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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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on December 19, 2012 at 4:11am

Billy; such great news.  I was wondering if you had started yet and if so how you were doing.  As a fellow "long in the tooth,"  I new you could out work those youngins...lol  Great news and keep us updated.  Will be fascinating to hear from an insider.  Just be careful that what you post doesn't put your job at risk!

Congrats again!

Permalink Reply by JK on December 19, 2012 at 4:45am

Thank you Billy,

It is good to hear what's happening in the field.

Be careful and keep up your good work!

Merry Christmas!

Permalink Reply by Dan on December 19, 2012 at 4:52am

Congrats again Billy.  Sounds like you are right at home in the patch.  Merry Christmas.

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on December 19, 2012 at 6:02am

Yep can't post much, besides with technology leaping in the industry it would be out dated by the time the white out dried in my text in my post, lol

 But there jobs are being created to support the oil patch as well, from local restaurants, part supplier delivery drivers, hotel workers, water haulers, machine shops, people into accounting,  there are jobs involved in the industry.

Permalink Reply by Tony Yurina on December 19, 2012 at 4:05pm

Billy, 

I am so happy for you to not only land that electronic tech job but to embrace the opportunity to learn from and work with a frac team of high tech individuals.

This business can be inherently dangerous, following safety procedures is of utmost importance in today's energy business.   Hone that six sense, work safe and you will love the work.


I would like to share my story.

Three years ago, a company from Tulsa, Oklahoma came to SW PA and opened an engineering office, the first hire was a local, 22 hires later - 2012 have all been locals from WV and PA.

In December 2012, the company opened an engineering office in Guernsey County. I had retired from a large transmission pipeline company.  I was brought on to manage and grow the office.  Currently we have five "local Ohio" workers.   Three new Tech's are being hired for January 2013 and they are Ohioans. 

Estimates are to add more mid 2013 as the energy workload evolves.

On the other hand, if I were bringing in a $30 million dollar drilling rig at $1,000 / hour rate, high tech monitoring equipment, and sinking another $9 million into a well bore that tens of dozens of issues can occur to add incurred costs, or assembling water transfer facilities and bringing in 45 to 50 frac trucks that cost $1 million each, I would want to bring those skilled workers with the equipment until such time the local people learn those skills and incrementally replace the out of state workers.  Believe me, those out of state workers all want to go home eventually. 

A number of companies are planning their midstream build outs for 2013.  There will also be large diameter pipelines constructed in 2013 forward.  Many good employment opportunities are on the dawn of a new era in Ohio and in the tri-state area.

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on December 20, 2012 at 4:38am

Anthony; for years I have heard people against the industry complain about all the out-of-state workers here as another reason to be against O & G. My reply was that these are highly skilled guys doing very dangerous work, drilling into various pockets of natural gas under very high pressures. If an accident happened that killed workers and especially if it killed other people or destroyed homes, they would be screaming that "the companies hired cheap local labor just to save money and put us all at risk"

These people are experts at twisting and distorting every event to their benefit.

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on December 19, 2012 at 4:26pm

Thankee thankee, yep,   Anthony Yurina in his post  was right on the money in his post. But something a lot of people don't know is although a truck might be displaying out of state license plates it doesn't mean a Ohioan isn't driving it hmm good news or bad lol? 

0ym9x5ag7ury2Permalink Reply by 0ym9x5ag7ury2 on December 19, 2012 at 4:59pm

Billy,  Thanks for the details on what its like to frack a well up on the rig. 

Be safe, and keep an eye out for unsafe conditions.  Ron

Permalink Reply by Brian Powers on December 24, 2012 at 5:36am

Billy -

As someone who has spent far too many nights, weekends, holidays and days off on well sites, I also appreciated your post. I'll also add a small caveat to Ron's comment above: If you see something unsafe, and if you turn a blind eye and walk by without doing anything to intervene, then you condone the unsafe act and may be found to be  aiding  and abetting should things go very horribly wrong. Your number one goal is to help ensure that you and your colleagues return home to family with both eyes, ears, all your fingers, toes and both hands and feet  intact at the end of each job. It's not a lot to ask, but is surprisingly difficult to achieve given the heavy, moving machinery, potential energy (stored pressure), noise and confusion present on every well site..

 

Take care, stay safe, and thanks again for your post.

 

Brian

Permalink Reply by douglas hamric on December 24, 2012 at 6:27am

iam interested in company u are working for billy,here us my e-mail address

waterman@scpwildblue.com, live in harrison county oh. looking for some  reliable work thx

Permalink Reply by Deci Ruiz on December 24, 2012 at 1:23pm
Hey Billy, I think you could teach the " young pups " a thing or two. Your experience is valuable and you could train a great team. If you meet with the suits you could let them know what could go wrong and how to fix it. You are not long in the tooth life expectancy is now 95 that my friend is 35 more years. Don't be 30 be 60 and own it. You have a lot to offer.
Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on December 25, 2012 at 2:16am

Merry Christmas 

    Hi Doug,  as I am a new employee to the company and I post as a landowner (which I am) I would rather not say. I will say though that the Canton, Ohio are seems to be looking for workers.
You might like to search through these links.
http://www.theonestop.org/frmHotJobs.aspx Guernsey County post quite a few jobs.
 It's long hours and away from home for weeks at a time and on call 24/7.

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