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Petroleum engineer : Salary and conditions

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  1. Job description
  2. Salary and conditions
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Case studies

  • Range of typical starting salaries: £29,000 - £36,500 (salary data collected Aug 09). Salaries at the higher end of the scale are available to those with a relevant PhD. These figures relate to international oil company graduate training programmes; salaries in smaller companies are likely to be lower.
  • Range of typical salaries with experience: £52,000 - £95,000 (salary data collected Aug 09). Experienced freelance engineers are currently earning over £1,000 per day, such is the demand.
  • Location and assignments influence salary. Additional and generous benefits packages and overseas allowances may be available. Pay is performance-related. You may receive bonuses for offshore work.
  • Working hours are mainly nine to five (seven to four in Europe), but often include some extra hours. Major companies offer flexible working patterns. Offshore assignments require shift work, usually 12 hours on and 12 hours off continuously for two weeks, followed by a two to three week break onshore.
  • It is usual for newly recruited engineers to spend most of the time at the rigsite for their first two to three years in the job. Longer term, the work is mainly office-based and involves working closely with geologists on oilfield developments. Senior engineers are based mainly onshore.
  • Remote sensing technology, coupled with high bandwidth global networks and vizualisation systems, are enabling more work to be done with less people in the field and more decisions made in an office, based on measurements sent in real-time from the rig. This development is sometimes known as the “Digital Oilfield”.
  • Self-employment/freelance work is sometimes possible. Outsourcing has generated opportunities for engineers with at least five years' experience. Contracts are determined by project status and oil prices.
  • Only a small proportion of petroleum engineers are women, but an increasing number are being recruited.
  • The oilfield is a broad mix of cultures and backgrounds. Offshore work involves communal living, though living/leisure facilities are generally very good. Elsewhere, field work may involve communal living, sometimes in inhospitable conditions.
  • The work can be both physically and mentally tough. The onshore/offshore regime can create extra pressures.
  • Exploration and production working conditions could prove extremely difficult for certain disabled graduates, but there are equivalent opportunities in shore-based seismic analysis, geology, process engineering or related areas.
  • Travel within a working day, overnight absence from home and overseas work or travel are all regular features of the work.
 
AGCAS
Written by Norman Rea, Lancaster University
Date: 
September 2009
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