Salaries in the UK upstream oil and gas industry are on the rise, according to the latest salary survey released by SMCL, a specialty consulting firm based in the UK. Upstream salaries in the UK increased an average of 5.7% last year vs. 2000, the survey said. "However, there has been a very marked slowdown in the rate by which salaries are increasing at top-management level," the survey continued.
The best paid positions in the UK upstream oil and gas business last year were in business development, petroleum and reservoir engineering, geophysics, and legal, according to the report. The consultant went on to say that although the UK oil and gas industry is enjoying a period of high base salaries and employee benefits, there has been a drop off in performance-related bonuses.
Bonuses for CEOs, directors, and general managers averaged 13% of an individual's salary in the UK upstream oil and gas industry last year. For managers and senior professionals, the average bonus was 8.1%. "These are low compared with other industries, and with other parts of the energy industry-for example, in energy trading, performance bonuses average 47.4% for directors and general managers and 24.3% for senior professionals," SMCL said.
On average, increases in the sector have been for CEOs, directors, and general managers, up 6.4%; senior technical and commercial professionals, up 5.6%; and support staff, up 5.3%.
"Salary increases this year have been applied evenly across the functions, in contrast to last year, when increases were weighted in favor of oil and gas lawyers and, to a lesser extent, geologists and accountants," SMCL said.
For example, at manager level, SMCL said, the highest basic salaries are paid to business developers and petroleum economists, closely followed by petroleum engineers, geophysicists, and lawyers. At the level of senior professional, lawyers brought in the highest salaries, with business developers following a close second.
The survey has been released twice yearly since 1979 and is based on 25 oil and gas companies in the UK.
