What does a Reservoir Engineer do?
Reservoir engineers locate fuel in underground reservoirs using their knowledge of geology and fluid mechanics. They utilize technology and their expertise to pinpoint and efficiently allocate usable fossil fuel reservoirs located underground for oil and gas companies. They use their vast knowledge to determine the amount of fuel in underground reservoirs and often work with advanced equipment, including computer modeling and imaging programs, that help locate oil and natural gas reserves.
A reservoir’s physical structure is expected to change while companies drill and tap reserves, and reservoir engineers adjust accordingly throughout the entire drilling process in response. Reservoir Engineers also analyze fuel contained in a reserve and the duration of a reserve’s liability for investment purposes. To do this, they combine mitigating factors including extraction costs or profit comparison and add them into forecasts. Reservoir engineers occasionally need to adjust the analysis for outside factors including oil price fluctuations or machine efficiency and need a minimum bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering, and if required, a professional engineer license.
- Author, debug, and optimize memory IP (SRAM, RF, CAM, ROM, etc.) EDA models used in ASIC-like design flows by chip teams.
- Lead memory modeling and compiler development projects working closely with design teams in an environment highly charged with technical complexities and dynamic schedule challenges.
- Generate active and passive compact circuit simulation models to support the development of products.
- Evaluation, use, and support of hardware and software for measurement and parameter extraction.
- Work with design teams to understand model limitations and opportunities for improvement.
- Collaborate with technology director/architect on technical design and feature roll out.
- Work with teams and other engineers to identify systems in need of maintenance, optimization, or refactoring.
- Coordinate with other developers to ensure smooth roll out of new features.
- Bachelor's or Graduate's Degree in electrical or computer engineering or computer science.
- Experience with assigned software or systems such as C, FPGA, or Python.
- Comfortable with workflow that includes site design, makefiles, and full stack development.
- Familiar with protocols for incidents such as rust or emulation.
- Fluency with topologies, statistics, and frameworks.
- Six Sigma training.
How much does a Reservoir Engineer make?
Base Pay
Additional Pay
$143,474
/ yrReservoir Engineer Career Path
Learn how to become a Reservoir Engineer, what skills and education you need to succeed, and what level of pay to expect at each step on your career path.
Years of Experience Distribution
Reservoir Engineer Insights
ExxonMobil“Good opportunity for mobility in the same function across the different organizations and occasionally outside your function.”
Magnusson Klemencic Associates“Equivalent tech industries regard tech roles at a much higher bracket pay than that of this company simply because of the field of focus.”
TotalEnergies“slow or no career development”
Marathon Oil“Good work and life balance”
SLB“No work and life balance”
“Good Team and well managed”
Pertamina“good work and life balance”
Hudson River Trading“Also good work life balance”
Frequently asked questions about the roles and responsibilities of a Reservoir Engineer
- Production Manager
- Plant Manager
- Production Engineer
- Petroleum Engineer