We spend a lot of time talking about technology in our discipline—reservoir simulation, drilling automation, artificial lift optimization, production forecasting, and so on. But there’s a quieter shift happening in the profession that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves.
Technical competence is no longer the main differentiator for petroleum engineers.
Not because technical skills aren’t important—they are. But because they are now the baseline.
In conversations with industry professionals, a consistent theme emerges: the engineers who stand out today are those who understand context—commercial, regulatory, environmental, and operational—not just equations.
The best young engineers don’t simply ask:
“What is the optimal technical solution?”
They ask:
“What is the optimal solution given capital constraints, risk, timelines, stakeholders, and uncertainty?”
Because in the real world, engineering is not pure science. It is compromise, prioritization, and trade-offs.
So why is this a problem?
Because most young engineers only learn this after joining the workforce—and often the hard way.
We rarely teach:
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how to evaluate uncertainty, not eliminate it
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how to communicate results to non-technical stakeholders
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how to justify decisions beyond technical merit
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how to navigate commercial pressures
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how to understand risk vs reward
Yet, these are the skills that drive promotion, trust, and leadership.
It raises a bigger question:
Have we overly prioritized technical depth at the expense of decision-making skills?
For example:
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A drilling engineer who can model a trajectory is valuable.
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A drilling engineer who can justify that trajectory in a planning meeting with finance, HSE, and operations is indispensable.
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A reservoir engineer who can forecast production is valuable.
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One who can explain field development economics under uncertainty is indispensable.
This is the evolving reality of the profession:
We are no longer just engineers.
We are decision-makers.
We are communicators.
We are risk managers.
We are collaborators.
And if these competencies remain optional or acquired informally, we risk slower development cycles, less confident early-career engineers, and a persistent mismatch between education and industry expectations.
So where do we go from here?
This isn’t a problem academia can solve alone.
And it’s not a burden industry can outsource.
Professional bodies like SPE—especially at the section level—can play a critical bridging role:
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webinars that focus on real project trade-offs
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mentorship that discusses failure as openly as success
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case-study challenges rooted in real operational complexity
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more collaboration between student chapters and field engineers
If we want petroleum engineers to excel—not just survive—we must evolve how we prepare them.
Technical mastery is necessary.
But it is no longer sufficient.
Let me end with a question:
What skill or realization shaped your professional growth the most—and when did you learn it?
In university? On the job? Or only after a difficult lesson?
Your insight could help the next generation learn earlier, faster, and more confidently.
Looking forward to the discussion.