The Society of Petroleum Engineers

Richardson, Texas

Annual Membership Salary Survey

Highlight Report

September 2009

Compiled by:
Western Management Group
237 West Main Street
Los Gatos, California 95030-6818
SPE SALARY SURVEY SETS ANOTHER PARTICIPATION RECORD

2009 marked the third straight year that more SPE members than ever before participated in the annual Salary Survey, as
respondents neared the 13,500 mark. This is particularly notable given that as recently as 2006, survey participation was at less
than 3,000 worldwide. It’s very good news for those interested in making use of this information, because the more extensive
the database, the more it allows for comprehensive, statistically significant analyses of the broadest possible spectrum of
geographies, jobs, and demographic categories.

Among the 2009 participants, over 7,000 reported as working in a country outside the United States, as the survey continues to
become more global in scope. A grand total of 97 countries were represented in this year’s survey, with SPE members reporting
receiving pay in 63 different currencies. Record-high participation rates were presented by the regions of Africa, Australia/New
Zealand, North Sea/North Atlantic, Northern & Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Also, more women than ever before were
represented in this year’s survey, totaling over 10% of the 2009 respondents.

For the third year in a row, the survey was conducted on SPE’s behalf by Western Management Group (WMG). The survey took
place over a five-week period from the beginning of July through early August of 2009, with all professional SPE members
invited to participate via email. The data was collected in local currency via a username-and-password-credentialed online
questionnaire, and the database was thoroughly edited, with incomplete and/or clearly erroneous records deleted. This
information is held in the strictest confidentiality, to be released in aggregated form only.

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General Findings
All compensation data presented in this Highlight Report is expressed in US dollars. Data collected in local currencies has been
converted to US dollars using the exchange rate as of July 1, 2009, which is the data effective date.
The worldwide economic difficulties of 2009 are vividly represented in this year’s survey results. Figure 1 and Figure 2 present
Base Pay and Other Compensation data reported by SPE members working in the ten major regions around the globe, and in
every region, by most metrics we see slight declines compared to the pay totals reported in 2008.
Overall, the worldwide median Base Pay in 2009 was $124,604, a decrease of about 2% from last year. Median Total
Compensation was also down, from $158,103 in 2008 to an even $150,000. Even more dramatic was the reduction in the
reported average annual increase in Base Pay to 6.6%, from a mark of 8.1% in the previous year. Only one region, Africa,
reported a higher average increase in 2009 than in 2008.
But though the slowdown in compensation levels was significant, the general pattern was essentially unchanged. The three
work regions with the highest average pay in 2008 had been the United States, Australia & New Zealand, and North Sea & North
Atlantic, and they remained so in 2009. And, as in 2008, the lowest this year was still Southeast Asia, though now Northern &
Central Asia was not far above it.
There was little change overall in the proportion of members reporting receiving a car allowance. As in the past, this figure
varied widely from region to region, with a high of 64.8% in Africa, to a low of 20.7% in Canada.
But as in the past, there was great consistency across regions in the average age of respondents. The worldwide average was
42, with no region’s average older than 44 or younger than 38. With regard to the average years of industry experience, an
interesting pattern emerged with the United States reporting a figure of 20 years, and no other region higher than 16.
The significant regional variation in the level of education indicated in past surveys grew even more distinct in 2009. The
worldwide proportion of respondents with education beyond a Bachelors Degree was 40.5%, but only four regions reported a
figure within 5% of that. The wide range was from nearly three-quarters (72.5%) of the respondents working in South Central &
Eastern Europe, to the rate in Canada of less than one-quarter (24.5%).
The proportion of members working within the region of their citizenship also remained widely distributed, though not quite as
dramatically as in 2008. This year’s figures ranged from a low of 41.9% in the Middle East to a high of 86.6% in the US.

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Figure 1
SUMMARY OF RESULTS BY WORK REGION (All compensation data is expressed in US dollars)

South
Australia North Sea Northern & S. America, Central &
& New Middle & North Central Caribbean, Eastern Southeast
Total USA Africa Zealand Canada East Atlantic Asia & Mexico Europe Asia
(n=13,430) (n=6,357) (n=591) (n=562) (n=808) (n=999) (n=1,886) (n=383) (n=544) (n=222) (n=991)
Base Pay
Mean $131,867 $146,976 $117,944 $142,150 $112,545 $119,517 $138,918 $99,074 $100,652 $122,280 $89,093
Median $124,604 $140,000 $87,822 $121,471 $103,700 $109,000 $129,212 $65,000 $86,479 $110,145 $56,839
Other Cash
Mean $53,380 $63,407 $45,285 $39,827 $41,257 $45,660 $43,193 $60,753 $43,155 $45,316 $34,592
Median $30,000 $35,000 $25,000 $22,675 $25,925 $25,899 $24,848 $21,926 $20,000 $21,128 $15,000
Total Cash
Mean $174,082 $201,425 $151,199 $169,575 $147,164 $150,048 $172,309 $137,144 $129,369 $152,694 $114,924
Median $150,000 $175,100 $111,940 $141,716 $129,625 $130,000 $152,404 $75,000 $100,000 $127,470 $69,628

Average Base Pay Increase 6.6% 6.2% 10.2% 8.8% 5.3% 6.5% 5.9% 6.7% 7.7% 6.3% 7.9%

% with Car Allowance 34.8% 27.2% 64.8% 23.3% 20.7% 46.9% 42.0% 34.2% 38.8% 43.2% 51.4%

Average Age 42 44 39 39 40 40 41 38 41 41 38

Average Years Experience 18 20 14 14 16 16 16 15 16 16 14

% with Education Beyond Bachelors Degree 40.5% 32.3% 44.3% 37.9% 24.5% 40.2% 64.2% 56.1% 51.1% 72.5% 39.5%

% Citizens of Work Region n/a 86.6% 60.4% 70.6% 84.3% 41.9% 79.1% 60.4% 85.6% 60.2% 66.8%

All currency figures expressed as US Dollars as of 1 July 2009 exchange rates.

All averages are mean average unless otherwise indicated.

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Figure 2

Base Pay and Other Compensation by Work Region
$180,000
$160,000
$140,000
$120,000
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0 Other Compensation
Base Pay

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The Global Impact of Work Experience

In Fig. 3 we take a look at the impact of work experience on base pay. What’s striking here isn’t that there is a positive
correlation, but simply how uniform the relationship is around the globe: almost everywhere, the slope is predictably consistent.

Two regions stand out as distinct from the rest: Africa and Northern & Central Asia. However, those results may be confidently
understood as statistical anomalies: the sample sizes of African respondents in the 21-to-25 years category, and of Northern &
Central Asian respondents in the 11-to-15 years category and both among the smallest of all the segments presented here.

Figure 3

Base Pay by Experience & Work Region

$225,000 Africa
Aus./N. Zealand

$175,000 Canada
Middle East
North Sea
$125,000
N. & C. Asia
South America
$75,000 E. Europe
S.E. Asia
$25,000 USA
0 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26+

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Job Functions and Experience
Here we examine the relationship between work experience, job function/discipline, and base pay on a worldwide basis. The
generally strong positive correlation between experience and pay that we saw in Fig. 3 still applies, but two exceptions to the
overall pattern stand out.
First, the Research function displays a dramatic departure from the rest of the pack at the 21-to-25 years category. However, as
in the previous graph, this result is attributable to a sample-size anomaly: the population of respondents falling into that segment
is much smaller than most of the others.
Second, the College/University function is distinctly lower than all others in every experience category. This is definitely not an
illusion created by a small sample; this is a result we’ve observed consistently over both of the previous two years.

Figure 4

Base Pay by Experience and Job Function/Discipline
$200,000
College/Univ.
$180,000
Computer/IT
$160,000 Earth Science

$140,000 Completions
Drilling
$120,000
Other Engrg
$100,000
Production
$80,000 Reservoir
Finance
$60,000
Research
$40,000
Sales/Marketing
0 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26+

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The Impact of Citizenship

In Fig. 5 we isolate the citizenship status of the respondents working in each region, and compare the pay and other attributes of
those who are citizens of that region versus those who are expatriates. In this analysis, as in both of the past two years, we see
the most extreme differences in reported average pay.

The dynamic is most dramatic in North & Central Asia and in Southeast Asia, where the average Base Pay reported by non-
citizens was about four times greater than that of citizens. The expatriate advantage in base pay was about three-to-one in
Africa, roughly two-to-one in the Middle East and South America/Caribbean/Mexico, and more than one-and-a-half-to-one in
South Central & Eastern Europe.

As in previous years, in many regions we see still greater disparities in the Other Compensation category. Meanwhile, in the
United States, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, and North Sea/North Atlantic the differences between non-citizen and citizen pay
are far smaller, and in some cases lean in the opposite direction.

In those regions exhibiting the significant pay differences, we also see a consistent pattern of much greater average experience
from the non-citizens, along with generally higher levels of educational attainment.

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Figure 5

ANALYSIS BY CITIZENSHIP
USA Africa Australia/New Zealand Canada Middle East

Non- Non- Non-

Citizen Non-Citizen Citizen Non-Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen
(n=5,505) (n=850) (n=354) (n=232) (n=397) (n=165) (n=679) (n=126) (n=417) (n=578)
Base Pay $149,166 $132,952 $65,459 $199,706 $140,585 $145,917 $111,603 $117,890 $78,907 $148,793
Other Cash $66,395 $42,867 $24,146 $74,083 $36,498 $48,103 $42,046 $36,966 $22,930 $57,024
% with Car Allowance 27.3% 26.5% 66.7% 62.9% 22.7% 24.9% 20.9% 19.1% 40.1% 51.7%
Average Base Pay Increase 6.2% 6.6% 12.5% 6.1% 9.7% 6.5% 5.3% 5.8% 7.6% 5.6%
Average Years Experience 21 14 10 20 14 15 16 16 11 19
% with Education Beyond Bachelors Degree 28.1% 59.4% 42.1% 47.% 33.3% 49.1% 19.% 52.4% 29.5% 47.6%

N. Sea & N. Atlantic N. & C. Asia S.Am/Carib/Mex S.Cen./E. Europe Southeast Asia

Non- Non- Non-

Citizen Non-Citizen Citizen Non-Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen Citizen
(n=1,488) (n=394) (n=229) (n=150) (n=457) (n=87) (n=133) (n=88) (n=662) (n=329)
Base Pay $140,395 $133,344 $44,968 $182,733 $86,482 $174,669 $96,901 $160,106 $44,920 $177,977
Other Cash $42,873 $45,747 $16,409 $101,610 $27,310 $108,096 $19,934 $75,325 $14,662 $69,084
% with Car Allowance 45.2% 30.2% 24.9% 48.7% 36.3% 51.7% 39.1% 50.% 47.9% 58.4%
Average Base Pay Increase 5.8% 6.% 7.2% 6.1% 8.6% 3.1% 6.3% 6.4% 9.2% 4.9%
Average Years Experience 17 13 12 20 16 21 16 16 11 20
% with Education Beyond Bachelors Degree 63.7% 65.7% 64.2% 43.3% 53.4% 39.1% 78.2% 63.6% 36.9% 44.7%

All currency figures expressed as US Dollars as of 1 July 2009 exchange rates.

All averages are mean average unless otherwise indicated.

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Job Categories and Total Compensation

In Fig. 6, the Total Compensation (factoring in not just base pay, but also bonuses, commissions, allowances, stock options, and
so on) is presented by job category on a region-by-region basis.

What’s notable here is that while the absolute amount of compensation varies greatly across the globe, the hierarchical pattern of
compensation by job category was quite similar from region to region. In every region except Southeast Asia, the Executive/Top
Management category was highest-paid. In every region without exception, the Supervisor job category reported greater average
Total Compensation than the Professional segment, and the Technician/Specialist was the lowest-paid.

Unlike last year, in 2009 no region reported higher average total compensation for Executives than the United States, at over
$380,000. As was the case in 2008, the category standing out with by far the lowest figure ($36,657) was that of
Technician/Specialists in Northern & Central Asia.
Figure 6

TOTAL COMPENSATION BY JOB CATEGORY AND WORK REGION

North Sea/ Northern / S. Am/Carib./ South Cent. / Southeast

United States Africa Australia/NZ Canada Middle East N. Atlantic Central Asia Mexico East. Europe Asia

Executive/Top Mgmnt. $383,023 $332,522 $296,564 $269,504 $361,884 $329,821 $370,739 $242,904 $313,541 $155,363
Manager/Director $234,253 $232,581 $250,409 $191,185 $207,876 $214,576 $184,971 $185,175 $194,031 $171,472
Supervisor $195,151 $158,799 $192,959 $149,659 $160,024 $180,370 $167,920 $123,581 $147,528 $112,597
Professional $165,596 $114,142 $127,646 $121,773 $135,069 $137,746 $95,460 $80,596 $103,300 $85,703
Technician/Specialist $127,746 $77,511 $121,559 $85,128 $85,292 $121,030 $36,657 $91,419 $51,902 $52,577

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The USA: Experience, Job Function/Discipline, and Base Pay

Focusing strictly here on the United States, Fig. 7 analyzes base pay within the context of work experience and job
function/discipline.

The patterns observed in previous years continued to apply. The Finance/Administration function was generally reporting the
highest rates of base pay, while also containing one of the smallest populations of respondents. As in 2008, the lowest-paid
discipline was College/Academic. The Sales/Marketing function also reported relatively low levels of base pay, but it should be
borne in mind that those jobs tend to offer the highest proportion of additional cash compensation.

The most heavily populated discipline remained Reservoir Engineering, once again at right around 20% of the U.S. respondents.
In terms of base pay, this job function reported above average at all experience levels, and the survey’s highest average base
pay in the 16-to-20-years experience category. Among the Engineering disciplines, Completions reported the lowest overall
average base pay.

Overall, a fairly regular progression was exhibited of greater average pay through each succeeding experience category, though
with a flattening of the slope between the 21-to-25 years and 26+ years categories. But this pattern wasn’t universal; within the
individual disciplines there were several instances of a slight drop in average base pay when proceeding to a more-experienced
category.

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Figure 7

U.S. BASE PAY BY JOB FUNCTION/DISCIPLINE AND EXPERIENCE

Total Computer/IT Earth Sciences College/Academic Engrg: Completions Engrg: Drilling

Years of Experience Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n
0 to 10 $100,517 1797 $90,705 13 $99,121 39 $65,673 15 $95,084 191 $99,228 175
11 to 15 $134,459 577 $114,096 7 $123,229 10 $105,000 2 $140,105 62 $132,233 68
16 to 20 $149,241 501 $146,688 8 $149,536 14 $109,250 2 $153,232 43 $147,494 45
21 to 25 $167,234 679 $125,040 9 $160,489 15 $125,387 8 $168,215 60 $181,755 56
26+ $173,574 2812 $175,476 21 $214,636 69 $136,390 25 $161,063 172 $195,672 270
Total $146,664 6381 $137,271 58 $166,046 147 $111,582 54 $134,744 529 $156,253 615

Engrg: Other Engrg: Production Engrg: Reservoir Finance/Admin Research Sales/Marketing

Years of Experience Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n
0 to 10 $98,689 202 $100,306 268 $113,066 375 $121,684 19 $94,224 70 $88,854 151
11 to 15 $134,952 74 $138,166 58 $147,285 114 $161,780 4 $130,093 17 $115,144 68
16 to 20 $160,382 50 $149,811 60 $166,050 87 $161,500 8 $138,446 19 $124,784 57
21 to 25 $166,087 99 $168,701 80 $176,753 153 $160,974 14 $148,186 14 $138,275 54
26+ $178,877 452 $168,482 261 $180,668 535 $214,876 62 $158,742 51 $134,423 337
Total $153,869 880 $139,211 730 $155,910 1268 $185,300 107 $126,181 172 $121,629 667

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The Impact of Gender

Our final two charts examine the relationship between gender and base pay.

Fig. 8 simply presents the respective average base pay of males and females by job category, worldwide. In every case men were
paid more than women, but the proportional differences varied from a 42% margin in the Technician/Specialist category, to slightly
over 10% for Manager/Directors.

In Fig. 9 the same worldwide data is broken down by years of experience. Here an interesting pattern was revealed: in three of the
five job categories, males and females reported generally equal average pay in the lesser-experienced levels, and greater pay for
men further up the experience ladder. Yet for the Executive/Top Management and Manager/Director jobs, the relationship was
reversed, with pay disparity revealed at the bottom of the experience ladder, and generally equal average base pay reported by
respondents with greater experience.
Figure 8

AVERAGE BASE PAY BY JOB CATEGORY AND GENDER

Total Exec/Top Mgmt Manager/Director Professional/I.C. Supervisor Technician/Spec.

Gender Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n
Male $135,783 11,873 $212,521 829 $160,703 2,806 $115,931 5,335 $135,577 2,348 $86,874 555
Female $97,473 1,392 $154,682 33 $145,891 159 $89,066 888 $110,295 187 $61,322 125

I.C. = Individual Contributor

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Figure 9

AVERAGE BASE PAY BY JOB CATEGORY, GENDER AND EXPERIENCE

Executive/Top Supervisor/ Professional/ Individual Technician/Specialist/

Management Manager/Director Superintendent/Lead Contributor Support
Experience Gender Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n Base Pay n

M $79,934 22 $98,354 73 $72,384 223 $71,836 1,561 $52,539 171

0-5 Years F $40,107 10 $72,863 14 $68,293 36 $68,876 445 $49,357 62

M $134,419 19 $117,789 213 $96,364 335 $96,798 929 $72,991 105

6-10 Years F * 0 $108,994 20 $109,205 40 $92,047 187 $78,824 20

M $157,629 37 $138,895 346 $130,169 343 $118,162 591 $95,001 58

11-15 Years F * 3 $131,185 28 $110,329 40 $112,626 98 $69,210 16

M $188,537 71 $154,586 372 $139,485 342 $132,310 417 $110,175 58

16-20 Years F * 4 $162,328 24 $123,756 25 $109,144 62 * 4

M $210,029 122 $164,848 475 $148,315 324 $146,514 439 $107,113 40

21-25 Years F * 4 $165,969 36 $123,145 16 $118,548 41 $69,807 11

M $227,644 558 $176,939 1,327 $165,820 781 $163,451 1,398 $124,772 123
26+ Years F $212,519 12 $174,400 37 $144,035 30 $155,689 55 $69,214 12

* Insufficient data for display (minimum of 5 responses required).

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How to Learn More

This Highlight Report only scratches the surface of such a deep and detailed database. Space doesn’t permit the presentation of
every possible permutation of the many jobs, geographies, employer types, nor an analysis of the data dispersion in all of the
compensation elements included.

However, for those interested in obtaining more detailed information, again this year SPE has arranged with WMG to offer direct,
confidential access to the complete survey database. With that access you can filter and parse the information as broadly or as
finely as you wish. (The only restriction is that no individual survey participant’s data will be revealed; to protect the privacy of
each participant, the smallest aggregation of data points displayed in any cut is five individuals.) You’re able to choose from a
variety of report display formats, and in combination with the fact that the 2009 survey database is the largest yet, this year’s SPE
Annual Membership Salary Survey offers more utility and value than ever.

SPE recognizes that there are different types and levels of detail likely to be required by different users. As an individual, perhaps
just a few cuts focusing on your particular job category/function, region, experience and so on will be quite adequate. For others,
perhaps those with management and/or Human Resources responsibilities in the industry, more numerous and differently-
focused “slices” of the data would be much more useful. Therefore, a selection of database access options is provided.

Reports can be calculated and expressed in any currency of your choosing, and downloaded into either .pdf or Excel formats.

To find out more, including report descriptions and samples, and prices, please point your internet browser to the following URL:

http://www.wmgnet.com/SPE09Orders/

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