NobiGod:

@Jarus, if Vativa's pay is that good the why did u leave?

I moved to a less stressful oil company with pay in the same range.

how about been ur own boss, if u make 1mille,am sure u would pay ur urself half of it

gyde:

how about been ur own boss, if u make 1mille,am sure u would pay ur urself half of it

Better said. . .
And you think it's that easy to be your own boss.
All those talks are just theory.

Jarus:

Better said. . .
And you think it's that easy to be your own boss.
All those talks are just theory.

Nothing is easy-it takes hardwork,always, coming from you Jarus-am surprised, u say its theory?,could u say so about those that made it on their own,the likes of Dangote, its ur decision-if u decide to work for urself-am sure it wouldnt be all that hard,with GOD on ur side-its easy like a sunday morning

believe me, if u put the effort u put in ur day job,, to ur own enterprise u'l def do well, but nt every1 is a risktaker

seunallday:

believe me, if u put the effort u put in ur day job,, to ur own enterprise u'l def do well, but nt every1 is a risktaker

This is the point.
I have seen many people try it but fail.

@ ajanlekoko
I didn't say the investment bankin houses pay 7-10 mills for entry level. All I said is the kind of bonuses they pay in such coys are like woa!!! I'm an investment banker and I don't think oil coys pay such figures for people at my level. Not an entry level guy tho(lol)

AjanleKoko:

I would say oil companies lead by a mile.
For Jarus and tkb, you guys have a point, but I don't know of any bank or financial institution that offers 7m -10m+ all in, per annum to fresh graduates with no work experience whatsoever.
All in total package for the big 5 upstream (SPDC/SNEPCO, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Agip) vary between that bracket, bonuses notwithstanding. I think the oil guys have a more balanced packaged, better-spaced benefit structure and lots of incentives like generator allowance, reduced or free interest loans, and the likes.
For the finance or telecom guys, they don't have the kind of structured package that oil companies do. For example, many of them offer some sort of housing package after spending something like 5 years in the company. It's not by grade level or achievement; you simply get it by being an employee.
I heard banks are offering mortgage to their staff, but I'm sure it's not across board.

I will have to say that is rubbish, no disrespect.

Even the guys with PhD in the UK at entry level don't earn that much.

Sagamite:

I will have to say that is rubbish, no disrespect.

Even the guys with PhD in the UK at entry level don't earn that much.

Err. . .wrong! Dont know about your UK PhD holders, but I know boys who have just an Engineering BSc from Naija Universities who earn that much. And they got the jobs fresh out of school!

Hesperus:

Err. . .wrong! Dont know about your UK PhD holders, but I know boys who have just an Engineering BSc from Naija Universities who earn that much. And they got the jobs fresh out of school!

OK.

But could you just break it down to what it composes of. I need to understand how it is that much.

Hi guys, am new here, but I've been reading the post by everybody, its really informative.

Anyway am a Nigerian (from the niger delta area) with a BSC in Computer Science degree from Australia, I want to know which company will suit me best, Do the Oil Companies value Computer Scientist or just Engineers?

Sagamite:

I will have to say that is rubbish, no disrespect.

Even the guys with PhD in the UK at entry level don't earn that much.

Sagamite, dont generalise. When I started working in the UK, my starting salary in 2007 with an Msc was equivalent to NGN 7.5 Million. I mean gross  (pre tax) salary, excluding bonus. This is fresh from school, without any work experience. None whatsoever.


My mates who returned to Nigeria (with the Msc) at that time had a full package of around 8.2 Million (including allowances, etc).


When you talk of UK Phd holder not getting that much, I have to ask: Phd in what? If you had an Msc in Petroleum  Engineering (Imperial College or Heriot Watt Uni) in 2007, you could command as much as £40000/annum (minus bonus) without any experience. £30000 was about the minimun then for such a degree. Numbers should be up in 2009, I would have imagined.

Hesperus:

Err. . .wrong! Dont know about your UK PhD holders, but I know boys who have just an Engineering BSc from Naija Universities who earn that much. And they got the jobs fresh out of school!

Indeed. My mates in Nigeria who didnt bother to go with us for the Msc, opting to get a job immediately after Bsc (I mean Nigerian BSc) got in at no less than  7 Million (including allowances, etc).

X-2-X:

Sagamite, dont generalise. When I started working in the UK, my starting salary in 2007 with an Msc was equivalent to NGN 7.5 Million. I mean gross  (pre tax) salary, excluding bonus. This is fresh from school, without any work experience. None whatsoever.


My mates who returned to Nigeria (with the Msc) at that time had a full package of around 8.2 Million (including allowances, etc).


When you talk of UK Phd holder not getting that much, I have to ask: Phd in what? If you had an Msc in Petroleum  Engineering (Imperial College or Heriot Watt Uni) in 2007, you could command as much as £40000/annum (minus bonus) without any experience. £30000 was about the minimun then for such a degree. Numbers should be up in 2009, I would have imagined.

Hi,

My reason for the statement was based on my knowledge about 4 years ago that PhD holders were being paid about £28 in the top oil and gas firms whilst BSc holders were paid about £25K. Taking into account inflationary salary increases, I will not expect the starting salary to have exceeded £32K today.

Adding a 10% bonus (or even 20% for a top performer) would still not make the total £40K.

Rationally, I would expect employees in the UK to earn more than those in a third world country like Nigeria, so I find it a struggle to believe guys in Nigeria at entry level with just a BSc are earning the equivalent of £40 - 45K, especially with a more favourable tax regime. Basically they earn more, are taxed less, have a lower degree classification (PhD vs BSc), obtained BSc degrees from poorer universities and have lower cost of living. Too good to be true in my opinion; Blacks being treated more favourably than Whites? That would not even happen in a Black-owned company.

But since you appear to come across as an insider, I will find it a struggle to challenge your opinion. That is why I wanted to know how the oil and gas pay structure in Nigeria works to the point it is that high.

tkb417:

@ ajanlekoko
I didn't say the investment bankin houses pay 7-10 mills for entry level. All I said is the kind of bonuses they pay in such coys are like woa!!! I'm an investment banker and I don't think oil coys pay such figures for people at my level. Not an entry level guy tho(lol)

Of course now. How can?
The thing is, I said oil companies pay better overall because in the other sectors, before you see better pepper, you go don sweat small.
And to a large extent their pay is somehow subsidized, what will all the generator allowance and stuff. Most of the other guys are PAYG (pay as you go).

The SPDCpays circa 600k per month for entry level (as of December 2008) and Exxon pays close to 12m (M.Sc from the US, also December 2008) those are figures I know of.

Investment Banks might have paid similarly high figures with outrageous bonuses.

Sagamite:

Hi,

My reason for the statement was based on my knowledge about 4 years ago that PhD holders were being paid about £28 in the top oil and gas firms whilst BSc holders were paid about £25K. Taking into account inflationary salary increases, I will not expect the starting salary to have exceeded £32K today.

@Sagamite

I can see where you are coming from. 

The thing is that the top oil and gas firms in the UK (BP for example) typically have the lowest starting salaries in the oil industry. Independents (e.g Apache North Sea, Talisman UK, Maersk Oil etc) and small consulting firms (e.g. Synergy, Petroleum Experts, Eclipse Petrotech, etc) always offer more. The reason for this is that fresh grads will prefer to work for the super-majors, so the small (less popular independents and consulting) firms would have to offer more to lure the fresh grads.

Offers for Msc Pet Eng (March 2007):

  BP - £28 000*
  BG - £30 000
  Shell - £31 500
  Apache - £34 000
  Petroleum Experts - £ 40 000 

  * - actually Nov 2006. 


Although the starting salaries of the super majors are smaller, you've got brighter prospects in terms of career development and they take better care of you - another reason why they are not so keen to pay top dollar for freshers.


Also remeber that starting salaries in these companies are much more positively correlated to oil prices than to inflation indices - in 2006, 2007 and a good portion of 2008, oil price was soaring to record levels.


Just for info, Msc holders who joined us (one of the top 3 listed above) last September where offered £32 000. They got a raise to 34k this April - this represents more than a 6% raise in less than 6 months - unthinkable, given the current economic climate in the UK, but it is true.

Sagamite:


Rationally, I would expect employees in the UK to earn more than those in a third world country like Nigeria, so I find it a struggle to believe guys in Nigeria at entry level with just a BSc are earning the equivalent of £40 - 45K, especially with a more favourable tax regime. Basically they earn more, are taxed less, have a lower degree classification (PhD vs BSc), obtained BSc degrees from poorer universities and have lower cost of living. Too good to be true in my opinion; Blacks being treated more favourably than Whites? That would not even happen in a Black-owned company.


But since you appear to come across as an insider, I will find it a struggle to challenge your opinion. That is why I wanted to know how the oil and gas pay structure in Nigeria works to the point it is that high.

In fact you are correct. It is an illusion. The pay structure of upstream oil and gas companies in Nigeria is not only confusing, it is misleading. When they give you a offer that states NGN 8.2 Million, that includes your gross salary, and most allowances - some of these allowances are paid once in four years, but they will "calculate" everything into your offer letter, making the figure bloated. As an example (again using 2007 figures), in naira terms, a Reservoir Engineer in the UK just straight from uni had a monthly take home pay that was almost double that of his counterpart in Nigeria even though his (the UK) annual package was (apparently) about a million naira lesser.


Moreover, the total benefit package does not just come down to naira and kobo. Other benefit elements (like share options) are usually always skewed in favour of the oyinbos.

Cheers.

pls my own question is which copany is recruiting for now .I need a job pls no

really dont believe most of these oil money figures, at least for entry level tho.

speakin of which, heard IEI pays nice for entry level, hrd about 250k , not amongst d highest, but for an insurance firm, its not dat bad.

micsaint:

pls my own question is which copany is recruiting for now .I need a job pls no

dude , wrong thread!!!!

X-2-X:

In fact you are correct. It is an illusion. The pay structure of upstream oil and gas companies in Nigeria is not only confusing, it is misleading. When they give you a offer that states NGN 8.2 Million, that includes your gross salary, and most allowances - some of these allowances are paid once in four years, but they will "calculate" everything into your offer letter, making the figure bloated. As an example (again using 2007 figures), in naira terms, a Reservoir Engineer in the UK just straight from uni had a monthly take home pay that was almost double that of his counterpart in Nigeria even though his (the UK) annual package was (apparently) about a million naira lesser.

This I'd say is partly correct.
For the 4 year analogy, what really happens is something like this:
Suppose they say you earn, say, 12m per annum in Nigeria gross of tax.
Let's say out of that 12m, maybe 3m forms a one-time allowance that is paid once in the year. of that same 12m. That's now 9m.
Typically after a year, they pay you some mobilization for car and housing, which does span 4-5 years. If that was specified at 1m per year, you're paid 4m.
Salary now is at 8m per annum, still gross of tax.
Then tax would be maybe somewhere between 14-21% of the gross monthly take home, which is 8m/12, willy-nilly.
That comes to 14-21% of N667k per month, which is like N526k per month. Multiply this by 12 and it looks more like 6.5m than 12m.

Although I'm a bit challenged with that UK analogy. For one thing, my wife works in one of the big 2 upstream in Nigeria, and she tells me their pay structure is similar across. Don't they pay more tax than we do?

They definitely pay more tax at about 25 - 30%.

Whatever the case, N526K for a graduate with zero experience is absolutely fantastic by all standards. That is roughly £2500 per month take home pay.

Very, very few people with less than 5 years experience get that in the UK.

Sagamite:

They definitely pay more tax at about 25 - 30%.

Whatever the case, N526K for a graduate with zero experience is absolutely fantastic by all standards. That is roughly £2500 per month take home pay.

Very, very few people with less than 5 years experience get that in the UK.

The 526k is an analogy, just to show what the salaries really look like. I doubt any fresher is getting 526k in Nigeria.

AjanleKoko:

The 526k is an analogy, just to show what the salaries really look like. I doubt any fresher is getting 526k in Nigeria.

I pretty much doubt that too!

AjanleKoko:

The 526k is an analogy, just to show what the salaries really look like. I doubt any fresher is getting 526k in Nigeria.

I also doubt it oooo! The highest I've heard is 350k per month(net, take-home).

ok. . .i really need to stop reading threads like this. . .if er'one wants high paying jobs then there's no way naija'll get better. . .the nigerian dream is fast becoming work in an oil company, wife 2kids etc etc

Updates please.this is fun!

Jarus:

I also doubt it oooo! The highest I've heard is 350k per month(net, take-home).

Well the bonuses are part of the pay accrued per annum isn't it? Bonuses in the UK are rare and are no more than 10% of the annual income so I think these guys do earn that much.

i think the oil sector pay much than any other sector in nig.

MrCrackles:

I pretty much doubt that too!

I can tell you authoritatively that a fresh graduate in Shell earns as much as 500k per month after tax, including allowances and in a month when they pay some mad allowances, a fresh graduate could go home with about 700k and above depending on the allowance.

crowcedar:

I can tell you authoritatively that a fresh graduate in Shell earns as much as 500k per month after tax, including allowances and in a month when they pay some mad allowances, a fresh graduate could go home with about 700k and above depending on the allowance.

Break it down.

Give more info.

Let us know how you are authoritative.

Some of you here might be interested in this https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-364347.0.html

authoritative ma a.s
like we don't have friends or fam dat work in these oil coys.