Back to BlogThe Best Cities for Oil & Gas Professionals

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Have you ever wondered which cities are the best for Oil and Gas professionals?

According to 8,000 industry executives and engineers surveyed by Rigzone, the best global oil and gas cities based on increasing opportunities for exploration, production, transportation, technology, developments and refining, are the following:

10. Cairo, Egypt

A vital, non-OPEC member, Egypt is the second largest natural gas producer and largest oil producer in Africa. With its first oil well – Gamasah – dating back to the early 1900s, as of January 2012, Egypt holds nearly 4.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and nearly 77 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

With headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s national oil and gas company Petroliam National Berhad (Petronas) holds rights to all of the country’s oil and gas resources. However, it wasn’t Petronas that discovered Malaysia’s rich resources. In 1910, Royal Dutch Shell plc discovered Malaysia’s first oil field – onshore Sarawak. Currently, the country’s oil reserves are the third largest in the Austral-Asia region (after China and India).

8. Mumbai, India

With Mumbai being at the center of the business and oil and gas industries, most of the country’s important dealings occur in Mumbai. The city even has one of the world’s largest oil fields named after it. Mumbai High Field, considered to be the most important oil field in the country, resides west of India’s Mumbai coast. This massive oil and gas field con  tributes roughly 65 percent of the country’s indigenous crude oil production.

The country had 5.5 billion barrels of proved oil reserves at the end of 2012, mostly in the western part of the country, and 43.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves at the end of 2012, mostly offshore, according to US. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

7. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Until recently, Petrobras held a monopoly on most oil-related activities in the country, but the city is now home to many Brazilian branches of oil and gas companies, such as Royal Dutch Shell plc, EBX Group, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. Today, only 2 percent of oil exploration in Brazil is conducted by foreign companies with an estimated research and development budget of $500 million in 2011, according to Forbes magazine.

This number is expected to increase 25 percent, attracting investments from Chevron Corp, Repsol S.A, BP plc and a few other O&G companies. The total amount of foreign research and development investment is forecasted to hit $7 billion by 2017, said Forbes. With more and more foreign investment, there is an extensive range of job opportunities for expats moving or relocating to Brazil.

6. Perth, Australia

Perth-based Woodside Energy, along with its partners, own extensive gas reserves in the Browse Basin. Royal Dutch Shell plc is another company active in the basin and is developing its Prelude project there – a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility that will be used to develop Shell’s Prelude and Concerto gas fields located in the basin.

Western Australia has a number of major gas projects currently under development including: Chevron’s $45-billion Gorgon gas project that aims to develop some 35.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas located 120 miles from the state’s coastline; the $31-billion Browse LNG project; and the $30-billion Chevron-Wheatstone LNG project.

5. Jakarta, Indonesia

Indonesia is located where the Australian, Pacific and Southeast Asian tectonic plates meet. Most major petroleum discoveries in Indonesia have been associated with Tertiary-era sediments or, locally, with either basement or Tertiary volcanic phenomena.

A one-time OPEC member, Indonesia – the world’s fourth most-populous country with almost 240 million people – remains heavily dependent on petroleum. Its economy saw primary energy consumption increase by more than 50 percent during the last decade.

The country has 60 sedimentary basins. Thirty-six of these in the mature west have been well explored, with 14 currently producing oil and gas. In the under-explored east, 39 Tertiary and Pre-Tertiary basins show strong potential for hydrocarbons.

4. Singapore, Singapore

The oil and gas industry has also played an integral role in Singapore’s economy since oil trading began in 1891. Singapore is one of the world’s top three export refining centers, according to the EDB. A number of drilling rig and offshore support vessel manufacturers, including Keppel Corporation and SembCorp Marine Ltd., call Singapore home.

In 2013, these companies are expected to continue reaping the benefits of higher oil prices, growing offshore exploration and production investments worldwide and demand for high-specification drilling rigs. Singapore’s marine and offshore sector is expected to benefit from investments by Asian companies in deepwater exploration, drilling and production. Last year, Douglas Westwood forecast that, from 2011 to 2016, Asian companies will invest $28.8 billion in these activities, more than double the $11.6 billion spent in the previous five-year period of 2007 to 2011.

3. Denver, United States

While gold mining brought the first settlers to Denver, companies that are part of the air transportation, telecommunications, aerospace, and manufacturing industries are also found in Denver today. A number of oil and gas companies are also present in Denver, including Halliburton, Noble Energy Inc., Anadarko Petroleum Corp., EnCana Corp., EOG Resources Inc., and GE Oil & Gas.

Innovation in multi-stage hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology has allowed the oil and gas industry to begin exploring Colorado’s unconventional resources. These resources include shale and tight sands within three basins. Of these plays, the Niobrara currently is the most active, according to a report by the Institute for 21st Century Energy.

2. Calgary, Canada

The city’s growth has paralleled the fortunes of Alberta’s oil and gas industry, which rose to prominence with the province’s first major oil discovery at Leduc in 1947.

Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) reports the province’s conventional established oil reserves stand at approximately 1.5 billion barrels; the province produces nearly 500,000 barrels per day of conventional crude. Conventional oil production has tapered off in the mature Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, but Alberta’s oil sands will ensure that Alberta maintains a prominent role in the global energy industry. The province’s oil sands reserves hold nearly 170 billion barrels of bitumen recoverable with technology available as of 2011.

1. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Although Dubai is located in the country that boasts some of the world’s largest oil and natural gas reserves, its bounty of hydrocarbon resources pales in comparison to those of neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi. Nevertheless, Dubai has been an offshore oil producer since the 1966 discovery of the Fateh field in the Persian Gulf. In addition to Fateh, other key offshore fields developed by national oil company Dubai Petroleum Establishment (DPE) have included South West Fateh, Falah and Rashid. In February 2010, DPE made another significant offshore discovery that is currently under development: the Al Jalila oil field.

Aside from DPE, E&P companies such as Dragon Oil, drilling contractors such as KCA Deutag Drilling Inc. and Odfjell and service companies such as Halliburton Co. and Wood Group are among oil and gas industry players maintaining a significant presence in Dubai.