Drilling engineers are typically employed by multinational companies who extract and produce oil and gas. They are responsible for assessing and maintaining existing wells, ensuring safety measures are implemented, elements of design and calculating costs of machinery and construction. Some drilling contractors are based in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; a lot of time can be spent working away from home on rigs.
Travel: can be frequent; drilling engineers can be placed on land or offshore platforms or rigs.
Working hours: long shifts can be expected.
Location: placements overseas are common. Drilling engineers sometimes live on oil rigs for weeks at a time.
Keyskills: offshore operations offshore construction directional drilling oil exploration drilling engineering offshore drilling drilling operations offshore oil