Oil Jobs

It seams like oil fields, ND in particular, are the go-to answer for any job seek threads on here lately.

How do I go about finding an entry level job in oil.

I'm open to "local" work an hour or two away in PA, But could deal with relocation if the price is right.

I've heard there's a lot of new oil work in the PA area as well, it will probably be less brutal than spending the winter living in a men's camp in North Dakota.

More info on North Dakota oil field work please. I don't give a E36 M3 about living in brutal winter conditions if the pay is somewhat decent.

Jobs in North Dakota are terrible. I was doing a job in ND near Minot this past summer doing ground water monitoring for some of the well fracing and some well logging for the well installation. There really isn't much to do. The job itself was interesting, especially since I am a geology nerd, but the location was less than ideal. There is money to be made, but the work can be tough, long, and in ND, very cold.

Money to be made, cold, location middle of no where... where do I sign up?

I was working with an environmental consulting firm that was contracted to do work with both BP and Marathon oil. There are so many sub-contractors up there that its hard to say exactly where to look. It also depends on what your education background is as to where to look. My best guess would be to look at local job search engines for ND, or this website I found doing a simple googel search for the Bakkan Oil Field:

http://www.thebakken.net/

Hope this helps!

just google "North Dakota oil field jobs" and you will find an official page on the ND state government website that has links to jobs in the oil fields..

PA has slowed, but they will be picking up as the price of gas grows. Most of the Marcellus is all dry gas. So as the price of gas falls, it greatly effects things. NY has never been fully opened either. This is a big deal when/if it does fully open, not the limited that it is now.

ND, Its cold, harsh, desolate, BOOMING!

You can make a lot of money in the oil field. BUT please remember, the hours suck, you will HAVE NO LIFE, and get paid a good bit. This is overall in the oilfield. 100 hour weeks are the norm. Plan to get extremely dirty. Plan to live in a vehicle, or possibly on a location. Plan to give up all your hobbies.

At some point you can get out of that last paragraph, but its a tough road. Make sure you do your do-diligence when planning this out.

Yes, I have been working in the oilfield for the past 7 years since I graduated college.

As gearheads, we all appreciate the sacrifices that our oilfield workers are making. Our hats are off to you!

Thinkkker,

What is the most common job outside of a truck driver, slickline, or well head worker?

Just a breakdown,

Rig Crew Casing Crews these guys are.......nuts, we'll just leave it at that Cement Crew always looking Wireline Truck Driver Well Head Production Crew FlowBack

Im not sure what the most common would be. Though Cement is always hiring. Well head I work in this and Flowback are big too.

What about off-wellhead stuff?

compressor stations, pipeline, well monitoring pumpers, etc.

What are you looking/willing to do? Their are all sorts of jobs out there. Most of ND is still being setup, as in, massive drilling, Im not sure on the other infrastructure that is there, and all that is being built. I know that pipelines are being put in. I would have to ask for more info on the area if you are interested in ND.

I'd be cool with doing monitoring stuff, pipeline maintenance and monitoring specifically. Don't know if I have to have experience in order to get into that specific job or not.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/28/pf/north_dakota_jobs/index.htm

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/09/21/10-Highest-Paying-Jobs-That-Dont-Require-a-BA-Degree.aspx#page1

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/11/22/9-Hot-Blue-Collar-Jobs-That-Are-Getting-Hotter.aspx#page1

http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/CTE.FiveWays.FullReport.pdf

Well, I'm not sure I have a good answer for that. You may or may not depending on the operator. Most will train people to do those jobs, but they like to have some sort of experience prior. If you have mechanical background your on GRM so you should be good there it is something that can be covered.

I do not have any contacts for those positions, but check Rigzone.com. There is a lot that will go across there.

PHeller wrote: I'd be cool with doing monitoring stuff, pipeline maintenance and monitoring specifically. Don't know if I have to have experience in order to get into that specific job or not.

I work on the compressors at compressor stations. Sometimes I wouldn't mind being a pumper instead.

if working in the actual oilfields isn't your thing, i've heard accounts of McDonalds restaurants out in ND starting at $15 and up..

regarding living quarters: i see an almost endless line of RV style trailers getting towed west on I94 every day. along those lines, there is a huge demand for construction workers to build housing for the oil field workers to live in. construction companies are building apartment buildings for their workers to live in while they build other stuff..

novaderrik is right about there being loads of related work, since the population is exploding. So, they need builders, electricians, welders, retail, food service, health care, etc. Basically, everything that relates to growing communities of humans.

But, keep in mind that the cost of living has exploded as well, particularly housing. So, your $15/hr flipping burgers will not go as far as it once did.

Oil field work is pretty brutal, just search YouTube for some videos and you'll see what I mean. Good way to get an arm ripped off if you're not careful. But hey, if that's what your into, why not give it a shot. The Bakken will have a long run (decades even), so there's plenty of time to get experience and make your money.

Truck drivers, particularly those with Class A and Hazmat certs are in huge demand. They have to truck water to the frack site, oil and waste water away, as well as well casing, piping, and other equipment and supplies. Trucks are pounding the roads up here, 24/7.

If you can find a job and housing (often they go hand in hand) before you come up, you'll be miles ahead of most folks. But, as others have said, that's not always that easy to do. Totally worth some effort though. And, whatever you can learn about the jobs and the fracking process the better.

I set up a page here (http://www.bakkendispatch.com/north-dakota-oil-job-resources) with some links to useful job sites. Check out the jobsnd.com site, as that's the official state site, and pretty good. But check wherever you can, even if you just find a temp job to pay the bills while you look for something longer term.

Good luck to all. Follow that boom, if that's your thing.