UAE salaries: what are the most in-demand oil and gas jobs and how much do they pay?

With the global oil and gas industry requiring more than $600 billion of investment annually until 2030 to keep up with the growing need for energy, this will create demand for more jobs, according to recruitment experts. Currently, oil and gas companies are facing a skills shortage that requires immediate action. The industry has made technological advancements but efforts to upskill the ageing field workforce have lagged behind.

Industry Trends and Investment

“A lot of projects and investment within the oil and gas industry were put on hold for the past couple of years,” says Nikhil Nanda, operations manager at Innovations Group, a recruitment and staffing solutions company. “There will be a large investment within the industry in 2022 for maintenance projects, as well as new projects, which will result in a large number of jobs opening up.”

When the demand and supply shock began in the aftermath of Covid-19 last year, most oil and gas companies responded with large reductions in capital spending. This resulted in budget cutbacks on planned people and talent enhancements, a KPMG report said. Before the onset of Covid-19, oil and gas companies understood the need to upskill the existing workforce and recruit new employees as more field employees approached retirement.

Most In-Demand Roles

Regardless of the size of the oil and gas company, or whether it is upstream or downstream, the impact will be different on field staff than it is on employees who work in corporate offices. According to experts, field workers, technology experts, energy engineers, data-driven supply chain management professionals and strategic HR leaders are in demand.

Currently, the most in-demand roles in the UAE’s oil and gas industry are field jobs such as those of engineer, supervisor and operator. Jobs in demand also include those for the roles of project managers, senior reservoir engineers, senior drilling engineers, senior process engineers and senior maintenance engineers. All these roles are in various service lines such as well testing, coil tubing, wirelines and slicklines.

Salary and Experience Requirements

Recruitment experts provide specific details on what various professionals can expect to earn in the current market:

• Senior drilling engineers: Senior drilling engineers with 10 years’ experience and a bachelor’s degree are entitled to a monthly salary of Dh38,000 to Dh46,000, according to Hays.
• Field supervisors: Those with experience of six to 12 years can earn monthly salaries ranging from Dh9,000 to Dh12,000. These supervisors require experience in overseeing jobs in the field for specific service lines, have knowledge of reporting and other paperwork-related tasks, and have experience in managing crews and clients.
• Field engineers: Field engineers with experience of two to five years are paid a monthly salary of Dh6,500 to Dh7,500. They are required to have experience in specific service lines, tools and systems, as well as good client and stakeholder management skills and health, safety and environment (HSE) knowledge.
• Field operators: Field operators in the UAE with experience of two to five years are paid between Dh5,000 to Dh7,000 a month. They need to be experienced in operating equipment for specific service lines and have an ability to follow supervisors' instructions.

Additionally, Nikhil Nanda notes that “All the above roles where the crew is certified by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in that particular designation are also in demand.” These jobs are mostly advertised on the respective company’s career page online, on LinkedIn or job portals.