Top 5 Best Jobs in the Oil and Gas Industry

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The oil and gas industry is booming and there are plenty of career opportunities awaiting intelligent and motivated individuals who want to be a part of the future of energy. Here are the top 5 entry-level positions in the oil and gas industry.

Field Service Technician

This entry-level position comes with a starting salary of about $42,000 per year, and opens up a career path in the lucrative oil and gas industry. What does a field service technician do? It’s pretty simple, really: all those drills, wells and heavy equipment need to be inspected, repaired and maintained to keep the oil flowing, and that’s the job for a field service technician. There’s usually no experience necessary, and field service techs can expect to learn everything they need to know on-the-job. Fast learners and hard workers make great field service technicians.

Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical engineers design, develop, build and test mechanical devices. New techniques for getting oil out of the ground don’t mean much without mechanical engineers to design and improve the technology to get the job done. This is a position that’s in high demand across the industry, and the success or failure of an oil company often rides on the skill and intelligence of its mechanical engineers. Average salaries are around $80,000 per year, although a Bachelor’s degree is a standard requirement for all entry-level positions.

Process Engineer

A process engineer’s job description is straightforward, but the job itself is complex, challenging and absolutely essential to the future of the oil and gas industry. Process engineers design and optimize systems to extract, purify and store oil and gas. It is the job of the process engineer to ensure that oil and gas facilities are as efficient as possible, a job requires a lot of calculations and simulations before action can be taken to improve a system’s performance. The job is very mentally demanding, but entry-level process engineers in the oil and gas industry can expect to make about $50,000 per year.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Inspectors

Quality assurance or quality control inspectors are responsible for monitoring drilling sites to ensure that no damage is done to the local environment or property owners. It’s their job to ensure that public safety and public health are protected during drilling operations for oil and gas. QA/QC inspectors may be assigned to a single site or may travel from one operation to another making environment impact assessments, safety reports and other studies. The average salary for a QC inspector is about $40,000 per year.

Geologist/Geoscientist

When it comes to the future growth and prosperity of the oil and gas industry, geologists lead the way. Simply put, it’s the job of a geologist to find out where new oil and gas deposits might be lurking. It’s a job that requires at least a Bachelor’s degree in geology (with an emphasis on oil and gas) and a lot of reading, researching and traveling. The average salary for geologists or geoscientists in the oil and gas industry is a robust $100,000.