The average salary for a petroleum engineer grew 16% in 2006, according to a study by the University of Houston's Global Energy Management Institute and co-sponsored by the Houston office of Boyden, a global executive-search firm. The survey was conducted by the Program for Applied Strategic Finance at the university's C.T. Bauer College of Business.

Petroleum geologists' salaries grew between 10% and 25% in 2006, depending on experience. In 2004, the average salary for a 10-year petroleum geologist was $107,500; in 2006, $132,132. The average salary for drillers has grown between 20% and 50%.

"And the prospects of hiring new talent are just as daunting. In 2004, the average starting salary of a petroleum geologist was $67,800. In 2006, that figure had jumped to $87,770," the study developers report.

"Companies also are going to the mat to keep their most experienced personnel. One company surveyed stated it pays a 50% to 60% salary increase to retain completions engineers. Still another organization offers a $25,000 bonus to field engineers after three years of service, and a 20% increase after five years of service."

Operational inefficiencies are growing due to a lack of experienced staff, according to the study results. "These include lost or delayed projects, delayed geographic and market expansion, safety-related costs-51.9% of work-related accidents in the oilfield-service sector involve employees with less than one year experience, according to OSHA -and alternative staffing methods, e.g. contractors, consultants and outside vendors."