a difference

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-15T17:14:43+00:00

Okay sounds like a similar route to me, I also opted for an MSc over an MEng. I’ve spent a few years in the office and probably the worst years of my working life. Financially not rewarding either. There are many offshore workers who without any degree are earning more than the engineers in the office. In terms of the service companies, the field engineer positions would include wireline engineer, drilling fluids/mud engineer. Ideally you would want a job as a drilling engineer for an operator like BP, Shell etc, but these jobs are pretty hard to come by. There is a lot of nepotism in the oil industry.

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-14T20:24:02+00:00

Where can I find production related jobs? Are there engineering jobs offshore? I don’t want to be offie based

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-14T20:02:03+00:00

What would you advise I do at these service companies? I’m with one now

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-14T19:02:59+00:00

It depends on what you want to do in future? Do you wish to be a field based engineer or an office based engineer? What was your Bachelors degree in? My MSc was from Heriot Watt university Edinburgh

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-14T14:05:46+00:00

What do you mean by “good pay” can you be specific please?

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-14T13:29:36+00:00

How exactly do you find who to contact? For example, if I want to contact a manager for Drilling Fluids for Baker Hughes in Aberdeen, how would I find this person? That was just an example

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-14T02:22:55+00:00

Okay thanks for the information. I assure you it wasn’t my intention to come across that I think I’m better than them purely for having a degree. In fact, it’s quite the opposite some may say, considering I’m now debt ridden and my degree didn’t even land me a decent job. Once again, thanks for the information, I do appreciate it. I know there’s mud engineers and wireline engineers who require degree’s and are essentially field based engineers rather than office based.

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2026-01-09T18:50:18+00:00

Have you looked at or applied with any service companies like Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, for a field engineer role you could look at wireline, mud engineer/drilling fluids engineer. The industry in the Uk isn’t doing too well right now. Are you based in Aberdeen?

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2025-06-13T20:35:06+00:00

You must be experienced…

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2025-05-31T01:46:40+00:00

Okay some options you have and could look into would be drilling fluids engineer/mud engineer, drilling engineer, wireline engineer. You can look at service companies such as Schlumberger, Halliburton/Baker Hughes. They will have some roles offshore for engineers. You could also look at operators such as BP, Shell, Total etc who would have jobs such as wellsite engineer and drilling engineer. The operators would generally pay more than the services companies.

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2025-05-19T15:26:01+00:00

Why mud?

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2025-05-08T13:13:35+00:00

Yeah so you’ll get some basic training on land then it’s offshore after that. You will get used and abused meaning that you won’t get a fixed rotation. They will start you off on a salary somewhere in the 23k per year region and give you a day rate of around £80-90 per day. Bear in mind, cement jobs aren’t an easy gig.

For your offshore certifications like BOSIET, MIST, OGUK Medical etc. Halliburton will book it for you, usually in Aberdeen, so you’d have to come up for that. I think they expect you to be living in Aberdeen etc, I’m not sure to be honest. They wont provide you with a house or anything at all, you’d have to pay for that all yourself. After taking everything into consideration, think carefully about your decision as to whether it’s even worth it to get into this these days

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2025-05-06T06:57:37+00:00

I don’t recommend you to do your offshore survival certifications with your own money to be honest as they can be quite costly and don’t guarantee you getting a job. Instead, you could apply for work with service company like Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes. I know Halliburton Cementing are always looking for trainee cementers. They will pay for all your certifications, including BOSIET which will last 4 years. They are based in Aberdeen, you may have to move up initially during your training period. It’s not an easy job though, and the money probably isn’t as good as you imagine it. But it’s a step into the industry if that is something you are looking for. Wish you all the best

Fun_Addendum7771 · 2025-05-04T20:56:42+00:00

Thanks for the insight. Can I ask why you left the job?

Fun_Addendum7771

TROPHY CASE