Oil and Gas Jobs, Salary
& Energy Staffing Agency

Petroleum engineers lead at a $144,910 median (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-2171), with the top 10% above $253,200; drilling and reservoir engineers both sit in that occupation. Petroleum pump system and refinery operators follow at $96,710, then rig managers and toolpushers at $79,920 (SOC 47-1011). On the rig floor, rotary drill operators earn $67,890 and derrickhands $58,620, well above what comparable entry work pays outside energy.

Rotary drill operators, derrickhands, production operators and pipeline technicians are the hardest field roles to fill, and experienced mud engineers and drilling engineers are scarce after successive downturns pushed people out of the sector. Demand concentrates in the Permian Basin, the Gulf Coast LNG corridor and the North Slope, and candidates who already hold OSHA, H2S and site-access credentials get badged in fastest.

No state licenses rig crews. Hiring is gated on safety credentials instead: OSHA 10 or OSHA 30, H2S awareness training to the ANSI/ASSP Z390.1 standard, and an operator-accepted site-access or rig-pass program before you can badge onto a location. Port and terminal work adds a TWIC card from TSA ($125.25 for a 5-year card). Welders on facilities work need AWS qualification, and engineers may hold a PE licence, though most do not need one.

BLS OEWS May 2025 puts roustabouts (SOC 47-5071), the occupation covering roughneck and floorhand work, at a $46,960 national median, ranging from $36,420 at the 10th percentile to $64,530 at the 90th. Derrick operators (SOC 47-5011) earn a $58,620 median, up to $81,800 at the 90th percentile, and Louisiana pays them the most in the country at $86,980. Rotation schedules and overtime typically push actual annual earnings above these base medians.

OSHA 10 and 30 cards are checked against DOL authorized trainer records, H2S and site-access training with the issuing provider, TWIC with TSA, AWS welding qualifications with the American Welding Society, and NCCER credentials through the NCCER registry. Where an engineer claims a PE licence, it is verified with the state engineering board. Nobody reaches an operator's shortlist on a self-reported card.

Oilfield labor brokers rent out hands by the hitch and keep them on the broker's payroll. GlobalCybers places permanent, full-time, direct-hire oil and gas professionals who join your payroll on day one, with every safety credential verified before delivery. Operators and service companies choose RPO at $2,999/month for up to 3 concurrent roles or a pay-on-hire agency model, both with a 90-day written replacement guarantee.

Start as a roustabout or floorhand: no prior credential is required beyond a safety orientation, and crews train on the job. Complete OSHA 10, H2S awareness and the operator's rig-pass or site-access program before you apply, since those cards are what get you badged onto a location. From the floor, the ladder runs roughneck to derrickhand to driller to toolpusher, and no degree is needed for any of it.

It pays well above comparable entry work, roughnecks at a $46,960 median and drill operators at $67,890 with no degree required, and engineering roles clear $144,910. The trade-off is cyclicality: hiring follows commodity prices, rotational schedules are demanding, and 263,700 of the sector's jobs sit with service contractors whose headcount moves fastest. Credentialed workers ride the cycles best because their cards transfer between basins.