Top 15 Best Paying Jobs in Oil and Gas Production (Updated 2023)
The oil and gas production industries are some of the most important businesses in the global economy. And while there has been a bit of a downturn for these businesses over the last two or three years, the future is just as bright as it’s ever been – and that’s why it’s worthwhile to look into the top 15 best paying jobs in oil; gas production.
In this industry, you’ll find plenty of opportunities in both the “white collar” and “blue-collar” sectors. Some of the jobs in this industry require advanced degrees and professional certifications, and others are open to pretty much anyone and everyone willing to work hard and learn on the job.
What is a Job in the Oil and Gas Production Industry?
The oil and gas production industry employs millions of people in the United States alone, accounting for right around 5.6% of all US employment.
This is a big field, with lots of diverse career opportunities, and plenty of lucrative jobs that can grow into careers for those serious about becoming successful here.
Jobs include everything from working hands on in the oil and gas production process to building infrastructure, managing and supporting logistics, leading teams and companies, and everything in between.
The odds are pretty good that you’ll have an easy time finding a career extra perfect for you, your goals, and your skills (not to mention your desired income) in the oil and gas production industry.
Are Oil and Gas Production Jobs a Good Career Path?
The future is incredibly bright for the top 15 best paying jobs in oil; gas production.
These industries are cornerstone industries for every nation and every economy around the world. Oil and gas are responsible for so much of our energy production, but the demand for these products goes far beyond that, too.
If you get a chance, Google “what kind of products are made from petroleum” just to get an idea of how many things in our day-to-day lives are made possible by the oil and gas production business.
As long as people need these raw materials there’s going to be work in these fields.
Top 15 Best Paying Jobs in Oil And Gas Production
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1. Account Management Executive
Median Salary – $76,580
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 8% Over 10 Years
While account management executives usually have at least a bachelor’s degree (sometimes even more education), there are certainly openings in this oil and gas career field for folks with a high school diploma or the equivalent.
Account management executives are going to be responsible for developing, purchasing, and maintaining gas and oil company-client relationships. These kinds of professionals are almost always very charismatic, very “people friendly”, and have a way of putting clients at ease – particularly during sometimes stressful situations.
A lot of the same skills that make salespeople successful will help to make account management executives successful as well. It doesn’t hurt that this job pays so well, either.
2. Chemical Engineer
Median Salary – $105,550
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 9% Over 10 Years
Almost all of the oil and gas production industry revolves around engineers, especially chemical engineers that can test and evaluate the potential for new oil and gas finds (amongst other things).
A chemical engineer is an essential position in any oil and gas production facility. They work hand-in-hand with engineers and scientists across the business to make sure that raw materials are being sourced safely and efficiently, that the raw materials being sourced are valuable and useful, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Sometimes chemical engineers even handle the bulk of the heavy lifting in designing safe storage solutions, transportation solutions, and things of that nature. These experts often have advanced engineering degrees on top of their bachelor’s degrees.
3. Construction Manager
Median Salary – $98,890
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 11% Over 10 Years
Gas and oil can be found pretty much anywhere, but more often than not these critical resources are discovered a decent stretch away from the infrastructure needed to source, secure, refine, produce, and transport the resources themselves.
Construction managers work with teams of carpenters and tradesmen to build the infrastructure necessary to handle all of the oil and gas responsibilities of these facilities. These experts frequently work hand-in-hand with project managers and company management to keep things running smoothly.
On top of all of that, construction managers also regularly inspect these sites to find areas that need preventative maintenance, critical repairs, and necessary upgrades and overhauls to oil and gas production equipment.
A bit of a hybrid between white-collar and blue-collar work, a bachelor’s degree is usually needed to land a construction management job. Sometimes, though, exceptional construction workers and foremen get promoted to this position.
4. Crude Oil Transport
Median Salary – $56,111
Education – High School or Equivalent
Projected Growth – 11% Over 10 Years
Once all of that oil and gas is pulled from the ground and moved through the production and refinement process it needs to be transported to its ultimate destination.
These materials are pretty volatile, often unsafe for regular transportation methods, and require special equipment to be moved in the first place. Crude oil drivers work to transport oil to different facilities, almost always using semi-trucks and tractor-trailers to haul oil clear across the country.
One of the best things about this job is that it is truly open to anyone and everyone interested in getting started. A high school degree (or the equivalent) is often recommended, but anyone that passes a CDL test (and gets hazmat certified) will be able to get behind the wheel of these rigs and start making some serious money right out of the gate.
5. Drilling Engineer
Median Salary – $82,020
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 10% Over 10 Years
Absolutely nothing can be done in the world of oil and gas until these natural resources are pulled out of the ground, and that always involves very sophisticated drilling operations. Sometimes these drilling operations are located on land, sometimes they are located out in the ocean – but they are always complex systems that need to be designed and constructed with the help of drilling engineers.
Your drilling engineer positions are going to be responsible for managing and executing every single aspect of the drilling process, from the initial phase of design of these drilling systems through the actual drilling itself.
Most of the time these jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree, and often need a state-issued certification to do this kind of work in the state where the drilling is going to take place.
6. Gas Plant Operator
Median Salary – $51, 925
Education – High School or Equivalent
Projected Growth – 3% Over 10 Years
Becoming a gas plant operator is a great job for folks looking to get into the oil and gas production industry without having a lot of formal education beyond high school or a high school degree equivalency program.
Gas operators are on the hook for maintaining the process necessary to generate and distribute gas for utility companies. Often this means maintaining compressors that keep the pressure on the pipelines flowing gas even and running smooth.
Sometimes gas operators are also going to be charged with running control boards, monitoring semi-automatic distribution equipment, and things of that nature.
This is a pretty high-paying job in the oil and gas field with plenty of room for promotions and pay bumps.
7. HR Staff
Median Salary – $66,007
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 8% Over 10 Years
Every company of substantial size (which most oil and gas companies eventually become) is going to want to have a Human Resources department – and that means staffing it with HR employees.
HR employees work to protect oil and gas companies, boost relationships between management and employees, and handle any grievances that may come up in the workplace. It’s not at all uncommon for these kinds of employees to also handle the hiring and termination components of the job, training people up, and implementing new systems that help oil and gas businesses work more efficiently.
8. Lease Purchase Operator
Median Salary – $113,426
Education – High School or Equivalent
Projected Growth – 4% Over 10 Years
Lease operators work with a number of other oil and gas industry positions to make sure that natural resources are transported to and from different drilling sites as well as processing plants – and that all the equipment necessary to move these resources are up to the task at hand.
This means that lease operators inspect delivery vehicles for any damage, wear and tear, or potential compromises that may necessitate their replacement and the new lease of those replacements.
Lease operators are also going to be on the lookout for the same kind of damage, wear and tear, or potential compromises from any equipment used in the drilling or production of these resources – and then handling the lease or purchase of that new equipment, too.
9. Oil and Gas Sales
Median Salary – $73,599
Education – High School
Projected Growth – 5% Over 10 Years
Some of the best paying jobs in the oil and gas business are on the sales side of things – which shouldn’t be all that surprising!
For one thing, the base pay for oil and gas sales is often pretty exceptional. These positions are very competitive and oil and gas companies are always looking to “poach” top salespeople from other companies to work their magic for them. This means base pay is almost always improving.
Secondly, oil and gas sales are always going to involve some pretty big dollar amounts and that means the commissions are going to be outsized. It’s not at all uncommon for even brand-new oil and gas salespeople to start making six figures (low to mid six figures) straight out of the gate.
10. Operation Director
Median Salary – $85,910
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 6% Over 10 Years
The operation director of any oil and gas production facility is responsible for almost every aspect of the actual operation. This includes, but is not limited to building the team doing the work at that site, budgeting, managing infrastructure and human resources, and so much more.
Almost all operation directors have at least a bachelor’s degree, often in the business administration field. These people need to be meticulous, detail-oriented, and exceptional communicators.
11. Petroleum Geologist
Median Salary – $83,680
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 7% Over 10 Years
Every gas and oil company under the sun is constantly on the hunt for more gas and more oil, and that’s going to fall squarely on the shoulders of the petroleum geologist.
Petroleum geologists use all available geological data and information to find new sites filled with oil and gas. On top of that, these experts recommend the best drilling methods to pull these resources from the ground depending on the geological “lay of the land”, so to speak.
12. Safety Director
Median Salary – $84,233
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 8% Over 10 Years
Because the sites for oil and gas production are so complex, filled to the brim with heavy machinery, and the materials so volatile every site has a safety director on hand – one of the top 15 best paying jobs in oil and gas production for sure.
Safety directors build out safety protocols for the production site, train employees on safety, and enforce rules to keep employees as safe as possible at all times. These directors are always on the lookout for new ways to do things better, safer, and to reduce the risk of injury or accidents just as much as they can.
13. Technical Director
Median Salary – $72,101
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 8% Over 10 Years
The technical director in the oil and gas world handles all of the supervision of drilling teams, project managers, construction managers, scientists, and engineers to strategically align the facility to be as efficient and as profitable as possible.
This is another of the top 15 best paying jobs in oil and gas production that requires keen attention to detail, laserlike focus, fantastic organizational skills, but also a bit of business savvy, people skills, and great communication.
14. Vessel Management
Median Salary – $71,645
Education – Bachelor’s Degree
Projected Growth – 7% Over 10 Years
Vessel managers handle everything that has to be taken care of regarding the vessels that take people and equipment (as well as oil and gas) to and from offshore drilling operations.
These managers train vessel crew members, supervise drilling expeditions, and always work hand-in-hand with safety inspectors to ensure that offshore drilling operations are running smoothly.
It’s not unusual for vessel managers to have a bachelor’s degree in nautical science, and many are starting to have degrees in fleet management training as well.
15. Well Tester
Median Salary – $44,527
Education – High School
Projected Growth – 8% Over 10 Years
While technology has certainly helped make the exploration and discovery of profitable oil and gas wells a whole lot easier, at the end of the day well testers still need to be brought in to evaluate and assess the potential of new wells.
Beyond that, though, well testers are also brought on to evaluate and assess the potential capabilities of new pipeline operations, production and transportation facilities, and sometimes even the refineries themselves.
This is a great job for those that want to build a career in oil and gas production without having to settle themselves with a ton of college loans. Anyone with a high school diploma or equivalent can get started in this career.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, there are an almost unlimited amount of opportunities amongst the top 15 best paying jobs in oil and gas production – careers that’ll suit any personality, any stack of skills, and any income goal level.
This is a huge industry (and only getting bigger) and is about as future proof as it gets. There’s always going to be demand in these careers, they are always going to be very well-paid, and the work is rewarding since you know you’re making a huge difference by supplying the world with a much needed resource.
FAQs
Can you find a good paying job in the oil and gas industry without going to college?
You sure can! Some of the best paying jobs in the oil and gas industry (blue-collar jobs, sales jobs, operator jobs, etc.) only require you to have a high school diploma, a hard work ethic, and a willingness to learn on the fly.
What are the biggest benefits of working in the oil and gas industry?
There are a bunch of big benefits you’ll enjoy working in the oil and gas industry, especially if you like to travel, if you like adventure, and if you’re looking for a career that’ll challenge you physically and mentally every day of your working life.
What about the bigger drawbacks?
It’s not at all uncommon for oil and gas industry employees to work hard and long hours, often with a lot of backbreaking manual labor. There may be a lot of time spent away from family and the working conditions can be a little bit on the risky side of things. The pay and benefits almost always make up for these drawbacks, though.
