Landmen

Employers

Landmen work for oil and gas companies, helping them to explore and secure the rights to drill and extract oil and gas from properties. This is a highly competitive field and landmen with a proven track record of success in right-of-way negotiations have the advantage in the job market. There is no data currently available for total U.S. employment of professional landmen. The American Association of Professional Landmen has more than 16,000 members, as of January 2020, which sheds some light on the size of the field.

Starting Out

Many landmen get their start in the field by working as an assistant or associate landman in an oil or gas company. Some landmen start out in real estate or law, gaining knowledge of property rights and government regulations, before moving into the landman profession. A good way to get started is by taking professional land management classes at school and a landman course through the American Association of Professional Landmen.