Hal Salzman sent me this NPR story - part of a series on bright spots in the economy - on jobs in the energy industry. You wouldn't know from the price problems and the attacks on Obama, but energy production is up. The story specifically covers petroleum engineers:
"New drilling technologies and rising fuel prices have generated a boom in drilling — and lots of high-paying jobs for people with the skills to work in the oil patch. On some college campuses, companies are so eager to find petroleum engineers that they are offering jobs to students even before they have graduated."
That's not a story you hear very often around employment prospects of graduates!
"You wouldn't know from the price problems and the attacks on Obama, but energy production is up."
ReplyDeleteMichael Levi (Council on Foreign Relations and a must-follow for anyone interested in energy matters) has been pointing this out for a while too, e.g. here.
""New drilling technologies and rising fuel prices have generated a boom in drilling — and lots of high-paying jobs for people with the skills to work in the oil patch. On some college campuses, companies are so eager to find petroleum engineers that they are offering jobs to students even before they have graduated.""
ReplyDeleteDaniel, this is a cycle I've seen since the early 70's. When oil prices are low, petroleum engineers have poor prospects; when oil prices are high, petroleum engineers are worth their weight in gold.
Perhaps 'boom and bust' is a good term.