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Page added on September 17, 2017
How to Become a Geologist
Petroleum geologists use their know-how in a variety of settings and in a multitude of applications worldwide. Their work can be exciting and challenging, but becoming a geoscientist in the oil and natural gas industry demands that one acquire a broad set of technical, conceptual and practical skills.
Aspiring geologists who decide early on that they want to work in the oil and gas industry often choose to matriculate at colleges and universities with well-established petroleum geology programs, said Allyson Anderson Book, executive director of the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) and a petroleum geologist by training.
“Some programs have strong petroleum coursework,” explained Anderson Book. “If a student decides they want to pursue an oil and gas career, there are schools whose students are routinely sought after by employers.”
To be sure, some geoscience students only begin to consider oil and gas career options midway through their studies. In fact, Anderson Book – who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology and has worked as a petrophysicist/senior geoscientist with ExxonMobil – counts herself among that group.
An accredited geology program often will require students to complete field work as well as fundamental coursework in areas such as:
- Mineralogy/crystallography
- Sedimentology
- Stratigraphy
- Structural geology
- Seismology
- Surficial processes (geomorphology)
- Historical geology
- Petrography
- Geophysics
Beyond fulfilling core geology course requirements, would-be petroleum geologists take courses emphasizing oil and gas industry applications within these and other branches of geology. In addition, geology students build their analytical skills by completing courses in subjects such as math, chemistry and physics.
“Geoscience is really the nexus of all scientific disciplines, so it is no surprise that to be successful you need strong analytical skills and a broad knowledge of all sciences,” said Anderson Book.
After Earning a Bachelor’s in Geology
With a bachelor’s degree, an entry-level petroleum geoscientist can work for a service company in a wellsite capacity – such as mudlogger – or in a computer-support position, Anderson Book said. She added that an oil and gas operating company, meanwhile, might hire such individuals for technical support-type roles. Geology graduates can also work for government agencies as program managers, wellsite inspectors and other, less technical roles, said Anderson Book. This joint website of the UK-based The Geological Society and University Geoscience UK provides an overview of geology specialty areas applicable to oil and gas roles.
After earning their bachelor’s, newly minted petroleum geoscientists may also wish to pursue more specialized training in master’s and doctoral degree programs. The additional credential can help one to qualify for positions of greater responsibility. Given the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry, getting an advanced degree might also give one an edge during bust periods.
“Frankly, in tough market conditions, hiring is restricted and in order to be competitive most candidates will need a master’s level education for the majority of upstream technical positions,” said Anderson Book. “My advice for any individual who really wants a career in the oil patch as a geoscientist is to acquire a master’s level geoscience degree.”
Educational credentials notwithstanding, completing one or more relevant internships while in school can boost one’s marketability with oil and gas employers, added Anderson Book.
“At some point in the academic experience, aspiring petroleum geoscientists need to get some on the-job-experience,” Anderson Book pointed out, adding that student interns enjoy a variety of options for gaining “real-world” exposure.
For instance, Anderson Book noted that students can hone their technical skills over a summer or two by working on a drilling rig, interpreting seismic or conducting site characterization. Anderson Book herself completed a “conventional” internship with ExxonMobil that helped her to build her proficiency – and get noticed by the company. She pointed out that interning is “essentially one long job interview.”
The internship “really expanded my knowledge of gravity/magnetics surveying – something I had no applied experience with,” Anderson Book recalled. “In that internship, it was reiterated to me that I need to focus on technical excellence first. I did and learned a lot at that summer internship – it led directly to full-time employment at ExxonMobil several months after the internship ended.”
Less traditional internship paths may emphasize other areas such as oil and gas policy, added Anderson Book. For instance, her Alexandria, Va.-based organization hires interns who get the opportunity to meet with government officials at the federal, state and local levels while working on policy and issues that are critical to geoscience professionals. Other AGI interns work as science writers for AGI’s magazine, EARTH.
Internships can also provide clarity about one’s geoscience career path, noted Anderson Book.
“Often students do not know ‘for sure’ what specialty to pursue,” Anderson Book said. “For many students, an internship can be illustrative in what a student may ‘not’ want to pursue for a long-term career. How wonderful that is to know so early on that a particular focus area or job is not what you want to do!”
19 Comments on "How to Become a Geologist"
MASTERMIND on Sun, 17th Sep 2017 10:00 pm
makati1
INSANE: Children swimming in garbage in the Philippines!!
https://imgur.com/a/DFzhW
Do you plan on having your grand children come visit so they can go swimming in garbage? I mean once the us collapses and the P’s rises like a phoenix from the ashes?
Plantagenet on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 12:40 am
Several of my friends are geologists. They live a great life—lots of time outdoors doing fieldwork in exotic locations, a very good salary, and lots of travel to conferences and field sites around the world.
Cheers!
rockman on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 12:54 am
Unless there’s been a very radical change in earning a BS in geology since I started in my sophomore year in 1970 (which I very much serously) doubt the description above doesn’t come lose to the reality. No university offers much of “petroleum geology” course work. The Rockman got his BS at the state uni in New Orleans, Louisiana and his MS at Texas A&M. Both universities in the heartland of the oil patch and undergraduate course in petroleum geology rarely go beyond a single introductory exposure. And unless one works on a petroleum geology master’s thesis (as the Rockman did) there’s little oil patch exposure. In fact even though Rockman’s thesis involved a relatively simple description of a CA oil field none of the 32 hours of required course world involved petroleum geology for a simple reason: none were offered.
The reality: if one is lucky and has a good exposure to stratigraphy and sedimentology (during both BS and MS studies) they have a bit of an advantage over others holding a master degree in geology when start working for Big Oil. But in general their utility at the start of their careers isn’t much better then the average new hire.
And the utility of new hires with a master’s degree in geology with respect to petroleum geology and the new job? In general they aren’t worth a sh*t. LOL. But serious, they are about as “worthless as tits on witch”. Which is not an uncommon phrase they’ll hear from the old hands they work with. About 98% of the petroleum geology the Rockman understood after working for Mobil he learned on the job. Which was rather difficult since the company had virtually no formal training program. Most of the work is FNG’s did the first 2 to 3 years was supervise logging operations. Logging: running a variety of measure devises ( 4.5″ in diameter and 40′ to 120′ long) down the wellbore to determine if there was commercially producible oil/NG. Of course we didn’t analyze the data…the older experienced hands did…we were just “logging dogs”.
But some companies did have very intensive training programs that ran a year or two. I was very jealous of my schoolmates that hired on with Shell Oil that had such a program.
When I got my first got my first job all the Big Oil companies required a master’s degree. Not because you were better trained in petroleum geology (because you weren’t) but it showed you ability for advanced training. Which it’s extremely rare for a degreed geologist to go to INITIALLY work for anyone but Big Oil: Litlle Oil had no use for anyone with no training. Which is why geologists with Big Oil often left for Little Oil after 4 or 5 years of experience with Big Oil.
Mudlogger (who all work the drill site analyzing the returning mud pumped downhole for signs of hydrocarbons rarely have a degree in geology. And if they do it’s a BA or BS. Mudlogging IS NOT a stepping stone to a career as a petroleum geologist. And some of the very best mudloggers the Rockman worked with not only didn’t have a degree in geology but never took a single geology course. Mudlog training is 100% on the job. During a boom it’s a pretty decent income (but it is a 12 hour shift 7 days a week. And during a bust it’s a shit job that might not pay much better the min wage.
Just the Rockman’s humble opinion but you can ignore just about everything is this Rigzone propaganda piece.
rockman on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 12:56 am
P – I assume those geologists you know work overseas for the most part.
Anonymouse1 on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 3:20 am
A lot easier to just become a shill for big oil. Far too much effort getting your hands dirty sticking over-sized straws in the dirt.
Besides, computers and satellites and robots do all the real work these days, which frees up a shitload of people, who now have all kinds of time to write long-winded homilies about the virtuous nature of the uS oil cartel.
Right narrativeman?
Davy on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 5:02 am
I got my degree in finance and I didn’t know shit about finance until I got to work at it. I think universities today are good at getting you ready to learn on the job in many cases. I am sure there are some great master and graduate programs out there in certain specialized fields but nothing is like real world specialization after years of hard knocks.
Apneaman on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 9:45 am
They didn’t mention those other mandatory courses that Cancer geologists need to take. Denial 101. Introduction to blaming the consumer. Principals of guilt reduction.
rockman on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 5:21 pm
And Apneaman guilt driven attacks continue. Which just confirms his inability to admit his role in damaging the climate. Oddlly rather satisfying for the Rockman. Like the little kid with a chocolate smeared face adamantly denying he had gotten into his brother’s Easter basket. LOL. Always amusing to watch.
Keith McClary on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 5:35 pm
ROCKMAN:”jealous of my schoolmates that hired on with Shell Oil that had such a program.”
One of those involved snorkeling around coral reefs. Another was wading thru muck in a river delta.
Would you recommend starting a career in geosciences today?
Boat on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 6:54 pm
The idea of having a degree being necessary or important was invented by those who………drum roll…….have one.
makati1 on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 7:09 pm
Boat, WOW! We agree on something! Yes, degrees are promoted by those who have one and the professors/colleges who profit by that idea. Truth is, most jobs require experience and hands on, not a piece of paper. I do not know how many “college grads” I had to teach their jobs to over the years but it was many.
My two oldest grand sons are an example. My oldest got a degree in actuary. His younger brother apprenticed as a plumber. Guess who makes the most money? Yep! The plumber. The older brother sells hot dogs outside a Home Depot. LOL
Not saying that a degree is not necessary for doctors and engineers, but the rest. Nope!
Apneaman on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 7:46 pm
Boat, the idea that a degree means nothing comes from those who do not have one and lack the intellectual ability to earn one. You are sounding like a fucking clueless moron again boat. All that technology you worship and can’t STFU about is brought to you courtesy of people with degrees. You have no idea how complex the society is and the number of degree humans it took to build it and run it. Hell boat the first person to touch you was a physician with a degree in a hospital that was designed by people with degrees. Face it boat you and the rest of the Texas N deep south retards are anti intellectual because you were propagandized to think that way by folks with degrees who work in think tanks who know exactly how to manipulate your. And yes they did get it from a book. Your electricity, municipal drinking water & sewage, roads, gasoline, computer, internet, moon landing, air planes and on and on …. the entirety of techno industrial civilization has been designed by people with degrees and would not be anywhere near what it is otherwise. Even cancer extractors like rockman have a degree. Why doesn’t rockmans employer ask you to do his job? Cause you haven’t got a fucking clue about geology and anything you learn about it comes from people with degrees. It’s funny how some one who is such a huge fan boy, cult like worshiper of techno industrial civilization does not have a fucking clue how it’s built and runs. Go ahead boat tell me what is the purpose of occupational credentials? I bet you think having a trade ticket doesn’t count either – you don’t have one of those either do you? 60 years old, still swing a hammer, make 30K a year, can barely spell and form correct sentences, yet you know everything cause you have the internet.
makati1 on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 8:18 pm
Ap, what good is a degree in anything but medicine or engineering when the SHTF? Pieces of paper, just like the money. 99% of the degrees will be worthless. They won’t even get you a job at McDonalds today.
College has become a profit making corporate setup just like Walmart. Kids are sold (brainwashed) the idea that they “need” a piece of paper to be successful. Not true. Many examples (Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, etc.) of great sucess without that paper saying that they survived the wild parties and trips to Cancun at spring break. Few ‘college grads’ have a clue about the real world.
onlooker on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 8:19 pm
Funny thing about degrees is that they are symbolic of people who have too much to lose to defy TPTB. When your livelihood and well being rests on conformity, chances are you will conform. So the question the sleeping masses should have been asking is who is telling the truth: The occasional whistle blower who has much to lose or all those who have a vested interest in conforming.
onlooker on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 8:21 pm
Yep, Mak, those degrees will be as valuable as all that paper money and plastic cards. Meaning worthless.
makati1 on Mon, 18th Sep 2017 9:33 pm
You are correct, AP. They are trapped in a career choice they made when they were likely too young to know what to do or choose. I did one year as a biology major and realized that it was a waste of time and money to finish.
My future lay in construction, working my way up from mason’s laborer to, eventually, design, estimation and project managing multi million dollar projects. I never regretted a minute of it. And made good money all he way.
I know how to plumb, wire, frame, shingle roofs, lay block, pour concrete, design buildings, estimate their cost and oversee their construction. Now I am able to teach others those skills. I did not need a degree to learn that. Just time.
BTW: That year of college cost ~$1,250. in 1962. The same year of study, at the same college, today costs more than $45,000. Inflation of actual costs? Or inflation of ‘perceived’ need?
Davy on Tue, 19th Sep 2017 3:45 am
so are you brilliant minds saying we need to eliminate colleges and universities?
makati1 on Tue, 19th Sep 2017 3:49 am
Davy, that would be a good start. They don’t teach anything worthwhile. There are many better schools in other countries that are cheaper. And the students could learn about the real world works, not the propaganda they are paying to suck in , along with a lot of beer and sex.
Davy on Tue, 19th Sep 2017 3:58 am
So people can be drop outs like your life has turned out to be. Sorry, I think higher education is a better route even with all the deterioration that has happened in the last 20 years. It is less deterioration than you have demonstrated. Look what you have become.