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29 March 2024

Dubai salaries make it the world’s best city for these professionals...

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

Dubai has emerged as the most desired work location in the world for oil and gas professionals, according to a new survey.

Nearly 8,000 oil and gas professionals responded to a survey by Rigzone, an online resource for oil and gas information, data and talent recruitment, and they put Dubai on top of their list of destinations where they’d like to earn 9and spend) their oil money.

Not only does Dubai offer a good lifestyle, the salaries in the sector have surged in the past year. “The year 2012 was a good year for many in the oil and gas sector with an increase in salaries, benefits and conditions. The same cannot be said for too many other industries, and it would not be stretching the truth to state that more wealth has been created in this industry than any other over the last 12 months,” said a statement by Hays recruitment, commenting on the global oil and gas industry.

“With nearly every country around the world striving to secure its own energy future, either through exploration, increased production or developing infrastructure, demand for the oil and gas professional, in all its guises, is most definitely on the up,” the company added.

According to www.payscale.com, an online salary, benefits and compensation information company, those with a bachelor’s degree in UAE can expect an annual average salary of between Dh129,308 and Dh309,343.

Those who hold a an engineering degree can earn even better. Bachelor of Engineering (BEng / BE), Mechanical Engineering (ME) holders can earn between Dh161,370 and Dh357,000 whereas those with Bachelor of Engineering (BEng / BE), Electrical Engineering (EE) can take home an annual amount of Dh175,732 and Dh343,124.

Employees who have earned a Bachelor of Science (BS / BSc), Mechanical Engineering (ME) can get a salary of anything in the range between Dh148,017 and Dh336,356.

Popular employers in the industry, as per payscale, offer varying salaries. For example, salaries of Baker Hughes Inc. is between Dh70,986 and Dh324,000; McDermott International, Inc. about Dh165,083 and Dh441,339; GASCO Dh120,000 and Dh240,000; Shell Oil Company Dh106,800 and Dh 540,000 and Weatherford International, Inc. Dh121,452 and Dh295,223. These figures are based on the findings of payscale and were last updated in April of this year.

Coming back to the most preferred cities for professionals in this industry, North America’s Calgary and Denver were the second and third most popular cities thanks to the work-life balances both cities provide.

Each are able to offer easy access to mountain and modern-city lifestyles while being close to major conventional and unconventional oil and gas reserves with a broad mix of majors and  independents located in each, the survey read.

Positions four through 10 on the list are dominated by Asia – with Singapore, Jakarta, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur ranking fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth respectively. Western European employment hubs in the sector such as Aberdeen or Stavanger – or fast growing Eastern European centres such as Baku, Azerbaijan, failed to make it onto the list. Egypt’s Cairo grabbed the tenth spot.

“Oil and gas professionals have always understood the potential for travel and foreign postings that this global industry offers. The decision now is not so much where in the world energy professionals wish to base their career, but how many locations will they choose during their careers,” said Paul Caplan, President of Rigzone.