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Engineering & technical · Analyzing & Problem-solving

Petroleum engineer: what the job actually is

Working out how to find and safely extract oil and gas from underground, and how to keep wells producing once they are drilled.

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Petroleum engineer: quick facts

Petroleum engineer salary in Ontario: the median pay is $67.30 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$67.30 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$52.88 to $74.52 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 21332. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Working out how oil and gas can be found, drilled for, produced and moved, and how to do it safely and with the least waste.
  • Roles differ: some engineers design wells, some model underground reservoirs, some manage production from existing wells. Most of the work is analysis, with periods spent at field sites.
  • The career is tied to the price of energy and to decisions about where companies invest, so it moves in cycles.
  • Job Bank's Ontario page for this occupation does not say where in Ontario the work is. Ask any petroleum engineer where their projects are, and look up where the industry operates before you commit to a degree.
  • Job Bank lists this job as regulated in Ontario: licensing is required to approve engineering drawings and reports and to practise as a Professional Engineer.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:00 — Read the production report for a group of wells. One is producing less than expected.
  2. 9:00 — Pull the pressure history and compare it with the model. Something has changed.
  3. 10:30 — Call the field technician, who has noticed a sound at the wellhead that the data does not show.
  4. 11:30 — Run the numbers on two possible fixes, with cost and risk for each.
  5. 12:30 — Lunch, and a conversation about the price outlook that nobody can answer.
  6. 13:30 — Safety review for a planned job: what happens if pressure rises, and who has the authority to stop work.
  7. 15:00 — Write the recommendation so a manager can approve it in one reading.
  8. 16:00 — Peer-review a colleague's calculation of how much a well will produce. The assumptions are too hopeful.
  9. 16:45 — Update the plan for next week's site visit.
  10. 17:15 — Leave a note on what is still unverified.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like earth science, physics and maths used to make a decision about something you cannot see.
  • You are comfortable with safety rules that are strict for good reasons.
  • You can handle an industry that rises and falls with external prices.
  • You are willing to move for work, or to travel to field sites.
  • You like working with numbers, models and uncertain data.
You may hate this if
  • You want a stable local job. The Ontario figures are thin, and Job Bank's wording for the next few years speaks of decline, not growth.
  • You do not want your career tied to the oil and gas industry, which many people feel strongly about for environmental reasons.
  • You dislike the idea of moving. The work may not be near where you grew up.
  • You dislike uncertainty from prices and policy. Hiring can swing sharply.
  • You want to see the thing you designed. Much of the work is underground and indirect.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Read the Ontario figures carefully

    The Job Bank snapshot for this page shows a Moderate rating for 2025-2027, while the text beside it says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions and not many positions will become available through retirements, with a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience. Job Bank's Ontario page also gives no workforce headcount for this occupation. Treat the Ontario numbers as thin and check Job Bank's national and other-province pages before you decide.

  2. Earn an engineering degree

    Job Bank's Ontario page says a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering or a related engineering discipline is required, and a master's or doctorate may also be needed. A related discipline can include chemical or mechanical engineering, so a general engineering degree keeps more doors open. See /careers/degrees/engineering. Confirm directly with each school whether a petroleum-specific stream exists, because this page did not verify one.

  3. Gain supervised experience and pass the exam

    Job Bank says candidates complete an accredited programme, gain three or four years of supervised work experience in engineering and pass a professional practice examination. Engineers Canada lists academics, work experience, the Professional Practice Examination, good character and language ability as the five criteria, and says each province's or territory's regulator sets the specifics.

  4. Licence in the province where you work

    Job Bank says licensing by a provincial or territorial association of professional engineers is required to approve engineering drawings and reports and to practise as a Professional Engineer. If your work ends up in another province, that province's regulator is the one to ask. Engineers Canada's page explains how the system works across the country.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for petroleum engineers in Ontario · Engineers Canada — Overview of the licensing process

The money

Petroleum engineer salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$52.88
Low (hourly)
$67.30
Median (hourly)
$74.52
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 21332. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Petroleum engineer wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

13%
are women (48% across all jobs)
11%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Petroleum engineers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 21332). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take the highest maths, physics and chemistry you can, and earth science if it is offered. These keep every engineering route open.
  • Read about how energy is produced and priced, from sources that disagree with each other, so you know the argument before you choose a career inside it.
  • Phone or email an engineer in the energy industry through your school or family network and ask where they work and why.
  • Compare two Ontario engineering programmes' entry requirements and co-op options on ontariouniversitiesinfo.ca.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Map where your chosen job actually exists

About 60 minutes
  1. On Job Bank, open the Ontario page for petroleum engineers and then the pages for the same job in two other provinces. Note any difference in the wording of the outlook, without copying numbers.
  2. Search a job board for the title and note where each posting is, what it asks for and whether it needs a licence.
  3. Write down three cities or regions you would have to consider living in, and say honestly whether you would.
  4. Write one sentence on whether the job still appeals once you know where it is.

What it tells you. If the location, not the engineering, was what put you off, a different engineering discipline in Ontario may be a better match. If you still want it knowing where the work is, you have a realistic picture, which is the point. If you found you wanted a job near home more than a specific field, that is useful to know before you pay tuition.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “Where is your work based, and how often have you had to move?”
  2. “How did you get your first job, and what degree did you take?”
  3. “How do you think about the long-term future of your industry?”
  4. “How much of your time is at a desk and how much at a field site?”
  5. “What would you advise a student in Ontario who wants to do this work?”
  6. “What other engineering fields could you have moved into with your training?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Sometimes, later. Job Bank's figures show a lower share of self-employment among petroleum engineers than in the workforce overall. Some experienced engineers consult independently, which usually follows years of experience and a licence.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a petroleum engineer make in Ontario?

The median pay for a petroleum engineer in Ontario is $67.30 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $52.88 to $74.52 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a petroleum engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. Not many positions will become available due to retirements. There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a petroleum engineer in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Read the Ontario figures carefully; Earn an engineering degree; Gain supervised experience and pass the exam.

Tech and engineering jobs: who is hiring What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

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Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

If this appeals, look at these too

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.