×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

For all of you who are in the oil industry

For all of you who are in the oil industry

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

I think the $55k is at the low end of this year's recruits.  One guy in the article was starting at $62.5k and I've heard anecdotes of even higher than that.  When I started in the industry in 1980 I got the highest offer of any of my friends at $18k ($50k in 2006 dollars).

One interesting point in the article -- Exxon said that half of their workforce 10 years from now has not yet been hired.  Exxon's workforce is over 100,000 people.  I've heard similar quotes from BP and Shell.  It is a great time to be entering the field.  When all of us old farts die, the new folks will be required to re-invent a lot of it, what could be more fun than that?

David

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Right now, at $60- 70 oil, everyone is busy and most people are resource constrained, so for employee retention, cash is king: our drilling contractor is giving their drill crews a 15% bonus every quarter just to stay with them!  I'm constantly being called by headhunters looing to fill empty desks, and the job requirements are dropping- for example you can be a Senior Drilling Engineer with 5 years experience (I don't think anyone with less than 10 years has seen enough to be an SDE) and a Drilling Supervisor at the wellsite with just 5 years in the oil patch (which I don't think is anywhere near enough time, and is potentially dangerous).

Also the oil industry has been panicing for a few years about "The big crew change"- in the next 10 years, about 50% of the guys in the industry are going to retire, and the industry need to capture their knowledges as there aren't many people around now with 10 -15 years experience to take their place.... so those that have survived the past few layoff cycles (like me) are a little twisted and looking forward to the big bucks!  

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Yeah and if you are willing to move, especially to Houston, experienced hands are doing very well also....

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Nic,

You can drop the word to your recruitment people that the independent CCGT power stations are full of people with experience of big rotating plant, hazardous area apparatus, process control equipment, gas handling equipment, and so on - all very transferable skills. Power industry people are typically very well trained, safety conscious, motivated, technically competent and used to lousy hours. Being well paid for it would be lovely! The big CCGT station on Teesside would probably be a great place to start recruiting. wink

----------------------------------
  I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy it...

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

A guy took a job at Tosco in 1994 starting at $45K

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

oil industry need some mechanical guys to do some stress, thermal analysis with finite element package?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

It's up now, but it's a really volatile (no pun intended) field.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

If we need a parabolic increase in people resources to maintain a linear increase in oil (or energy) finds, then the cash could continue.  It is when we start using bullets and tanks for the new finds that it all breaks down.  So, all you people in the energy industry remember, your success could be an important key to world peace.  So thank you for your efforts so far.  I think this is money well spent when viewed as a peace mechanism.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

What goes up, might come down. During the oil bust of the 80's, lots of engineers working for the big oil companies lost their jobs. Many had to walk away from their houses and default on their mortgages. A lot of this was happening in Texas and Oklahoma.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

I'm in the power industry in an area heavy with petrochem and there seem to be at least two big factors robbing our plant engineers: 1 - Petrochemical guys luring away our engineers for higher $;  2- Hiring at many contractors doing engineering related to new power plants on the horizon.  Apparently to avoid further losses, our company is taking care of those left behind.  I got 3 separate raises since March of this year totalling 15% with no change in my job.  (Compare this to my average annual adjustment of 3-5% over the previous 12 years).  Year-end bonus is looking good as well.  I'm pretty sure I'll never see a year like this again.

Thanks petro industry. Keep up the good work!

=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

C'mon Pete my friend. Come join us on the dark side. We are hurting for motor and high voltage electrical types. I could have you in a new job in just a matter of a couple weeks, and I would get a nice ERP bonus in the process!!

BTW as the top notch electric motor guy I know you are, if you are not making well over $100K/yr where you are at, they better keep the raises coming cause you are being ripped off. Oh, and I am expecting a 10 year run at this point so you should see a number of years like this.

-Steve

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Well you should not take everything you read at face value.

yes the oil field is booming and starting wages can be great, I am 5 years into it myself. A starting job for and enigneer at Schlumberger in the field which is most likely pays very well and they can even make bonus after about 1 year. But that is a field position in a oil field service company which means lots of hours (70-80/week) and no overtime. it means all hours of the night and day. I started in a compnay that was indirect competition with Schlumberger and all of us worked like that. The money was good but the hours were hard.

Now I am not making as much as I could have been if I had stayed with that company, but I am doing just fine.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

this is sooo not fair!!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

What is so not fair?

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

NewfieEng,

If you want to make the money, well, you got to do what it takes, no?

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

sms,

sorry, i'm talking about my own sob story...these grads are making so much money and i'm still struggling.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

anu2004,

Not to sound unsympathetic, but what are you doing about it other than complaining?

If you want to make the $$$, you need to be willing to go make it. Make the move into O&G.

As they say, "If it was easy, then everyone would be doing it." smile

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Well, considering the situation for all of use in the Oil & Gas related fields back around 2000 when oil was $10/barrel, the salaries we are getting now are long overdue.  

It wasn't as bad as I hear the 80's were, but back around 2000 was not a fun time in this industry.

Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas

"All the world is a Spring"

All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Ashereng,

You hit the nail on the head. To make money you need to do what it takes, and that is what I did and what I am doing still.

I just feel this article is making it sound easier than it really is and (like most media) is telling only part of the story.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Asher,

just because i'm here complaining doesn't mean that im' not doing everything i can with the other 23 hours and 59 min of the day to get what i want.

and i'm moving to calgary, lol

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

NewfieEng,

The article is from the point of view of the author, and his/her interests. When you promote something, you usually only tell the good parts. And that's okay.

A while back, (remember the dot com boom?), it was IT that was offering $60K to college interns to go work in Silicon Valley. Now, 5 years later, I guess not so much. All those IT grads, I wonder what they are doing now - some I'm sure are still making mounds of cash in IT, the rest?


anu2004,

Congrats, and good luck with your move to Calgary.

Most of the work though, and job, are probably not in Calgary, but up in Ft. McMurray, maybe Grande Prairie, and other less popluated areas.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Asher,

haha, i was afraid you'd say that.  i really like calgary.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

O&G is a really volitile industry (pun intended)...

Early 1990's, I wanted to get into structural design/analysis of rigs, anything offshore... I managed to collect quite an extensive rejection letter collection.

I've been cynical in previous posts, but never felt as cynical as I do now... I'd love to be a stress engineer working in the offshore field, but, despite the lip service about the "shortage" of technical expertise, my suspicion is that the real shortage is in cheap techical experts that can be fired on a moment's notice. The 1980's experience in offshore still burns in a lot of the folks only 10 years older than I. I would think that, like so much engineering work these days, it's the PMs that the companies want and not the tech folks.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Sorry you feel that way Dave.

Yes, O&G is cyclical. So are many other industries. In that regard, it is not too unconventional.

Many of the skills we use in this industry should be transferable to other industries. If you are a stress engineer, working on pipeline, beam, rigs, etc. it should be independent of the industry. If O&G slows down, maybe aerospace, ship building, transportation, containers, etc?

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

You'd THINK that a stress engineer would be picked up by them seemingly unrelated industries, eh?...

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Maybe it wasn't the field, maybe it was you?  I don't know how many people I interviewed as the boom started that acted like they were "settling" for O&G and would only be there until their "real" field cycled back upward.  I didn't care how much I needed an electrical engineer or a rotating-equipment guy, I wasn't taking someone with the goal of getting the hell out of my field.

David

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

zdas, that's somewhat of a catch 22.  what's a person to do if they need work?  i understand from your perspective as well; you don't want to keep going through the hassle of interviewing, hiring, training, etc. only to have them quit..but...people need work.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

You misunderstand me.  I'm not saying that people shouldn't change jobs, industries, careers.  I'm saying that as a prospective employeer I want to see someone who is enthusiastic about my company and industry.  When someone comes from another industry and doesn't bother to learn that the world's petroleum reserves are not stored in underground caverns then I wonder about their committment to the change.  

"What's a person to do"?  It is amazingly easy, buy a book on the industry you want to enter.  Learn some of the culture, some of the buzz words, some of the work concepts.  Subscribe to a couple of magazines (that are often available free) to see what the issues are that people are dealing with.  Join a technical society (SPE in our case).  SHOW ME THAT YOU ARE CHANGING CAREERS, NOT MARKING TIME FOR AN UPTICK IN YOUR PREFERRED INDUSTRY.

David

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Hi All,

Does anyone know who does recruiting for Oil/Gas from Australia?

Thanks in Advance

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

I remember as a recent graduate in the very early 1990 try to get in the industry, without much success. I had to settle on someother industry with less pay but regular hours. The reason was " no industry experience" kinda of lam excuse as far as I am concern.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

ROMM - My two cents on the Australian O&G Industry:

The Big Oil end of town has their own recruiting arm and only gets the head-hunters in for senior positions.

Each of their websites will have a careers section.

Google Woodside, Santos, ConoccoPhilips, BHP Petroleum to start (there are plenty more).

A great foot in the door is with the support contractors - drilling & completions, wireline, pipeline, maintenance, integrity inspection.  All have a shortage of GOOD engineers (specialisation isn't as important at this end of the industry).

Expect to relocate and/or spend a lot of time in the field.  Western Australia and Northern Territory offshore is hot right now, but keep an eye out for Coal Bed Methane in Queensland.


LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

Is it really so awful when the law of supply and and demand starts to work in a labor market?

Regards,

Bill

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

So come on guys, do you  think the Oil Industry wil manage to f**k it up again and cause another price crash? Look at all those big projects coming on line in 2007 & 2008: Buzzard, Ormen Lange, Sakhalin 2...could we be heading for oversupply and $10/bbl again?

I just remember the advice I got when I joined Schlumberger: make sure you've go 4 months salary saved and somewhere to live, as it's a cyclical industry and evenutally, SLB will crap on you...and never piss anyone off, as you may be asking them for a job at sometime!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

I don't think so, unless the automakers start producing hummbers that get 150 miles to the gallon....  There is a lot of room for growth in China and that is where the oil will be going for a while....

$40 a barrel, yeah, $10 a barrel, no I don't think so..

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

The oil price is dropping over the past few weeks. And the recent discovery of the oil field near Gulf of Mexicon. If the economy of US is getting bad, house's price is already decreasing in some areas, such as CA and NY. Unemployment later, and US people don't have money to buy stuff. Then, the chinese factory can't receive any orders from US. The demand of oil will drop quickly, but I don't think $10, at least $50

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

The recent discovery in the Gulf is at a really deep part of the waters. It will take a while to figure out how to bring it up. Until then, it is just potential.

Crude prices at $70 a barrel is really inflated (for the current times). Crude prices at $50 a barrel is still above the $30 per barrel from just a couple of years ago. The boom can't be sustained - hopefully, we have learned to control the bust, just like the feds are doing to control inflation.

In the mean time, who can name the most recent new refinery built in the USA (and I don't mean "expansions" to existing)?

Even if oil drops to $50 a barrel, I am guessing that gasoline (petro to you UK based guys) will still be expensive.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

There are a bunch of projects out there right now to expand refinery capacity, just about all the majors have something on the boards, and while they are technically expansions to existing plants, for the most part they are doubling plant throughput which is the same as building a new one.

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

sms, I agree with your statement. Expansion is the same as buidling a new one.

Still, when was the last "new" refinery built in the USA?

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

You make a lot more than that if you are only a High School grad working at the oil field in Canada  :)

RE: For all of you who are in the oil industry

The only new grass roote refinery built for about a generation anywhwere in the world is the Reliance Industries refinery in India.  The capacity of this refinery far exceeds the Indian market- it was was built to export products.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources