Fronty Owner

kelly drive rigs have a problem when it comes to how far you can drill before you have to do something... its much nicer to drill 90 feet before making a connection than it is making a connection ever 30 feet because your out of kelly.

kevellis32

good point...but that doesn't make a difference if your top drive breaks down every week like it did on an Encana well I was workin on up in Washington (columbia river exploration---waste of 150 million dollars). I loved it, just got to sit in my skid and play video games and get paid for days on end.

vr1967

We are using 45' joints so we only make a connection every 135'. I prefer the offshore as I can't go down the road and spend money when I'm at work. I know alot of land rig hands too. Think it is all in what the person is used to. I went offshore straight out of the Army, so I was used to being away. Was working offshore when I met my wife, so it is all she knows.
Fronty, believe it or not, I have never been to Orchard Towers. Had to go get my hands out the Paramont a few times, though. I don't drink, so I just stay away from all the vices. (I almost died of alcohol poisioning in 1994)
I have worked on 6 continents, but for those who think you see the world, you mostly see alot of airports.

eddiebob

How about drilling a 135' stand. We are drilling 3 joints of 6 5/8 FH range 3 pipe at the time. The only thing the roughnecks do on a connection is dope the drill pipe. PS30s and the Iron Roughneck make the rig floor a much safer place. I agree that the Tesco top drives are troublesome. The NOV (National/Oilwell/Varco) top drives hold up a lot better. Have you ever tried to backream out of the hole with a kelly rig? Ain't gonna happen! Oh well, its steak day, offshore guys know what I mean. Cheers, Ed B

dieselJon

Could you guys give me some names of companies that are reputable about saftey, production, etc. Also, some websites would be nice on these companies.

Fronty Owner

thats the day the coast guard shows up to make sure everything is legal...
those boys know when every rig has the good food and that is the day they show up. feed them lunch, show some paperwork, and they are on their merry way...

Fronty Owner

I wouldn't exactly call Shell reputable. more like notorious...

Hard hat, flame proof long sleeve coveralls, boots, safety glasses, ear plugs, and gloves are the minimum to get past the guard on duty.
you also have to have a special work permit to take any electronic device past the guard shack.

as far as drillling companies. I haven't seen any company that is lacking on safety, there are drillers and operators that are.

Encana and Nabors are two companies that come to mind that are big players in the US. some of the guys that are in the field more than I am can probably tell you every company and where what rig number was this morning.

'strokeThis_'07

Was that outside of Sunnyside?? We went up there to drill plugs after the well got fraced-we were just out of Mattawa, but went over to a rig outside Sunnyside...this was last October-November we were up there

kevellis32

Sure was. Mattawa, that was one classy town. But I worked on that one for a month or so and then on their last one labeled brown-24 or something like that, but every well of theirs out there went about 8-10 months because they had to drill through 10k ft of basalt....I love gettin paid to log the same ole stuff

Cowhand

Start looking at downstream.....I just jumped back in after 8 years doing commercial construction safety. Building a little Wet Gas Scrubber for a hair over $80MM, and they're paying me over $150K/yr to ride heard on 4 contractor safety hands. Ain't but about 90-95 hands on the job/day...

Good safety hands seem to be in short supply everywhere these days, especially in downstream.

Shutdown season's coming up as well.....you can make a few bucks if you don't mind running yourself into the ground to make it.

'strokeThis_'07

Haha yea, Mattawa wasnt very impressing...we didnt really do much up there other than sit in the hotel all day, logging about 18hrs a day...nice on the paycheck!! The worst part was we were on call 24hrs a day because the company man wouldnt just say "ok, I dont need you guys out here for 3 days" or something like that, or we coulda gone and done something like go to Seattle or somethin. That was the first time Id ever been up there, so I may go back for vacation sometime, but Mattawa definately wont be on the to-see list! Richland wasnt bad though

kevellis32

yea, my first time too, The company man was payin my boss and I to go fetch him mud at a very nice price per load and they even paid me nearly 500$ and gave me free fuel(red) and a card to buy myself dinner with to drive up to the airport in seattle/tacoma to pick up a spare or just in case under reamer. That was the nicest site I have ever been on or seen! Since we had so much time off all I ever did was go down to desert aire, get drunk at the bar by the sand trap restaurant and sleep in my truck...classy huh?

WUnderwood

how about Grey Wolf? I know they were the drillers on a few of our leases

BLACKDODOGE

offshore guys let me know if your company ever has entry level positions available. (roustabout,roughneck, etc.) I've sent a few applications out, but can't find to many companies that are hiring entry level. I not asking you to put a word in for me(it would help though), just when the positions are available. thanks in advance

vr1967

Blackdodge,
ALL are looking for entry level hands. Try Transocean, Global Santafe (merging with Transocean after first of the year) Noble, Pride, and maybe Seadrill. These are your majors. I work for Seadrill, but we have no rigs in the Gulf at the moment, with one, possibly 2 headed that way after the first quarter 2008.
Most have websites that can be googled. Also look on Rigzone.com
I haven't worked in the Gulf in so long, (12 years now overseas) I know no one in the U.S. offices anymore.
Good luck.
Virgil