Questions Relevant to Oil Field Work
November 22, 2019 9:56 AM Subscribe
My 20-year-old son, C, is considering accepting a job offer to work in a Texas oil field. What questions should he be asking? What questions should I be asking?
Details:
About him:
Details:
About him:
- Recent college dropout - spent one semester in a sustainable construction and design program, then half a semester taking gen eds before withdrawing from classes. Lack of interest, etc. Was also a college athlete (cross-country, track) and walked away from that.
- Until recently employed in commercial construction. Left that (pretty lucrative) job for reasons I have not been able to pin down. Still employed as a bartender at the sort of campus-adjacent joint that serves a lot of young people a lot of cheap booze.
- Smart, thoughtful of others, articulate. The kid who teaches himself to solve a Rubik's cube behind his back, but can't be bothered with homework. Every adult who's ever met him says how much they like talking with him.
- Periodic struggles with depression, but resistant to counseling and meds.
- Possibly drinks frequently and to excess, among other things.
- Has lived in Northeast Iowa in a small manufacturing/college city all his life.
- Random: Has not lived at home for >1 year. More tattoos all the time. Tallish and physically fit. Politically liberal.
- Living quarters a "man-camp", according to C, at no cost to workers.
- Potential earnings above $10k a month, possibly up to $15k. C had no details about benefits.
- Four weeks on, one week off.
- Actual duties? Again, no details, but probably a roustabout, of sorts. (He was unfamiliar with that term of art.)
- Let me be clear: I am painfully aware this situation is fraught with real danger for him, physically and otherwise.
- There is no way to lay down the law here, and simply telling him that I don't think he should do it will not work, e.g. "Well, I'll show HIM!"
- Things I should try to learn about his situation.
- Things a young person should know about the job itself.
- Questions *he* should be asking about the job.
- Anything else you can think of.
Best answer: Disclaimer: I work in oil and gas, but not in the field. I interact with field operations all the time though, so can apply some insights to your questions:
1) Oil and gas work is relatively safe - it's possible that he might not even be working on the rig (may be doing an associated job on site, but out of harm's way). If you want to PM me the company name, I can offer you more insight into what he might be doing as well as the safety culture of that company.
2) Companies churn through these types of workers A LOT (which is why they are willing to hire someone with no experience!) Key factors in dismissal:
- Inability to pass a drug test (even weed is a no no)
- Booze is okay, as long as you don't show up to work drunk. Rotation work is actually "perfect" for someone who likes to binge drink - 4 weeks on the job, then a blowout week.
- Inability to listen to orders. A proper safety culture means listening to the chain of command. If he likes to "give lip", he may not last long (think of it like the military).
- Starting fights with other people on the site (usual b.s: booze, cards, women)
3) Questions I would ask:
- this is probably a contractor type job, he'll have to get his own healthcare.
- you mention that he can stay on the camp, can he also do that during his 1 week off? (this would be rarer). Usually he'll have to find accommodations somewhere. Rent is CRAZY right now near oilfields, so if this is the case, I would just get a plane ticket and have him come home during his off week.
The description of your son matches many of the people I know who have successfully worked in the industry. It also matches many of the people who've flamed out.
I would encourage him to have a long term plan. $10k a month is a ton of money, and most of the single workers blow through it incredibly quickly. Is he good with saving money or is he the type to buy a Ford F-350 with his first paycheck - those types of things can determine long-term success.
posted by unexpected at 10:41 AM on November 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
1) Oil and gas work is relatively safe - it's possible that he might not even be working on the rig (may be doing an associated job on site, but out of harm's way). If you want to PM me the company name, I can offer you more insight into what he might be doing as well as the safety culture of that company.
2) Companies churn through these types of workers A LOT (which is why they are willing to hire someone with no experience!) Key factors in dismissal:
- Inability to pass a drug test (even weed is a no no)
- Booze is okay, as long as you don't show up to work drunk. Rotation work is actually "perfect" for someone who likes to binge drink - 4 weeks on the job, then a blowout week.
- Inability to listen to orders. A proper safety culture means listening to the chain of command. If he likes to "give lip", he may not last long (think of it like the military).
- Starting fights with other people on the site (usual b.s: booze, cards, women)
3) Questions I would ask:
- this is probably a contractor type job, he'll have to get his own healthcare.
- you mention that he can stay on the camp, can he also do that during his 1 week off? (this would be rarer). Usually he'll have to find accommodations somewhere. Rent is CRAZY right now near oilfields, so if this is the case, I would just get a plane ticket and have him come home during his off week.
The description of your son matches many of the people I know who have successfully worked in the industry. It also matches many of the people who've flamed out.
I would encourage him to have a long term plan. $10k a month is a ton of money, and most of the single workers blow through it incredibly quickly. Is he good with saving money or is he the type to buy a Ford F-350 with his first paycheck - those types of things can determine long-term success.
posted by unexpected at 10:41 AM on November 22, 2019 [16 favorites]
It's very well paid work and the least safe rig or production pad is safer than all but the safest construction job site.
The man camps often prohibit drinking - this could be a lifestyle improvement.
There will no lack of personable, smart and fit guys who hate homework. He will certainly get a perspective on the challenges of the life of skilled manual labor and might end up motivated to go back to school.
posted by MattD at 10:43 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
The man camps often prohibit drinking - this could be a lifestyle improvement.
There will no lack of personable, smart and fit guys who hate homework. He will certainly get a perspective on the challenges of the life of skilled manual labor and might end up motivated to go back to school.
posted by MattD at 10:43 AM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
This sounds like a net positive for your son and I would congratulate him on landing this opportunity.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:55 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by DarlingBri at 10:55 AM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
A web friend of mine has often advised young men at the webforum we visit to go work in the field. It helps young men develop and if they save up their money, they can do things like put down serious money for houses by the time their college graduate peers are graduating and realizing they are slaves to their college debt.
posted by Fukiyama at 10:58 AM on November 22, 2019
posted by Fukiyama at 10:58 AM on November 22, 2019
You mention he has periodic struggles with depression. I have friends and family who have done fly-in fly-out (FIFO) work in the oil patch and elsewhere, and they’ve described how living in remote work camps can be fine, and can be a good way to build savings, but it can also be tough on mental health. You and your son should look into available resources ahead of time and make a plan for what he should do if he begins feeling negative effects on his mental health. Since you’re in the US, I would call NAMI and ask them for leads.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:07 AM on November 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:07 AM on November 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Oil field is taking a dive right now and if it is west texas (midland odessa) it is the armpit of the earth. I shit you not.
That 10K to 15K a month, if it is happening at all, might disappear overnight.
posted by domino at 3:00 PM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
That 10K to 15K a month, if it is happening at all, might disappear overnight.
posted by domino at 3:00 PM on November 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
An old boyfriend of mine had this sort of a job. It's had its perks, he made really good money. But it was a hard job, isolating and honestly made it incredibly difficult to sustain relationships outside work. I dunno if I'd recommend that life for anyone longer than a year or two. He worked 21 days in a row of 12+ hr shifts. On his week off he was a zombie. As he got more experience and wanted to move back into the office he realized he would have to take a big pay cut. Plus as others mentioned, the industry is a lot more shaky in recent years.
posted by KMoney at 4:38 PM on November 22, 2019
posted by KMoney at 4:38 PM on November 22, 2019
I worked at the wellsite for twenty years but only one year was on US lands rigs and that was a decade ago.
In the US offshore workers tend to look down on the onshore drilling business because they give the rest of us a bad name - offshore rigs have become fairly professional but the folks onshore often seem to be cosplaying early twentieth century drilling. Fatalities are rare in both locations but a lot more land workers end up losing fingers or eyes. In Texas there is next to no state supervision of what goes on and the results are about what you would expect.
I strongly suggest your son either plan to accumulate a load of cash and move on after a year or so or, if he enjoys the work, try to move offshore - it's safer (when safety regulations are properly policed), the schedules are more forgiving and there's far more different types of work that need doing out there.
Honestly though, word is that most land based oil and gas drilling companies are going under.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:18 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
In the US offshore workers tend to look down on the onshore drilling business because they give the rest of us a bad name - offshore rigs have become fairly professional but the folks onshore often seem to be cosplaying early twentieth century drilling. Fatalities are rare in both locations but a lot more land workers end up losing fingers or eyes. In Texas there is next to no state supervision of what goes on and the results are about what you would expect.
I strongly suggest your son either plan to accumulate a load of cash and move on after a year or so or, if he enjoys the work, try to move offshore - it's safer (when safety regulations are properly policed), the schedules are more forgiving and there's far more different types of work that need doing out there.
Honestly though, word is that most land based oil and gas drilling companies are going under.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:18 PM on November 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm offshore right now, and I can tell you there's no way he's going to make 10k a month starting out.
The bigger problem with the oilfield, besides the inherent risk, is that he'll found himself stuck. Which is essentially what's happened to me: the oilfield turns down, company goes under, and I'm burning through my savings until I find something else. Which turns out to either require an education I don't have, or is something else right back in the oilfield.
The upside is that he'll learn what hard work looks like. That's pretty valuable at 20. I know it was for me.
posted by atchafalaya at 3:18 AM on November 23, 2019
The bigger problem with the oilfield, besides the inherent risk, is that he'll found himself stuck. Which is essentially what's happened to me: the oilfield turns down, company goes under, and I'm burning through my savings until I find something else. Which turns out to either require an education I don't have, or is something else right back in the oilfield.
The upside is that he'll learn what hard work looks like. That's pretty valuable at 20. I know it was for me.
posted by atchafalaya at 3:18 AM on November 23, 2019
I would recommend to him he gets evaluated for autism. This is a big reason people wind up quitting jobs repeatedly
posted by Mistress at 12:51 PM on November 23, 2019
posted by Mistress at 12:51 PM on November 23, 2019
Response by poster: Follow-up - he decided to seek other options, as it were. I think someone (not me) talked to him about drug testing, and he decided it wasn't worth the trouble.
Thank you all for your guidance on this. He and I did have some productive conversations about job and career paths he might find rewarding.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:14 PM on January 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
Thank you all for your guidance on this. He and I did have some productive conversations about job and career paths he might find rewarding.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:14 PM on January 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:10 AM on November 22, 2019