Wanted: Oil workers

[Deja Q]

http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/?section=money_news_economy

"This could cause some delay in supply reaching markets," he said.

And as anyone who's followed oil markets over the last four years knows, supply concerns factor first and foremost in the minds of traders, who have bid prices to record highs of over $96 a barrel in recent weeks.

The industry is trying to fix the problem.

For starters, salaries are fairly high. Patel said a petroleum engineer typically earns $70,000 to $90,000 a year, right out of school.

Second, there are stronger academic programs in emerging countries such as India and China, home of many of the new graduates entering the field. Those graduate are closer to most of the new supplies of oil, in places such as Russia, Central Asia and Indonesia.

Beyer sees that as a good thing. "This is a global problem, and it needs to be solved globally."