re: Oil and Gas Question. No experience. Entry level jobs.

I want to bump this as I'm looking into this and if some one could provide feedback that would be swell.

About myself:

BS in Marketing
JD
Currently make ~80k a year

I am thinking about moving jobs (for various reasons, ability to move up/job security being some) from what I currently do as an attorney, and would like to get into the O&G field in Houston or N.O. Preference being N.O. in the short term (2/3 years) with moving to Houston not being a problem after that. I don't want to work for a firm, and may leave the legal profession altogether because outside my current job, it doesn't seem to fit me.

I've been trying to learn through my connections some of the jobs I would be good for. There are some in house "legal" jobs of various degrees that I think could be interesting, but most require 5 to 10 or more years specific O&G experience where I have two years experience in non-related field, and those jobs are very hard to get.

I've also seen some "Contracts Analysis" job posting that take the JD as a plus that were mentioned by my friends.

I'm open to various routes of getting into the industry, from going back to school for engineering, to parlaying my legal degree to perhaps not in house counsel, but somewhere they would like it, or some other part of the industry that suits my abilities.

Lastly, I've had trouble really determining what the entry salaries I would be looking at and career growth potential. I wouldn't mind perhaps going down to making in the 50k-60k range to work myself back up and surpass what I'm doing now. What's the general ceiling though? Are my basement salary requirements just ridiculous? What can I do to make myself a good candidate BEFORE getting O&G experience if anything?

Thanks