Oil and gas salaries highest in Europe after UK investment boom - survey

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil and gas workers in Europe last year earned more money than their peers elsewhere in the world as the region was spurred on by record-breaking investments in Britain, an annual industry survey showed on Wednesday.

Average oil and gas salaries in Europe rose to 72,714 pounds last year, up 14 percent on 2012 levels and overtaking Australian pay, according to an annual survey of over 20,000 oil and gas professionals published by jobs site Rigzone.

"Professionals in Europe have particularly benefited from the record investment levels now being poured into the North Sea," said Dominic Simpson, an executive at Rigzone, in a statement accompanying the findings.

Particularly investments in the British part of the North Sea rose to a record high of 14.4 billion pounds last year, following tax incentives to develop areas that are harder to access.

Average UK salaries from the mud engineer to the oil major executive rose to 79,522 pounds per year, compared with a global industry average of 61,294 pounds, the survey found.

Pay packages in the oil and gas sector are typically lucrative because the growing need for skilled labour is increasing competition and pushing salaries higher.

Among European workers, graduates saw the highest year-on-year rise in compensation of over 20 percent to an average of 57,650 pounds, the survey showed.

(Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by David Evans)