SPE Salary Survey

Society of Petroleum Engineer (SPE) recently released its annual salary survey for the Oil & Gas sector. I must say that I was delighted to find the result of the survey which is very promising and reassuring especially in this period of economic gloom! At a time when global giants are tumbling, people are being laid off in the thousands, the report findings are in stark contrast to the global economic slowdown. You can download the complete results here.

This survey was SPE’s second effort. Last year a similar survey was carried out among SPE members. This time around, the scale of respondents was higher and so was the diversity in their demography. Unlike last year, more than half of the respondents are working in countries other than the United States. In total, there were respondents representing 125 nations, working in 116 different countries around the world including a sizable number from North Sea/North Atlantic and Middle East regions.

A quick overview on the findings of the survey –

The average annual increase in base pay is reported as 8.1% overall. The work region with the highest increase is Australia/New Zealand, at 10.6%, while Canada is lowest with 7.3%.
This is great in comparison to other sectors where growth in the mid/high level is much less and in many cases, almost stagnant.

The United States, Australia/New Zealand, and North Sea/North Atlantic have the highest average pay in the industry while Southeast Asia being distinctly the lowest paid.

The average age of respondents is consistent around the globe – around 39 to 45 years.

If you’re looking to join this sector, here’s proof positive of the amount of money you can make. If you’re already in the business, you can do a quick benchmark against professionals in other geographies, disciplines and experience brackets.