Petroleum Engineering Pay
Petroleum Engineering mainly deals with the activities of finding, extracting and producing hydrocarbons like gas and oil. Petroleum Engineers are responsible for overseeing the extraction process and perform studies to optimize the production in the most cost-effective way. They will be required to perform simulation studies and offer technical advice in the drilling process. Being key members in the extraction process, Petroleum Engineering Pay is very lucrative, especially in times when the World Petroleum Prices are at a high.
The latest survey in 2010 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers showed that fresh graduates in Petroleum Engineering are getting a Pay which is the highest among graduates. The average annual salary of these graduates was recorded to be $86,220. This happens to be the salary of an inexperienced graduate and for experienced engineers it is much higher as we will see later. It has also been seen for the past 5 years that the job placements for the petroleum engineers have been almost 100% from university campuses.
Petroleum Engineering Pay will also depend on the type of engineer one is. There are reservoir engineers who are responsible for the optimization of production of oil and gas and implementing better techniques for recovery. Next are the drilling engineers who are responsible for the technical details involved in drilling for exploration and production. Production engineers are involved in managing the interaction between the well and the reservoir. They have to control and monitor various processes and equipments that are directly involved in the production of gas and oil. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics which is part of US Department of Labor, the median salary is $98, 380 among Petroleum Engineers. Starting salaries according to bureau was known to be $60,718.
Petroleum Engineering Pay also depends on the years of experience. A worldwide survey conducted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 2007 put the average salary of the petroleum engineer at $122,458. Apart from the salary these engineers also receive bonuses, car allowances, housing allowance and retirement benefits. If you take into account all these then the Petroleum Engineering Pay will work out to be much more.
Petroleum Engineering Pay is also affected by the demand and supply trends as in any industry. When the oil prices are high and newer oil fields have been discovered the demand for these professionals will go up and so will their salaries.
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