Since Spindletop created the US oil boom in 1901, history has taught us that oil pays. And it pays well. There's a reason why the phrase "oil money" exists, and fortunately, that payoff trickles down the line to just about every oil and gas employee.
With energy in such high demand, it's no surprise that oil and gas professionals earn top-ranking salaries - but they always have. E&P and oilfield service companies have a reputation for paying well for highly technical skills and years of experience.
"Oil and gas has always been one of the highest paying industries in the nation," revealed oil and gas recruitment expert Gladney B. Darroh.
There are a number of reasons why energy professionals are in such high demand in today's market. Not the least of which is the world's growing demand for energy.
"A combination of the dearth of talent entering the industry and the higher prices that have been pushing more and more technologies to be used has driven up the demand," said Darroh. "As a result, you've seen salaries in the industry gallop forward in recent years."
Senior partner of Piper-Morgan Personnel, a recruitment firm that specializes in the oil and gas sector, Darroh contends that the only industry in the US that even competes with the high-earning pay of the energy industry is IT and software development, relating today's oil and gas market to that of Silicon Valley in the late `90s.
"I would rate the oil and gas industry certainly in the top 5% of industries in the US according to pay," he said.
National Numbers
Statistics across the board indicate that the oil and gas industry is a high-paying one to join. From governmental reports to internet surveys, experts agree that energy engineers and geoscientists are some of the top-earning professionals in the country.
US Engineers with specialties that serve the petroleum industry range in median salaries of approximately $70,000 (mechanical engineers) to $100,000 (petroleum engineers), according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook for 2008-2009.
In fact, engineers are some of the highest paid professionals out of the gate.
"As a group, engineers earn some of the highest average starting salaries among those holding bachelor's degrees," reports the agency. Additionally, petroleum engineers rank No. 1 for highest average salary right out of undergrad, earning an average salary of $60,718 in 2007.
The governmental agency also reports that geoscientists in America are some of the highest-earning professionals, citing that "petroleum, mineral and mining industries offer higher salaries" than others. With median annual earnings of $72,660 in May 2006, the middle 50% of geoscientists ranged in pay from $51,860 to $100,650 a year.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, students who graduated with a geology or related degree earned an average of $40,786 right out of school in 2007.
Salary Survey
In a survey published by PayScale, Inc. in August 2008 of more than 6,000 oil and gas professionals in the US, petroleum geologists earned the highest median salary in the industry with $99,271 a year. Petroleum engineers reported a median salary of $97,770 a year, and project engineers in the oil patch earned a median annual income of $81,950.
Broken up by years of experience, the oil and gas industry still takes the cake. Petroleum professionals (including petroleum engineers, mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, project engineers, petroleum geologists, retail store managers and accountants) with a year or less experience earned a median income of $56,572 a year, while those with five to nine years of experience earned $67,421. Professionals with 10-19 years of experience earned a median annual income of $78,996, and those with more than 20 years of experience earned $95,412 a year. Within the petroleum industry, this survey shows that companies that employ more people have higher median salaries. Professionals working at the largest companies (those with 50,000 employees or more) earn the highest median annual income of $91,989. Survey respondents that work for companies that employ 20,000 to 49,999 people earn a median annual salary of $76,932, and those that work for companies that employ from 5,000 to 19,999 people earn $77,812.
