Move over Wall Street titans and Silicon Valley giants. When it comes to paychecks, Big Oil now looks like the best bet for U.S. workers. Spurred partly by the shale boom, energy companies paid their median workers $123,000 last year, according to data newly mandated by the U.S. That topped all sectors, including utilities, tech and health care. While energy’s chief executives made an eye-popping 120 times more, the gap with their employees was still the second-smallest among all industries. What’s fueling this paycheck potency? First, a reliance on geologists, petroleum engineers and other highly skilled, well compensated professionals. Add to that the efforts needed to retain expertise — and lure young talent — after the recent oil price rout led to […]