2020 SPE Membership

Salary Survey

Highlight Report — October 2020

SPE Research | speresearch@spe.org
 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey Highlight Report
In 2020, several changes were made to increase the usability of the annual SPE Membership Salary
Survey. The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) invited a random sample of 30,689 professional
members to participate in the annual SPE Membership Salary Survey on 8 July 2020. This year,
respondents were offered the choice between receiving a copy of the new SPE Salary Survey Executive
Summary Report or the 2019 top ten SPE papers in OnePetro®. The survey closed on 3 August 2020
with 1,724 complete and 231 partial responses, yielding a 6.4% survey response rate.

1,305 responses provided full-time valid compensation data, providing a 4.3% response rate and a
margin of error of ± 2.65% at a 95% confidence level.

This year engineers were asked what job title most closely aligned with their job. Additionally, this
year’s survey asked about overall years of work experience and oil & gas experience. The 2020 SPE
Salary Survey Executive Summary Report and 2020 SPE Salary Survey Full Report offer new analyses of
compensation by engineering title and overall work experience.

Respondents were asked to provide their employment status, using the status that described them for
the majority of 30 June 2019 to 30 June 2020. Almost all (95%) of respondents indicated they are
employed full-time. When asked to elaborate on their position 85% of respondents reported as
company employees. A small percentage of respondents (3%) are contract, freelance, or self-
employed. The contract, freelance, or self-employed segment has fallen for the first time in the past 6
years. This year, 4% of respondents self-reported their position as consultants.

Participants in the 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey represented 76 countries and 26 states in the
United States. Most (62%) respondents are based outside of the United States. More than three-
quarters (77%) are citizens of the countries in which they work. Their employers’ headquarters are
based in 73 countries. The percentage of female participants included in the report is like in previous
years at 15% (13% in 2019 and 2018).

More than one quarter (26%) of respondents work for an Independent Oil and Gas Company. Nearly
one-third (30%) are employed by a Service or Manufacturing Company. Almost one-fifth (18%) are
employed by an Integrated Oil and Gas Company, and less than one-tenth (9%) work for a National Oil
and Gas Company. This year, 6% of members reported working for a consulting company.

Copyright © 2020 | Society of Petroleum Engineers 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey 1
222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org
 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 3 August 2020,
which is the effective date of this year’s data.

Bolded metrics denote data present from 30 or more respondents.

SPE Professional Members reported average total compensation of USD 163,723 in 2020. This is the
lowest compensation recorded since at least 2014.

The mean base pay reported in 2020 (USD 127,053) is the lowest in recent years. Other compensation
(including bonuses) decreased in 2020 (USD 36,670) for the first time in the past five years,
interrupting a four-year trend of increases in other compensation.

In 2020, professionals receiving a car allowance stayed consistent with previous years at 25% (24% in
2019; 23% in 2018).

The average age of professionals in the survey is 42 years old, which remained the same as the prior
eight years. However, this demographic varied by gender. Males’ age is above the average at 43, and
females’ age is below the average at 37.

Experience levels among respondents averaged at 18 years of total work experience with 17 of those
years in the oil and gas industry. There is a sizeable gap in experience between men and women. The
average years of work experience was 19 years for males and 13 years for females.

The number of professionals who reported an education level higher than a bachelor’s degree is 48%,
continuing a steady upward trend seen since 2016.

Copyright © 2020 | Society of Petroleum Engineers 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey 2
222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org
 Table 1—Summary by Work Region
Middle East
Latin America North Russia and
Total Africa Asia Pacific Europe and North
  and Caribbean America Caspian
(n=1,305) (n=80) (n=155) (n=241) Africa
(n=83) (n=607) (n=34)
(n=105)
Base Pay
Mean $127,053 $61,832 $99,627 $110,218 $89,475 $119,540 $159,678 $57,346
Median $113,677 $26,563 $66,450 $97,438 $56,460 $100,046 $145,000 $28,936
Other Compensation
Mean $36,670 $14,335 $27,149 $25,792 $26,757 $28,422 $50,498 $12,527
Median $10,000 $3,682 $3,987 $4,690 $6,890 $5,333 $22,356 $2,690
Total Compensation
Mean $163,723 $76,167 $126,776 $136,010 $116,232 $147,961 $210,177 $69,873
Median $132,000 $34,150 $76,085 $109,780 $67,349 $124,437 $170,600 $35,266
% With Education
Beyond Bachelor's 48% 61% 46% 75% 55% 42% 35% 76%
Degree
Average Age 42 38 39 42 43 42 43 36
Average Years of
18 13 16 18 19 19 20 13
Experience
% Citizens of
77% 89% 76% 71% 76% 38% 86% 74%
Work Country
% With Car Allowance 25% 46% 27% 24% 21% 44% 19% 21%

Copyright © 2020 | Society of Petroleum Engineers 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey 3
222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org
 How to Learn More
SPE produces this annual salary survey to provide a reference for compensation in the oil and gas
industry. The report is based on a sample of self-reported information from petroleum industry
professionals.

This report provides a sample of the findings from the 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey. The 2020
SPE Salary Survey Executive Summary Report and 2020 SPE Salary Survey Full Report provides a more
detailed analysis of global oil & gas compensation, particularly for the various type of engineers in the
sector. Explore the additional reports and survey data available at www.spe.org/industry/oil-and-gas-
salary-survey.

Inquiries regarding the survey and suggestions for questions for next year’s survey may be addressed
to speresearch@spe.org.

Thank you for your interest in this important project and your continued support of SPE.

The SPE Research Team

speresearch@spe.org

Copyright © 2020 | Society of Petroleum Engineers 2020 SPE Membership Salary Survey 4
222 Palisades Creek Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080 USA | 1.800.456.6863 | www.spe.org