Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Upstream Drilling Engineer

🎯 Role Definition

The Upstream Drilling Engineer is responsible for planning, designing, executing and optimizing well delivery programs in onshore and offshore upstream oil & gas operations. This role drives safe, efficient and cost-effective drilling campaigns by integrating well design, directional drilling, drilling fluids, downhole tools and rig operations while ensuring well integrity, regulatory compliance and adherence to HSE excellence. The position acts as the technical point of contact for drilling contractors, service companies and internal stakeholders during well planning and operations.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Graduate Drilling Engineer / Drilling Engineering Trainee
Petroleum Engineer with a focus on drilling or field operations
Field Drilling Engineer / Rig Site Engineer

Advancement To:

Senior Drilling Engineer / Lead Drilling Engineer
Drilling Superintendent / Drilling Operations Manager
Drilling Manager / Well Delivery Manager
Technical Authority (Drilling) or Asset Manager

Lateral Moves:

Completions Engineer
Subsurface / Reservoir Engineer
Well Integrity Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the development of detailed well programs and drilling execution plans, including trajectory design, casing and liner program, casing shoe depths, cementing plans, and drill string/BHA configuration to meet reservoir targets while mitigating risks to well integrity and formation damage.
Prepare and review pre-drill engineering deliverables such as well program packs, drilling engineering calculations, wellbore schematics, and permit packages to ensure regulatory compliance and rig readiness.
Design and optimize directional drilling plans (inclination, azimuth and dogleg control) and execute torque & drag, hydraulics and pack-off analyses using industry-standard software to ensure efficient and safe directional well delivery.
Develop and specify mud and fluid programs, anticipate fluid losses or kicks, and coordinate with mud engineers and service companies to control wellbore stability, filtration, and formation damage.
Perform casing, tubing and cement design calculations, including collapse, burst and tensile checks, cement slurry design review, and placement strategy to secure zonal isolation and long-term well integrity.
Conduct well control risk assessments, establish well-control procedures, and ensure personnel and contractors maintain required well control certifications (e.g., IWCF/IADC) and practice blowout prevention protocols.
Provide on-site or remote drilling engineering support during rig operations to troubleshoot downhole issues, advise on BHA modifications, drilling parameters, tripping procedures, hole cleaning and drilling optimization in real-time.
Execute hydraulics modeling and pressure loss calculations, evaluate Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) and manage narrow pore pressure-fracture pressure windows for safe drilling in HPHT or depleted zones.
Select and specify downhole tools, logging-while-drilling (LWD) and measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tools, bit types and BHA components and coordinate tool selection with service providers to meet performance and reliability targets.
Manage well delivery cost estimates, track drilling budgets and performance against KPIs, produce cost-to-complete forecasts, and recommend cost-saving engineering changes without compromising safety or integrity.
Perform risk assessments (HAZID, HAZOP, PHA) and job safety analyses (JSAs) for critical operations such as casing running, cementing, underbalanced drilling and sidetracks; document mitigation measures and contingency plans.
Lead failure investigations and root cause analyses on drilling incidents, mechanical failures or non-productive time (NPT) events and implement corrective actions and lessons learned across the drilling organization.
Interface with geoscience, completion, reservoir and production teams to align well design with reservoir objectives, logging requirements, zonal isolation plans and production/ completion strategies.
Supervise and coordinate drilling contractor and service company performance, manage scopes of work, review technical proposals and ensure contractual deliverables, quality and safety compliance on rigs.
Develop and maintain well delivery schedules and milestones, coordinate logistics and materials, and manage changes through formal change control processes to minimize delays and extraneous costs.
Monitor drilling performance metrics (ROP, ROP optimization, NPT, connection times, bit life) and implement continuous improvement initiatives, drilling optimization campaigns and new technologies to improve well delivery.
Prepare daily drilling reports, technical summaries, well status updates and formal post-job completion reports; present drilling performance reviews and lessons-learned sessions to stakeholders.
Ensure all well construction and completion activities comply with local regulations, industry standards (API, ISO) and company HSE and environmental policies; manage regulatory submissions and well permits as required.
Design and plan well abandonment, plugging and abandonment (P&A) or suspension programs including plug design, cement volumes, cut-and-cap procedures and regulatory reporting.
Provide engineering support for complex operations such as managed pressure drilling (MPD), underbalanced drilling (UBD), extended reach drilling (ERD) and high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) wells including pre-job simulations and contingency planning.
Mentor junior drilling engineers and field engineers, review their deliverables, provide technical guidance and contribute to training programs to build internal drilling engineering capability.
Maintain and improve engineering standards, templates, checklists and well construction practices; drive digitalization of drilling engineering processes and use of real-time drilling data for decision-making.
Coordinate wireline and measurement operations, ensure appropriate logging programs are planned, and interpret basic LWD/MWD outputs in collaboration with petrophysics and logging teams.
Design sidetrack and re-entry plans, evaluate fishing scenarios and lead engineering for well intervention activities to restore hole integrity and achieve target objectives.
Evaluate and authorize non-standard operations such as formation testing, acidizing during drilling, coiled tubing interventions and re-completions from a drilling engineering perspective.

Secondary Functions

Support cross-functional well delivery teams by providing engineering input to procurement, logistics and supply chain decisions for long-lead drilling equipment.
Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives including standardization of well designs, drilling templates, KPI frameworks and contractor performance scorecards.
Participate in incident investigations and internal audits; follow up on action items to closure and communicate changes to operations teams.
Support digital drilling initiatives: develop data capture requirements, refine real-time dashboards, and collaborate with data teams to enable predictive analytics for drilling operations.
Assist in development of drilling budgets, tender evaluations, bid assessments and commercial discussions with contractors and vendors.
Provide technical input into emergency response plans and readiness drills for rig incidents, blowouts or major HSE events.
Liaise with legal and regulatory teams regarding well abandonment liabilities, reporting obligations and environmental impact mitigation measures.
Contribute to training, competency assessment and succession planning for the drilling team and participate in onboarding of new drilling staff.
Evaluate new drilling technologies and service offerings, pilot select technologies on low-risk wells and quantify benefits for roll-out decisions.
Support stakeholder communications with partners, joint venture boards and operators by preparing technical summaries and well delivery status briefings.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Well planning & design: casing and cement design, tubular sizing, burst/collapse/tension checks, and well schematics.
Directional drilling and trajectory design: dogleg management, projection planning and ERD considerations.
Hydraulics & mud engineering: ECD, pressure loss, cuttings transport, bit hydraulics and mud program specification.
Torque & drag, mechanical modeling and BHA design for pick-up/drop-off loads and stuck pipe prevention.
Well control and safety: IWCF/IADC well control procedures, BOP systems knowledge and well control simulation.
Drilling software proficiency: Experience with Landmark WellPlan, Compass, WellCat, Inteq, Oasis, StressCheck, Drillbench or equivalent.
LWD/MWD and downhole tool knowledge: logging tool selection, basic interpretation and integration with well objectives.
Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) and experience in underbalanced drilling (UBD) or MPD operations (where applicable).
P&A and abandonment program design, plug calculations and regulatory reporting.
Data analysis and performance optimization: familiarity with real-time drilling data systems, dashboards and KPI reporting.
Contract and vendor management: scope evaluation, tender review, and oversight of service delivery.
Regulatory and industry standards: strong working knowledge of API, ISO standards and local well construction regulations.
High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) well experience, if relevant to the asset portfolio.

Soft Skills

Strong communication skills: concise reporting, clear direction for rig teams and effective stakeholder presentations.
Leadership and team coordination: lead multi-disciplinary teams during planning and operations.
Problem solving and critical thinking: rapid diagnostics and practical mitigation in high-pressure situations.
Decision making under uncertainty: make timely, evidence-based decisions to safeguard operations and cost.
Collaboration and stakeholder management: align geoscience, completions, operations and commercial teams.
Mentoring and coaching: develop junior engineers and field personnel through feedback and training.
Attention to detail and documentation discipline: ensure well records, permits and engineering calculations are accurate.
Adaptability and resilience: flexible approach to changing operational conditions, weather delays and emergent downhole issues.
Time management and multi-tasking: prioritize competing demands across multiple wells or rigs.
Commercial awareness: balance technical choices with cost-efficiency and contract terms.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering or equivalent engineering discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering, Drilling Engineering, or advanced technical certification in drilling technology.
Relevant postgraduate qualifications or professional memberships (SPE, IADC) are an advantage.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Petroleum Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Drilling Engineering
Chemical/Materials Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–10 years (mid-level role); Senior roles commonly require 8–15+ years of progressive drilling engineering and operations experience.

Preferred:

5+ years’ hands-on drilling engineering experience with a mix of field rig exposure and office-based well planning.
Proven experience in offshore and/or onshore well delivery, including multi-well campaigns, ERD, MPD or HPHT wells.
Demonstrated track record of delivering wells on budget and schedule, reducing NPT, and implementing drilling performance improvements.
Valid Well Control certification (IWCF or IADC), and relevant safety certifications (BOSIET/FOET or equivalent) where required.
Experience with contractor management, tendering and commercial evaluation for drilling services.