Petroleum Engineering
Bachelor’s Degree
Dig Into your Future Today
The Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering program at Colorado School of Mines produces engineers equipped to conduct the safe and environmentally sound exploration, evaluation, development and recovery of oil, gas, geothermal and other fluids in the earth.
Via classroom and laboratory instruction, as well as on-site field work, students will learn about a variety of concepts and topics essential to the mastery of petroleum engineering, including:
- Drilling
- Fundamental fluid and rock behavior
- Formation evaluation
- Well completions and stimulation
- Production operations and artificial lift
- Reservoir engineering
- Supplemental and enhanced oil recovery
- Economic evaluation of petroleum projects
- Environmental and safety issues
- Computer simulations
Engineering design is taught throughout the curriculum, including a senior design course that applies learned skills to real-world reservoir development and management problems.
Experiential major menus
Uniquely tailored to your undergraduate major of choice, these menus offer a wide array of extra-curricular activities that complement and enrich the traditional classroom experience.
Explore the extra-curricular activities that complement your degree.
Petroleum Engineering at a glance
Top 3 petroleum engineering program
Hands-on field sessions at oil, natural gas and associated geological sites
100% placement in 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. Top Mines’ starting salary in 2023-2024.
Active student chapter in Society of Petroleum Engineers
Graduates of our program are in solid demand, with the petroleum industry offering a wide range of employment opportunities for petroleum engineering students during summer breaks and after graduation. Exciting experiences range from fieldwork in drilling and producing oil and gas fields, to office jobs in small towns or large cities. Worldwide travel and overseas assignments are available for interested students.
Available Minors
- Petroleum Engineering
- Petroleum Data Analytics
Petroleum engineers may work as:
- Production engineers, handling daily management of oil and gas production operations
- Production operations, implementing safe and environmentally sound practices in field operations and maintenance
- Reservoir engineers, evaluating field performance opportunities and help maximize the ultimate value of a property
- Petroleum engineers, designing and developing methods of extracting oil and gas from deposits below the Earth’s surface
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Yilin Fan
Dr. Yilin Fan is an Associate Professor for Petroleum Engineering at Mines. She is also the Director of the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. She serves on the SPE Production & Facilities Advisory Committee and the ATCE Program Committee. Dr. Fan also serves as an Associate Editor and Technical Editor for several leading journals in the field.
Dr. Fan’s research group focuses on developing innovative solutions in multiphase flow monitoring and metering, flow assurance prediction and management, distributed fiber optic sensing applications in production engineering, pipeline integrity assessment, CO₂ transportation, and more.
Making Mines more affordable
Mines’ financial assistance program awards more than $60 million per year, and over 82 percent of the student body receives some form of financial aid.
Why study petroleum engineering at Mines?
Colorado School of Mines is consistently ranked as one of the top universities for petroleum engineering in the world. In fact, according to the 2024 US News report, Mines was ranked as the third-best petroleum engineering program. With a top-tier faculty, advanced research facilities and technology, and a geographic location that provides our students with access to man active oil and gas sites, Mines should be your choice to pursue petroleum engineering.
Why do so many students choose Mines?
- Hands-on research field research opportunities
- Close relationships with industry leaders
- Numerous scholarships awarded to undergraduate students
- Study abroad opportunities, such as students visiting Saudi Arabia
- Petroleum engineering ambassador program to help new undergraduate and graduate students
- One of the largest student cohorts attending ACTE conference
Career Outcomes
The scope of our petroleum engineering program prepares graduates for a successful and rewarding career in the evolving energy industry as we focus on imparting our students with technical competence, critical thinking and advanced problem-solving skills. Some of the most common careers for graduates include:
- Reservoir engineers
- Drilling engineers
- Completions engineers
- Drilling engineer, responsible for the safe and efficient drilling of subsurface wells
- Data analytics engineers