Oilpatch Guys and Gals ???

[jay007]

A lot of people are also sick and tired of the feast or famine lifestyle.

I think you have hit something here....I am only 25 yrs old and know of quite a few guys i graduated with that have moved on from the patch due to this "feast of Famine" lifestyle. BUT many caused this for themselves!!! I mean one friend of mine had one ONE good year in the patch, made lots of $$$ so what did he do...bought a brand new 1 ton deisel welder truck, a brand new 1 ton deisel personal run-a-round truck, brand new harley, brand new 35ft holiday trailer, sled, .....then the famine starts.....I don't care who you, but if you are 22 yrs old making $4000/month payments not putting anything away this sh!t will catch up to you. Okay so my friend did this and honestly i think this was NOT uncommon from what I see in the patch.
Maybe a little rant but still pisses me off to see these people in all these fancy rigs while i drive an 03, and have to buy their beer at the bar when its a "slow" month!!!

 

[Scuba]

The oil companies keep making record profits and at the same time nickel and dime the service companies to death which in turn does not allow the service companies to pay employees a wage that would keep them in the patch.

This could not be put together any better, I work for a electrical company and the oil companies that we work for just keep on pounding us down so we can't pay the guys the money that they should be getting, and yet they pay their employee's $50/hr and don't bat an eye at it. They use us to test out guys then steal them from us and expect us to get another good quality guy to replace him, then when we do get someone they take him too. It is very hard to find good people there are a lot of morons that have tickets and know very little but we have to keep them because of the desperate times. As for feast then famine lifestyle, to many guys don't know how to budget, i'm 26 years old and I can't count on my two hands how many times i have had to loan guys money that Pi$$es me off more than anything, mostly because these guys are 35+ years old, my old man would SLAP me up side the head if i had get a loan like that.

WELL I'm done.

 

[Adrenaline Addiction]

LMFAO!!! No more then kids in LOSERTON...




Some kids are designed for White Collar (professional careers) and other kids are destined for Blue Collar...doesn't make one better then the other...:d

They could start a photography business for SJ.com

 

[IMSICK]

Problem with the "feast or famine" theory is....... majority of todays patch workforce has never experienced the famine side to understand how bad it can be. This is, as wrong as it sounds, a specialized industry. It's not like you can just leave a rig when things get slow and move on to construction at the same pay level. Guys dedicate their time and lives to what they do in the gas / oil industry. The older guys that have seen the collapse are sometimes prepared, the young guys have heard of it but think it will never happen again.

Talk to guys that were around in 82.... they will tell you of days when there were a total of 10 drilling rigs running in Alberta. Banks settling on loans for .03 cents on the dollar just for some recovery.

I never saw the worst of it...... but I saw things like oil dropping below 10.00 in 1998. That was enough to clue me in. This downturn will clue in a few more, but, history will repeat itself when everything straightens out again. The dollar will recover, Special ed will revise the royalty gouging, the economy will sky rocket and work will be booming again...... a whole new generation of grunts will enter the workforce and the devestation left in the wake of recession and economic collapse will be quietly talked about amongst those who suffered and seen as an urban legend to those entering during good times.

 

[OVERKILL 19]

I have been in and around the patch for quit awhile now from roughnecking freash out of school to the fires of Kuwait to lay down trucks to pipe line work to Hot Tapping and now in a plant setting making poly and owning my oil field rental company. I cannot complain to much as it has given my family a great life style. But I can under stand people not wanting to be away from home so much. That is what drove me to try to find a job were I made the same money and at home more.

 

[DRD]

I'm pretty sick of poor starving oil companies. They won't want to buck up and pay $100/hr or so to fix a 4 Million dollar unit that's could be making them 50 thousand/day or more. They won't bat an eye to give a CEO millions in bonuses or pay over 100/hr to fix a $50,000 pick-up.
No sympathy here anymore. Twenty years ago I'd work all night, not now. Twelve or 14 hrs and it's "see ya tomorrow".

 

[swabby]

IT DOESNT REALY SOUND VERY GOOD RITE NOW A BUDDY OF MINE WORKS FOR CNRL AS A DRILLING CONSULTANT AND THEY JUST SHUT DOWN 2 RIGS OVER NITE IN THE HAYS AREA CACELLED THE PROJECT AND SENT BOYS HOME, I WORK FOR ENCANA ALSO DRILLING CONSULTANT AND WE ARE BRINGING IN MORE RIGS LOOKS GOOD UNTIL BREAK UP BUT EVRY BODY IS QUIET ABOUT THE SUMMER , RUMMORS BIG MERGES ALL OVER THE PACH TO AVOID TAKE OVERS ALSO ARE SURE SIGNS OF INSTABILITY, SAVE LOTS OF MONEY (VP ISNT VERY CHEEP)
I THINK IT WILL BE AN EARLY BREAK UP DUE TO THE CRAP THATS GOIN ON IN THE PATCH. YA ALSO SCREW THE ROYALTIES KEEP ALBERTA ON THE MAP INSTEAD OF IN THE POOR HOUSE

 

[Guest1]

Consolidation wave could sweep Calgary energy boardrooms

Oil companies are flush with cash, thanks to the recent period of high energy prices. At the same time, reinvestment in their core business has lagged. This could put Calgary in the middle of a consolidation wave for the sector.

The world's top five oil companies finished the third quarter with $62-billion in cash and annual cash flow of $232-billion, according to Canaccord Adams. As a result, it expects an increased focus on M&A in the coming year. Canada and the oil sands in particular, could get a lot of attention since it offers meaningful reserve and production growth in a reasonably stable fiscal environment.

Canaccord noted that the market capitalization of large-cap energy companies in Canada has declined more than 50% since peaking in July.

"We believe that major oil companies look beyond the short-term environment, particularly for assets, such as oil sands that have a 40+ year reserve life," it said. "There will most likely be several bull market cycles for energy over that time period."

Canaccord thinks Suncor Energy Inc. (SU/TSX), EnCana Corp. (ECA/TSX), Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ/TSX), Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM/TSX) and Nexen Inc. (NXY/TSX) are all vulnerable to an unsolicited takeover offer.

The firm listed Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM/NYSE), Royal Dutch Shell PLC(RDSa/NYSE), Total SA(TOT/ NYSE) and Chevron Corp. (CVX/NYSE) as potential suitors for Suncor. Their reserves declined 7% in 2007, while production fell 2%, Canaccord noted. These oil giants are also debt-free and have generated US$52-billion of free cash flow year-to-date.

Suncor, meanwhile, is considered by many to be a best-in-class producer, particularly in the oil sands. It offers 2009 production of 350,000 barrels per day, oil sands at less than $2 per barrel and a market cap near June, 2005, levels.

Likely acquisitors for Nexen include BP PLC(BP/NYSE), ConocoPhillips (COP/NYSE), Eni SpA (E/NYSE) and Total SA (TOT/NYSE), Canaccord said, noting that they would all be interested in its Long Lake oil sands assets.

BP and Conoco could also be after Nexen's unconventional coal bed methane and Horn River shale gas plays. Meanwhile, BP, Eni and Total would be interested in Nexen's North Sea assets, particularly the Buzzard oil field.

Nexen offers a diversified portfolio with a long lifespan, free cash flow of $1.5-billion annually on production of 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, Canaccord noted. It is also trading near its June 2005 levels.

 

[rigrat]

Looks like Stelmach is starting to backpedal. Drilling rigs are shutting down and doing the wait and see.

 

[swabby]

STELMAC SHOULD JUST GO AWAY BACKPEDLING WONT BE ENOUGH AT THIS POINT HE IS THE 1 F***N EVERTHING UP OILCOMPANIES DONT APPRECIATE BEING BULLIED BY A DICTATING GOVERNMENT, NEXT ISSUE UNEDUCATED PEOPLE TALKING TRASH ABOUT OILCOMPANIES EG. I WONDER HOW MUCH ENCANA SPENDS EVERY YEAR BUILDING SKATING RINKS AND SWIMMING POOLS,SPONSORING EVENTS,BUILDING ROADS ECT. FOR COMMUNITIES THAT CANT AFFORD IT ALL OVER ALBERTA AND THE LOCALS POCKET CASH FOR LETTING A OIL COMPANY ON THERE LAND MOST OF THIS LAND IS ONLY GOOD FOR GRAZING CATTLE AND NOTHING ELSE . THE BOTTOM LINE IS YA OIL COMPANIES ARE IN THE BUISNESS OF MAKING MONEY AND WHEN THEY MAKE MONEY WE ALL BENNIFIT FROM THE INLUX OF PATCH CASH IN OUR COMMUNITIES SO NEXT TIME ANY 1 WANTS TO BITCH ABOUT THE OIL COMPANIES THEY SHOULD THINK THINGS THREW A BIT BE4 OPENING THE MOUTH AND SPITING ch!t.SEAMS TO ME LIKE THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT FORGOT THE GOLDEN RULE DONT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU OR HAND WILL SLAP THE CRAP OUT YOU!!!!

 

[swabby]

PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE THAT DRD AND ANYBODY ELSE THAT THINKS THAT WAY!!!!

 

[Summiteer]

STELMAC SHOULD JUST GO AWAY BACKPEDLING WONT BE ENOUGH AT THIS POINT HE IS THE 1 F***N EVERTHING UP OILCOMPANIES DONT APPRECIATE BEING BULLIED BY A DICTATING GOVERNMENT, NEXT ISSUE UNEDUCATED PEOPLE TALKING TRASH ABOUT OILCOMPANIES EG. I WONDER HOW MUCH ENCANA SPENDS EVERY YEAR BUILDING SKATING RINKS AND SWIMMING POOLS,SPONSORING EVENTS,BUILDING ROADS ECT. FOR COMMUNITIES THAT CANT AFFORD IT ALL OVER ALBERTA AND THE LOCALS POCKET CASH FOR LETTING A OIL COMPANY ON THERE LAND MOST OF THIS LAND IS ONLY GOOD FOR GRAZING CATTLE AND NOTHING ELSE . THE BOTTOM LINE IS YA OIL COMPANIES ARE IN THE BUISNESS OF MAKING MONEY AND WHEN THEY MAKE MONEY WE ALL BENNIFIT FROM THE INLUX OF PATCH CASH IN OUR COMMUNITIES SO NEXT TIME ANY 1 WANTS TO BITCH ABOUT THE OIL COMPANIES THEY SHOULD THINK THINGS THREW A BIT BE4 OPENING THE MOUTH AND SPITING ch!t.SEAMS TO ME LIKE THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT FORGOT THE GOLDEN RULE DONT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU OR HAND WILL SLAP THE CRAP OUT YOU!!!!

Talk about spitting s**t!!! Bow down to big oil!! Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even ones as dumb as this:d:d:d:d (popcorn for sale Cheap)!!!!

 

[swabby]

OPINIONS ARE GREAT EVEN FOR YOU THE SUMMI TEARY 1 IM JUST SETTIN SOME PEOPLE STRAIT MAINLY THE ONES THE OPEN THE MOUTH WITHOUT THINKIN FIRST .BOW DOWN ON THAT . JUST BECAUSE MY KIDS ARE ENJOYING A NICE PLACE TO SWIM AND SKATE AND I AM AWARE OF WHERE IT CAME FROM THATS ALL .

 

[rigrat]

I think most people realize that Alberta has done extremely well because of this PROVINCES resources. I do agree with DRD and i have seen and know all about the all mighty oil companies. I have worked in the oil service industry for more than 25 years and have and will make a good living at it. This does not change the fact that the oil companies do not build arenas etc to be nice guys. Its all about trying to convince people they actually care about people and not the all mighty dollar.

 

[Guest1]

Swabby...Nice to see a peep tell it the WAY IT IS (other then SICK)

CANADIAN OIL COMPANIES employ peeps that are your neighbours and yes they do CARE and yes they do what they do because they are about COMMUNITY

OVER!!!

ps...I have been in and out of the BIZ since 1978 and I come from an OILPATCH family...It has treated us well :d

pss...Nothing WRONG with making money...If you don't like to make $$$ then there are many places for you to live...GOT ONT.

 

[swabby]

I AM VERY AWARE OF CORPRATE DECISION MAKING AND SPENDING THESE COMPANIES DO THESE EXTRA THINGS TO BENIFIT THEMSELVES ALSO FOR WRITE OFFS AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS WE NO THEY REALY COULD CARE LESS BUT EVERY BODY ENJOYS GETTING THE EXTRAS FOR NOTHING EVEN THE PEOPLE THAT TALK TRASH ABOUT THE BIG MEAN OIL COMPANIES AND YES THE PATCH IS A MONEY MAKER SOME PEOPLE FORGET HOW DEPENDENT WE ALL ARE ON THAT CASH UNTIL IT STOPS COMING IN :d

 

[IMSICK]

Very nicely put.......


The best part about the big mean oil company arguement is that the people who are saying the producers are al take take take, are no different than me...... Take, take..... take!!!!

I make very good money doing what I do..... but pornography will have to be banned world wide before I start handing over that will not benefit my interests or financial gain.

These oil companies are no different!!!!

Come to think of it.... when has any company with financial gain interests ever done anything "cheritable" that wasn't going to gain them publicity, sales or increased profits.....

 

[Guest1]

I LMPhAO!!! at peeps who whine and BEOTCH like Bed Wetters about the patch...If they don't like it go work at 7-11 ... GOT NIGHT SHIFT it is like listening to Farmers Have you ever met a HAPPY farmer

OVER!!!

ps.. We have a few CTU's and N2 Pumpers available for winter work if anyone is looking...

 

[mudboy]

Well I guess we should all sell our sleds, quads, trucks,cars,boats basically anything that uses oil or gas so that we no longer need their services and then once they can not sell a product they will go under. SUCK it up it is all about supply and demand you want the toys you have to pay for it.

AS for them not letting you work past 12 - 14 hours in a day. It is not because they are cheep it is more like because there are LABOUR LAWS which are being enforced now, unlike they were back in the dinosaur age which some still think they live in

 

[Snowdin]

Its funny how if you don't share the same opinion as a select handful of members of this forum, you sure can get dumped on.

While you guys are revering the Oil and Gas companies with so much vigor, keep in mind they started this slow down in the summer of 06. They felt the cost of doing business was to high. They didn't give a rats bum about you and me losing our lively hood then or now.