OilCareers.com, the international job board for the oil and gas industry, announced that it witnessed a record-breaking one million visits in January, reaching its largest ever number of online users till date.

The actual number of hits between January 5 and February 4 was 1,000,382, a first since the launch of the company in Aberdeen 10 years ago.

The Middle East saw over 100,000 visits in January, an increase of 12 per cent,compared to the same period the previous year. The region consistently generates the highest number of applications across all OilCareers’ geographies, with more than 30,000 made in the first month of 2011 alone.

It has been a great month for worldwide vacancies in the oil and gas sector, with the number of postings made to the global job board increasing to more than 10,000 last month. In addition, the number of registered users on the site surpassed 800,000 in early February 2011 - maintaining OilCareers position as the largest Oil and Gas job board.

With these latest figures, OilCareers.com predicts that a projected increase in oil exploration this year will result in increased vacancies, offering great employment potential for people looking for jobs within the oil and gas sector.

“As demand for the earth’s natural resources rises, so too does employment within the field. This impressive traffic growth highlights both an increase in employment opportunities worldwide, and the confidence applicants have in progressing their career,” stated Mark Guest, OilCareers.com’s managing director.

“The outlook is for stable prices - for at least the next year or two – indicating companies willingness to invest in the future. Oil and gas companies will enjoy more advanced technologies enabling a move to the development of resources in increasingly challenging environments – such as the previously off-limits Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta. These are all factors that will lead to an increase in hiring.”

“Engineers will continue to be in demand, particularly in emerging and developing countries that are in the process of installing the appropriate infrastructure to facilitate extraction. Australia, Kazakhstan and Nigeria are amongst those with the biggest needs – there is a shortage of expertise and employment gaps that need to be filled.”-TradeArabia News Service