It is that time of the year again when Jamb candidates contemplate on which course to go for. There are many hot cake courses to study in Nigeria. However, this article is for those who are contemplating of going for either Chemical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering.
In this article, you will learn the comparison, differences, Advantages and where you can work if you study Chemical Engineering (CHE) versus Petroleum Engineering (PEE). It is now your decision to choose which one to study between CHE and PEE.
Chemical Engineering Vs Petroleum Engineering in Nigeria
POINT 1: According to Wikipedia, Petroleum Engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas.
On the other hand, Chemical Engineering is a branch of engineering that uses principles of chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and economics to efficiently use, produce, design, transport and transform energy and materials.
POINT 2: Petroleum Engineering is primarily sub-surface and concerned with getting the crude oil and gas to the surface where it is then sent for processing or export and it is in processing that the chemical Engineers come into play in the oil and gas sector (Refineries, LNG plants, processing plants, etc).
POINT 3: Typical aspects of petroleum engineering are drilling, reservoir studies, well operations, seismic studies etc while Typical aspects of chemical engineering are processing of oil or gas to sales specification, refining of oil to produce petrol and other products (plastics etc), gas to liquid processes (GTL), natural gas liquefaction (LNG) production, pipeline transport of oil or gas and other such issues.
POINT 4: Both Petroleum and chemical engineers are taught the refining process in the University.
POINT 5: Petroleum departments in oil companies pay the highest but at the end of the day, most of the staff working in these petroleum departments studied Mechanical, Chemical or Geology. When it comes to getting jobs, I’ll advice you any day to go for chemical engineering.
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POINT 6: While Petroleum Engineering is more streamlined to a specific industry – Oil & Gas, chemical engineering is broader and its graduates can work in many industries.
POINT 6: Studying Chemical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering in Nigeria does not guarantee you a good engineering job. However, developing yourself by learning as many advanced skills as possible will give you an edge over other graduates. With good skills, you can start making money even before you officially get employed.
I don’t really believe there is a useless course or one course is completely better than the other. What matters is how you devote yourself to learning the course. Develop yourself, learn new things outside your course of study and you will be just fine.