By David Lee Smith December 24, 2007
If you have math-whiz kids, consider encouraging them to become petroleum engineers. They’ll make a fortune, and probably spend time in such garden spots as Kuwait, Kazakhstan, or scenic Sakhalin Island.
As BusinessWeek recently noted, a growing shortage of technical types — petroleum engineers, geophysicists, technicians — is now plaguing the energy producers and their oilfield-services peers. Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) CEO Andrew Gould talked about the shortage when his company released its latest quarterly results, as have other industry leaders such as ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) CEO James Mulva.