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2019 Salary Survey Highlight Report PDF
2019 Salary Survey Highlight Report PDF
Participants in the 2019 SPE Membership Salary Survey represented 87 countries and 38 states in the United States. More than four-fifths (81.9%)
are citizens of the countries in which they work. Their employers’ headquarters are based in 78 countries. As in previous years, about half (48.8%)
of the reported respondents are based in countries outside of the United States. The percentage of female participants included in the report is
similar to previous years at 13.4% (13.4% in 2018; 13.7% in 2017; 13.7% in 2016).
Respondents were asked to provide their employment status, using the status that described them for the majority of 30 June 2018 to
30 June 2019. The majority (91.8%) of respondents indicated they are full-time, regular payroll employees. A small percentage of respondents
(5.3%) are contract, freelance, or part-time employees. The contract, freelance, or part-time segment has more than doubled in the last five years
(5.0% in 2018; 4.2% in 2017; 3.2% in 2016; 2.4% in 2015; 2.2% in 2014). This year, 2.3% identified as self-employed or business.
The composition of respondents by job function remains consistent year over year. One-fifth (20.9%) of participants in this year’s survey are
primarily engaged in Reservoir Engineering (21.9% in 2018; 21.4% in 2017; 19.5% in 2016). 15.1% reported a focus on Engineering – Other or
Combination (14.2% in 2018; 14.7% in 2017; 14.2% in 2016), and 11.2% are involved in Production Engineering (12.1% in 2018; 10.7% in 2017;
11.4% in 2016). Two new job function categories related to Digital Technology were added in 2019: Digital Technology (Hardware) - Automation,
Robotics, IIoT, Edge, AR/VR; Digital Technology (Software) - Data Science, Data Analytics, Digital Engineering. Only a few (0.1%) respondents are
involved in Digital Technology (Hardware), two percent of respondents (2.2%) are involved in Digital Technology (Software).
More than one-third (34.1%) of respondents work for an Independent Oil and Gas Company. Nearly one quarter (24.1%) are employed by a Service
or Manufacturing Company. One-fifth (20.1%) are employed by an Integrated Oil and Gas Company (up from 18.4% in 2018), and less than one-
tenth (6.4%) work for a National Oil and Gas Company. This year, 7.2% of members reported working for a consulting company.
Copyright © 2019 | Society of Petroleum Engineers | 222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org 2019 SPE Membership Salary Survey 1
General Findings
All compensation data presented in this Highlight Report is in US dollars (USD). Data was collected in local currencies and was converted to US
Dollars (USD) using the exchange rate as of 8 August 2019, which is the effective date of this year’s data.
For Figures 1-5, any table figures in bold text have 30 or more respondents and the data is more likely to be statistically significant.
Petroleum industry professionals reported an average total compensation of USD 197,619 in 2019. The past three years have seen gradual
increases in total compensation (USD 196,874 in 2018; USD 194,649 in 2017; USD 185,001 in 2016), but have yet to attain compensation levels
seen prior to 2016 (USD 206,020 in 2015; USD 214,328 in 2014).
The mean base pay reported in 2019 (USD 147,027) is lower than 2018 (USD 151,003) but similar to previously reported base pays (USD 151,122 in
2017; USD 143,006 in 2016; USD 153,492 in 2015). Other compensation (including bonuses) increased (USD 50,011) again in 2019, showing a four-
year trend of increases in other compensation (USD 45,872 in 2018; USD 43,712 in 2017; USD 41,995 in 2016), although not yet not meeting other
compensation seen prior to 2016 (USD 52,931 in 2015 and USD 57,889 in 2014).
In 2019, professionals receiving a car allowance stayed consistent with previous years at nearly one quarter, 23.5% (22.9% in 2018; 23.2% in 2017;
24.6% in 2016; 26.3% in 2015).
The average age of professionals in the survey was 43 years old, which remained the same as the prior eight years. However, this demographic
varied by gender. Males’ age was above the average at 44, and females’ age was below the average at 38.
The amount of experience professionals have in the oil and gas industry has remained consistent with recent years, with the average at 19 years.
Experience varied by gender with male professionals having more experience than females. The average years of experience in 2019 is 19.3 years
for males and 13.4 years for females.
The number of professionals who reported an education level higher than a bachelor’s degree was 46.9%, continuing a steady upward trend seen
since 2016 (45.5% in 2018; 44.2% in 2017; 43.8% in 2016).
Copyright © 2019 | Society of Petroleum Engineers | 222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org 2019 SPE Membership Salary Survey 2
Figure 1
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Figure 2
$250,000
$75,789
$200,000
$50,811 $29,230
$150,000 $35,085 $25,540
$43,037
$26,676
$182,455
$32,606
$155,263
$100,000 $27,205
$147,027
$136,127
$18,055
$131,784
$117,603
$114,545
$13,663
$100,197
$89,459
$84,094
$70,845
$50,000
$0
Total United Africa Oceania, Canada Middle North Sea Northern South South, Southeast
States Australia, East and North and America, Central, Asia
and New Atlantic Central Caribbean, and
Zealand Asia and Eastern
Mexico Europe
Average Base (USD) Average Other Compensation (USD)
Copyright © 2019 | Society of Petroleum Engineers | 222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org 2019 SPE Membership Salary Survey 4
Figure 3
Since 2016, Professional/Individual Contributor compensation has risen slightly (5.8%), and to a small degree (2.0%), Manager/Director
compensation increased.
In contrast, Technician/Specialty/Support Staff compensation declined four percent since 2016. Since last year, there was a considerable decrease
(-17.5%) in the United States in Technician/Specialty/Support Staff compensation (USD 131,998 in 2019 compared to USD 160,000 in 2018).
South,
Oceania, Northern South Percent
North Sea Central,
United Australia, Middle and America, Southeast Change
Total Compensation by Job Africa Canada and North and Global
States and New East Central Caribbean, Asia from
Category and Work Region (n=120) (n=200) Atlantic Eastern Mean
(n=1,342) Zealand (n=146) Asia and Mexico (n=186) 2016 to
(n=335) Europe
(n=108) (n=84) (n=158) 2019
(n=117)
Executive/Top Management $533,825 $347,631 $254,902 $196,461 $246,253 $232,865 $141,101 $327,822 $687,946 $135,710 $426,509 27.7%
Manager/Director $290,779 $250,778 $226,117 $198,805 $222,633 $189,284 $218,805 $131,058 $207,635 $216,984 $245,426 2.0%
Supervisor/Superintendent/Lead $237,746 $176,438 $181,749 $141,354 $144,987 $170,473 $78,462 $89,170 $129,104 $107,954 $174,077 -2.2%
Professional/Individual
$203,478 $85,388 $167,777 $118,348 $149,568 $138,179 $61,157 $67,324 $97,629 $88,497 $160,339 5.8%
Contributor
Technician/Specialist/Support
$131,998 $58,393 $123,669 $151,271 $170,419 $107,855 $30,285 $39,024 $57,891 $33,377 $99,373 -4.0%
Staff
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Figure 4
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Figure 5
For overall Professional/Individual Contributor respondents, there was an increase of 5.8% in total compensation since 2016. Male
Professional/Individual Contributor total compensation increased 6.1% on average, while females Professional/Individual Contributor total
compensation only gained a 0.4% increase on average. Manager/Director total compensation increased two percent overall since 2016, but male
compensation grew by 2.7% while females grew by 1.9%.
Average Base
$230,161 $146,491 $120,239 $104,350 $115,174 $250,497 $183,415 $140,172 $131,339 $80,737
Pay (USD)
Average Other
Compensation $151,249 $51,213 $16,629 $25,154 $11,510 $182,851 $67,403 $37,887 $35,513 $9,528
(USD)
Average Total
Compensation $381,410 $197,704 $136,868 $129,393 $126,684 $433,348 $250,818 $178,059 $166,852 $90,265
(USD)
Percent Change
from 2016 to 103.8% 1.9% -0.3% 0.4% 22.6% 26.5% 2.7% -3.2% 6.1% -13.0%
2019
Copyright © 2019 | Society of Petroleum Engineers | 222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org 2019 SPE Membership Salary Survey 7
Figure 6
Females continue to report improvements in base pay year over year (67.4% in 2019, 65% in 2018, 57.2% in 2017, and 41.4% in 2016). Males
showed similar increases as those reported in 2018 (63.8% in 2019, 64% in 2018, 48.3% in 2017, and 35.0% in 2016).
50%
40%
32.3% Male
29.7%
30% Female
20%
10%
3.9% 2.9%
0%
Increase No change Decrease
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Figure 7
Respondents in Northern and Central Asia indicated sizable increases in base pay in 2019 compared to 2018 (63.1% in 2019; 47.2% in 2018). North
Sea and Northern Atlantic and South, Central, and Eastern Europe regions also experienced increases in base pay in 2019 (up 10-11%).
68.9% 69.9%
63.1% 63.3% 64.5%
61.1%
59.2%
56.0%
49.3%
48.0% 49.4%
39.5% 40.5%
36.7% 35.0%
34.3%
32.1% 31.2%
28.2% 26.6%
10.1%
4.2% 4.6% 4.5% 3.6% 4.8% 4.3%
3.0% 2.7% 1.7%
United States Africa Oceania, Canada Middle East North Sea and Northern and South America, South, Central, Southeast Asia
Australia, and North Atlantic Central Asia Caribbean, and and Eastern
New Zealand Mexico Europe
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Figure 8
Of those who had decreased base pay, the average decrease in 2019 was -19.0%, which is considerably less substantial than the -27.7% average
decrease in 2018.
30%
20%
29.1% 32.3%
10% 18.0%
11.6% 10.5% 8.4%
6.5% 5.1% 5.7% 6.4%
0%
-9.3% -9.0%
-13.1%
-10% -18.4% -16.9%
-23.5% -21.8% -20.8%
-24.9%
-32.1%
-20%
-30%
-40%
United Africa Oceania, Canada Middle East North Sea Northern South South, Southeast
States Australia, and North and Central America, Central, and Asia
and New Atlantic Asia Caribbean, Eastern
Zealand and Mexico Europe
Decrease Increase
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How to Learn More
This report represents a sample of current compensation in the industry. This report is available at www.spe.org/industry/oil-and-gas-salary-
survey. A detailed summary report containing charts and descriptive statistics of trends and more information on the jobs, geographies, and
employer types will be available through the SPE Bookstore at http://store.spe.org/ in November 2019.
SPE will make the detailed PDF summary report available to download through the SPE Bookstore at a USD 50 member price and USD 125
nonmember price.
A file containing the raw data from the survey responses will be available for download through the bookstore to provide the opportunity for
individual analysis and localization of data. Pricing for access to data for analysis will be USD 225 for SPE members and USD 425 for nonmembers,
also available in November 2019. The data file comes bundled with the detailed summary report.
Inquiries regarding purchase may be addressed through the SPE Bookstore website. Other questions regarding the survey can be addressed to
speresearch@spe.org.
Thank you for your interest in this important project and your continued support of SPE.
Copyright © 2019 | Society of Petroleum Engineers | 222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org 2019 SPE Membership Salary Survey 11