President Obama to Visit New Mexico Oil Field Jobs

Oil Field Jobs -It's always busy at Linda's Grill at lunchtime as oil field jobs from around the region fill the lone restaurant in Maljamar, a no-stoplight town of 38 in the middle of the oil-rich area.On Wednesday, some of the restaurant's eight tables were filled with a rare sight: men in suits and ties. They were from the White House and stopped for a meal before President Barack Obama's visit to New Mexico's petroleum fields outside of town later in the day.

Maljamar resident Bill Gideon, 64-year-old husband to the grill's namesake, sat there about an hour before grabbing a meal and going back to work. He owns L&B Trucking and his six trucks haul piping for drilling to oil rig jobs all over the region. The economy is OK, he said, and people have jobs, but it could be busier.Companies have moved rig operations west because "the permits weren't coming fast enough, it was slow," Gideon said.

The complaints about a slow permitting process were being echoed across the industry here as Obama was scheduled to step into solid Republican territory to visit oil fields on federal lands and tout the fact that domestic oil and gas production has increased each year he has been in office.The industry is also upset over the administration's consideration of listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species, which it fears could curtail development.

The visit was part of a three-state swing the president is making to defend his energy agenda in the face of rising gas prices. His first stop was to a solar panel plant in Nevada, then to the oil and gas fields in New Mexico and the site of a future oil pipeline in Oklahoma.The White House said in a news release that the stop will "highlight the Administration's commitment to expanding domestic oil and gas production." Oil production is at an eight-year high and natural gas output is at an all-time high, it said.

But Steve Henke, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said production could be even higher. And he was hoping that Obama might be announcing more funding for the Bureau of Land Management office in Carlsbad, which he says is unable to keep up with demand for the drilling permits needed to accelerate the development of federally owned oil and gas resources in the state, he said.
"We feel that if the administration wants to invest with a partner to create jobs and revenue, that they should invest in the BLM and the Carlsbad field office," 

Maljamar is about 280 miles southeast of Albuquerque near the Texas border.According to the menu at Linda's Grill, "William Mitchell, president of Maljamar Oil & Gas Company(Alberta Oil Careers), which brought the first oil well to southeastern New Mexico in 1926, reportedly named the town for his three children, Malcolm, Janet and Margaret."

The world’s fastest-growing Oil Rig Jobs

Oil Rig Jobs -Collapsing natural gas prices have yielded an unexpected boon for North Dakota’s shale oil bonanza, easing a shortage of fracking crews that had tempered the biggest U.S. oil boom in a generation.Energy companies in the Bakken shale patch have boosted activity recently thanks to an exceptionally mild winter and an influx of oil workers trained in the specialized tasks required to prepare wells for production, principally the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing.

State data released this month showed energy companies in January fracked more wells than they drilled for the first time in five months, suggesting oil field jobs output could grow even faster than last year’s 35 percent surge as a year-long shortage of workers and equipment finally begins to subside.As output accelerates, North Dakota should overtake Alaska as the second-largest U.S. producer within months, extending an unexpected oil rush that has already upended the global crude market, clipped U.S. oil imports, and made the state’s economy the fastest-growing in the union.

Six new crews trained in “well completion” - fracking and other work that follows drilling - have moved into North Dakota in the past two months alone, according to the state regulator and industry sources. Back in December, the state was 10 crews short of the number needed to keep up with newly drilled wells.“Three to four months ago, the operators were begging for fracking crews,” said Monte Besler, who consults companies on fracking jobs in North Dakota’s Bakken shale prospect. Now “companies are calling, asking if we have a well to frack.”

For the last three years, smaller oil rig jobs companies with thin pockets were forced to wait for two to three months before they could book fracking crews and get oil out of their wells. As more and more wells were drilled, that backlog has grown.Last year, an average 12 percent of all oil wells were idled in North Dakota. Even so, output in January hit 546,000 barrels per day, doubling in the last two years and pushing the state ahead of California as the country’s third-largest producer.

FEWER WELLS IDLE:

Fracking, which unlocks trapped oil by injecting tight shale seams with a slurry of water, sand and chemicals, has drawn fierce protests in some parts of the country, but it has not generated heated opposition in North Dakota.

The number of idle wells waiting to be completed in the state reached a record 908 last June, the result of a new drilling rush and heavy spring floods. Only 733 wells were idle in August as crews caught up, but the figure crept steadily higher until the start of this year.Now, the industry may be turning a corner in North Dakota, the fastest-growing oil frontier in the world.“Both rig count and hydraulic fracturing crews are limiting factors. Should they continue to rise together, production will not only increase, it will accelerate,” said Lynn Helms, director of the state Industrial Commission’s Oil and Gas Division.

The tame winter likely played an important role in helping reduce the number of idle wells - those that have been drilled but not yet fracked and prepped for production. That number fell by 11 in January, as oil operations that would normally be slowed by blizzards were able to carry on, experts said.

Residents of the northern Midwest state - accustomed to temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 Celsius) in winter and snow piles as high as 107 inches (2.7 meters) -this year enjoyed the fourth warmest since 1894, according to the National Weather Service.The milder conditions also helped prevent the usual exodus of warm-weather workers that occurs when blizzards set in.“Not everyone wants to work in North Dakota in the winter,” Besler said.

The backlog of unfinished wells has also begun to subside because the pace with which new wells are drilled has leveled off. The state hasn’t added new rigs since November.The latest state data shows oil companies brought 37 new rigs to North Dakota’s in 2011 but have not added more since November. The rig count held steady at 200 in January 2012, although more than 200 new wells were drilled in that period.

SLUMPING NATGAS PRICE PROVIDES RELIEF:

North Dakota has gotten a boost from the fall-off in natural gas drilling due to the collapse in prices to 10-year lows. Energy companies such as Chesapeake CHK.N and Encana ECA.TO have shut existing natural gas wells and cut back on new ones.

Last week, the number of rigs drilling for gas in the United States sank to the lowest level in 10 years as major producers slimmed down their gas business, according to data from Houston-based oil services firm Baker Hughes.The fewer gas wells drilled, the less need for skilled fracking crews in the country’s shale gas outposts.

Fracking in oil patches is similar to the process used in gas wells, except for the inherent power of the pumps employed. Crews inject high-pressure water, sand and chemicals to free hydrocarbons trapped in shale rock.
So big service firms such as Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger SLB.N are reshuffling crews from shale gas fields to oil prospects in the badlands.“We have moved or are moving about eight crews. Some of those crews are moving as we speak,” Mark McCollum, Halliburton’s chief financial officer, said at an industry summit in February. Halliburton declined to specify where the crews were moving.

Calgary-based Calfrac moved one crew into the Bakken in late 2011, according to an SEC filing. Privately owned FTS International no longer works in the gas-rich Barnett shale but has set up operations in the Utica, an emerging prospect in Ohio and western Pennsylvania, according to a company representative.The reallocations come with some efficiency losses. Halliburton had to scale back its 24-hour operations and is still trying to solve logistical problems.

“You actually take the crew from one basin and they have to go stay in motels, you have to pay them per diems for a while. And then you have to double up your personnel while you’re training new, locally based crew on the equipment once it is moved,” McCollum said.At the same time, a shortage of key equipment such as pressure pumps is easing as companies start taking delivery of material ordered months or even years ago.

It takes about 15 such pumps to frack a gas well, and many more for oil wells.The total pressure-pumping capacity in the United States at the end of 2012 will be 19 million horsepower, two-and-a-half times more than in 2009, according to Dan Pickering, analyst with Tudor Holt and Pickering in Houston.

FRACKING AROUND THE NATION:

Easing personnel constraints suggest recruiters may be meeting with success in nationwide campaigns to attract workers with specialized knowledge of complex pumps and hazmat trucks - and a willingness to brave harsh conditions.Even with U.S. unemployment at 8.3 percent, such skilled labor remains in short supply despite salaries from $70,000 to $120,000 a year. In North Dakota, unemployment was just 3.2 percent in January, the lowest rate in the nation.

Fracking crews, much like roughnecks on drilling rigs, clock in 12-hour shifts for two straight weeks before getting a day off. They live in camps far from cities and towns. Jobs are transient -a few weeks at a single location. Most workers divide their time between the California desert, Texas ranchlands and the freezing badlands of the Midwest state.

Companies have scrambled to nab talent, with recruiters scouring far and wide. Military bases have gotten frequent visits, and some companies have hired truckers from Europe.“There’s definitely a push to look all over for people who have good experience since it takes at least six months to train someone how to use a fracking pump,” said David Vaucher, analyst with IHS Cambridge Energy Research.For more detail visit Alberta Oil Careers.

Oil Field Jobs eBook Educates Public on Shale Oil Plays

Oil Field jobs in North Dakota has created a media and jobs frenzy in recent months. Most published newspaper stories or 5 minute news spots do little more than communicate the fact that there is newly discovered oil and thousands of jobs available in North Dakota. These types of stories leave most people, who are uneducated about the industry, wondering if the jobs oasis really exists or if it is a hoax.

The logical next step for someone who is interested in learning more about The oil field jobs is to research it to see what it is all about and if there really are jobs available. This is where the difficultly begins. There is very little comprehensive information online or in print about The oil field jobs, much less how to go about getting a job in North Dakota.

The solution for many, however, has been a newly released eBook entitled the “Shale Oil Revolution,” by Matt King of albertaoilcareers.com. The book clearly outlines the processes which made this new oil rig jobs economically viable, and arms its readers with baseline knowledge to excel in an interview or to simply gain a better understanding of what is going on. The greatest benefit of this eBook is that although it describes the technical processes of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, it is still easy enough for anyone outside the oil industry to understand.

When asked why he wrote this eBook, Matt King said, “I was tasked to gain an expert knowledge level of new shale oil field jobs in the country for my position, but there was not a consistent resource I could draw from to be able to explain the industry to my colleagues and boss. I started my oil industry career knowing absolutely nothing about these new oil field jobs and after several years of research, I became a relied upon speaker on the subject for a Fortune 500 company. This book is the result of my research and speaking with and shadowing current industry leaders in The oil field in North Dakota.”

He also said that his main goal for writing the “Shale Oil Revolution” was to educate the general public about the new shale oil industry and to help potential oil industry applicants with a solid foundation in order to stand out in an interview.

The book covers several topics in detail from the historical oil production methods to the modern methods of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. In addition, the book walks through a typical Well from leasing the land and minerals to producing and refining the oil and gas. The embedded graphics and clear descriptions throughout do not leave much to the imagination, which is great for those who have not been exposed to the industry before.

The release of this book will no doubt help the hundreds of thousands of people who search daily on the internet for information about The Bakken and other new oil discoveries.

About the Website:

Alberta Oil Careers is a recently launched website dedicated to educating the public about the emergence of new oil discoveries, unconventional resource production. The website also provides links to Oil Jobs information and resources about other emerging such plays such as the Niobrara, The Eagle Ford, and North Slope Shale Plays.

Oil Rig Jobs -Jobs markets red hot in GP

Oil Rig Jobs -Workers young and old attended a job fair at the Holiday Inn in droves Wednesday as more than 40 businesses were scooping up skilled and unskilled labourers.

Kyle Charpentier, representing FMC Technologies, said the labour shortage isn’t anything new, and the company is always looking to fill entry-level positions.“Education always helps, but if you’re willing to work, pull the wrenches, you’re hired,” he said.But with the dozens of oil companies handing out high paying, immediate employment, other Peace Country trades are feeling the pinch.

Dale Thomas, owner of Thomas Mechanic Services in Grande Prairie said qualified heavy-duty mechanics are few and far between.“They’re very, very difficult to find,” Thomas said.” More so in the Peace Country.”
This is the first year Thomas has set up at a Oil Rig jobs fair and still, he saw the young workers gravitate to oil patch work.

“The problem is we’ve maxed out in apprentices, and we can’t hire more until we have more licensed guys,” he said.” And there are just not enough people coming into the trade.”He said heavy-duty apprenticeship is low paying and hard work, and young people are looking at the alternatives.“Where you can take a $3,000 course for a month, become a truck driver and go into the oil field jobs, and make good money right off the bat.”

But he said his focus is on young people, and training them to be valuable, skilled workers. Lance Chalifoux, 26 came to Grande Prairie under a week ago, and he already has at least one job lined up which starts Monday.Struggling for months to find work in construction in Kamloops, B.C., he came to Grande Prairie looking for oil work, and found an entry-level position that pays him $20 per hour.

He said by having a Class 5 driver’s licence, he’s qualified is the eyes of most oil companies at the fair. “I’m just at the fair incase something falls through, or there’s a company that pays better, or has better benefits.”And although he’s come to Alberta oil careers for a paycheque, he’s looking for further career opportunities.Another applicant in search of work was Richard Green, 49 who is looking to switch careers.

Green says he may be late in the game, but isn’t daunted by the young blood companies are hiring on the spot. “I’m looking at my age. I’m looking for something I want to do for the next 10 years, to retire from,” he said.He’s a little scared about jumping careers, but as long as he has a paycheque, he can take his time.

Oil field jobs equipment assembly plant near Bynum taking job applications, preparing to open

Oil Field Jobs -A Texas company is looking for engineers, welders and other employees for an oil field jobs equipment assembly plant it plans to open on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana.Lauren Engineering and Construction of Abilene, Texas, expects to begin operations just south of Bynum by late April, the Missoulian  reported Tuesday.

Lauren Engineering plans to haul modular equipment from Abilene and assemble it at a 160-acre site on U.S. Highway 89 for delivery to oil field jobs in Alberta. The company bought the land in November.Lauren is building pipe rack modules, or frameworks that carry large sections of specialized pipes for oil-sands refinery tank farms. They weigh between 40,000 and 150,000 pounds and average 80 feet long.

Choteau's finance director Jodi Rogers says the company is hiring about 70 people.An employment office in Choteau is open briefly on Mondays and Tuesdays to take resumes for jobs at the site. Choteau's finance director Jodi Rogers said the company is hiring about 70 people, including security guards and secretaries.

"It's an opportunity for there to be some good-paying oil rig jobs in our community," Rogers said. "I expect they'll be coming from as far as great Falls. They couldn't pull enough people for that just out of Choteau."The spot at Bynum is one of the first places where the pieces could be put together in large sections and hauled to Canada without crossing a mountain pass or other difficult road obstacles.

The construction work is separate from the so-called mega loads that have been traveling from the Port of Lewiston in Idaho through northwestern Montana to an oil sands project in Alberta Oil Careers.

Oil Rig Jobs Abound In Energy Industry's New Boom Time

Oil Field Jobs -Economists say many industries are looking up this year. But perhaps none has a better outlook than the energy sector.New drilling technologies and rising fuel prices have generated a boom in drilling -and lots of high-paying jobs for people with the skills to work in the oil patch. On some college campuses, companies are so eager to find petroleum engineers that they are offering Oil Field jobs to students even before they have graduated.At the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Chris Enger is among the seniors who are being sought out by employers. "I feel very lucky and very glad I chose engineering," he says, "and specifically petroleum engineering."

Set to graduate with a bachelor's degree this May, Enger already has a job lined up with EOG Resources, a Texas-based oil and gas company."I've got friends on other campuses that may not have jobs and are considering pursuing a graduate degree, which seems to be a lot of people's options when they can't find a job," he says.At the School of Mines, graduates in petroleum engineering don't have to run up debt in graduate school. Their average starting salary? Nearly $79,000.

Students are flocking to the field -and to colleges like this one, which has a nearly perfect oil rig jobs-placement rate for graduating seniors.Professor Bill Eustes teaches a drilling class in which students learn how to design the piping in an oil and gas well to prevent explosions.A decade ago, there were only 21 students in his class. Today, there are about 160.

"When the [oil] prices climb, we typically see the number of students build also," he says. "Why? Because the jobs are there."The need for young workers is especially intense now because many of the people who entered the oil business during the 1970s oil boom are retiring. At the same time, new drilling techniques are making it possible to get oil and gas from shale. That new supply is boosting demand for workers.

"If you would have told me 10 years ago that shale would have been a gas reserve, I would have gone, 'You're crazy.' But they found a way to do it," Eustes says. "So we've got the technology improving; we've got these new reserves opening up; we've got this crew change coming up -all of these things have conspired to require people."Jessica Lambdin is a recruiter for Encana Corp., which has traditionally been a natural-gas powerhouse. But because natural gas prices are down and oil prices are up, the company is now shifting its focus to recovering so-called unconventional oil.

The reason, she says, is that "we're really innovative, and students have a really strong desire to bring that to a corporation. And that's really important currently, in today's economy."Encana is one of dozens of companies actively recruiting at the Colorado School of Mines and at similar schools from Texas to Montana. A recent career fair on the campus drew more than half the student body. Companies came back the next day and conducted 1,000 interviews.

Ali Amacki, a junior from Oman, says there's a buzz among his petroleum-engineering classmates. The new technology means the industry is no longer generating just traditional jobs involving oil derricks."Easy oil is gone," Amacki says. "People have been producing easy oil for decades now. Now we are the hard oil generation." for alberta Oil Careers.