MouthBQ98 said:

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O&G pays very well...when you are employed. The problem is the cyclical nature. It does well, you do well. It sucks, you get laid off.

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Independent landman is different than you are discussing as it's not in-house, but has much in common with what you describe. When it's good it's very good, but when it's bad it's terrible. I had been through four "valleys" and (very) luckily retired before the last one -- which has never really come back and bids fair not to. The landman's prayer was, "Lord, let there be one more boom. I'll save some money next time". There might not be a next time for independents.

I am a PETE with 10+ years of experience. As others have said there are pros and cons of the industry. Am I well paid? Yes, I think so. I am just an engineer, not in management, and I would think my total comp is probably in line with people my age at big law firms (maybe unless they skyrocketed through a partner track), and my path started with just an undergrad degree, no expensive grad school that delayed my earnings.

Downsides, as some have said: cyclical industry which could crater at any time, long term prospects are meh at best, high degree of displacement/relocation, and school was very challenging.

I can't speak for other disciplines. My hunch would be that O&G companies pay similar salaries to other industries, but offer better benefits and other types of non-salary compensation. Stock grants, stock options, stock purchase discounts, and employer contributions to 401k amd HSA make up over 1/3 of my compensation, and this is probably the norm for the industry.

My experience as a 10 yr PETE is similar. Salary has always been good but not "that much better". My impression has been that salary has been just a bit above what my engineering peers in other industries were making. What really made the difference was moving from a super major to a small cap independent. Salary moved a little but target bonus went from 10% of base to 65% of base.

It seems to me that the pay follows general risk/reward trends of all things. O&G is in general riskier than some other industries so is in general paid better, but a start up tech firm is riskier than an individual contributor position at BP so in that case the tech firm likely pays better so compensate for the risk. So it follows that small company in O&G would be towards the top of the pay scale, because there is basically no job security ever.

BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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My experience as a 10 yr PETE is similar. Salary has always been good but not "that much better". My impression has been that salary has been just a bit above what my engineering peers in other industries were making. What really made the difference was moving from a super major to a small cap independent. Salary moved a little but target bonus went from 10% of base to 65% of base.

It seems to me that the pay follows general risk/reward trends of all things. O&G is in general riskier than some other industries so is in general paid better, but a start up tech firm is riskier than an individual contributor position at BP so in that case the tech firm likely pays better so compensate for the risk. So it follows that small company in O&G would be towards the top of the pay scale, because there is basically no job security ever.

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Username checks out.

I think o&g pays well, but not as well as most people think. I hear a lot negativity from other people about oilfield workers thinking they make tons of money and just blow it. That might be true for some but most of the oilfield workers I used to hire in North Dakota and West Texas were making $28-33/hour and supporting their wife and kids. Decent money, but far from "rich."

I remember hiring lower level IC office folks with a few years experience outside of the industry, their offers were around $65-80k base. They were completely shocked that we didnt offer them $150k because they thought everyone made $150k-200k+ in a big oil company lol.

All I know is my 70+ year old father has been in O&G his entire career (minus a few years in the Army), he's happily retired but could get a job tomorrow if he wanted to work, even if part time. I don't know another industry that would hire someone at that age and pay them so tells you a lot about the lack of young talent / experience.

ea1060 said:

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I think o&g pays well, but not as well as most people think. I hear a lot negativity from other people about oilfield workers thinking they make tons of money and just blow it. That might be true for some but most of the oilfield workers I used to hire in North Dakota and West Texas were making $28-33/hour and supporting their wife and kids . Decent money, but far from "rich."

I remember hiring lower level IC office folks with a few years experience outside of the industry, their offers were around $65-80k base. They were completely shocked that we didnt offer them $150k because they thought everyone made $150k-200k+ in a big oil company lol.

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Might not make someone rich, and I don't really have a standard for what a good hourly wage is these days, but $30/hr seems pretty solid for a blue collar job that requires no formal education.

Agreed, with the exception of inclement weather I've never worked fewer than 80 hours a week. So those same 30$ an hour workers are also getting an additional 40 hours a week at time and half

Scotts Tot said:

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ea1060 said:

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I think o&g pays well, but not as well as most people think. I hear a lot negativity from other people about oilfield workers thinking they make tons of money and just blow it. That might be true for some but most of the oilfield workers I used to hire in North Dakota and West Texas were making $28-33/hour and supporting their wife and kids . Decent money, but far from "rich."

I remember hiring lower level IC office folks with a few years experience outside of the industry, their offers were around $65-80k base. They were completely shocked that we didnt offer them $150k because they thought everyone made $150k-200k+ in a big oil company lol.

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Might not make someone rich, and I don't really have a standard for what a good hourly wage is these days, but $30/hr seems pretty solid for a blue collar job that requires no formal education.

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A lot of workers these days have 2 year degrees in an oilfield related program. ND and West Texas have several schools that have excellent programs. I agree $30/hour is solid pay, but its the equivalent to $60k/year which is far from the rich oilfield workers that everyone seems to stereotype.

I convinced a loosely connected friend to work for me in 2018. I said pay is 14 per hour and 16 per hour when in the field. He was concerned that 28-30k per year was worse than what he made at the time. I promised him that if he made less than 30k i would give him 500 for his troubles. Three weeks later he was working for me in Mexico 84 hours per week and then Norway after that 84 hours per week.


The first 52 months he worked for me grossed 75k. He was never home, but as a single 28 year old he loved it.



Now he makes 22/hour and grossing near 90k before per diems.

Good point about per diem. That and 57 cents a mile adds up in a hurry.

I'm on the service side of the industry and my base pay is nothing to brag about but my total compensation (i.e. housing allowance, bonus, 401(k) match, etc) puts my income in the 90+ percentile for an individual in Houston. A colleague of mine just left for an operator and her total compensation is close to the 98th percentile for an individual.

Which I know sounds amazing but the reality is the industry is very feast or famine. I grew up in an oil and gas family so I've been through the downturns and currently live way below my means as I plan for early retirement.

I think something worth clarifying is what people call "O&G." Last summer I switched from completions to refined products. I'm sitting in my office at a refined products terminal right now. These people call this "oil and gas" and I guess it is but it's a long, long way from the start up frac company I left to come here. A few people here have asked me what it's like to work for a "real oilfield" company so at least some of them know it's a different world.

Just saw on a newsletter recently where multiple people were retiring after 40+ years. That's not typical of "O&G" but it is here.

The commercial/trading side is pretty lucrative. Profit share/% of book/% of margin/ BD deals done / asset optimization bonuses, as well as a better bonus structure / equity in front office compared to back office. This goes for trade shops and upstream/midstream commercial.

Ok actual numbers in Houston area
Coworker at major refinery w 25 yr experience EE total comp $190k, Inc, 8% 401k, 6% pension, 15k for benefits, 10 to 20% bonus
5 yr exp ME at Braskem $75k 4% 401k, no pension, no benefit $, 5k bonus
5 yr experience instrument tech at Oneok, $35/hr, 4% 401k, ? % Pension, no benefit $, 2k bonus
My neighbor w 15 yr experience ExxonMobil operator made $220k working a project (base +OT) plus 7% 401K, ? % pension, no benefit $, 20k bonus

My self and all my neighbors work petrochem and house values are 450 to 700k.

A Coworker operator retired at 55 making 190k total compensation with 30 yrs, over 2.5 mil in stock plus 1 mil pension.
He will only pay 20% of premium for excellent Healthcare in retirement.

Construction Contractors - I see these costs in the project plans. all are non degreed except 2yr instrument.

Scaffold builders, insulators, painters (almost all are illegals) 18 to 25 / hr, Foreman 28, pretty much will work 20 to 40 OT at 1.5 per week.

Below get 1.5 x OT, 4% 401k plus paid holidays. 10 to 30 hrs OT.
Pipe fitter/ boilermaker 30 to 35.
Journeyman electrician 35 Foreman 40
Instrument Tech 42

That sounds awful.

The sweet spot in O&G is non-technical, commercial/business development type roles. Mid-level management roles with $150-200k salaries and 50-80% bonus structure, in addition to great benefits.

Win At Life said:

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jeromePOWell said:

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Was attending UT's graduation this weekend (bad ag alert did my MBA at UT!!!), I was surprised when they announced the Geoscience school only like 9 people stood up. Obviously that's a bit niche and misses PE, Mech Eng, Etc. under the engineering college, but I have to say if I was in UG I would not stay in something super oriented towards O&G

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I know a lady (quite attractive BTW) who just graduated as a PETE from UT and got no offers in the industry. But she got an offer from an investment bank type outfit in NYC and took it. I don't know her exact grade point, but she was probably not top-notch. Also, don't know what salary she got in NYC. Just one data point (actually 1/2 data point).

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The thing is if you got an engineering degree from a good school, are attractive, and can talk to people then you're set if you go to finance. If you're analytical and can sell yourself you can learn any industry

Mediocre GPA Engineer with personality >>>> 4.0 engineer with zero people skills