Will petroleum engineers be replaced by AI?
Updated
Petroleum engineers score 44 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 56%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 11% outright, and 33% stays with people.
- 11% AI can do it
- 56% AI helps
- 33% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 60% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 23 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 12 and leaves 9 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Maintain records of drilling and production operations. Records and logs are structured data entry, highly automatable. | 80% AI can do it |
| Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel. AI drafts reports well; engineers verify facts and sign off. | 70% AI can do it |
| Simulate reservoir performance for different recovery techniques, using computer models. AI can speed model setup and runs; engineers judge results. | 60% AI helps |
| Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production. AI can mine production and geology data for placement options. | 55% AI helps |
| Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites. Economic cases are formula work that AI can speed up. | 55% AI helps |
| Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production. AI can analyze production trends; rework planning needs field judgement. | 50% AI helps |
| Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel. AI can summarize logs and test results for briefings. | 50% AI helps |
| Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment. AI can draft recovery and drilling plans; engineers approve them. | 45% AI helps |
| Design or modify mining and oil field machinery and tools, applying engineering principles. AI can assist CAD and calculations; engineers validate tool designs. | 45% AI helps |
| Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems. AI can help diagnose operating problems; engineers decide and act. | 40% AI helps |
Show the other 13 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes. AI helps analyze test findings; engineers make design calls. | 40% AI helps |
| Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery. Designs stimulation programs with AI help; field supervision stays human. | 35% AI helps |
| Design and implement environmental controls on oil and gas operations. AI helps draft permits and plans; site controls need people. | 30% AI helps |
| Conduct engineering research experiments to improve or modify mining and oil machinery and operations. Physical experiments need rigs and labs; AI helps with analysis. | 30% AI helps |
| Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys. Directing live well tests and surveys needs people onsite. | 22% Needs a person |
| Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems. Live problem solving with engineers and teams needs human judgement. | 22% Needs a person |
| Assign work to staff to obtain maximum utilization of personnel. Scheduling can be assisted, but staffing calls need people. | 20% Needs a person |
| Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development. Leading and coordinating teams is mainly people management work. | 15% Needs a person |
| Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment. Equipment installation and upkeep is physical work with crews. | 15% Needs a person |
| Test machinery and equipment to ensure that it is safe and conforms to performance specifications. Physical equipment testing and safety checks happen on site. | 12% Needs a person |
| Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed. Well inspections are physical checks done on site. | 12% Needs a person |
| Take samples to assess the amount and quality of oil, the depth at which resources lie, and the equipment needed to properly extract them. Collecting physical samples at wellsites needs skilled hands. | 12% Needs a person |
| 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. Site cleanup, dismantling and land restoration are physical work. | 8% Needs a person |
How petroleum engineers compare
All occupations (923)
Architecture and engineering (56)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $144,910 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 18,060 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +2.0% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Build and run reservoir simulation models in MATLAB
- Hold a Professional Engineer licence for sign-off authority
- Run economic well cases in Microsoft Excel
- Schedule rework and drilling crews in Microsoft Project
- Verify AI-drafted technical reports before management sign-off
- Collect wellsite samples and inspect well installations on site
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about petroleum engineers and AI
Will AI replace petroleum engineers?
Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining drilling records and writing technical reports. Field work such as well inspections, sampling and equipment testing stays with people because it needs a person at the wellsite.
Which petroleum engineer tasks is AI taking over?
Record keeping and report writing lead, with exposure scores of 80 and 70. Drilling and production records are structured data entry, so AI fills them with little input. Reservoir simulation setup, scored 60, is also speeding up, though engineers still judge the results.
Which petroleum engineer tasks stay human?
Supervising site cleanup, testing equipment, inspecting wells and taking samples score 8 to 12 on exposure. Each one needs hands and eyes at the wellsite. These physical tasks make up a third of the job's task weight, at 33%.
How can petroleum engineers stay valuable?
Take responsibility for the sign-off on AI-drafted reports and simulation results. Build reservoir models in MATLAB and check each run against field data. Spend more hours on wellsite sampling, inspection and rework planning, where exposure stays low.
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