Starting Salary Compared to Other Engineers. Petroleum engineers with bachelor's degrees earn more in starting salaries than other engineers by far. Compared to the next engineer on the NACE starting salary list, the chemical engineer at $64,902, the petroleum engineer starting salary of $83,121 is 25 percent higher.hird on the list is the mining and minerals engineer with a starting salary of $64,404. With the highest starting salary out of the gate, petroleum engineers tend to make the most of all engineers during their working years.