The average salary for oil rig workers and oil field workers is $100,000 per year. Still, suppose you want to be in the higher bracket. In that case, it’s important to take note of the specific positions that may pay significantly better.
If you continue reading this article, you’ll understand what you can expect should you consider a life at sea.
There’s no denying that it can be a very lucrative business. If you choose to forego some of the advantages of working on the land, a payday may await. There is so much money to be made at sea.
Many oil rig workers’ salaries will pay more than $100,000 per year simply because of the vast amount of money moving hands in the oil industry. It makes these salaries possible.
Summary
On average, the best oil rig workers get paid between $47,000 if they’re pumpers to $96,000 if they’re employed as safety engineers. But because there is lots of money to be made from this industry, the wages can quickly reach 6 figures for some of the most skilled workers.
Here are a couple of examples of workers that are needed:
- Driller
- Drill operator
- Motorhand
- Tooling engineer
Suppose you are fine taking some time off. Working in a very remote location where you literally cannot get back to land when you want to doesn’t bother you. In that case, there is serious money to be made.
There is so much money to be made that the average salary back in 2011 was $99,000 for oil rig workers. The good news is that you can even make significantly more than that. If you seek out some of the more lucrative positions, there are ones to be found.
These jobs may pay significantly more when you are willing to do the job at sea instead of doing it on land. You can also work with exciting machineries, such as welding equipment and plasma cutters.
Maybe how much it pays to work on an oil rig is one of the things on your mind when you’re considering your career options. You should know that you won’t be disappointed with the salaries.
You can get an average of $235,000 as a drilling consultant. In contrast, the average salary for a reservoir engineer is $139,000 but goes as high as $184,000.
There’s no doubt that you are also sacrificing certain things when you choose this type of lifestyle. It surely is something that may be appealing to some, both earning a bunch of money while also being able to be out at sea.
There’s no denying that the need for drilling experts has increased. It is also becoming increasingly technical to do these jobs. The job may take you to exotic locations such as Brazil.
If you go on a site like Ziprecruiter, you’ll also see that the range may be relatively large. That 4% of oil rig jobs pay between $275,000 and $300,000. A rather fair amount of money to be on the water.
Types of an oil rig and field jobs
Maybe you want to become an oil rig welder. The average salaries range between $78,000 and $132,000 per year for a job that pays significantly less onshore.
While you may start at roughly $60,000 per year, you will quickly be working your way up to the nicer income brackets.
The average salary for an oil rig worker is roughly $75,000.
The average salary for an oil rig drilling engineer is somewhere between $113,000 and $139,000. It makes it a lucrative way to start your career and perhaps transfer onshore at a later point.
The good news is that you can get very well-paid entry-level oil field jobs. It may include a field technician or a petroleum specialist coming in at the entry level.
Both may offer great bonus packages. The reported average salary for entry-level oil rig workers is a staggering $57,000 per year.
Oil rig roustabouts have average annual salaries of $79,000 per year.
Are you planning on doing underwater welding? An average salary of $200,000 per year is typical for an experienced underwater oil rig welder who isn’t afraid of spending a bunch of time at sea.
They may start at $80,000, quickly climbing up to over $100,000 per year. Some are even making as much as $300,000 per year doing underwater welding.
A couple of different ship captains have reported that their average salaries are more than $200,000 per year. However, the salary will likely vastly depend on which company you work for.
Don’t mind putting in a lot of hard work and doing some cleaning duties, including cleaning the rig? Offshore. You will be paid handsomely for this type of work. Roughneck oil rig salaries average about $52,000 per year.
Petroleum geologists make an average of $93,000 to $123,000 per year. They are perhaps the highest-paid type of geologist that you can find.
Crane operators on oil rigs make an average of $68,000 in salary per year.
Mud engineers on oil rigs make more than the average worker on an oil rig as their average salaries are $110,000 per year. It goes as high as $159,000 per year.
Here’s an overview we’ve gathered from the information we could find.
| Types of oil rig jobs | Salary |
| Pumper | $47k |
| Pump technician | $48k |
| Oil rig mechanic | $60k |
| Crew chief | $60k |
| Drill operator | $61k |
| Driller | $61k |
| Chef | $63k |
| Floorhand | $63k |
| Derrickhand | $66k |
| Motorhand | $66k |
| Rig manager | $75k |
| Drilling engineer | $80k |
| Tooling engineer | $88k |
| Safety engineer | $96k |
Have you found out if any of these positions is something you’d be interested in?
- Crew chief
- Rig manager
- Safety engineer
