Petroleum Engineers work in a range of industry sectors, often related to the exploration, mining, production, delivery and downstream processing of fossil fuels.

These fossil fuels are derived from oil and gas reservoirs in the earth's crust, but may also include extraction from sands and shales. This course provides the foundations for a professional engineering career in the oil and gas industry, both in Australia and internationally. As well as providing core mechanical and chemical engineering skills, the course provides specialist knowledge in drilling, reservoir and petroleum production engineering. Petroleum Engineers can work in a wide range of industries, and often hold positions with titles like Oil & Gas Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, Production Engineer, Drilling Engineer, or Exploration Engineer, providing support for various parts of the fossil fuel-based industry. 
As with all of the Schools engineering programs, the Petroleum Engineering program focuses on the development of knowledge and skills relevant to professional engineering practice and along with a sound theoretical base, includes strong elements of practical problem solving, team work and project development. As a result, graduates will gain strong analytical skills, and have the ability to lead complex projects as well as having multiple technical and transferable skill competencies.
The course provides a sound basis in mechanics, mathematics, and the principles of engineering design in the first two years of study, along with core areas of engineering science including chemistry and materials science, fluid mechanics, process systems and thermodynamics. In the final two years of study, a range of more specialist petroleum engineering topics are covered to prepare students to enter their chosen profession with relevant knowledge and skills.
The first year of this course includes a set of eight units that are common across all engineering honours courses. This allows students the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the various engineering disciplines on offer and the flexibility, if desired, to switch to another engineering discipline/course without penalty after the first year of study.