Oil & Gas jobs in the UK

Where the UK oil and gas industry works

Oil and gas remains a significant UK employer. Production from the North Sea and West of Shetland feeds onshore terminals, pipelines and refineries, and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrives at coastal terminals. As older fields reach the end of production, decommissioning is a growing workload of its own.

Aberdeen and the north-east of Scotland remain the centre of the UK industry, home to operators, drilling contractors, service companies and training providers. The southern North Sea gas fields are supported from Norfolk and Suffolk, where Great Yarmouth's port has long served offshore supply and decommissioning work. In south-west Wales, the Milford Haven Waterway is home to the Valero Pembroke refinery and the South Hook and Dragon LNG terminals.

Onshore gas terminals such as St Fergus in Aberdeenshire and Bacton in Norfolk, and oil terminals such as Sullom Voe in Shetland, also employ operations and maintenance teams.

Roles offshore and onshore

Production and operations

Offshore platforms are run by control room operators, production and process technicians, mechanical, electrical and instrument technicians, crane operators, deck crews and offshore installation managers. Onshore terminals and refineries have similar roles working shift patterns.

Drilling and wells

Drilling crews include roustabouts, roughnecks, derrickmen, drillers and toolpushers. Well engineers, mud loggers, well intervention specialists and completions engineers support them, often working for service companies rather than the operator.

Engineering and integrity

Process, mechanical, electrical, instrument and control, structural, pipeline and subsea engineers keep assets safe and productive. Inspection engineers, corrosion specialists, NDT technicians and rope access technicians carry out integrity work offshore.

Decommissioning

Ending production safely involves well plug and abandonment, cleaning and making safe topsides, planning heavy lifts, and recycling or disposing of materials onshore. Decommissioning needs project managers, wells specialists, environmental advisers and waste management teams as well as offshore crews.

HSE, commercial and support

Every asset also relies on HSE advisers, emergency response coordinators, offshore medics, logistics coordinators, planners, cost engineers, and contracts and procurement staff.

Rotations and shift patterns

Offshore staff usually work 12-hour shifts on a rotation, such as two or three weeks offshore followed by a similar period at home. Onshore terminal and refinery teams tend to work rotating shifts that include nights and weekends. Contract roles are often paid on a day rate, so check how travel days and standby time are handled before you accept.

What you need before your first trip offshore

Most UK offshore installations require the OPITO-approved Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET), which includes helicopter underwater escape training. You then renew it with the shorter Further Offshore Emergency Training (FOET), usually every four years. Many operators also ask for compressed air emergency breathing system (CA-EBS) training. The OPITO standards library lists the current courses.

You will usually also need:

• an offshore medical carried out by an approved doctor under Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) guidelines, formerly known as the OGUK medical
• OPITO Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST), which many employers expect of people new to the UK offshore industry
• CompEx certification if you are an electrician or instrument technician working in hazardous areas
• the CCNSG safety passport, widely used on onshore terminals, refineries and process sites

Requirements differ by operator and role, so check the advert and confirm with the employer before you pay for any course.

Routes into oil and gas

Technician apprenticeships remain a well-trodden route, combining college study with on-the-job training on plant. The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board supports apprenticeships and training across onshore and offshore engineering construction.

Operators, contractors and consultancies run graduate programmes in engineering, geoscience and commercial roles. Service leavers, particularly marine engineers and technicians from the Royal Navy and engineering trades from the Army and RAF, often move into offshore maintenance roles. People from onshore process industries, such as chemicals and power generation, can also transfer.

Skills built in oil and gas are increasingly used in hydrogen and carbon capture projects and offshore wind, so experience here can open several doors.

Oil and gas vacancies on Energy Jobs Board

You can search oil and gas jobs by keyword, location, salary and employment type, including contract roles that suit rotational work. Adverts that have expired or closed stop taking applications, so what you see is open.

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Operators, contractors and agencies can list an oil and gas vacancy, which our team reviews before it is published.