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Category
Drilling & Well Engineering
Work Pattern
Onshore (office-based with occasional rig visits)
Reports To
Senior Drilling Engineer / Drilling Superintendent
Position Overview
The Drilling Engineer designs and plans oil and gas wells, preparing drilling programs, casing designs, directional plans, and cost estimates. This role is foundational to any drilling operation, ensuring that wells are engineered to reach their targets safely, efficiently, and within regulatory requirements. While the talent pool is larger than for specialist roles, experienced drilling engineers remain essential for the growing global drilling campaign.
Key Responsibilities
- Design well trajectories, casing programmes, and mud plans in accordance with operator standards and regulatory requirements.
- Prepare detailed drilling programs including directional plans, BHA designs, cementing programmes, and contingency procedures.
- Perform well engineering calculations including torque and drag, hydraulics, kick tolerance, and casing design.
- Develop cost estimates and AFE documentation for drilling campaigns.
- Coordinate with geology, reservoir, and subsurface teams on well placement and target definitions.
- Prepare tender specifications and evaluate bids for drilling services (directional drilling, mud, cementing, wireline).
- Track daily drilling operations, analyse performance data, and identify improvement opportunities.
- Manage technical queries from the rig and provide engineering support during operations.
- Conduct post-well reviews, capture lessons learned, and update well design guidelines.
- Ensure all well designs comply with well integrity standards and barrier philosophy.
Qualifications
Required
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Petroleum, Mechanical, or Drilling Engineering.
- Certifications: IWCF Level 3 (Driller) minimum; BOSIET/FOET with CA-EBS for offshore roles; Offshore Medical.
- Experience: 4–8 years in drilling engineering with well planning and operational support experience.
- Technical Skills: Proficiency in well engineering software (Landmark Compass, Sysdrill, WellPlan); understanding of well control principles; knowledge of API and ISO well design standards.
Preferred
- Experience with deepwater or HPHT well design.
- Familiarity with managed pressure drilling (MPD) systems.
- Working knowledge of P10/P50/P90 probabilistic well cost estimation.
- Exposure to drilling automation and digital drilling technologies.
Market Intelligence
$650–$1,000/day
Shortage Level: Moderate
Key Skills Gap: While the overall pool is adequate, engineers with deepwater and HPHT design experience are significantly harder to find; operational decision-making under uncertainty remains a differentiating skill.
Regions in Highest Demand: Middle East, West Africa, North Sea, Southeast Asia
Demand Drivers: Sustained drilling activity across conventional and unconventional basins; deepwater well counts rising; replacement demand as experienced engineers retire.