Oil and Gas Workers, How To Find Pension Contributions From Every Country You Worked In

If you have spent your career moving between rigs, Nigeria, Malaysia, UAE, Australia, the North Sea, you almost certainly have pension contributions sitting unclaimed in multiple countries. Most offshore workers assume their employer handled it. Most did not.

The reality is that every country you worked in kept your pension when you left. It did not follow you. And the longer you wait to claim it the harder it becomes to find.

The oil and gas pension problem

The oil and gas industry is one of the most internationally mobile in the world. Offshore workers routinely move between countries every few years, sometimes every few months. Each country has its own pension system, its own contribution rates and its own rules about what happens when you leave.

What almost never happens is a clean handover. Nobody tells you that your Malaysian EPF contributions are still in Kuala Lumpur. Nobody follows up about your DEWS account from your Dubai posting. Your UK pension from your Aberdeen contract just sits there, waiting.

The result is that the average offshore worker with 20 years of international experience has pension contributions in 3 to 5 countries, most of which they have never claimed.

Country by country, what you left behind

Malaysia, EPF. If you worked in Malaysia your employer made contributions to your Employees Provident Fund account. The combined contribution rate is approximately 23% of your monthly salary. EPF pays an annual dividend and the balance grows every year you leave it unclaimed. Even a 2-year posting in Malaysia typically creates an identifiable EPF entitlement.

UAE, DEWS and Gratuity. If you worked in the DIFC your employer contributed to your DEWS account. If you worked elsewhere in the UAE before 2020 you may have an end of service gratuity claim. Both are real entitlements that frequently go unclaimed when expats leave.

Australia, Superannuation. Australia's superannuation system requires employers to contribute 11% of your salary into a super fund in your name. If you worked in Australia, even on a temporary work visa, you have a super account. Many offshore workers who spent time in Australia on LNG and offshore projects have super balances they have never claimed.

United Kingdom, Workplace Pension. If you worked in the UK, in Aberdeen, offshore on the North Sea or at a company head office, your employer was required to enrol you in a workplace pension. Short contracts, secondments and rotations all create pension entitlements that stay in the UK when you leave.

Singapore, CPF. If you worked in Singapore your employer contributed to your Central Provident Fund account. Offshore workers who spent time in Singapore often have CPF balances they were never told about.

Why oil and gas workers are especially at risk

Four reasons make offshore workers particularly vulnerable to losing pension entitlements. Short rotations, even 12 months in a country creates a pension entitlement. Company acquisitions, your employer from 1998 may have been acquired three times and the pension obligation transferred each time. Multiple employers, contractors who worked for different companies in the same country often have multiple separate entitlements. And the assumption that employers handled it, in most cases they did not.

How PensionHunter works for oil and gas workers

PensionHunter was built for exactly this situation. We search pension registries and employer records across 41 countries simultaneously. We trace employer chains through decades of mergers and acquisitions. We handle the paperwork in every language. And Search and Global deliver in five working days of your intake form (Country Pension Identification Report within 24 to 48 hours).

You tell us every country you have worked in and every employer you can remember, including companies that no longer exist. We do the rest. Search and Global clients receive their Action Pack, a full report, within five working days of your intake form (Country Pension Identification Report: 24 to 48 hours, Pension Identification Report) of every pension entitlement we have identified across every country, with provider contact details and the steps to claim each one.

A multi-country search covers all 41 countries simultaneously for $799. The average oil and gas worker with international experience has pension contributions in 3 to 5 countries, a single search identifies every entitlement we can locate, with values confirmed by the providers themselves.

Worked offshore internationally? Your pension contributions are still there. Register free, Global Pension Identification Report ($799).

Read more about our oil and gas pension tracing service

*This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. PensionHunter is a research and administrative assistance service and is not regulated by the FCA or any equivalent financial regulator.*

At PensionHunter, building the World's Trusted Pension Identification Platform, we help people across 41 countries find pension records they had forgotten about.