Liquid fuel engineer to drilling engineer
A liquid fuel engineer already meets 22% of what the drilling engineer role asks for. The move turns on 17 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.4/ 100
1 How much of what a drilling engineer is expected to do is already part of a liquid fuel engineer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the drilling engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A drilling engineer role treats 5 of its required skills as things a liquid fuel engineer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- address problems critically
- geology
- plan oil wells
- prepare scientific reports
- troubleshoot
What stands in the way is 17 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 5 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A drilling engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a liquid fuel engineer background worth leading with.
- already held plan oil wells communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held prepare scientific reports communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held geology natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held address problems critically communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held troubleshoot communication, collaboration and creativity
All 5 carried skills, including the 5 the drilling engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn design well paths required
- still to learn design well-head equipment required
- still to learn liaise with specialist contractors for well operations required
- still to learn manage drilling contracts required
- still to learn manage service contracts in the drilling industry required
- still to learn restore natural environment after drilling proofs required
- optional, not held present reports optional
- still to learn analyse drill engineering required
- still to learn monitor well costs required
- still to learn monitor well operations required
- still to learn prepare well data sheets required
- optional, not held inspect water wells optional
- still to learn design drill programmes required
- still to learn manage drilling team required
- still to learn supervise staff required
- still to learn monitor well safety required
- still to learn ensure compliance with environmental legislation required
- still to learn suggest well maintenance required
- still to learn connect equipment to wellheads required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a drilling engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 analyse drill engineering practise this
- 02 design drill programmes practise this
- 03 design well paths practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 5 skills that carry over
- already held address problems critically skill
- already held geology knowledge
- already held plan oil wells skill
- already held prepare scientific reports skill
- already held troubleshoot skill
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held inspect water wells optional
- optional, not held present reports optional
33 held skills the drilling engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role alcohol fuels knowledge
- not needed by the target role biodiesel knowledge
- not needed by the target role chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role compile reservoir performance plans skill
- not needed by the target role control pumping operations in petroleum production skill
- not needed by the target role design natural gas processing systems skill
- not needed by the target role design well flow systems skill
- not needed by the target role design well for petroleum production skill
- not needed by the target role determine flow rate enhancement skill
- not needed by the target role environmental legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role fossil fuels knowledge
- not needed by the target role fossil-fuel power plant operations knowledge
- not needed by the target role interpret extraction data skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with mine professionals skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with well test engineers skill
- not needed by the target role manage environmental impact skill
- not needed by the target role manage fluid production in gas skill
- not needed by the target role manage production fluid in oil production skill
- not needed by the target role manage well interaction skill
- not needed by the target role mathematics knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor extraction logging operations skill
- not needed by the target role monitor fuel storage tanks skill
- not needed by the target role natural gas knowledge
- not needed by the target role petroleum knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare extraction proposals skill
- not needed by the target role prepare well formation evaluation programmes skill
- not needed by the target role provide petroleum engineering support skill
- not needed by the target role report well results skill
- not needed by the target role select well equipment skill
- not needed by the target role supervise well operations skill
- not needed by the target role types of fuels knowledge
- not needed by the target role use reservoir surveillance skill
- not needed by the target role well testing operations knowledge
Common questions about this move
Can a liquid fuel engineer become a drilling engineer?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A liquid fuel engineer already covers 22% of what a drilling engineer is expected to do: 5 skills carry over, 5 of which the drilling engineer role treats as required.
What skills does a liquid fuel engineer need to become a drilling engineer?
17 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is analyse drill engineering.
How hard is the move from liquid fuel engineer to drilling engineer?
Its learning distance is 80.4 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.