# Engineer/Manager Oil and Gas UAE



## _martik (Dec 16, 2013)

Hi. 
Anyone here have a good insight of the currently employment situation for Engineers/Project Managers in Dubai/Abu Dhabi for the oil and gas industry? 
I currently work for the Norwegian O&G, 3years relevant work experience(Instrumentation and Control Engineer), B.Sc. Mechatronics Engineer, M.Sc. Quality Management and Leadership.

Would love to move to Dubai/Abu Dhabi but I hesitate due to if there is a lot of jobs in my field and if it is easy to obtain a working visa?


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

As an expat, they're unlikely to even consider anyone with less than 10 years of experience in this industry. There's not much in Dubai, and everything in Abu Dhabi is either driven through the local NOC or their IOC JV partners. You'd be best checking out the ADNOC group OPCOs directly. 

A visa is fully dependent on having a confirmed job offer, nothing more and nothing less.


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## _martik (Dec 16, 2013)

Fat Bhoy Tim said:


> As an expat, they're unlikely to even consider anyone with less than 10 years of experience in this industry. There's not much in Dubai, and everything in Abu Dhabi is either driven through the local NOC or their IOC JV partners. You'd be best checking out the ADNOC group OPCOs directly.
> 
> A visa is fully dependent on having a confirmed job offer, nothing more and nothing less.


Oh is that so? Do you work in the O&G engineering-industry? So you would say min. 10yrs for all engineers in O&G in UAE, not only for project managers?


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

_martik said:


> Oh is that so? Do you work in the O&G engineering-industry? So you would say min. 10yrs for all engineers in O&G in UAE, not only for project managers?


I don't work in the industry, but I work in professional services and have some experience indirectly. 

10 years is a hard and fast rule, but given that nationalisation is a major topic in this part of the world, the focus is increasingly only on recruiting expats who are very, very experience in roles they're unable to fill locally.


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## _martik (Dec 16, 2013)

Fat Bhoy Tim said:


> I don't work in the industry, but I work in professional services and have some experience indirectly.
> 
> 10 years is a hard and fast rule, but given that nationalisation is a major topic in this part of the world, the focus is increasingly only on recruiting expats who are very, very experience in roles they're unable to fill locally.


I see, thanks for the reply. So this isn´t anything restricted to O&G-industry, this applies to all field of engineering, process-industry etc. ?


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

_martik said:


> I see, thanks for the reply. So this isn´t anything restricted to O&G-industry, this applies to all field of engineering, process-industry etc. ?


More or less. 

Your best bet is to look for something with an IOC or an oilfield services firm, these will probably be recruiting personnel. Again, almost exclusively going to be Abu Dhabi - but you might find companies have operations in both cities.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

I am in the O&G industry supplying parts and services to IOC and NOC.

Below might not be politically correct, but is my experience...

10-year thumb rule depends on the company. There are engineers who have less working as expats in UAE for various reasons (i.e. developing their own nationalities: French in Total for example; relatively lower costs: Indians / Egyptians / etc).

As a "manager" (definition varies: "account sales manager" is just fancy code word for in-lieu of competitive salary), it depends. High profile management positions with real management responsibilities will definitely require 10+ years, in general.

For 3 years experience, you will be able to find a position, but more work involved... And since you have the "less-common" background (i.e. not the usual more available south-Asian or north-African Arabs) there might be preferential options for you.

Good luck.


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## _martik (Dec 16, 2013)

ccr said:


> I am in the O&G industry supplying parts and services to IOC and NOC.
> 
> Below might not be politically correct, but is my experience...
> 
> ...


Thank you for this!
Which contractors is operating in UAE doing EPCI and M&M projects (e.g. Akers Solutions, Aibel, etc)?

Would you recommend me to visit ADIPEC2014 and hand out my resume?


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

_martik said:


> Thank you for this!
> Which contractors is operating in UAE doing EPCI and M&M projects (e.g. Akers Solutions, Aibel, etc)?
> 
> Would you recommend me to visit ADIPEC2014 and hand out my resume?


Could be wrong here, but given that pretty much everything is done online - it'll just go in the bin the moment your back is turned.

That said, actual networking would be very useful.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Try Wood Group PSN and Technip, they're hiring.


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## xxxxxxxxclownfish (Dec 15, 2013)

Shelf Drilling might also be worth a look.


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