Hey Oilfield Guys!!

[hammer63]

Lots of people, you need to look at the whole market not just a couple you pulled up. The dow is at 18,019.35 and there are a lot more up.

So companies and stockholders are making more profits, not passing the savings on to the consumers...imagine that. Other than at the pump, tell me where else you're saving money, at the expense of thousands of Texas jobs

[jooger17]

I'm curious, what do these guys do?
What are their job titles?
I always hear about these type of jobs and how much people in o+g make but never know their positions/titles/duties.

I know a few dozen people in o+g but they are all corporate types (HR/Accounting/Legal/Sales/IT/Engineer/Geologist/Geophysicist/Procurement/etc)
from what I hear it seems to me like they folks out on the rigs are the ones making $1,000+ per day (due to all the overtime and such)

All oil field jobs are the same. Day in and day out, you're worth a small percentage of what you actually make that day. For land, we'll start at the bottom and go up. This is ballpark what they make in Texas. Some a little more, some a little less. Regions like North Dakota will make a few bucks and hour more.

Roughnecks/ Floorhands $20-23 per hour.
You're job is whatever you're told. These are the guys with the least amount of experience. Your job description is making connections. When the joint or stand (30-90') is drilled down, you break the connection from the TopDrive or Kelly, make up either a stand or joint, make the connection. Cleaning and a lot of it, servicing equipment, helping all the other guys. You'll run a forklift, you'll climb 30' of stairs until your legs fall off, and get yelled at for doing stupid stuff so you remember not to do stupid stuff again. You're essentially a helper.

Motorman- $.50-1.00 more an hour than the Floorhands.This is the most underpaid job on a rig in my opinion. You'll be overseeing the Floorhands and helping train them. Assisting in all they do. Your top priority is anything mechanical or electrical. If it needs oil or hydraulic flood, if you have to turn it on or off, if it needs fuel, it's your responsibility. Taking care of the 3 big Cat motors than run the rig is your main job. Sewage detail, fixing all things that get broken, and assisting the derrickman.

Derrickman- $25-28 per hour. The mud pumps and drilling fluid are your responsibility. Adding chemicals to the mud to condition it, weight it up, or cut mud weight. Constant observation is a must. If the levels get too high you have to take some fluid out of your pits, if it gets too low, you have to add some. Mud loss or mud gain is an indication of something taking place 2 miles below your feet that you have to fix. Mud pumps have expendable parts. They will go out and you have to change them. You also need to be able to read the signs and know when they need replacing before something else is broken on the pumps as a result. Kind of a domino effect that can happen quickly. When you trip pipe, you'll be working about 120' off the ground. The stands will usually be broken in ~90' joints and will weigh as much as 2300lbs. You have a rope and your back to use to pull the stands of pipe back. I've had to trip out of the hole at 27,000' deep. That's 300 times you have to pull this pipe back to get to the bit. Once the bit/ tools are changed you have to latch it all back up to get back to drilling. (This was one of my favorite jobs in the oilfield).

Driller- $27-32 per hour. You have a lot of responsibility. You have to oversee all 4 guys working for you. You have to know their job because you are responsible for what they do. You will also be operations the rig. I could fill up the server with what they're doing, but essentially they're making the rig drill the hole. Keeping. An eye on A LOT of things down hole to ensure the well is being drilled properly and safely. You're the first line of defense in a well control situation. Knowing what when and how to react to a million different scenarios is your job. And you have to baby sit the hands working for you plus 3rd party guys on location. (I enjoyed this job too)

Toolpusher/ Rig Manager- $105,000-$145,000 a year.

This job is salary based. You'll still work 14-14 or 7-7 like everyone else. If you pull up on a location, everything above ground is his responsibility. Keeping up with equipment maintenance, ordering tools/ parts/ equipment, setting up training for hands, MOUNTAINS of paperwork, and keeping the guys safe is what you do. You are the face of the drilling company on location and you're as high up with the company as you can get without being corporate. Logistics and planning is 100% on you. Knowing when to schedule maintenance and reducing downtime, paying the guys on the rig, answering to the company man about how the rig is performing, making sure the driller is doing what he's supposed to do as well as the other hands. The good ones will work 16-24 hours a day. I have spent 3-4 days at a time on the rig floor without sleep when we where having problems(I hated this job!)

MWD- $100,000-$180,000 a year.

Their tool goes down hole and sends surveys and temps back so the directional driller can steer the well. 97% of your life will be spent at a computer. They work 300+ days a year, seldom get dirty, and as long as the tool is working correctly, they have a pretty Cush life.

Directional Driller- $150,000-400,000 a year. Usually a base salary of $3,000-6,000 a month, and a day rate of $300-1,000 a day.

You're job is to take surveys, make calculations, and make the bit go wherever you want it to. There's a series of complex mathematic calculations and survey software that will help you. You will build curves according to the well plan. This meaning, you'll make the well go from 0* to ~90* and maintain it through out the lateral section that could be anywhere from 3,000' to 12,000' long. Day in and out, it's a gravy job and you have your feet propped up on a desk for 12hrs a day. When things start getting sketchy, they can get really hard really quick.

Company Man/ Consultant/ Drilling Supervisor etc. $1,500-2,200 a day.

Everything that goes on below your feet is your responsibility. These guys are in charge of millions of dollars being spent on drilling a well. They take orders from the engineers and drill the well according to the PROG. They're responsible for well control, drilling the well as safe, fast, and cheap as possible. MOST of them have been around for a while and worked their way up to where they're at. That isn't always the case though.

Like I said, day in and day out you're worth a fraction of what you're paid regardless of position. When you start having problems, that's when you earn your money. A Floorhand can make or break operations, the motorman keeps you from going in the dark and loosing power, the derrickman keeps gas from coming back and blowing up the rig, the driller runs the equipment that drills a well worth millions, the Toolpusher makes sure everything on the rig is running smoothly, the MWD takes surveys to make sure you're going in the right direction, the directional driller makes it go in the right direction, the company man makes sure that goes as fast, safe and cheap as possible. Everyone plays a part, and they're worth more than they make when the time comes.

[jooger17]

Lots of people, you need to look at the whole market not just a couple you pulled up. The dow is at 18,019.35 and there are a lot more up.

I did and there isn't a single one of them that doesn't have a trend similar to that.

[Skinny]

Good stuff, Steve

[tgridley]

So companies and stockholders are making more profits, not passing the savings on to the consumers...imagine that. Other than at the pump, tell me where else you're saving money, at the expense of thousands of Texas jobs

Day traders too.

[Mossback]

My theory is that the U.S. Was in with the Saudis. We wanted to wreck Russia financially, cheap gas prices is basically a tax cut for everyone not in the oil and gas industry. It's a loss the oil and gas states which this admin hates anyways because people are successful. It will be 70$ before its 39$ my theory. Doesn't hurt the U.S. As a whole, have to take everything into consideration

[hoyt21]

Good morning, men!!! I think I'll go ahead and pour my second cup of NORM. Gunna be a good day!!!!

With a little dash of benzene ?

[Green]

It's not non toxic and yes they will be hiring. I will let yall know if it goes through so yall can have a job.

Editing your post after someone has quoted your smart &$$ comment. How's that face palm feel?

[texansfan]

Thanks for the detailed and informative post.
Seems like o+g is set up like the military.
The guys out on the rig are like the enlisted infantry
With the company man being like a Master Chief Petty Officer or Sergeant Major, I guess
The geologist and geophysicist would be your officers.

How difficult is it for a 18/19 year old kid fresh out of high school to get a job as a roughneck or floorhand during boom times?

All oil field jobs are the same. Day in and day out, you're worth a small percentage of what you actually make that day. For land, we'll start at the bottom and go up. This is ballpark what they make in Texas. Some a little more, some a little less. Regions like North Dakota will make a few bucks and hour more.

Roughnecks/ Floorhands $20-23 per hour.
You're job is whatever you're told. These are the guys with the least amount of experience. Your job description is making connections. When the joint or stand (30-90') is drilled down, you break the connection from the TopDrive or Kelly, make up either a stand or joint, make the connection. Cleaning and a lot of it, servicing equipment, helping all the other guys. You'll run a forklift, you'll climb 30' of stairs until your legs fall off, and get yelled at for doing stupid stuff so you remember not to do stupid stuff again. You're essentially a helper.

Motorman- $.50-1.00 more an hour than the Floorhands.This is the most underpaid job on a rig in my opinion. You'll be overseeing the Floorhands and helping train them. Assisting in all they do. Your top priority is anything mechanical or electrical. If it needs oil or hydraulic flood, if you have to turn it on or off, if it needs fuel, it's your responsibility. Taking care of the 3 big Cat motors than run the rig is your main job. Sewage detail, fixing all things that get broken, and assisting the derrickman.
.

[bphillips]

Thanks for the detailed and informative post.
Seems like o+g is set up like the military.
The guys out on the rig are like the enlisted infantry
With the company man being like a Master Chief Petty Officer or Sergeant Major, I guess
The geologist and geophysicist would be your officers.

How difficult is it for a 18/19 year old kid fresh out of high school to get a job as a roughneck or floorhand during boom times?

During a boom it's pretty easy.

[jooger17]

Thanks for the detailed and informative post.
Seems like o+g is set up like the military.
The guys out on the rig are like the enlisted infantry
With the company man being like a Master Chief Petty Officer or Sergeant Major, I guess
The geologist and geophysicist would be your officers.

How difficult is it for a 18/19 year old kid fresh out of high school to get a job as a roughneck or floorhand during boom times?

I see them every day and was one myself. When things pick back up it's easy to GET a job. KEEPING the job and or moving up quickly is an entirely different thing.

[XR650RRider]

One of the chemicals that is leached int the air is a known carcinogen that is known to cause childhood cancer and leukemia. OSHA regulates this chemical for adults but takes much less to effect children. Just food for thought.

BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!

Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Dihydrogen monoxide:

is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
contributes to the "greenhouse effect."
may cause severe burns.
contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Contamination is reaching epidemic proportions!

Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the midwest, and recently California.

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:

as an industrial solvent and coolant.
in nuclear power plants.
in the production of styrofoam.
as a fire retardant.
in many forms of cruel animal research.
in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.

Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!

The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.


And if you weren't aware dihydrogen monoxide is water. Just shows with a little hysteria you can get the less educated on the band wagon.

[Grumpy1911]

Wow. Cant believe the direction this thread has headed.....


We still turning to the right. For now.... Just skidded to a new one. Fixin to n/up and test.

[txoutdoorsman24]

Is anyone here on the production side of things?

yessir. Glad I am!

[Grumpy1911]

Thanks for the detailed and informative post.
Seems like o+g is set up like the military.
The guys out on the rig are like the enlisted infantry
With the company man being like a Master Chief Petty Officer or Sergeant Major, I guess
The geologist and geophysicist would be your officers.

How difficult is it for a 18/19 year old kid fresh out of high school to get a job as a roughneck or floorhand during boom times?

Yep. I graduated high school In May of 96. Went straight to a trailer mounted double drilling rig. Been on rigs ever since.

Guess I been on "Oil and Gas Band Wagon" for a few years.