Hey KSLee,
Another MENA and LWD buddy. I'm kinda based in North Africa region. Now doing a few rotations at Kazakhstan.

How long you've been with LWD? which company?

Thanks K.S Lee, I got what you mean. I will try to apply for others company as well. It just that from what I saw from SLB website, the career prospect for a field engineer is
"field engineer --> senior engineer --> general field engineer --> technical / sales&marketing / personnel / operation mgt"

What I really wanna achieve in the end will be sales and marketing.

'sigh'.... hopefully everything will be fine.....

i heard that those working in baker hughes are well paid right? can anybody tell me, wat others oil&gas company besides shell, halliburton, slb, petronas and crest? im an undergraduate, & going to send off my resume cause graduation soon.....

This forum posting is soon turning into oil field thrash get-together place for people like us, LOL! North Africa region is nice, I mean the weather but my last encounter with Egypt was pretty bad, especially their traffic chaos in Cairo is just simply traumatic! Haven't been to the rest, i.e. Algeria, Libya et al.

I am LWD, with Qatar's Baker Hughes INTEQ. Was a good deal for me to get their contract instead of one offered in Malaysia, because with their contract, I pay no tax to Qatar and I am not liable to pay any tax to Malaysia too!

How about you, which company you're representing? I heard the bonus coefficient is pretty good in Kazahkstan, good for you (laughing all the way to the bank)...

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Added on January 2, 2008, 4:27 pmIt's good to see that you have already set your goals. But in reality, do get prepared that one might have to go along with the flow and whatever that get on your way. Sales & Marketing for oil service companies like HAL, SLB and BHI usually all have field experience, and hence they really know what they are talking about when they are giving sales pitch to the client. Not to worry too much on classes and qualification for sales and marketing for the time being, in due time when you get the post, they will provide all necessary training. However, I cannot stress enough on business networking when you're in the field. This is because, sooner or later, those guys that you know, especially those representing Big Oil - you'll meet them again in office. Only this time around, you'll be begging them for a contract. Then there's all that glamour of securing multi-million dollar contracts for your company, and getting a fat bonus out of it.

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Added on January 2, 2008, 4:50 pmYeah, the pay is good. I am from Baker Hughes INTEQ. I hope I do not offend anybody here, but from answers I get by asking around, those who come from BHI to SLB, they want better pay. Those on the reverse, they want better lives! Hahaha...

Try Murphy, Talisman, TechNip, Chiyoda... It all depends on which segment you want in, downstream, midstream or upstream. Anyway, wish you luck...

This post has been edited by kslee79: Jan 2 2008, 04:50 PM

thanks for the info and yea... heard about that too.... oil and gas industry is not that easy though the pay is not bad... hmm..... i wish i could get into one of the companies that can let learn as much things as possible... been in shell for internship before for 2and a half months... the environment is good, and the enjoyable but one thing is that u need to speed up and learn as quick as possible on your own.... from what i got from the colleagues there, they said that contract companies like westerngeco for example, u'll be given trainings, and they feed you with as much things as possible... they even advice me to tried out for the contract companies first because in those companies, you'll be able to learn more, instead of working in shell which is more business like and to dig most of the knowledge on your own and then come back to shell with enough knowledge and high salary...... so, kinda blurred.....

hey kslee, i'm an m/lwd too...just got transferred to qatar too but with slb.

anyway christine85, service companies like hal, slb, bhi are known to offer very intense training but very specific to their own proprietary technologies.

But for operators like shell, petronas, you'll get to see the bigger picture. so there are pros and cons to it. also, you're more likely to have a normal kinda life with operators.

as for dylan, you're kinda right with the career progression with slb which they call the fixed-step engineer program which lasts about 3-4 years. But there are also ways to branch out to other segments. I've personally seen some guys who managed to jump straight to a very technical role within 2 years (i.e. same paygrade as management). It all depends on your luck, determination and attitude.

This post has been edited by zeusu: Jan 3 2008, 12:12 AM

Hey Zeusu, good times ahead for the both of us. 2008 and forward, activity in Qatar will be picking up. Many major players are coming in to explore...

engineer then become something like management?...

wah more activity means no vacations! you guys have fixed rotations over in inteq?

You want to be an engineer for life?

In oil n gas industry, do all engineers have to go offshore to earn big bucks?
I don't wanna go offshore because I'm a girl (will they let girls go offshore?) and because I don't wanna sunburn....

Do I have to wait long to be called if shortlisted? I've tried to apply for 1 or 2 companies...

i see.... thanks for the comment.... yea... i agree and can see that.... most of the ppl working in shell are more experince and more than 30years old, seeing them picking up their children when time comes etc..... yea.... good for normal life....

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Added on January 3, 2008, 4:10 ambetter apply more... my colleagues said that they will be very pleased to send u off to work at offshore if u wish to, but its hard to come back in case u have any emergencies.. and the duration of getting shortlisted is depending on the companies as well.. some companies will reply u in few weeks time, but others may be several months.... that is what i experienced... maybe others have other comments..

This post has been edited by christine85: Jan 3 2008, 04:10 AM

Yup, finally can get to know other grease monkeys in the country. I was based in Libya for a year or so, smack in the middle of the sahara. Not a pretty place to be, especially in summer. I like this job, we get paid in full without any tax deductions but the only downfall is that we don't have KWSP! lol. But we can make up for it right?

I am with Weatherford Wireline. Yeah, the worse the country's standard of living is, the higher the coefficient is. I am just happy to do my "time" here and looking forward to go back during CNY.

About SLB, they pay you good if you are on international contracts. I am working with a few ex-SLB peeps from Indonesia and Japan. They were given 5/5 but usually work them to 8/2.


Hmmm....Qatar eh. Hope I will get bumped there next. Always fly through or above it. Never seen the place yet.

Actually being an engineer isn't so bad. I have met peeps that are engineer for the past 25-30yrs. And they like it but it all comes down to yourself. But the money is really really good. Some of them get USD650-1100 per day even there is no work....and they are not offshore. Not consultants.

Ummm...you are afraid of getting sunburn? It's hard to become a field engineer if you are afraid of a little sun. Or hard work, or getting greasy, or not getting sleep for 40hrs.
Before even applying you have to know what you are getting yourself into. Go read up on the job description.

This post has been edited by WildChai: Jan 3 2008, 11:10 AM

So is there anything I need to prepare if I so fortunate to get a chance for an interview. I mean what will they test me on, eg. thermodynamic, mechanics, fluids and so on....
Coz I have been working on sales and marketing for 1 year and most of calculation and theroy have been forgotten... The only knowledge I still hanging on is how to read drawing...

If you all don't mind, please kindly share tips for the interviews....

Cheers...

wah, how you multiple quote one huh?

anyway, yeah, girls can definitely go offshore, but most of the time there are very few of them. but then, if a girl's out on the rig, sometimes the whole rig will know your name by the next day =) and everyone will be very happy to help.

depending on locations where you are, you can be airlifted out within an hour or so if there's an emergency that requires it. the oil industry generally puts a strong focus on safety issues, especially big-named ones like BP, Shell, etc.

and WildChai & kslee, you guys don't have to pay tax?....shit, over in SLB, we pay something called EMBO, which is fixed at 19%, so e.g. when I was working in Trinidad that time, the local tax was 25% but I paid 19%, and now in Qatar, local's 0% but I still pay 19%. As for rotations, it's not really fixed. You can ask to leave the field after 3 weeks continuous, but sometimes the situation might not allow it.

and what kinda job is the one in office & pays 650-1100/day?

and being a field engineer is not too bad, it's not like an office job, where you have a proper schedule. There's also some outdoor work where you have to sweat & get dirty but most of the time will be spent with the computers. the satisfying part is when you get to fix problems and the solution worked, it feels really great.

as for dylan, my interview after a group exercise was very simple, just 10mins & kautim. they only wanna see if you can be independent & will be able to tahan the field. Only if they tell you that you'll be recruited into Tech & Field program for SLB, then you'll need to prepare some technical notes. check out http://www.oilcareers.com/content/community/ for the interview tips.

hello hi, interesting thread. looks like a lot of young msian are working all over the place. which is good.

for the past 1-2 years, salary of msia oil and gas line has gone up a notch nearing expat pays. it is normal for an office based engineer, with 12-15 yrs experience earning close to rm400-600 k a year, of course taxable. not in the middle of deserts, or exotic place like Libya etc; but at the comfort of of working in klcc twin tower.

you just need to be real good in what you do, whether you are geologists of engineers; remember only the specialized skills pay. that skills not so much of running equipment offshore, or run logs etc etc; but a skill that can identify whether the oils (or remaining oils) are. you need to do what people do not know how to do. and by that, i mean modeling --- either geological or fluid simulation modeling.

for those who work with services companies -- stay there for few years to pick up the skills and earn big bucks. then ask for office-based work. you can't stay out there forever. one day a younger stuff will be able to do what you are doing.

waaah so lama la not lepaking here oredi....
shy la you all so high position one.

wah pool, I'm still pretty new to this field (1 year only), and currently I'm still not too sure about the career direction I should take (management, technical (tool development) or petrophysics?). So do you mind telling us more about your job?

My degree deals mainly with fluid dynamics & also structure modelling.

cool... thanx for your precious advise... it really gave much confidence now....

eer.... a bit blur here... can anyone tell me wat is the difference between Baker INTEQ, baker hughes and baker ATLAS? suddenly pop up so many names when i see the other website....

Yeah, I have seen a few female engineers too. Trust me, they are tough.

EMBO? Wow....that is interesting? what is that? SOCSO for that country? The engineers that I worked with was paid USD 800 a day...he's a specialist in some tool. That is their day rate....once they are in country they get paid that amount daily till they leave. And with a very high basic salary too. It is a blessing that we who work abroad don't have to pay taxes.

Ahh...the OilCareer forum...been awhile since I drop by. will put it up.

This post has been edited by WildChai: Jan 3 2008, 07:13 PM