- PE Petroleum has 85 questions, with 8 hours 30 minutes of actual testing inside a 9-hour-30-minute appointment.
- Production/Completion has the largest published question range: 18 to 27 questions.
- The only reference allowed is the supplied electronic NCEES PE Petroleum Reference Handbook; personal materials are prohibited.
- NCEES does not publish a universal passing score, and alternative item types earn no partial credit.
The Exam at a Glance
This page condenses the facts you will want in front of you during review: format, domain structure, rules, and the topics each domain expects you to handle. It covers the Principles and Practice of Engineering - Petroleum exam (the PE Petroleum exam from NCEES, abbreviated PE-P on this site) under the specifications effective October 1, 2023. For a deeper walk through each area, pair this sheet with our PE-P Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Issuer | National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) |
| Official exam label | PE Petroleum |
| Testing provider | Pearson VUE test centers |
| Total questions | 85 |
| Actual testing time | 8 hours 30 minutes |
| Total appointment | 9 hours 30 minutes (includes a 2-minute nondisclosure agreement, 8-minute tutorial, and 50-minute scheduled break) |
| Item types | Computer-based multiple-choice plus alternative item types |
| Wrong-answer penalty | None; no partial credit on alternative item types |
| Units | SI and U.S. Customary System (USCS) |
| NCEES fee | USD 400 per attempt (licensing-board charges are separate) |
| Next annual administration | October 27, 2026 |
Question Ranges by Domain
NCEES publishes question ranges for each of the five top-level exam objectives. These are ranges, not fixed allocations or percentage weights, so any single exam form can land anywhere inside them. The specifications also note that the subordinate knowledge areas listed under each domain are not exclusive or exhaustive, so treat any topic list (including the one below) as a starting point.
| Domain | Published Question Range |
|---|---|
| Drilling | 17-26 |
| Production/Completion | 18-27 |
| Facilities | 9-14 |
| Reservoirs | 17-26 |
| Economics and Management | 9-14 |
Three takeaways from the ranges. First, Production/Completion has the largest range, with a ceiling of 27 questions. Second, Drilling and Reservoirs carry identical ranges, so neither deserves to be neglected in favor of the other. Third, Facilities and Economics and Management have the smallest ranges, but together they can still account for a meaningful block of the 85 questions, and they are often where candidates with a strong technical core lose easy points.
Drilling: What to Know Cold
Domain 1: Drilling (17-26 questions)
Expect calculation-driven questions where you apply relationships from the Reference Handbook to a well scenario and then interpret the result for a design or operational decision.
- Hydrostatic pressure, pressure gradients, and mud weight windows relative to pore and fracture pressure
- Well control concepts, including kick detection and shut-in pressure interpretation
- Casing and tubular design logic: load cases, burst, collapse, and tension considerations
- Cementing basics: slurry volumes, displacement, and placement objectives
- Directional drilling geometry and wellbore trajectory calculations
- Drilling fluid properties and hydraulics, including pressure losses and hole cleaning
Drilling questions reward unit discipline. Because both SI and USCS appear on the exam, a calculation that is set up correctly but run in mismatched units is a classic way to miss a question you actually understand. Get comfortable converting before you reach for the handbook.
Production/Completion: The Biggest Range
Domain 2: Production/Completion (18-27 questions)
This domain has the widest published range on the exam, so it is the single most valuable place to be fluent. It connects reservoir deliverability to what happens in the wellbore and at surface.
- Inflow performance and outflow (tubing) performance, and how their intersection sets a well's operating point
- Nodal-style thinking: where pressure drops occur in the system and what changing each component does
- Completion design considerations, including perforating, sand control, and stimulation objectives
- Artificial lift selection and the operating conditions that favor each method
- Production logging and well-performance diagnostics
- Hydraulic fracturing and acidizing fundamentals as stimulation tools
Facilities Essentials
Domain 3: Facilities (9-14 questions)
Facilities questions deal with what happens to produced fluids after they reach the surface. The range is small, which makes this a high-return domain for focused review.
- Separation: two-phase and three-phase separator sizing concepts and the factors that govern retention time
- Gas handling, compression, and dehydration fundamentals
- Fluid treating and storage, including oil and water handling
- Piping and flow in surface systems, including pressure drop and line sizing logic
- Metering, measurement, and process safety considerations
Because the handbook is your only reference, practice locating facilities relationships inside it before test day. A formula you can find in thirty seconds is worth more than one you half-remember.
Reservoirs Essentials
Domain 4: Reservoirs (17-26 questions)
Reservoirs shares its range with Drilling and underpins much of the quantitative reasoning in the rest of the exam.
- Rock and fluid properties: porosity, permeability, saturation, compressibility, and formation volume factors
- Fluid behavior and PVT concepts for oil, gas, and water
- Volumetric estimation of hydrocarbons in place and recovery factors
- Material balance concepts and drive mechanisms
- Decline curve analysis and production forecasting
- Well test interpretation, including what pressure transient behavior reveals about the reservoir
- Waterflooding and other improved recovery concepts at a fundamentals level
The recurring skill here is choosing the right tool. Many questions hinge less on arithmetic than on recognizing which method (volumetric, material balance, decline analysis, or a well test) applies to the data you are given.
Economics and Management
Domain 5: Economics and Management (9-14 questions)
This domain is the smallest by range and the most approachable for candidates who like structured, rule-based problems.
- Time value of money: present worth, net present value, and rate of return
- Project evaluation and ranking, including payout and profitability measures
- Cash flow construction, including revenue, operating costs, taxes, and depreciation concepts
- Uncertainty and risk, including expected value reasoning
- Reserves categories and the role of economics in reserves reporting
- Professional practice topics such as ethics, safety, and project management fundamentals
Economics questions often look intimidating because they are wordy, but the underlying calculation is usually short. Slow down on setup, then compute.
Key Takeaway
Sort your weak spots by published question range, not by comfort. Production/Completion (18-27) deserves your most careful review, Drilling and Reservoirs (17-26 each) come next, and Facilities and Economics and Management (9-14 each) are cheap points when you prepare deliberately.
Test-Day Rules and Logistics
What you can and cannot bring
The exam is closed book except for the supplied electronic NCEES PE Petroleum Reference Handbook. Personal reference material is prohibited, and the NCEES guide lists no separate supplied design standards for Petroleum. You must use an NCEES-approved calculator. Confirm current rules in the NCEES Examinee Guide before you test, and verify details at the issuer's PE Petroleum exam page.
How the appointment is structured
- You begin with a 2-minute nondisclosure agreement and an 8-minute tutorial.
- You then work through 85 questions across 8 hours 30 minutes of actual testing time.
- A 50-minute scheduled break sits inside the 9-hour-30-minute appointment.
Plan your stamina, not just your knowledge. An exam this long rewards candidates who have practiced sustained problem solving, so build at least a few long sessions into your preparation. Our practice tests are useful for rehearsing that endurance.
Item types and scoring behavior
Most items are multiple choice, but alternative item types also appear. There is no partial credit on alternative item types, so read their instructions carefully and make sure every required selection or entry is complete. There is also no deduction for wrong answers, which means you should never leave a question blank.
Fees and dates
NCEES charges USD 400 per attempt, and licensing-board application charges are separate and vary by board. The next annual administration is October 27, 2026. For the complete financial picture, see PE-P Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and for scheduling mechanics see PE-P Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Scoring and Pass-Rate Facts
NCEES uses an equated minimum-competence standard. It does not publish a universal passing score or a predetermined passing percentage, so be skeptical of any claim that you need to answer a specific percentage correctly. The method is explained on the NCEES exam scoring page, and we unpack the practical meaning in PE-P Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
| Cohort (issuer table updated January 2026) | Pass Rate | Examinees |
|---|---|---|
| First-time candidates | 53% | 62 |
| Repeat candidates | 55% | 22 |
Sequencing Your Review by Domain
If you only get one scheduling idea from this cheat sheet, make it this: let the published ranges and the dependency between domains decide your order. Reservoirs fundamentals feed Production/Completion, and Production/Completion feeds Facilities, so a logical progression saves rework. A sample sequence is below; stretch or compress it to fit your calendar, and see the PE-P Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt for a fuller plan.
Reservoirs foundation
- Rock and fluid properties, PVT, volumetrics, material balance
- Practice choosing the right method for the data given
Production/Completion
- Inflow and outflow performance, artificial lift, stimulation
- Spend the most time here; it carries the largest range
Drilling
- Pressure windows, casing design logic, hydraulics, well control
- Drill unit conversions between SI and USCS
Facilities plus Economics and Management
- Separation, gas handling, and surface flow
- Time value of money, cash flow, and risk problems
Handbook-only timed practice
- Full-length sessions using only the Reference Handbook
- Review misses by domain and rebuild weak areas
Where the Credential Fits Professionally
Because passing the exam is only one step toward licensure, think about the credential in terms of your career path. Petroleum engineers who pursue licensure often work with operators, service companies, consulting firms, and regulatory or public-sector organizations, depending on the licensing board and the nature of the work. If you are weighing the investment, our articles on whether the PE-P credential is worth it and the PE-P Salary Guide 2026 take a closer look. For a broader orientation to the credential itself, start with What Is PE-P?
After you license, renewal and continuing education are administered by your licensing board, and NCEES CPC tracking can support board-specific continuing-education records. It is not a stand-alone renewable NCEES certificate, so do not confuse tracking with the license itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are 85 questions. You have 8 hours 30 minutes of actual testing time within a 9-hour-30-minute appointment that also includes a nondisclosure agreement, a tutorial, and a 50-minute scheduled break.
Production/Completion has the largest published range at 18-27 questions. Drilling and Reservoirs each have 17-26, and Facilities and Economics and Management each have 9-14. These are ranges rather than fixed allocations or percentage weights.
No. The exam is closed book except for the supplied electronic NCEES PE Petroleum Reference Handbook. Personal reference material is prohibited, and you must use an NCEES-approved calculator.
NCEES does not publish a universal passing score or predetermined passing percentage. Scoring uses an equated minimum-competence standard, so what matters is demonstrating competence across the exam rather than hitting a fixed percentage.
No. Passing the exam is not itself a professional license. Your licensing board decides eligibility and approval and handles license issuance and renewal, and its application charges are separate from the USD 400 NCEES fee per attempt.
Use this sheet as a checklist, then test yourself against it with timed PE-P practice questions and revisit the domain-by-domain guide wherever your results show a gap.