Oil and gas career advice

[dale7637]

I am looking for some career advice from some seasoned oilpatch folks.
My whole career has been in the upstream service sector. All drilling and completions.
I have a couple of job options staring me in the face. I can carry on in the upstream side, take a transfer and take my chances in the current climate.

Or, I can stay put and take a field operator job for an intermediate gas based company.

What's everyone suggest right now?

[MountainTi]

Operator. Hopefully a little more security.

[troutbug]

Operator, Iv been chasing that position for years. Its who you know

[TBark]

Ops job, been doing it for near 30 years, never missed a paycheque.

TBark

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by troutbug

Operator, Iv been chasing that position for years. Its who you know

Yep

[AtimoseMan]

Every man for himself in these tough times to come. A lot of people will be leaving the industry and not coming back. Then what are they going to do!!

[Icouldeatababydeer]

Gas plant or oil battery operator isn't all cracked up as people say. Did it for 10 years. Pay was terrible (made more a month as a lease and than I did as an operator after 10 years) it's a job of routin. Same thing every day.
If u get on at a gas plant I hope you like fixing and riding in Argos and quads. Sounds awesome but get real old real fast.
Work is not physically demanding and it is steady year round work. work shifts are more family friendly.

[Ranch11]

A pile of hiring freezes and layoffs going on right now. Maybe ride it out til this oil thing turns around then look. Not a good time to be switching careers in the oilfield.

[7mmremmag]

I am in the oil patch aswell. Wellsite supervisor on the service rig side. I wouldnt want to be changing paths or positions right now.
But with that said, operators should be fairly safe for the time being. Despite the fact that we are shutting lots of wells in our operators are still quite busy.
But I definitely wouldnt want to be an operator for the rest of my life.

[HeavyD111]

Field operator gets my vote, but prob because id like to try it out sometime. I operate in a plant and there are obviously zero quads where i am. All operating jobs are repetitive and boring, but the fieldwork at least offers a bit more physical activity than eating bag after bag of chips

[79ford]

Hard to say... senoirity probably helps these days. Look at what kind of shape the company is in financially.

Ops jobs are pretty secure it seems, most places are pretty bare bones with staffing so it would be tough to cut more people. I think the bare bones goes from upstream all the way down stream.

I wouldnt want to be anywhere near drilling and completions, the rig count is about the lowest its been in 25 years and looks like it ll be a tough slog after break up.

[DiabeticKripple]

completions is getting hit hard right now.

ops will be there forever.

[Coiloil37]

My vote would be to expand your horizons. There is a whole world out there with very lucrative pay/ benefits and equal time rosters. It'll be a very sad day if I ever work in Alberta again.

[ForwardBias]

Cant hurt to try something different, if one has the funds to make a move.

[sirmike68]

Downstream oil/gas/refining is were its most secure. Guys closest to the valves have the most job security.

[wasteland.soldier]

When you say intermediate, do you mean midstream? Definitely a good time to get into storage....

[elkdump]

Here is some good advice, get a TRADE IE>" Red Seal certified", Plumber, electrician, auto mech/tech, aircraft mech, carpenter, butcher, chef, etc

Trades that work everywhere on the planet, all year long

[dale7637]

Originally Posted by elkdump

Here is some good advice, get a TRADE IE>" Red Seal certified", Plumber, electrician, auto mech/tech, aircraft mech, carpenter, butcher, chef, etc

Trades that work everywhere on the planet, all year long

That's solid advice. It took it when I was in high school and got my red seal as an het. I would prefer not to have to fall back to wrenching full time if I can help it though.

Thanks though, it certainly is the same advice I pass onto others as well.

[cmyers27]

Originally Posted by dale7637

I am looking for some career advice from some seasoned oilpatch folks.
My whole career has been in the upstream service sector. All drilling and completions.
I have a couple of job options staring me in the face. I can carry on in the upstream side, take a transfer and take my chances in the current climate.

Or, I can stay put and take a field operator job for an intermediate gas based company.

What's everyone suggest right now?

Definitely Field Operator

Charlotte

[cmyers27]

Gice this one a try is Louisianna is fine with you Operator job in Louisianna

Charlotte

[chickensashimi]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Operator. Hopefully a little more security.

X2

[Dick284]

It's a 2-1/2 year old post.

I sure hope the OP has sorted stuff out by now.

[bb356]

Originally Posted by Dick284

It's a 2-1/2 year old post.

I sure hope the OP has sorted stuff out by now.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Dick284

It's a 2-1/2 year old post.

I sure hope the OP has sorted stuff out by now.

Originally Posted by dale7637

I am looking for some career advice from some seasoned oilpatch folks.
My whole career has been in the upstream service sector. All drilling and completions.
I have a couple of job options staring me in the face. I can carry on in the upstream side, take a transfer and take my chances in the current climate.

Or, I can stay put and take a field operator job for an intermediate gas based company.

What's everyone suggest right now?

How about an update.
Which choice was selected?
Any regrets?
Pros and cons?

[slabm7]

I work in oil and gas as well, the best advice I can give is the closer to the wellhead you are the safer you are come down turns.

[ESOXangler]

How can I get a power engineering diploma?

[offroaderTodd]

Ops in my opinion, like we say, the closer you are to the wellhead, the safer you are--in reference to being laid off. Have to obtain your power engineering and be lucky enough to latch on, ,but when you do, don't let go. Ive been up in SAGD for decades, once the first steam hits that hole, you cant turn it off or subsurface is very difficult to regain flow, so, we are always in demand.
WE, can do with out some of the bean counters and pencil pushers but they don't seem to want to do our job.
ADVISE........take a field ops job if you can. it'll be there in the long run.

[TBark]

Thanks for the LA job posting.
Are things that bad in AB ?

TBark

[dale7637]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

How about an update.
Which choice was selected?
Any regrets?
Pros and cons?

Wow.. talk about a blast from the past.

So.. I did end up taking the operator gig. Did a mixture of both plant and field operating. Started in June of 15, packed my bags and walked away from the oil patch completely in February of this year to take on a business opportunity. I don't regret operating at all, it was very enjoyable and I would suggest it to anyone looking to make the switch. Through the whole time I was there, guys were safe, looked after and paid. It was a great gig.

That being said, I couldn't quiet down the entrepreneur side of me.

[HeavyD111]

Glad you liked the operating deal, it has become much more difficult to get into than a 5 or so years back, but it is all in who you know. Business options are always good, working for oneself or creating something with your personal stamp on it would be very rewarding.