LARAMIE - Halfway through his chemical engineering degree, Mathew Dolezal realized he was more intrigued with actually finding and figuring out how to produce oil and natural gas. So he added petroleum engineering to his studies at the University of Wyoming.

Dolezal admits he was somewhat worried when the price of oil crashed last fall.

"Cycles: That's one thing they really hammered home in school. There will be cycles - you just have to ride them out," said Dolezal, 23. "I knew there was going to be a cycle somewhere in my career. I didn't think it would happen right out of school."

So far, Dolezal is riding it out. He graduates in May and heads straight to Anchorage, Alaska, where he has a job with ConocoPhillips. He was an intern with the company last summer and secured a spot with it just two weeks into his final year of college.

The training doesn't end at graduation. Dolezal will go through ConocoPhillips' rotational training program to become proficient in reservoir engineering, drilling and other disciplines.

For nearly a decade, petroleum engineering wasn't even an option at the University of Wyoming. The undergraduate program was eliminated in 1997 after a long, steady decline in the industry. The program was reinstated in 2006, and it has continued to attract more student interest since.

For Dolezal, a career in oil and natural gas plays to his interest in problem solving. He also enjoys the outdoors and wants to travel internationally.

As for the long-term viability of oil and natural gas, Dolezal said he's confident fossil fuels will continue to play a key role in the nation's energy regime. And being on the engineering side seems to offer job security because of the increasing difficulty of finding and producing oil and gas.

"I stay current with what's going on," Dolezal said. "The current administration is pushing for greener, alternative fuels. That's fine, but it's just not going to happen right away like they think it will. It's going to take time. People are still going to need oil and natural gas."

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com. Check out Dustin's blog at tribtown.trib.com/DustinBleizeffer.