Alberta oilfield driving jobs

Thanks Dessie Roe:

You're 58 and I'm 65 but please don't call us old. Not ready yet for the status symbol of the true aged around here; the new white Buick Park Avenue that only is driven on Sunday to church. Make no mistake this is a stereotype but it's still a great car but not now. Heard from Nitrogen that it's the best place to start. He works for Canadian Nitrogen Services. Are you with the same company or part of the popular newbie employers namely: Sanjel, Trican, Flint and the 2 or 3 others that mentor? Could a guy of 58 or 65 newbie start in nitrogen? Nitrogen seems to be made onsite rather than pumped in from a central location. Did you start in vacs or sand or gravel or fluid or coil tubing then advance to N2? Are prospects as good as they are in the traditional fracking jobs? Did you apply online or did you just show up.
Thanks

Ted

 

What is the difference in terms of salary and bonuses in doing the different jobs between nitrogen, cement, fracing and coil? How many jobs do you go out on each week? what would be a good division to get into for a newbie at the age of 49... Not afraid of any work that the job would entail, but just curious to get some expert opinions on jobs from people that have done the job or knows about the jobs( I being a newbie have not much knowledge of what job or how they work)...Thanks ontario63

 

Geo:
Are you primarily in the business of Enhanced Oil Recovery EOR? Or does nitrogen have other uses in FracKing?
I am curious because I have a small investment in an EOR that uses CO2 rather than N2 called Glencoe Resources based in Calgary thru my brother-in-law. Ever heard of Glencoe?

Ted

 

There's no set amount of jobs per week, depends on a lot of factors, the rain has killed all our rigs but GP and red deer seem to be busy. Frac usually has higher job costs so bigger bonuses. I'm 51 and working cement side and not having a problem so it all depends what you think your limitations are.

 

Hey Canadian-ay yea, I'd avoid frac and cement, you do work your arse off on both, cement you're on call and you could go out at any time, frac is a 12 hour shift daily (if you're not in the shop) but its 12 hours from the time you arrive at the lease. If you want an easy peasy job, the retirement job - haul water.. you're a rigs best friend if you do that.

 

Aside from fracing, nitrogen is used in acidizing, another stimulation service. It is also used in cementing, drilling, completions and industrial services like purges (vessels, pipelines, etc.), pressure testing and pipeline pigging.

 

Nitrogen can be generated onsite, by ME or generated by a plant, liquefied and shipped by truck. It all depends on what it will used for as to which is practical. BTW I've been doing N2 for 7 years and I'm still way less than fifty. Call me old and I'll get a cane and beat ya half to death

 

Lets not kid ourselves fracing is easy. right from the sandcan all the way up to data van. supervisor and maybe crew cab are the only 2 guys on a frac crew with any amount of stress or responsibility. 25 man rig ins, constantly able to drink coffee all day long. true frac works long 12+ hour days alot of the time but to be honest if the cups fail, tool fails to set etc its go home early and drink. not uncommon for a frac crew to work 30-45 hours a week and still get the good pay. i would agree they get the most bang for their buck. coil works harder, longer get paid well and seem to know more imo

 

If your gonna go to White Trash AB , all whats left of tri can there is cement, unless they brought coil back there.

How fast you want to advance is up to you , #1 work safe , #2 learn how to rig up and out ( everything and know it well ) #3 be the guy who sticks out by always giving 110% , #4 Avoid the drunks that go out and get #### faced when they get back to the hotel (you cant follow rule #1 if your hung over). Every thing else should fall into place if you can pay attention to detail . You can be a super visor in a year if your smart enough to figure it out and have the drive to succeed (better be #### smart ), but some guys will resent you when you take there job or move ahead of them. Do not be the useless guy that is getting part of the bonus , most of your crew will resent you aswell.

Now to every body starting out , That truck and piece of equipment your taking out to a job is your pay check DO NOT beat the piss out of it . treat it with respect , its there to make you money. If you break it your taking money away from people you work with or postponing a job (best case) ,or getting punted off the job and having a competitor do the job .

some thing eles to ponder
Spring Time = Road bans, lots of shop time for alot of maintenance and mundane tasks plus no bonus . if you cant live on your salary you will be broke and fall behind when spring comes.
Summer = Rigging up in nomex coveralls in +30 degree cel is like wearing plastic bags in a sauna . summer thunder storms can turn roads and leases int0 to mud baths fast . ( I would rather drive on road thats solid ice or snow then on an alberta clay road thats decided to get wet).
Fall = Other than the odd wet streak is the best season to work in the patch not too hot or cold.
Winter = Balls to the walls busy, (swampy/muskeg roads and leases can now be worked) But the downer is sweating while rigging up and then spend the rest of the day freezing , so learn to dress right.

Companies
Schlumberger worlds biggest well service company , I would suggest them for beginners, They will pay (and pay you too) for all your training 3-4 weeks in airdrie AB and send you to a 2 week driving course aswell. Put in a year you can leave and any well service company will hire you on the spot almost because Slb spends 35-40 000 in training alone. (plus if you stay with them you have a good chance to travel the world working during spring break up while companies like Trican will lay you off)

Don't get me wrong
BJ, Calfrac, Canyon, Sangel ,SLB and TriCan are all big companies and all pay well, But what all the companies wont tell your job is biased on quarterly earnings, 3 years back they all laid off mass amounts of people. either way its a gamble So dont blame me next spring if the markets tank again and the layoffs come around again. Just ask a Albertan who was around in the 80s how those times were.

 

Nice analysis!!

Geo