Post: #4526

MWD Engineers any day. Where are they hiring anyone with a pulse?

Post: #4527

With the guidance of Lord Scotian, I will soon be starting my 1st ever placement in the oil sands. I am both nervous and excited as it is a big step outside of my comfort zone.

Post: #4528

(05-10-2018 05:31 PM)sonoran_ Wrote:  With the guidance of Lord Scotian, I will soon be starting my 1st ever placement in the oil sands. I am both nervous and excited as it is a big step outside of my comfort zone.

How did you get the job?

Post: #4529

Scotian recommended I apply ( he got some more info from his friend that already works in that company). Its an entry level, non technical, non labor job so after sending my resume, they just told me to get my basic tickets like First aid and H2s.

They had a 3 day training session and everyone that attended( 25 people) got hired.

Post: #4530

Is it in HSE?

Post: #4531

in safety

Post: #4532

Thanks man, may I ask what companies to look for when searching for safety jobs?

Post: #4533

Cattle Rustler:

I’m a coil hand, but I’ve done Frac and Wireline prior to coil as well. Coil makes pretty good money after you get about a year or two of exp, but it’s so so in the beginning. I got a pretty young supervisor thats under 30 and grosses a little over $200k a year. Operators makes $100-150k depending on the company. Frac wasn’t too bad I just hated being covered in sand all he time. Wireline can be harder than Frac, although it isn’t most of the time. I’m on track to make a little over $100k this year and I didn’t work the whole month of January, but it’s not balls to the walls in my area line it is in the Permian. I could easily make $130-140k if I were in the Permian at the same pay rate with how busy those guys are.

Post: #4534

So I Decided to stay and work my week off. Hello 10K a month! It’s quite the twist because If y’all read my posts from exactly today last year...I was living/sleeping out of my car and a job didn’t work out after two weeks there.

I’ve always wanted to do coil. It seems interesting and y’all only rig up 2-inch iron. Wireline seems to be easier then frac except when they lose their guns or they have a misrun. Fucking WL crew at our site came out with live guns the other day and only found out until they laid them down next to the datavan. It seems wireline makes more and has more downtime. Except their check must suck when they don’t make runs.

The shitty thing about frac is setting up the 3-inch uron while CT and pumpdown do 2-inch, and no chicksans are involved. I’m guessing you can only get in CT with a CDL. Might try it but I really don’t want to leave the data van position. Seems like y’all RedZone/GreatWhjte guys have it good. Come to the Permian brah.


Like the other guy said. West Texas is where it’s at. I’m in south Texas finishing up our last well here before heading to Oklahoma again for a bit.

It seems 40% of each yard is going to West Texas. Like the other guy said. Anyone worth a fuck is moving their resources there. That’s where the money is at.


EDIT: Holy fuck. Just realized it’s my 7000th post. Quite the turnaround for a post. I’m happy with life.

Post: #4535

Yeah coil is 2” but we use 10ft, 8ft, 6ft, 4ft, and 2ft joints, and also chicksans, T’s, 2X2, and 2X1 LTV’s. 50-75% of the time there isn’t a smooth running night coil, and there’s always going on with the fluid pump, pipe, injector head, hydraulics......SOMETHING. Fuck West Texas, I spent 4 years there and won’t go back unless I have to. I might have finally found a place that I can live and work local. Yeah CDL is required as we operators move the units, not a third party service company. That’s funny, I’m working my days off right now too, only on my second week of four right now. I’ll go back to south Texas before I go back to the Permian, I was averaging $14-15k a month last year doing coil in STX. I feel you on the whole broke thing, 5 years ago I was broke as joke as well and jumped into the oilfield as a Hail Mary run to dig myself out of a hole.

Post: #4536

I have a quick question. What will you guys do when you get older? I used to work in the oil fields for over 2 years and I stopped because I developed lower back problems and was on meds (muscle relaxants and painkillers) just to be able to work. Now some might say it’s due to unsafe/wrong ways of lifting or carrying or hammering or wtvr. However, I’ve seen a lot of older guys in the field and I would say 90% had a problem of some sort. It was usually back pain, ED, neck problems, joint pain, etc...

Physiologically, isolation is a bitch too. I remember how every person I met was extremely unhappy but they were just doing it for the money. I found myself blowing money like crazy on my off days to make up for all the time I spent at the camp or on a rig, I’ve heard very similar stories from a lot of guys.

What’s the plan? Move into management? Start your own business? Save up enough and move to a cheap country and live like a king?

I feel if your making over 120k a year for lets say 10 years and with over a million in your account, you’ll not want to spend a day in the fields again. You won’t have much transferable skills into other fields. I know a person can die any day so make as much as you can now, but I always like a backup plan for the future. The oil field is very volatile too, one day your making a shit load of money and other days you’re at home unemployed and just eating up all your savings.

I don’t want to sound negative, just being real here and would love to hear your opinions!

Post: #4537

I’ll chime in.

I personally had minor back problems prior to starting in the oilfield, but it’s gotten slightly worse due the fact that when I get tired, I start slouching more. I used to be a regular gym goer prior to getting into the industry, so I’m always pretty conscious on how I lift things which I’m sure has helped me prevent quite a few injuries. When it comes to saving/spending money I’ve been good when it comes to saving the past few years, but this year will probably the first year where I will probably save less than $10k or so. Gonna do a few of things I’ve always wanted to do since I got into this industry, and I decided this would
be the year I was gonna do them. On average I’ve been saving $20k a year since I started doing this shit, but I could of saved another $10-15k year or so more if I was very frugal like some guys I see. As far as what I’m gonna do with my savings, I’m not 100% sure yet. Part of me wants to just take some time off, save it for a business, or use it to go back to school so I won’t have to work full time if I decide to. I eat out 90% of the time, I don’t do the whole buy a loaf of bread and bring sandwich meat with me (fuck that). I also travel internationally a few times a year and stay in fairly nice places. I would stay in hostels, but I already share rooms with other people at work, so fuck doing that on my time off.

Post: #4538

(05-18-2018 01:21 PM)Aviel Wrote:  I have a quick question. What will you guys do when you get older? I used to work in the oil fields for over 2 years and I stopped because I developed lower back problems and was on meds (muscle relaxants and painkillers) just to be able to work. Now some might say it’s due to unsafe/wrong ways of lifting or carrying or hammering or wtvr. However, I’ve seen a lot of older guys in the field and I would say 90% had a problem of some sort. It was usually back pain, ED, neck problems, joint pain, etc...

Physiologically, isolation is a bitch too. I remember how every person I met was extremely unhappy but they were just doing it for the money. I found myself blowing money like crazy on my off days to make up for all the time I spent at the camp or on a rig, I’ve heard very similar stories from a lot of guys.

What’s the plan? Move into management? Start your own business? Save up enough and move to a cheap country and live like a king?

I feel if your making over 120k a year for lets say 10 years and with over a million in your account, you’ll not want to spend a day in the fields again. You won’t have much transferable skills into other fields. I know a person can die any day so make as much as you can now, but I always like a backup plan for the future. The oil field is very volatile too, one day your making a shit load of money and other days you’re at home unemployed and just eating up all your savings.

I don’t want to sound negative, just being real here and would love to hear your opinions!

The engineers move into the office or become company men. It's usually not too hard to get a comfy office job with a few years in the field.

I honestly don't want to be there at all, but I can't imagine being 50 and the only experience I have is moving pipe.

Post: #4539

(05-18-2018 01:21 PM)Aviel Wrote:  I have a quick question. What will you guys do when you get older? I used to work in the oil fields for over 2 years and I stopped because I developed lower back problems and was on meds (muscle relaxants and painkillers) just to be able to work. Now some might say it’s due to unsafe/wrong ways of lifting or carrying or hammering or wtvr. However, I’ve seen a lot of older guys in the field and I would say 90% had a problem of some sort. It was usually back pain, ED, neck problems, joint pain, etc...

Physiologically, isolation is a bitch too. I remember how every person I met was extremely unhappy but they were just doing it for the money. I found myself blowing money like crazy on my off days to make up for all the time I spent at the camp or on a rig, I’ve heard very similar stories from a lot of guys.

What’s the plan? Move into management? Start your own business? Save up enough and move to a cheap country and live like a king?

I feel if your making over 120k a year for lets say 10 years and with over a million in your account, you’ll not want to spend a day in the fields again. You won’t have much transferable skills into other fields. I know a person can die any day so make as much as you can now, but I always like a backup plan for the future. The oil field is very volatile too, one day your making a shit load of money and other days you’re at home unemployed and just eating up all your savings.

I don’t want to sound negative, just being real here and would love to hear your opinions!

If you listen to the advice that I've been giving on this thread for over six years and take a fucking trade then you'll have transferable skills and won't be limited to work in the oil industry.

Post: #4540

Not necessarily patch related, but does anyone know some decent paying seasonal gigs (spring to fall) in Canada? I used to work in the patch for a bit (I miss the good old days of this thread!), but since 2015 I have worked in other areas since so many jobs were lost. I now live in Southeast Asia, doing some consulting online. It fluctuates a bit, some months are good, some are slower. It certainly isn't the same kind of saving I used to do working in O/G, though I do love my lifestyle. Anyway, since I am coming back to Canada for the summer as I miss family during this time, I wanted to seek out some possibilities, and build up my nest egg a bit again. I know it would be better asking this 2 months ago, but May is still early in the season. I have a few ideas/ fields in mind, but cheers for any ideas boys!


On another note I really agree with Scotian' previous post regarding getting into a trade. When I worked in the patch I had a few jobs that were in the same industry and was moving up a bit, but the industry crashed before my work started paying for my training, and I was really discouraged from continuing or fronting the cash for training (as job prospects looked that brutal). Props to a few guys I know out there who were in the same position as me (newer to a trade), and stuck it out through the downturn for a few years. Some of them are really killing it right now, deservedly so. Nice work boys!

Post: #4541

I took a wireline perforations job in North Dakota with a major. My mudlogging side business attempt has completely stalled these past 3 years due to a lack of funds so I can't wait to get back to making real money again. I'd prefer to be a small business owner at this point but the money you make working up there is just too good to turn down. I know how bad it gets when the money runs dry so gotta make hay. Unlike last boom I'm not buying a new car or a myriad of other stupid shit either.

Post: #4542

(06-09-2018 02:00 PM)Disco_Volante Wrote:  I took a wireline perforations job in North Dakota with a major. My mudlogging side business attempt has completely stalled these past 3 years due to a lack of funds so I can't wait to get back to making real money again. I'd prefer to be a small business owner at this point but the money you make working up there is just too good to turn down. I know how bad it gets when the money runs dry so gotta make hay. Unlike last boom I'm not buying a new car or a myriad of other stupid shit either.

Sorry to hear about your biz venture going sideways. Why not stay around Pokelahoma? Pretty much everyone is hiring out there. Personally I can't stand the cold, so ND would be a death sentence.

I'll be in the SCOOP for the next month or so then who the fuck knows where, STX or WTX.

In other news, Having days off feels great. Finally ate real food and have been drinking a bit every day. Need to make sure I set up my goals, get my ducks in order, so I can leave with a smile when the downturn hits.

Also been thinking about opening a repo biz, when the patch goes south....repossessions should be going up. Those lifted F350s ain't going to repo themselves.

Post: #4543

I need a couple x ray parts for my device that will run about $28,000. So I'd spent the last 2 years searching like a bitch for someone to invest in it. This way I'll be able to pay for it all myself now.

So the timeline of 2014 when I started sinking my money into it and finishing the coding (paying a programmer) . Then the crash happened so I worked odd jobs 2015-2017 broke and fruitlessly looking for investors (most mudlogging companies were broke at that time too). So now, halfway through 2018 I'll have a high income again to finish what I started 4 years ago.

So basically a miss-step or two coupled with bad market timing cost me 4 years of my youth. I now understand why most business owners are 55+ years old. It takes forever to execute simple plans very frustrating. But, it is a deep drive within me to own my own business. There are plenty of 'normal' jobs I could've done like accounting or pharmacy or whatever but my hind brain won't let me lead a normal life so I gotta pay the price I guess.

Anyone in North Dakota hit me up I'll be there in July or so.

Post: #4544

It seems like Red Deer and Grand Prairie are just taking off. If you have your CDL you're golden.

I'm coming out of school in my trade and there's not much going on. Thinking about either heading to the lower mainland in BC or getting a labour position out in one of these towns that are busy in the oilfield. What's everybody else saying?

Post: #4545

(06-14-2018 06:51 PM)NFallin Wrote:  It seems like Red Deer and Grand Prairie are just taking off. If you have your CDL you're golden.

I'm coming out of school in my trade and there's not much going on. Thinking about either heading to the lower mainland in BC or getting a labour position out in one of these towns that are busy in the oilfield. What's everybody else saying?

Itching to get back on a drilling rig myself.. Hopefully some time in July. I'm giving my current employer my two weeks notice on Monday. I want to split now but I don't want to burn any bridges. One of my buddies is already on a rig, another is just waiting to get the call to head out. Definitely seems that things are heating up again.

Post: #4546

I fucked off from Alberta and headed east two weeks ago, with PM Little Potato and Notley/Horgan running our resource sector into the ground, things aren’t looking good, Ontario is now the place to be, #FORDNATION boys!

Post: #4547

Post: #4548

Anyone thats a journeyman carpenter, ironworker or something kind of related should look into kiewit in vancouver. 6 fig job with sub working 5 - 9.5s.

Post: #4549

(06-15-2018 05:44 AM)scotian Wrote:  I fucked off from Alberta and headed east two weeks ago, with PM Little Potato and Notley/Horgan running our resource sector into the ground, things aren’t looking good, Ontario is now the place to be, #FORDNATION boys!

How is the work situation in Ontario for you scotian? You staying busy there in your trade?

Post: #4550

So far so good, it’s not quite as busy here as Alberta but is expected to pick up soon as there’s some big expansions going up. Hopefully the Ontario economy will be picking up since Ford is premier, same with Alberta once Notley gets the boot.