T&T oil workers among world’s best paidPublished: Thursday, February 28, 2013
T&T is the world's third most lucrative country for oil and gas workers, according to a survey published by US business magazine Forbes. In its February 11 issue Forbes published a survey by human resource consultants Hays that said the average pay for an oil and gas worker in T&T is US$169,000 per year.
T&T is third behind Australia (number 1) and the Philippines (2), but by only US$2,000 and US$1,000 respectively.
According to the survey published in Forbes, in Australia, the average annual pay is US$171,000 and in the Philippines, US$170,000. "The oil and gas industry has been a true bright spot amid the economic downturn," the article said. "Regions with rampant drilling like south Texas and North Dakota have among the lowest unemployment rates in the (US) nation."
In Dickinson, North Dakota workers at McDonald’s can get a US$300 signing bonus and wages of US$15 or more an hour, Forbes said. There is also a booming business in building “man camps” to "house all the roughnecks needed to drill wells in the Bakken or Eagle Ford shale," the magazine said. "Those guys (and they are almost always guys) up in North Dakota brave frigid temperatures to bore holes in the ground. Since 2008 North Dakota has surpassed Oklahoma, California and Alaska to become the second-biggest oil-producing state in the (US) nation after Texas, with production upwards of 700,000 barrels per day."
T&T's average production in 2012 was 82,000 barrels of oil per day, down from 92,000 barrels per day in 2011. The average in 2005, when T&T's oil production began its descent, was 144,000 barrels per day.
"Thanks to all this labour demand, the average pay for an oil and gas worker in the United States has climbed to US$124,000, according to Hays, the global headhunting and recruiting consultancy. Hays has released its new survey of worldwide pay trends in the oil and gas sector, finding that the average base salary of oil industry workers climbed 8.5 per cent last year, and 14 per cent over two years to US$87,000," Forbes said.
As good as the pay is in the US, however, skilled oilfield workers can make much more overseas where the labour pool is tighter, Forbes said. "The hottest spot for oil and gas workers is Australia, where the global supermajors like Chevron and Shell are in the process of building more than US$150 billion worth of projects to export liquefied natural gas," Forbes said.
The author of the article, Houston-based Forbes staff writer Christopher Helman said: "I’m told that the shortage of welders in northwestern Australia is so severe that an experienced metal worker can make well over US$250,000 a year. Labour inflation has tacked on billions of dollars to the pricetag of the biggest LNG project there, the US$52 billion Gorgon project operated by Chevron."
According to Hays, one of the spots where workers are compensated the most in “danger money and hardship allowance” is off the iceberg-strewn arctic coast of Russia, where companies like Rosneft and ExxonMobil are starting to explore for untapped hordes of oil and gas.
"The United States ranks just 21st in oil and gas pay. This time of year when the icy winds sweep across North Dakota, there’s bound to be plenty of roughnecks thinking they might enjoy a few years of higher pay and warmer temperatures in the likes of Mexico, Malaysia or even Papua New Guinea," Helman wrote.
Oil and gas employment goes up and down with commodity prices, "but according to the hundreds of employers who contributed to the Hays survey, 37 per cent say that skills shortages remain a real concern. That’s good news for Hays, which says that its 7,800 worldwide consultants placed 55,000 permanent workers last year and 182,000 in temporary assignments," Helman wrote.
The following is the ranking of the 21 most lucrative countries for oil and gas workers:
1. Australia – US$171,000
2. Philippines – US$170,000
3. Trinidad & Tobago – US$169,000
4. China – US$161,000
5. Russia – US$151,000
6. Denmark – US$149,000
7. Indonesia – US$146,000
8. Papua New Guinea – US$146,000
9. South Korea – US$142,000
10. Thailand – US$142,000
http://guardian.co.tt/business-guardian ... -best-paid
^Alright.
