Posted on 12/02/2014 2:39:17 PM PST by thackney
On Monday, militants affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for killing an Apache employee during an attempted carjacking in Egypt in August.
The employee’s death illustrated that oil and gas workers continue to operate in some of the most dangerous regions around the globe (in what is already known as a dangerous industry for its workers).
While the regions in the Middle East where the Islamic State is most prevalent have become increasingly dangerous for workers, terrorist groups have also been targeting oil and gas industry employees in other countries. In Algeria in 2013, Al-Qaeda affiliated militants captured hundreds of workers at a BP and Statoil operate gas field, and dozens were killed when Algerian special forces stormed the terrorists’ holdout.
And groups like Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Northwest Africa and Boko Haram in Nigeria have also used kidnapping oil and gas workers to bolster their finances.
But workers, many of whom are ex-patriots returning to their home countries, have still been drawn to the dangerous areas where the industry operates because of the bigger salaries and bonuses available.
Packages to international hot spots generally are very generous — according to its most recent global salary report for the oil and gas industry, Hays, a recruiting firm, showed that bonuses in Asia, Africa and the Middle East were significantly higher than in other regions. Bonuses in Asia were worth 48 percent of the value of workers’ total contracts, while in Africa and the Middle East they were worth 37 and 41 percent, respectively.
Hays data also showed that several countries with high levels of instability saw salaries for foreign workers increase dramatically in 2013, while hazard and danger pay have also been on the rise.
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $150,200
Increase: $52,900
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Colombia
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $137,000
Increase: $30,100
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Pakistan
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $93,500
Increase: $23,500
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Sudan
New Zealand
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $127,700
Increase: 17,000
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New Zealand
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $127,700
Increase: 17,000
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Iran
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $83,700
Increase: $15,600
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Vietnam
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $142,000
Increase: $9,500
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Algeria
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $96,700
Increase: $4,300
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Angola
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $110,600
Increase: $1,900
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Italy
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $1,500
Increase: $86,100
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Mexico
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $132,700
Increase: $400
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Azerbaijan
Average 2013 salary for foreign oil industry workers: $133,800
Increase: $300
My husband's first paycheck in 1980 from ARAMCO was $5,000.00/month. He was a mechanical engineer who made $800.00/month here at the time, after taxes.
*****Being an ARAMCO employee ALSO meant paying NO FEDERAL INCOME TAX. Wowsa.
I worked in Yemen a while back. Saudi is hardly the worse, most dangerous place to work. I interviewed for Aramco but it didn’t work out, the timing was bad (Sept 2001).
It isn’t all tax free, but the first $97,600 (in 2013) is tax free.
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion
With the foreign-earned income tax exclusion - jobs like this are serious savings and wealth builders.
How does on go about applying for these jobs; anyone know?
Inquiring minds would love to know.
It isn’t all tax free, but the first $97,600 (in 2013) is tax free.
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Ah yes, that was WAY back when $97,000. was a ton of money. Won't buy a house where I live...or a condo.
We felt very safe in Saudi. At the time RaeDik DaeLim was a standing army of South Korean regulars who did construction work for the KSA.
You could tell they were military. They were SOLDIERS and looked like it from a distance. Up closer they all had "a look" -- hard to describe, confidence, whatever. Their "camp" was spotless, everything whitewashed.
The men were just VERY short.
They played a "fun" game of softball with our guys. It was HILARIOUS.
Oil/gas jobs like these typically require previous experience working in the industry. I went to Yemen to help with the construction of an oil field after spending a year on the engineering design team of the same project.
After having that experience, sometimes now I still get inquiries for similar work.
It wasn't $97.6k back then. The amount climbs each year. It was ~$70k in '93~94 when I was in Yemen, IIRC.
Yes, it does.
High salary's go hand in hand with danger and unpleasant job conditions.
If the conditions were easy and your biggest danger is a paper cut the salary is generally much lower.
I see. Okay. I just figured I’d go over there and make piles of dough as a janitor or an English teacher or some rich Arab woman’s boy toy or something...
Guess you have to have a professional background in engineering and/or the oil business.
They tend to hire cheap labor from India, Indonesia and the like when all they need is labor.
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