Development Engineer – Reservoir & Production

Pennhills Resources; State College (Centre County); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Pennhills Resources in State College, PA is seeking a Development Engineer – Reservoir & Production with 3–5 years of upstream oil and gas experience to identify and execute development and production optimization opportunities across our growing asset base.

The role combines reservoir analysis, economic evaluation, production data analysis, and field operations while partnering with geology, land, drilling, operations, finance, and senior management to maximize asset value.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering or related field
• 3–5 years of upstream oil & gas engineering experience
• Strong reservoir engineering fundamentals (DCA, forecasting, reserves, EUR)
• Experience evaluating development, drilling, recompletion, or workover opportunities
• Exposure to production operations and field optimization
• Strong Excel, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to translate technical analysis into practical business recommendations
• U.S. work authorization

Responsibilities

• Evaluate producing and undeveloped assets to identify drilling, recompletion, workover and other development opportunities.
• Perform decline curve analysis, production forecasting, EUR estimation, reserve evaluations, and type-curve development.
• Generate and mature development prospects in coordination with geology, land, drilling, and operations.
• Develop multi-year development plans and rank opportunities based on production, reserves, capital requirements, risk and economic return.
• Develop technical assumptions for new projects including IP, decline parameters, EUR, production profiles, CAPEX and LOE.
• Track actual well performance and incorporate lessons learned into future plans.
• Develop cost-effective reservoir monitoring and surveillance programs; May include data collection and PTA characterization.
• Cross-functional leadership to align engineering with geology, land, operations and management.

Skills

Reservoir engineering fundamentals

DCA (decline curve analysis)

Production forecasting

Reserves estimation

EUR estimation

Excel

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering or related engineering

Job description

Pennhills Resources is seeking a full-time Development Engineer – Reservoir & Production to identify and execute development and production optimization opportunities across our growing asset base. The ideal candidate will have 3–5 years of upstream oil & gas experience, a strong engineering background, and hands-on field/operations experience. This role combines reservoir analysis, economic evaluation, production data analysis, and field operations while working closely with geology, land, drilling, operations, finance, and senior management to maximize the value of Pennhills Resources assets.

Workplace & Location

• Primary Location: State College, PA
• Travel as needed to Kane, PA
• Hybrid/remote flexibility based on business needs
• Approximately 85% office / 15% field
• Field visits throughout Pennhills’ operating areas
  

  Essential Duties and Responsibilities

  
  -Reservoir Engineering & Development
• Evaluate producing and undeveloped assets to identify drilling, recompletion, workover, and other development opportunities.
• Perform decline curve analysis, production forecasting, EUR estimation, reserve evaluations, and type-curve development.
• Generate and mature development prospects in coordination with geology, land, drilling, and operations.
• Develop multi-year development plans and rank opportunities based on production, reserves, capital requirements, risk, and economic return.
• Develop technical assumptions for new projects, including IP, decline parameters, EUR, production profiles, CAPEX, and LOE.
• Track actual well performance against forecasts and incorporate lessons learned into future development plans.
• Develop cost-effective reservoir monitoring and surveillance programs. May include acquiring and analyzing data to define characterization including decline curve analysis and PTA.
• Work cross-functionally to maintain long term budget forecasts and update type curve and expense forecasts regularly.
  -Production & Operations
• Partner with field operations to optimize production and asset performance.
• Evaluate opportunities involving artificial lift, pressure and drawdown management, compression, workovers, wellhead/flowline constraints, and facility optimization.
• Analyze production underperformance and identify root causes and corrective actions.
• Evaluate inactive wells and recommend whether to reactivate, work over, leave shut-in, or plug and abandon based on economic return, risk, and strategic value.
• Work directly with field personnel to identify and implement practical production improvements.
  -Economics & A&D
• Build technical and economic evaluations for drilling, workovers, production optimization projects, and acquisitions.
• Support acquisition and divestiture due diligence by evaluating production, reserves, decline trends, operating costs, development upside, and technical risks.
• Work with finance to incorporate engineering assumptions into budgets, forecasts, and investment models.
• Evaluate projects using metrics such as IRR, NPV, payback, reserves, production, and capital efficiency.
• Monitor project performance against original underwriting assumptions.
  -Cross-Functional Leadership
• Serve as a technical bridge between engineering, geology, land, operations, finance, and management.
• Present technical findings and recommendations clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Help prioritize capital and development opportunities across Pennhills’ asset base.
  

  Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

  
  -Required
• Bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• 3–5 years of upstream oil & gas engineering experience.
• Strong Reservoir Engineering fundamentals, including DCA, production forecasting, reserves, and EUR estimation.
• Experience evaluating development, drilling, recompletion, or workover opportunities.
• Meaningful exposure to production operations and field optimization.
• Strong Excel, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to translate technical analysis into practical business recommendations.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, national, permanent resident, or otherwise authorized to work in the United States
  -Preferred
• Minimum 3 years conventional oil & gas experience; Appalachian Basin experience a plus.
• Specialized coursework in petroleum economics, reservoir rock characteristics