Education Analysis

Education Requirements for Petroleum Engineers

Does degree level affect salary? Based on education data in DOL PERM (green card) filings.

Salary by Education Level

What the Data Shows

For Petroleum Engineers positions, filings requiring a Master's degree carried an average declared salary of $139,238 versus $155,193 for those requiring a Bachelor's - a premium of -10.3%. Across all certified filings with a stated education level, 51% accepted a Bachelor's degree as the minimum requirement.

Education vs Salary

Education LevelAverage SalaryFilings% of Total
None$228,53121.3%
Doctorate$172,07131.9%
Bachelor's$155,1938051%
Master's$139,2387145.2%
Associate's$83,10010.6%

Education by Top Employer

EmployerMost Common Minimum% Bachelor's% Master'sMedian Salary
Chevron Corporation Master's 0% 100% $125,200
Schlumberger Technology Corporation Master's 0% 80% $96,300
ConocoPhillips Company Bachelor's 57.1% 28.6% $122,400
BP America Inc. Master's 0% 100% $131,857
Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation Master's 0% 100% $129,300
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Bachelor's 70% 30% $118,900
Occidental Petroleum Corporation Bachelor's 61.1% 38.9% $138,850
Baker Hughes Company N/A N/A N/A $95,000
Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Master's 0% 100% $105,000
Hess Corporation Master's 0% 100% $115,329
Broken Hill Proprietary (USA), Inc. Bachelor's 60% 40% $184,000
Shell International Exploration and Production Inc N/A N/A N/A $133,550
ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company Doctorate 0% 0% $124,238
Aera Energy Services Company N/A N/A N/A $100,463
Shell Exploration and Production Company N/A N/A N/A $156,400
EOG Resources, Inc. Bachelor's 100% 0% $110,000
Weatherford International, LLC Doctorate 50% 0% $95,250
PETROTEL INC N/A N/A N/A $106,000
DeGolyer and MacNaughton Corporation Master's 0% 100% $125,000
Shell International Exploration & Production Inc. N/A N/A N/A $135,950