From the Oil Patch

  Some of you may have seen my negative comments about the oil and gas companies in the claims about Ohio job possibilities in the O&G Industry here in GOMS. Well for the record this Ohioan is now employed in the Oil Patch.

  Some of you may have said that I am too old for that line of work, I personally had that feeling myself and was getting somewhat bummed out on that idea. At 60 years old there are better paying jobs than Walmart as a door greeter. 

  I just came back from a frac site where we fracked a 4 well pad in WV.  I was on the night crew which was a challenge by its self as it got a bit nippy with ice further complicating moving around on site and the amount of hoses, pipes, ice makes it a ice skaters demolition derby rink.

   But from my personal experience the newbie crew was a mix of Ohioans a couple have very little  driving experience upon their CDLs, characters include a young pup, a raging bull, a Big Teddy bear, a senior citizen (myself) and one that lasted only one night before he quit. 

   For those that have been in the military its rather similar in relationship building. But what struck me was the very first glimpse of the town where we were lodged at. From the looks of it investment in the pigments of white paint they use on trucks would be a good investment! Yes,  license plates from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana even Florida ( I think they were lost) are visible. But I think what struck me most was seeing young men with pride having jobs with pride similar to that of our military.

  You see very little mentioned about what its like on a frack site and to sum it up it's rather like a aircraft carrier during flight ops. Sand trucks coming in, fueling being done as 2050HP  pumps eat a bit of fuel, noise, shadows in the night, while rain comes down, it is a very busy place.

  At the pad where I was at we had a nightly visitor it wasn't the EPA, OSHA, but rather Rhino a good natured individual but we had to constantly be aware of it. A big skunk that warned us of his presence only once at we got the sense just to be dang careful at 3AM!

   I am to be a Electronic Tech for the company but getting the knowledge of the relationships of the processes and the roles of the equipment and the crew that makes it happen. I am not a a class room desk jockey but rather you'll see me on top of the pump rebuilding it with the crew members between the stages in a frac to the shovel and the the sand blender, dragging hoses, swinging a sledge, being up on the hydrator. blender, chem trailer, all to help get the job done and learn in the field. 

  Will I hang in there? Like most places of employment their are companies that you want to be a part of and others you want to walk away from. My personal view  after driving truck is 14 hour plus days driving truck, sleeping in a semi only paid for mileage in comparison to working with a team getting paid for 14.5 hours sleeping in a hotel being paid enough to eat what you want instead of a hot dog at a Truck Stop is a better situation. I made more in one week than driving truck for a month! I think the company I am working for has great opportunity for growth and so far is doing a pretty good job in the area of employee relations.

  Stay tuned for more. 

  

   

  

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Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on February 1, 2013 at 4:00pm
Update: Well still in the patch down here in WV at the current time. The difference between us buckeyes and the guys from Tx are amusing when the snow starts flying. Working nights so we get some neat views of blowing snow in thecwork lights upon the pad.
We hear the anti frackerscomplain complain about the noise, hmmm b ut yet we see deer near our activity and at the last site a overly friendly skunk.
Crew becomes family in a way, and just a bit of common courtesy goes a long way. Snow ya ca hate it or enjoy it's beauty.
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Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on February 1, 2013 at 4:32pm
Update: Well still in the patch down here in WV at the current time. The difference between us buckeyes and the guys from Tx are amusing when the snow starts flying. Working nights so we get some neat views of blowing snow in thecwork lights upon the pad.
We hear the anti frackerscomplain complain about the noise, hmmm b ut yet we see deer near our activity and at the last site a overly friendly skunk.
Crew becomes family in a way, and just a bit of common courtesy goes a long way. Snow ya ca hate it or enjoy it's beauty.
Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on February 17, 2013 at 4:04pm
Hello ya all. Down here in the hills of WV yet. As you know the weather has been a bit off and on with winter. Last night my boss asked how the roads were? Well I response in text well my GPS says I am on a road, what the heck? In other words not in good shape for you cowboys, lol.
I guess what's scared is if we get involved with is North Dakota those cowboys will say hey the Buckeyes can handle that! They have experience! Hmm Hmm think I better adjust my resume, anyone know if they track in Florida in the winter months?
So the view here is interesting from this pad I can see the other pad we are on and across the hills a drilling rig stands tall and bright. Deer I see the often good vantage points for long range rifles here.
Well chow tonight was good hot lasagna,bread sticks, salad and brownies
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Permalink Reply by Dan on February 18, 2013 at 4:15am

Hi Billy,

I hope you can get a second plate.  That's looks really good but not enough food for working out in the cold.  Thanks for the update.

Permalink Reply by Jim on February 18, 2013 at 5:07am

Billy,

Your post was entertaining to read.  Maybe your talent is in writing.  Maybe call "Farm and Dairy" and do a once a week article about "Life in the Utica"

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on March 14, 2013 at 1:45am

 Guess what the oil patch brings employment to women as well. Photo of a lady bringing in our nightly catered meal. Very pleasant gal, I keep reminding her I ordered broiled lobster tail with drawn lemon butter but  she says the new exclusive " Country Club " created by the local land owners keep the supply tight! lol

 On this pad we have 8 deer that are eating the newly sown construction grass within 35 yards of our activity! Well it beats eating snow balls so more power to them. We also have a local dog a with a bit of red bone in him that has adopted our crew, not hard to do as a lot of us has dogs at home we miss.

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Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on March 14, 2013 at 1:49am

Note she removed her safety glasses for the photo and was distant from  work activity.

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