Job opportunities for Singaporeans in oil and gas

There is much doom and gloom about the imperilled state of the world—the GFC, troubles in Europe, a decline in economic growth, jobs at risk. You could be forgiven for thinking the end of the world is just around the corner.

But there are sectors, such as mining, oil, and gas, which are booming internationally. Huge amounts of money are being poured into energy-related projects, and people with the right skills are in high demand.

The key questions are: how can Singapore benefit from these growing industries, and what are the job opportunities available?

Strong foundations
It is easy to point out that Singapore is lacking in actual oil, gas, and mineral resources. But let’s not focus on the negatives. Such minor setbacks haven’t stopped the Lion City in the past. The location of the extractible resources is also only half the story.

Singapore is already a key player in the global oil and gas sectors: Keppel is a leading builder of offshore rigs and other specialist equipment; Singapore is home to one of the world’s leading oil refineries; the first open-access, multi-user LNG terminal in Asia is about to be opened; and it has a regionally unrivalled mix of international banking and support services.

Singapore’s general business environment is incredibly supportive. The immigration, regulatory, and taxation systems are easy to understand and transparent. For international business this is crucial, and for competitors, this is hard to replicate.

The foundations are already in place, but Singapore faces some stiff competition from other countries—China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea all have similar plans to attract companies and people.

The international war for business and talent is only going increase in intensity.

However, Singapore well positioned to take the lead in this battle. With a background in shipping, oil, and gas, it is already considered a world-leader in the provision of the very best local and foreign specialist talent. Singaporean training is some of the best in the world and many of the foreign experts are already here.

Attracting key individuals
This importance of attracting the world’s best people cannot be underestimated. These people are in charge of huge investments: $150m for a single LNG carrier, $250m for a jack-up rig, $700m for a state-of-the-art FPSO, $5bn-plus for an LNG terminal.

In oil and gas there is a shortage of highly skilled people. Senior managers and technical experts are in high demand, and command top salaries.

For these key individuals, Singapore is a preferred location to live and work. Specialist talent is reluctant to relocate to less internationally-focussed areas where they and their families may have difficulty integrating and settling.

Such is the desire to acquire these people, that businesses will set up physical offices where the talent is located in order to attract and retain them.

Local opportunities in unexpected areas
Largely because of the high quality labour available, offshore construction and engineering companies (working on rigs, drill-ships, FPSOs etc) are already looking to increase and expand their capabilities in Singapore, setting-up specialist offshore engineering offices to capitalise on the local talent pool.

If this trend continues, and we expect it will for at least the next couple of years, there will be some significant employment opportunities for both Singaporean and overseas candidates. These will be high-paying, international roles, with real opportunities in terms of career progression.

These roles will not be limited to those with an engineering background. Finance, marketing, legal, operations, design, HR, and other related skills will all come out of this. There are some exciting opportunities available.

Success will breed success. As Singapore builds a reputation as a mining, oil, and gas hub, it will attract further business and increase the number of high-value roles.

With any luck, these industries will be increasingly seen as an attractive option for young people looking for something different.