| The oil and gas industry, including exploration and | | | | the area is cleared and a drilling rig and crew are |
| production, consists of about 7,000 companies who | | | | brought in to begin the process of extracting the |
| pull in a combined, estimated revenue of around | | | | resources that have been found. |
| £450 billion. However, the production and | | | | Oil and gas jobs generally fall in to one of two |
| associated revenue are fragmented; around 10% of | | | | categories: upstream and downstream. Upstream |
| companies generate approximately 60% of this | | | | jobs are found in the process of obtaining oil and gas |
| figure. Demand for oil and gas is caused by economic | | | | from natural resources: drilling jobs are upstream jobs. |
| activity, population growth and the need for energy | | | | Other jobs are likely to include those in construction |
| for residential, industrial and transportation uses. The | | | | and those involved in production facilities. Not all |
| growth of an individual company is determined by the | | | | upstream jobs take place on land; for many, part of |
| success rate of new finds, as well as the ability to | | | | the attraction of this industry is its variety. Gas and |
| continue to produce from existing sites. | | | | oil fields are also developed below sea level, such as |
| Larger companies have the upper hand, having | | | | in the North Sea and the sub-sea sites recently |
| greater access to capital and the capacity to buy | | | | discovered in West Africa. These require specialists |
| smaller companies or propagate amalgamations. | | | | to find and extract the resources available. |
| Smaller companies rely on their abilities to focus on | | | | Downstream jobs involve the transportation of oil |
| and develop expertise in a few geographical areas. In | | | | and gas in their basic forms, the liquefaction of those |
| addition, oil and gas competes with other fuel-types, | | | | substances and their processing. While upstream jobs |
| such as coal, nuclear power and hydro-electricity. In | | | | tend to be comparatively more transitory, being |
| addition, other sources of energy are emerging, such | | | | based on exploration and ultimate extraction, it is in |
| as ethanol and bio-diesel and there are other forms | | | | the downstream category that gas and oil careers |
| of application arriving on the market, such as the | | | | are made; while oil rig jobs, for example, will only last |
| new generation of hybrid-electric car. | | | | as long as the resource is there, marketing jobs can |
| Oil and gas are found in huge, underground basins | | | | become life-long opportunities as the team packages |
| that meet certain geological criteria. As well as | | | | the combined products across the globe. |
| creating three-dimensional maps of underground | | | | The oil and gas industries are two of the world's |
| structures and using seismic waves to ascertain a | | | | biggest and most profitable enterprises. They employ |
| site's potential, exploratory drilling is still a major | | | | huge numbers of staff that work in an incredible |
| factor in finding oil and gas. Last year, the number of | | | | range of department, from those on the 'front-line' |
| exploratory drillings that took place exceeded 53,500. | | | | to those who design advertising campaigns to those |
| Once an area has been designated as having promise, | | | | who put it in our vehicles. |