Oil Rig Work

[quote]mikeavida wrote:
Wow, you guys! I was wondering if this was going to get any responses. Two pages blew me away.

I live in MN and would relocate anywhere. I’m open to working offshore or land based. I’ve got a friend of a friend working in oil (not a rig worker though) in Texas that I talked to today. I’d like to get a job before I relocate, but if I end up having to drive to Texas (or wherever) so that I can apply in person then I guess that’s what I will do.

Bujo, I’m 28. I’ve got 90 college credits (30 from community college, 60 from the University of Minnesota). I’m finding out I’m more interested in physical labor than office work though. I’m currently working for a tree service company (dragging brush, lifting logs, digging holes, chain saws, loaders). It’s good hard work, but it doesn’t pay shit. I’m smart, strong, and work hard.

ruffian, I’m ready to work! I’ll be PMing you.[/quote]

Roughnecking on a land rig ain’t a bad job to have. I loved drilling in South Texas last summer. If Ruffian can hook you up with a job and promises a toolpusher position in 1-2 years then take it. Just don’t fuck it up by showing up to the rig drunk and stupid. You’d be surprised how many guys I’ve seen fuck themselves out of good job because they couldn’t stay out of the bars.

Here are the websites to a few drilling companies I’ve worked with over the years.
http://patdrilling.com/

http://www.deepwater.com/

Honestly, there is so much drilling going on right now it shouldn’t be too hard to get a job. I recommend finishing up your degree. Maybe not right away, but eventually. Then you will look real good to companies like Halliburton, Scumburger, Weatherford, etc…

Also, don’t be shy. Land rigs, while drilling should have geologists, directional drillers, mwd/lwd, and mud engineers on location. Some other service hands will be wire line operators, cementers, casing/coil tubing, top drive/repair/maintenance, etc… Talk with those guys, learn what they do, and network yourself. There’s a few thousand different positions in the oil & gas industry, and you may feel some of those jobs are more to your liking.

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]kevinm1 wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]kevinm1 wrote:
x2 I want to work on one of the rigs in Brazil, work 8 months on a rig, go party in Brazil come back a 3 days later broke from cheap booze and cheaper women[/quote]

You have to work your way up to Brazil and some Asian countries for that reason. Must prove responsibility before they just shoot you off to LBFM land.[/quote]

That is a damn shame, I just want to work hard and spend the spoils of my labor on the finer things in life[/quote]
Most of them do. They just want to know you’ll make it back to work after a booze fueled week off with all the little brown fucking machines.[/quote]

I worked a 28/28 schedule in Trindad. My 28 days off were spent fucking around on Trinidad, catching a boat to another island, going to Brazil, Argentina, or Chile. I was out of the country for nearly 9 months. I was mostly there training the locals on new equipment. Thoses guys were all kinds of cool and we got into all kinds of trouble when were off the rig.

[quote]theBird wrote:
Do they have gyms on oil rigs?

tweet[/quote]

Offshore rigs do. The drilling camps up north like Alaska do as well.

Some have better gyms than others. None are particularly amazing.

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]theBird wrote:
Do they have gyms on oil rigs?

tweet[/quote]
Some of the new offshore rigs do.[/quote]

Well I do know they have the best freaking food, steak, steak, and more steak. [/quote]

Steak day is only twice a week.

Monday - Whatever
Tuesday - Steak Day
Wednesday - Whatever (maybe spaghetti day)
Thursday - Whatever (maybe Mexican day)
Friday - Fried Day, Fried Catfish, Fried Shrimp, Hush Puppies, Stuffed Crab, Crab Cakes, Fried Frog Legs, Seafood Gumbo
Saturday - Steak Day or Prime Rib Day
Sunday - Fried Chicken

The best food ever though was up in Alaska. The Kuparuk and BP camps were incredible. Kuparuk, I think, had 5 chefs on each shift. One did steaks. One did fish. One did soups and fresh breads. One for other entrees, and the last guy did desserts of every shape and form.

[quote]Bujo wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]theBird wrote:
Do they have gyms on oil rigs?

tweet[/quote]
Some of the new offshore rigs do.[/quote]

Well I do know they have the best freaking food, steak, steak, and more steak. [/quote]

Steak day is only twice a week.

Monday - Whatever
Tuesday - Steak Day
Wednesday - Whatever (maybe spaghetti day)
Thursday - Whatever (maybe Mexican day)
Friday - Fried Day, Fried Catfish, Fried Shrimp, Hush Puppies, Stuffed Crab, Crab Cakes, Fried Frog Legs, Seafood Gumbo
Saturday - Steak Day or Prime Rib Day
Sunday - Fried Chicken

The best food ever though was up in Alaska. The Kuparuk and BP camps were incredible. Kuparuk, I think, had 5 chefs on each shift. One did steaks. One did fish. One did soups and fresh breads. One for other entrees, and the last guy did desserts of every shape and form.[/quote]
I only did a few summers in college and I don’t remember the schedule, but I do remember enjoying dinner every single night. It was a combination of being ridiculously hungry and delicious. Also all you can eat.

ND seems to be shy on good looking women too. I was up there for about 70 days and settled for a few average strays to pass the time.

[quote]mikeavida wrote:
Ruffian, I tried PMing you twice. Not sure if you got them. They didn’t show up in my sent messages.[/quote]

I did not get it. I’ve been – shock – out on a fishing job* since 2:30 am. I’ll get you the info Monday or Tueday.

  • that’s when a pipe breaks and crap falls down the hole.

I worked three months in Saskatchewan. Pay scale for Canada is found on caodc.com
http://www.caodc.ca/wage/wage_drilling.html
Entry which is floorhand is 29 dollars an hour plus $140 a day in living allowance.
Shifts are usually 8 hours and go in a rotation of midnight to 8 8 to 4 and 4 to midnight
21 days on, 7 days off.
After taxes, you will clear 6-6800 after taxes per hitch of 21 days

Quite a bit of accomodations around the area, me and two other guys were sharing a one bedroom apartment that cost 450 a month, had cable and wireless internet. grocery store was close and free diesel fuel from the rig. Commute was anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours. The weeks off were un fucking real

thethirdruffian, I am interested in the info as well if you don’t mind sending it to me too please.

[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]Bujo wrote:
ND seems to be shy on good looking women too. I was up there for about 70 days and settled for a few average strays to pass the time.[/quote]

I have a feeling a woman, especially an attractive one, could get plumb rich there…[/quote]

Sounds like a plan. You can then take pictures and upload it to the sex locations thread wink

[quote]Bujo wrote:

Roughnecking on a land rig ain’t a bad job to have. I loved drilling in South Texas last summer. If Ruffian can hook you up with a job and promises a toolpusher position in 1-2 years then take it. Just don’t fuck it up by showing up to the rig drunk and stupid. You’d be surprised how many guys I’ve seen fuck themselves out of good job because they couldn’t stay out of the bars.

Here are the websites to a few drilling companies I’ve worked with over the years.
http://patdrilling.com/

http://www.deepwater.com/

Honestly, there is so much drilling going on right now it shouldn’t be too hard to get a job. I recommend finishing up your degree. Maybe not right away, but eventually. Then you will look real good to companies like Halliburton, Scumburger, Weatherford, etc…

Also, don’t be shy. Land rigs, while drilling should have geologists, directional drillers, mwd/lwd, and mud engineers on location. Some other service hands will be wire line operators, cementers, casing/coil tubing, top drive/repair/maintenance, etc… Talk with those guys, learn what they do, and network yourself. There’s a few thousand different positions in the oil & gas industry, and you may feel some of those jobs are more to your liking.
[/quote]

Bujo, thanks for the information. I’ll be getting my first aid/cpr certification this week if my work schedule allows. Do you think that matters? Does it make me more likely to get hired? What was your first job without oil field experience? How did you get it? Thanks for the company links too!

[quote]mikeavida wrote:

Bujo, thanks for the information. I’ll be getting my first aid/cpr certification this week if my work schedule allows. Do you think that matters? Does it make me more likely to get hired? What was your first job without oil field experience? How did you get it? Thanks for the company links too![/quote]

Having a First Aid/CPR certs certainly won’t hurt you when applying. Shows you have some initiative which is always a good quality. I can’t promise that it would help you get hired, but it certainly won’t hurt.

I did construction work to pay for college. A couple summers were spent working in TxDOT’s asphalt lab, and I had a bunch of odd jobs while at Texas A&M. The best one was working in the wind tunnel. It’s amazing how boring everyday objects become fun when you have a fan that generate 160mph winds.

I was recruited by Halliburton just before graduating, and have worked for them for the past 8 years. I started out on the Surface Data Logging/Mudlogging (poor man’s geologist), then moved over to MWD/LWD, and am now hovering between a couple different high profile jobs with Shell. I tend to be on jobs that have very difficult wells to drill or rigs where we are rolling out and testing new technologies. All my experience is on the drilling and exploration side of the business.

First thing is get your foot in the door. Roughnecking. Roustabouting. Mud Puppy. What ever it is doesn’t really matter. Get in, learn your job, and then learn as mush you can about the all the operations that go into drilling and producing a well. Pay attention to the physics and chemistry because it’s going to be all around you. Learning a little about hydro-static pressures and their effects on a well bore can go a long way to impressing a Company Man or Toolpusher. Which can go a long way to making you a derrick man, or a driller, or 3rd party service hand or what ever career path you want to take.

[quote]Bujo wrote:

First thing is get your foot in the door.
[/quote]

I’m trying! Most (all) companies that are posting job openings on job boards ask for at least 3 months experience. I haven’t been applying to those jobs. Right now I’m going through lists of companies and sending resumes/applying. Somehow I’ll land a job and when I do I’ll be really happy to be earning that coveted thing called experience.

3 months experience is nothing. Go ahead and apply to them. Any experience with any manual labor job should count. If you’ve done construction work then you’ve probably worked at heights, and with potentially hazardous chemicals like cement/mortar mixes, lime, etc… Do you know how to use a power drill? Ever work with a pressure washer? I’ve never seen an oil rig that didn’t have a pressure washer. Any experience with engine repair? All oil rigs use 2-4 pumps to circulate the drilling the fluid. Small pumps are about the size of a 4-door sedan. These pumps require maintenance, swab changes, and such. If you can prove you have some mechanical inclination and would be of some use in these types of operations then you would be a more valuable asset.

Push these kinds of experiences when you interview and make sure that shit is on your resume when you submit it.

Arm yourself with knowledge.
Start here:

Then read a few of those articles under “MORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT ARTICLES”

Use Wikipedia:

http://www.lloydminsterheavyoil.com/rotary.htm

Memorize 5 things that drilling fluid (mud) does and use it in conversation during the interview. Note any time you’ve ever used a caustic chemical (eg treating a swimming pool). No need to be an expert, but have a general idea.

Google and Wikipedia things like:
PDC bit
Tri-cone bit
Top drive drilling rig (you might google “kelly rig”, but very few rigs still use a kelly)
Drilling with casing

[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:

[quote]kevinm1 wrote:

[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:

[quote]mikeavida wrote:
I’m applying for jobs to work on an oil rig. I don’t have any oil field experience which of course makes it harder to get work. Anybody here work on a rig? How do I get into this industry without experience? [/quote]

I own a small (20 rig) drilling company in New Mexico. Have about 30 pulling units and frac units as well.

All you need is a strong back and the ability to pass a drug test.[/quote]

Done and Done, I currently live in Mass I would be thrilled to relocate can you help a brother out?[/quote]

Sure, if you promise me you aren’t a Masshole Democrat, I’ll PM a group of names, the owner of one of which is me. Any are OK.

In fact, you could just drive to Hobbes, NM, Midland or Odessa, TX, or any of the other oil towns and have a job in a couple hours. They will want to look at you.

If you have a CDL, a strong back, no drugs, and don’t look like a OWS freak, the HR lady will blow you in her office. And swallow.

The drug test do not include steroids, BTW. pot, coke, meth, etc.

Learn a little Spanish.

You’d have to relocate to either West Texas, South Texas, or East New Mexico. Pay, with overtime, etc. is easily north $100,000 once you make Pusher (which you would in a year or so).

Everyone here is conservative. Even our Hispanics (who have been here 300 years) don’t like wetbacks and Democrats.

Everyone hates freeloaders.

And this is for land rigs, so it’s burritos, not steak and lobster.

Winter is a good time to get experience for a guy from Mass. The world will stop here if it hits 32 because no one knows what to do, so it will be like Spring for you.

Summers are brutal. 110-120 for months. You will want to die.

You won’t need a gym; I remember working the chain one summer in college and my deadlift went up from mid-400s to mid-600s in 3 months – and I didn’t touch a weight all summer.[/quote]

I’d actually seriously considering doing this. I’m an electrician, speak some spanish, have a Merchant Mariner Credential and a TWIC…

Three weeks on with three weeks off, make a shit ton of money AND improve my DL? Sign me up!

Bujo,

did you graduate with a Geology degree?

I graduated with Geology and Economics…tried to get into some of the gaswork here in PA to no avail. I currently am working in a finance role, but I am sure the pay in O and G is much better. Would I still be marketable for that sort of work? I did have a few geology internships despite working in finance for the past few years, and certainly miss being outside.

I graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree, but Rocklickers are usually the first group they look at. Apply to Halliburton - Sperry MWD; Canonsburg, PA. They should be hiring. We were sending guys up there for 10 months during the moratorium in the gulf. I wasn’t up in PA myself, but a lot of buddies were.

http://www.halliburton.com/careers/default.aspx?navid=2013&pageid=4209

If you’re open to relocating I know Casper, Wyoming is hiring, and we should be opening a new office in Arkansas. If you’re not opposed to waking up and seeing ocean from horizon to horizon we’re hiring in the Gulf.

[quote]Bujo wrote:
3 months experience is nothing. Go ahead and apply to them. Any experience with any manual labor job should count. If you’ve done construction work then you’ve probably worked at heights, and with potentially hazardous chemicals like cement/mortar mixes, lime, etc… Do you know how to use a power drill? Ever work with a pressure washer? I’ve never seen an oil rig that didn’t have a pressure washer. Any experience with engine repair? All oil rigs use 2-4 pumps to circulate the drilling the fluid. Small pumps are about the size of a 4-door sedan. These pumps require maintenance, swab changes, and such. If you can prove you have some mechanical inclination and would be of some use in these types of operations then you would be a more valuable asset.

Push these kinds of experiences when you interview and make sure that shit is on your resume when you submit it.

Arm yourself with knowledge.
Start here:

Then read a few of those articles under “MORE DRILLING EQUIPMENT ARTICLES”

Use Wikipedia:

http://www.lloydminsterheavyoil.com/rotary.htm

Memorize 5 things that drilling fluid (mud) does and use it in conversation during the interview. Note any time you’ve ever used a caustic chemical (eg treating a swimming pool). No need to be an expert, but have a general idea.

Google and Wikipedia things like:
PDC bit
Tri-cone bit
Top drive drilling rig (you might google “kelly rig”, but very few rigs still use a kelly)
Drilling with casing

[/quote]

Very good stuff. Lots to learn. Thank you.