Here Are the Best Oil Field Jobs in West Texas

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The Permian Basin region of Texas has seen phenomenal growth in recent years, buoyed by high oil prices. Oil companies in and around the cities of Midland and Odessa are actively seeking full-time employees to help keep up with America’s high demand for petroleum. To keep the oil and natural gas flowing, workers are needed in the field to man rigs, provide and deliver services and equipment, and make repairs. Given this high demand, companies are offering great pay, comprehensive benefits, and flexible schedules.

According to AOL Jobs, individuals with no higher education or oil industry experience can make up to $80,000 a year straight out of high school working full-time in the west Texas oil fields.

For those with no experience, being a roustabout, or general worker on an oil rig, can start you out at more than $50,000 a year – excellent pay straight out of high school! Those with experience can become a derrick hand and make closer to $70,000 a year. The work is tough and physically demanding, but work experience is rewarded with pay raises and perks.

Those who have time to seek some certifications, such as at a community college or trade school, can make lucrative pay as a truck driver or welder. Commercial driver’s licenses, or CDLs, are in high demand in west Texas. In the area, community colleges like Midland College and Odessa College allow individuals to get certified to drive the trucks that supply the oil fields. Oil company truck drivers can make well over $50,000 per year in west Texas, plus full benefits, and demand is high. Both MC and OC offer certifications in welding as well. Welders are similarly in high demand and, in exchange for the hot and challenging conditions, can make more than $100,000 per year.

For those who are pursuing a college degree, petroleum engineers, drilling engineers, and geologists make great pay in the oil field. These individuals, who can study close to the action at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) in Odessa or Texas Tech University in Lubbock, can make close to $100,000 per year straight out of college. While engineers help design, build, and operate oil rigs, geologists search for the petroleum itself. Both UTPB and TTU offer geology as well as engineering degrees.

Those who may not be as interested in field work but still have an interest in the petroleum industry can find lucrative pay as accountants or office workers, including IT (information technology) personnel. Accountants can make close to $70,000 annually, or more with experience, in the west Texas oil industry. With oil leases and revenue from various types of petroleum being complicated to tabulate, not to mention keeping on top of applicable taxes, accountants are in high demand.