In the black: Oil & Gas CEO salary survey 2012

Our inaugural Oil Executive salary rankings show record oil prices saw oil and gas executives chalk up bumper pay

Our inaugural Oil Executive salary rankings show record oil prices saw oil and gas executives chalk up bumper pay

2011 was a great year to run an oil company. Brent averaged $111. New upstream markets are progressing rapidly, from pre-salt in Brazil to tight oil in the US. A new cycle of drilling in Saudi Arabia began.

Abu Dhabi is on the brink of an upstream renaissance, Kuwait’s North field development continued, and Oman has reaffirmed its commitment to some of the most advanced enhanced oil recovery programmes in the world. Iraq’s production and drilling programmes began in earnest.

The disruptions of the Arab Spring look to have brought in new governments which, while fragile, will not be prone to the depredations of the dictatorships that have been swept away.

All these factors helped top executives win raises from their boards, with an average pay hike of 20%.

On average our top 20 executive scooped $17 million in total remuneration in 2011. But are they worth it? To help answer this question we’ve ranked the 20 highest-paid oil executives, and put their pay packets alongside their company’s share price over 2011 (see page 56 for shareholder return number crunching).

For obvious reasons only private sector listed companies have been covered. The data given come from regulatory disclosures, company reports, or the estimates of credible research agencies.

Because this is Oil & Gas Middle East, only companies with a presence in the MENA region have been included.
Total pay is the sum of: base salary; bonus; stock awards; stock options where vested or valued; payouts made in 2011 under other long-term incentive plans; pension benefits; and miscellaneous compensation.

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