When grunts get paid that kind of money there is a reason and it's usually related to the danger of the job. That being said, be smart and pay attention and that can take care of itself. :up:
ND is doing the boomtown thing. They are putting up housing as fast as they can, but can't keep up. A friend went up there and worked for a while, but couldn't stand the time away from home. If you do go, keep away from the riffraff. Prostitution is already building, drugs(meth especially) are likely to be soon behind along with all the other bad things that come with lots of people with too much money and not enough brains.
It can be lucrative. I did the "prudhoe bay shuffle" for 5 yrs....mostly 2 on 2 off, but up to 11 weeks straight. I put my wife thru college...its been paying returns ever since. I was kinda lucky too.....Prudhoe is dry (legally anyhow), so I wasnt at the bar....I could see that happening. I got into it thru an old boss at the shipyards in Fla....he worked the pipeline, and went back in 1990.....2 weeks later he called me up, and I had a job.:up: .....RIP Rhino.
brother-in-law worked for Kenai until he fell, broke the wrist, etc. in Central CA and off the coast on an offshore driller. He was making good money. He has a past, but is not afraid of hard work. Definitely stay away from teh riff-raff. Sounds like a typical day is a ton of hard work in the 110 degree heat somewhere in the middle of the desert when he was on shore and they'd land at the local bar til it shut down. When we went to get him from the hospital his HR guy he basically told us that his workforce consists of ex-cons and dropouts. Definitely money to be made.
thanks, ill be calling those companies to get some leads and info. This kinda sound like joining the army. Your away for sometime dealing with not the best environments and working through it.
Well shit, I have no good comeback for that. I would rather work equal time. There are guys that work on the supply boats to the rigs that work schedules like 21/7 or 28/14. Personally, if i work 4 weeks, i want 4 weeks off. Ok, if i am gone for 4 weeks, i want 4 weeks home.
If there are roughnecks, then there has to be derrickhands and drillers. 120k is good starting money so if you get out there and pay attention, work safe, learn as much as possible and work your way up, you could be making some good damn money within a year or two. Not to mention that experience will look good on a resume if you choose to stay in the oilfield and pursue a job offshore drilling. Typically speaking, offshore pays a lot more than land jobs. But offshore roughnecks don't start out at 120k a year. That tells me that they are having difficulty keeping those positions filled...which may be a "warning sign". Being a roughneck isn't easy. They dont pay you 120k to drink the coffee while you stand around and bullshit. I was a roughneck for 2 years when i first started offshore. There were many days when i would wake up with my whole body aching and thinking "i don't think i can do this for 1 more day". But i stuck with it, worked my ass off, learned as much as possible and worked my way up to Driller before i went into the Subsea Engineer program (more money, less work and more job security). Now i am a Senior Subsea Engineer and couldnt be happier with my job. The opportunity for a good career is there...but it will not be easy in the beginning. Make sure you bring plenty of man-up with you.
I drill on a triple in Canada. 14 on 7 off. If you're making 120gs ruffneckin you would be working a lot. I may be in that region soon myself. I started on rig when I was 24, it's all good. Cold winters but worth a shot. If you don't like it no big loss
Very good point and i didnt even think about that. To make 120k on roughneck wages, they are working an assload. The roughnecks offshore work an even schedule (14/14 or 21/21). They could make a lot more than 120k if they worked as much as those guys will on a 14/7 schedule.
THIS! My dad lives in Midland and is PRAYING this housing shortage lasts til 28MAY14 when he retires. Right now he could get damn near 200K for the house he paid 50K for at the dip of the last bust. Then he could come here to DFW & get pretty much the same house/neighborhood for 100-110. That's a nice little nest egg addition!