BLACKDODOGE

is work steady only right now or all the time, year round, in the past, future(guessing)? I'm looking to mayble travel to canada to take a few classes and start making some money.

WUnderwood

no problem, thats what I was trying to do. hope I helped you out.

eddiebob

Exactly! Let me put it a different way. There are two different oilfields and there are two different kinds of people working them. Offshore/International and then there is Land. If you are looking for a career and the chance to move up I would not do anything but offshore. History speaks for itself. Ask any long term offshore hand how many times they have been layed off or missed a hitch over the last 20 years. Yes, the Williston Basin (Wyoming) is hot and heavy right now but, how much drilling did they do there from 1985 to 2000? Why do we have 20 year oil fielders from Canada coming to the Gulf Coast to work? The Austin Chalk horizontal play was a 20 year project. They drilled it up in 7 years. The Barnette Shale (Texas, Arkansas) is another heavy play right now. Give it several more years.
There always has been and always will be a line between land/offshore. I can not speak for any company but my own but, if there is a need to lay someone off it will be the land guys and we will fill their spots with offshore guys. Why? Simply because the offshore hand has exposure to more different situations/tools/wells.
Another thought is that I personally would rather work on a $700,000/day drilling operation than a $100,000/day operation. Right now the 10 5/8" bit we have in the hole costs $80,000 and it is screwed to the bottom of $4,000,000 worth of LWD tools. That isn't counting the $2,000,000 Rotary Steerable.
If you are looking for a career on the drilling side with the chance for advancement there is not but one place to work. Ed B

tbarbee1

He could also look into pipelining after the wells are drilled the gas has to be moved somehow and as long as people have cars there will have to be cross country pipelines to get the product to the refineries. And there will always be a DOT enforcing rules and regs on the intrastate pipelines creating the need of knowledgeable personell to complete routine maintenance and repair of said pipelines. Pipeline construction is going wild right now because of the oilfield expansion when that is over there will still be a need for crews to perform rehab work and maintenance so it really doesnt matter what the oilfield does pipelines will remain unless the oil completely dries up. Just a thought.

BLACKDODOGE

do you guys know of any courses/sclasses in the U.S. that will help get a job in the oil business?

tbarbee1

The best classes are working for or side by side with old school guys and keeping quiet so they will share their knowledge with you just put the good info in the bank and trash the rest. As far as schools it seems like there is a school for everything now but I'm not sure where to tell you to look.

Fronty Owner

I think there is one in Kilgore Texas. (or somewhere thru there)
It will probably be more on the administrative/engineering side rather than how to throw a chain and not loose three fingers.
there are really so many aspects from cradle to grave that I dont think we have really touched on them all in this two pages.
yes there is work out there, yes you can make a career in it. dont get married until you have settled into one routine. I know people that are perfectly content married working 28 day rotations. after a couple weeks home, their wife is ready for them to go away so they go work in the shop.

On a side note, marriages are alot about having a consistant work/home schedule. My wife is annoyed because I have been gone so much lately. Normally, Im away from home 3 or 4 weeks per year, the last 5 months, I have been home maybe 6 weeks.

Red3quarter

Not trying to hijack but this thread caught my interest. What kind of opprotunities are out there for a diesel mechanic/welder with experience in X-Large diesel engines, trucks and heavy equipment repair. I've already completed a 2 yr course for and A.S. in Diesel Tecchnology and I'm currently in an apprenticeship through the railroad as a Locomotive Machinst. My apprenticeship ends July 08 and I've been thinking of switching jobs. I really like to work on large engines like whats in a Loco. By the time my apprenticeship is up I'll have 2 yrs at the RR, and a few yrs prior to that I worked on trucks.

Fronty Owner

there is the basic diesel engine repair and servicing on the genny's and compressors.
welders are always needed for rig repairs onsite and pipeline work.

I know a guy that started with one truck and a welder three years ago, today he owns 5 trucks that are billed out at $75/hr and he pays his driver/welders $25/hr. thats $50/hr to cover fuel, insureance, and consumeables.

WUnderwood

pipeline welders make great money but it is tough work, long hours, etc, etc

Fronty Owner

is there ANY job in the oil field that isn't tough work with long hours?

Unless you can HONESTLY walk up to someone and say "Im from corporate, Im here to help"

tbarbee1

Thats what I do now as a project manager for one of the largest pipeline service companies in the World. HONESTLY

But if I have to go to the field and say hi I'm from Bla bla and I'm here to help that means there is a problem that probably originated in my office and the long hours have just begun. So in retrospect no matter how high you think you have climbed up the corperate ladder there is always someone there ready to kick your butt. And in addition to that, in the field everything is normally directed by someone other than you. You are usually following someones orders or set procedures so the buck stops with someone else. The hard work and long hours aren't a bad trade for the stress of knowing if something goes wrong its my fault.

MJDiesel

This is not an oilfield job, but it might be of interest to you. Coal mines hire mechanics to work on the very large dump trucks, loaders and other equipment. The jobs that I have looked at start at $24-28/per hour. The work shifts are 12 hours(day & night) and you work 14 out of 28 days. Generally, overtime is not required, but you can request it. The last time that I checked, there were still open positions available. They interviewed me and I have not had any kind of mechanical training, so someone with training or experience would probably have a pretty good chance.

kevellis32

Yes, a few of them, I am a mud logger, I do all the geology work, doesn't pay too well, but you meet a lot of people that will get you places down the road and I watch movies all night and play online as you can see. My job at absolute best will earn you about 1600 a week, which is kinda deceiving when you look at it with the tax breaks because my boss pays me more per diem than he does my wage. So when tax season comes it will say I make like 15k a year when I really made like 45-50

You can be an MWD hand- that stands for Movie Watchin Dude - Or measurment while drilling, but they just watch movies, I always make friends with them so I can borrow their movies. Thats a six figure job once you have experience.

Or when you get a lot of experience you can become a company man, and they just yell at me all day because its somehow my fault that the head geologist picked the wrong place to drill and we aren't hitting any gas or oil.

But my favorite job on site is doin side work for the company man. On some sites they will give me a trailer and pay me to go pick up tools or mud mixxers for them and they will pay you very well.

And yes- girlfriends do hate oilfield jobs, but they normally learn to deal with it when you can buy them whatever they want(with in reason) when you come back, and you normally have the same amount of time off that you work...so the way I figure it and explained it to mine. If you have a 8 to 6 job. you get up at 6 leave by 7 get home at 7 eat and go to bed to do it all over again for 5-6 days a week. you barely have any quality time, but when you are home for 3 weeks straight, you have plenty of time to do WHATEVER you want. Because I live in a college town and just got outa college it means I go drink with my buddies until she gets off work, then go boating, and do whatever. It all works out...

WUnderwood

with my job(running title) I dont really work in the field, other than to visit mineral owners. I work in the courthouse and the office mainly. landowners really like it when you show up with a fat check in your hand, they want to set me up with their daughters, take me hunting, offer me beer, etc, etc. Or, on the other hand, they tell me they need more money, talk my ear off, or just tell me to stick it.

the beauty of the oil and gas business, to me, is that there are so many different positions you can be in, whether on the production side, the geology side, or the paperwork side(me).