Petroleum Land Manager

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Physical Geography
Secondary Topic: Environment and Society

Overview: In the search for oil, petroleum land managers are a type of petroleum technician who manage and discover oil and gas reserves. Leasing mineral rights to parcels of land is a critical job in areas where oil and gas fields are found. Land managers spend time working with local and county governments determining land rights and ownership. These technicians must be able to use geospatial technology to find and manage new deposits, gather samples for analysis, conduct tests on samples, and record data and prepare reports and maps. They also tend to work with geoscientists and other specialists to understand geologic formations containing reservoirs. Being able to read and interpret maps is essential for the job. For example, land management jobs are plentiful in the Permian Basin in Texas or the Eagle-Ford region. Many petroleum land managers work as contractors connected to oil and gas companies.

Geographers at work: Physical geographers, Environmental geographers, GIS and remote sensing specialists, Geologists, Business geographers,

Recommended College Courses: Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, Advanced GIS, Remote Sensing, Introduction to Physical Geography, Environmental Management, Natural Resource Use and Management, Energy Resource Management, Economic Geography, Remote Sensing and Earth Observation, Location Analysis,

Skills: GIS, Remote sensing, Geospatial technology, Resource management, Field methods, Landscape and location analysis,

Occupation Group: Life, Physical, and Social Science

Learn more about Petroleum Land Manager from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geological-and-petroleum-technicians.htm