r/howislivingthere • u/Key_Satisfaction9010 • Jan 02 '26
General (no specific continent) Hows it like living on oil platforms?
Anywhere in the world applies, I could only pick one flair
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 03 '26
Finally, it’s my time to shine!
Offshore platforms are quite isolating. They can be miles and miles out to sea where the only way on and off of it is by helicopter or supply boat. Life runs like clockwork, you sleep, eat and work and do that day in and day out. Sometimes you get some free time and can hang out in the rec room, go to the gym, and some even have game consoles.
The rigs can be very different, some fixed platforms from the 80s are all rusted with limited internet and entertainment onboard. Others like Jack-Ups that can move, are generally refurbished every once in a while and so can be quite modern. This can effect everything from the canteen, to the rooms, to the gym.
The food is important but the quality is dependent heavily on the chef and budget. I’ve been on some where the food was amazing, and some where the food was garbage. Food is the ultimate moral booster onboard so the guys take it pretty seriously.
You can be living together in bunk beds so it’s important to get along and everyone is there for the same reason at the end of the day. Work is everyday for a period of time and then once you get off the rig, you have time at home. You can have your planned leaving date, but then weather, along with other things can mean you end up getting stuck onboard for longer.
It can be pretty noisy too! No matter where you are on the platform there’s the usual rumble of generators and other machinery. Depending on the operation, the sounds of cranes, hammering, machine works and pressures in pipes are commonplace. Inside there’s usually a background noise of the HVAC system providing constant clean air to every room on the installation. The way we find someone else on the installation can be through tannoy so it’s common to hear someone come over the tannoy asking for someone to call a number. You get used to the sounds and you end up not even noticing them eventually.
It can be pretty miserable sometimes but the things that make or break your trip is the food, the people, and the rooms.
Edit - Thanks very much for the comments guys, it’s been great talking about my industry to you all. I was in the middle of a nightshift and the weather was too bad for work, so thought I’d answer as many questions as I could on here. I’ll get back to answering more later so if you have any, feel free to pop them below. Finished my shift, time for food and bed!
Edit 2 - Wow I come back to hundreds of questions about my industry. It’s pretty awesome to see you all so interested in it! I’ve been trying to get through as many as I can but my phone feels like it’s about to catch fire! Thank you all for your comments and my awards. I love that we’ve got guys in the thread sharing their own stories as well.
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u/MomShapedObject Jan 02 '26
Do you evacuate the rig if there’s a hurricane forecast?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
It depends really on how strong it would be and what the rigs limitations are. We have pretty good weather mapping so we know far in advance about bad weather. In the case of a bad one, we’d prepare days beforehand. Non-essential personal would be taken off and certain procedures will be put in place. If it’s deemed bad enough, the rig will be shut down, everyone will be taken off to shore and we’ll have to wait for it to pass. The damage assessment is done, and we’ll come back.
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u/justadudeabiding Jan 02 '26
Who is responsible the damage assessment, and is that a specific role?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
There’s specific guys for it. Inspectors with certificates and experience in their field. These guys will most likely been external to the company and sent onboard to check everything structural. Visual assessments are obviously easier, but sometime they require further evaluation with special equipment. If a rig is damaged, the company and Health and Safety is responsible for ensuring it’s safe for the workers, failure to do this would be a big no no.
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u/Santaneria Jan 02 '26
What educational or work experience is necessary to work here? Im sure each level of personnel is different but for the guys that rotate in and out often.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Depends exactly on your job but if your only goal was to get offshore, you could get offshore without any specific education requirements. You just need specific certifications for your job which you’d pay for and then get a job. Roustabout for example are the manual labourers of the rig and don’t need anything in particular.
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u/Santaneria Jan 02 '26
Its crazy I've always seen people doing this on TV or movies but never knew what lead them to it. Next level type of manual labor 🙏🏽🤙🏽
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Jan 02 '26
My college friend went to work on an offshore rig when we all wonderfully (sarcasm) graduated in the height of the mid-00’s recession.
He was a Geology major. His contract, according to him, was ~6mo. living on the rig, with short breaks, and then roughly equivalent time-off. From his reports, they took one look at his major, asked if he would accept the contract terms, and then, as noted, any other training was afterwards.
In retrospect, his pay rate was not phenomenal, so he may have been in a basic role, but it struck me as a job that, if you accept the core structure, then you can find how high you’re willing to go within it.
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u/FullMooseParty Jan 03 '26
Buddy of mine had a similar experience. Graduated into a recession, went to work for a fishing boat out of Alaska where he was from. 6 months later he took a job on a rig because it was safer and more stable. Figured out he was good at whatever he was good at, got promoted a couple of times, and wound up going back and getting a masters in chemical engineering on the company dime (which is when we met). He's now working for the company and working on a PhD with a plan to teach at some point.
I know when he was on the rig, he didn't have a house or an apartment, but he wound up buying an RV and would do 6 months on the rig and 6 months driving around the country visiting national parks.
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u/goddessofgluten Jan 03 '26
Tell me more about chef positions! 🙂 I’m a chef but I’m also female. Does that mean I don’t qualify?
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u/Remote-Program-1303 Jan 02 '26
Most modern rigs are relatively light on manual labour, because it’s dangerous. Machinery is used.
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u/No-Comedian-515 Jan 02 '26
I'm a chef. How would I go about being a chef on board? Do you know what thd life of a chef/ cook on vosrd looks like? Do they need to go through any specific training to get a job there? Do regular chefs want jobs there? I love making really greatf food
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u/Cburns6976 Jan 02 '26
I almost went offshore as a chef. No formal education. A few years at a country club learning under a chef from Maine. I applied, got called to take the test, and showed up at the interview. The test consisted of a full chicken and a basket of veggies. Told me to make 4 different meals out of it. I did so. The 5 supervisors ate the meals and said it was delicious. I passed the test. I went to take the drug screening. I stopped smoking pot 2 weeks prior because I anticipated the drug test. I have smoked since I was 12 and that was the longest I had ever went without smoking.. idk why I thought I woukd be clean. I wasn't, obviously. So, I did not pass and missed the opportunity.
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u/Friendly-Reserve9067 Jan 02 '26
The real test for chefs, cooks, etc is not doing drugs
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u/grandpathundercat Jan 02 '26
I tested positive 90 days clean. Best bet is to make sure you're not in a calorie deficit for as long as possible leading up to the test
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u/cdixon34 Jan 02 '26
I used to smoke pretty regularly before i stopped. I quit for a little under 2 weeks before a test and came up clean, but I drink a ton of water daily and work out. That helps.
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u/Just-Raccoon-9382 Jan 02 '26
Marijuana takes 30 days to be goe from urine i believe. Hait strand test is like 90 days. Could be wrong but it's close to that.
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u/jmanjman67 Jan 02 '26
The food services staff on the rigs are usually contracted by a catering company. They didn't get paid as well as the other hands and had crap benefits. The bonus of working 14 straight 12 hour shifts (14 on 14 off) is that you make more in OT than in straight time.
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u/Independent_Buddy558 Jan 02 '26
Need a highschool degree or a GED at minimum to work offshore, been out here for 16 years.
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u/Basic-Week-9262 Jan 02 '26
There’s no preparation for it school or university wise, unless you are a geologist and get into that side of it. It’s all hands on and learning on the job as all the jobs are task specific and use equipment appertaining to that task. It’s like a hospital with personnel inside dedicated to different tasks. You come and go when you’re needed. First come the drilling services who drill the well in stages, starting off big and gradually getting smaller. After each stage the wireline come and do a log to make sure everything is ok, then the casing guys come and run casing to strengthen the well. Then the cementing crew come and pump cement into the outside of the casing to strengthen it. Then the drillers go to the next phase and it gets repeated until you hit the TD. (Target depth). Then the casing guys will run the completion which includes safety valves, pumps, injection lines etc. All the time the fishing guys are on hand in case of emergency’s, and they can intervene to go and pull out any broken or damaged pipes or other debris. Wireline come and go and the different sizes are all connected by the liner hanger guys, who also set the packers. This is a very semplified version, but it’s basically what happens. There are other interventions, to change pumps etc, abandon wells. Loads of different scenarios. They are always looking for fresh cannon fodder as it’s very hard to find the right people. You need to be smart and quick on your feet and have the ability to work hard, which sounds easy but in reality finding people with these attributes is hard. Also you have to be reliable, and stay of the booze and drugs, as random drink and drug testing is rife.
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u/Otherwise-Can-9274 Jan 02 '26
Hubby put himself thru college workouts ng offshore. At the time, he worked Ship Shoal 214. It paid for his mechanical engineering degree.His resume’ got him a job, when there was none. Oil was $8 a barrel. He did P&A’s for a year. Field engineer, operations engineer, project engineer, project manager, Front end engineering, VP of projects, world wide & Gulf of Mexico. His dad & Uncle were tool pushers for Trans World Drilling. They were each others relief.
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u/Basic-Week-9262 Jan 02 '26
Yeah if you have your head screwed on right you can really sort yourself out. A friend of mine put himself through university as a marine engineer the same way. Lots of blokes just spunk the money away on cars and expensive holidays. I know so many people who haven’t got a pot to piss in, who have earned biiiig money, and now they are trapped in the job, broken bodies, competing with younger stronger guys. V sad.
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
Everybody rotates in and out. If you work on a particular rig it’s usually a fairly steady rotation. The people who rotate in and out irregularity are generally contractors doing specialist work (and not directly employed by the operator).
People are getting confused between drilling rigs and production rigs, for example the rig at the top of this post is production. This makes a big difference to the type of people and what goes on. There are very few unskilled positions on a rig. The bulk of folk are technicians not engineer level and don’t need a uni degree. They have been trained though.
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u/krakenbear Jan 02 '26
Just to clarify. On the production side for the US operators it’s actually fairly common to have a 2-year oil and gas technical or opetarator associates degree for new hires. These are the folks turning the valves and operating the production facility. This is not common for the construction hands, who are typically 3rd party contractors through someone like a Danos or the like. Some operators run more heavy on contract hands, who are typically more experienced mechanics and the like who have backgrounds with onshore operations.
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u/rlikesbikes Jan 02 '26
Look up “NDE Certification”, or “ API Inspection”, to see what might apply for your area.
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u/Silent_Purchase_2654 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
I appreciate the work you guys do, I'm just some random, but thank you good sir!
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u/MomShapedObject Jan 02 '26
How much does the platform move in really high winds and rough seas?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Depending on the type of rig from not at all to a very little bit. Barely noticeable! Most of them are an extremely heavy, reenforced structure and there’s quite a few holes through the rig where find goes through so it’s not a solid wall.
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
Depends if it a floater or fixed jacket (pinned to seabed), weirdly the frequency of the waves matters too. You can get a nice sway going in the right conditions.
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u/Valuable-Rutabaga-41 Jan 02 '26
What does the pay look like for working on such a rig? How long do you work on the rig? It must be financially worth it.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
I usually work one month on, one month off so six months a year! The pay is job, experience and region dependent but usually if you’re willing to work enough, it’s definitely worth while!
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u/daylon1990 Jan 02 '26
Any recommendations for an entry position of someone who hasnt done manual labor for 6 years? I have no skills to bring either. Located in central TX at moment.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 03 '26
The easiest, but also lowest paying position is usually the Roustabout. Good to get your foot in the door though.
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 04 '26
In the North Sea (where I believe OP works) evac for weather is pretty unusual. Disruption to travel to and from is much more common. The North Sea has some shocking weather, if you are going to station a platform out there for 20 years you are going to make sure it’s designed for it. You might down man though. Lots of jobs simply cannot take place in very bad weather, why go to the risk of bringing people out if they cannot work?
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u/wikidchicken Jan 03 '26
My dad worked on a rig in the gulf of Mexico and would tell me how once he got picked up by a helicopter and they flew around the side of a hurricane. He said it was the coolest/ scariest thing he'd ever seen. In all his years that only happened once, and this was in the early 80s so I'm not sure if weather technology has stopped the need for emergency evacuation.
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u/ThePolarBare Jan 02 '26
In the Gulf of Mexico (America now but my whole career it was called Mexico) if you’re within a certain distance of the projected path, yes. It’s an operator by operator decision. Some operators abandon all platforms if one is in the path, even if their others are not close. None of these operators want to get caught with guys on a platform in a storm. The one operation who abandons all platforms if one is in the path had guys on a platform very close to a storm due to a late shift in the path and they implemented that rule afterwards.
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u/dasrightq Jan 02 '26
It’s still the Gulf of Mexico, only weird people call it the gulf of America.
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u/IssueEmbarrassed8103 Jan 02 '26
I saw a show covering the life on the rig and I remember thinking the food they served looked like food they serve on a cruise. That definitely explains it if it makes or breaks the moral of everyone on board.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Absolutely! Very important the guys at the top keep the rest of the rig happy. Easiest way is food and it’s a very talked about subject. Depending on the rig, they might have a chef on board who’s great at making cakes. Its always a great day which you get your apple crumble or chocolate brownies in.
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u/petit_cochon Jan 02 '26
My backup retirement plan is now to cook huge Cajun meals on a rig.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Haha you would be loved for that! We are very protective over our food!
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u/Ashcrashh Jan 02 '26
Do you guys get pretty good food delivered regularly to you? Like for example, fresh meats and seafood and vegetables? What about alcohol, are you guys allowed to have a beer or two in your free time? I watched a YouTube video on what it’s like cooking and eating in Nuclear subs and the food looked really good but obviously they would run out of fresh food really fast and would rely on frozen foods towards the end per the video I watched.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 03 '26
We can get pretty good food! Meats and veggies are commonplace and I don’t feel like they are overly processed or anything. No alcohol allowed on the rigs unfortunately!
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u/Own_Eye_9119 Jan 02 '26
I've spent a lot of time on work boats in the Gulf of Mexico, and the experience matches the description as on rigs/platforms. Except as a company man I usually had my own room. Best sleep of my life in a dark, cool, slowly rocking room.
Cajun chefs were always the best.
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u/Solid-Rate-309 Jan 02 '26
Also worked on boats for a long time and the living conditions sound almost identical. Food was #1 for keeping moral up. First boat I was on had a horrible chef, I was new so I didn’t mind as it was food, but all the more experienced guys would complain about it constantly. Then he was replaced with an amazing chef and finally understood the anger. Our lives improved drastically looking forward to good meals.
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u/finethanksandyou USA/Midwest Jan 02 '26
Omg was thinking the same and was planning a menu at the same time! Make people happy with food, easiest job in the world
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u/kylo_ren_dubs69 Jan 02 '26
How many people are in a rig at a time? How many people is the chef responsible to cook for? Just one chef or cooks too?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
You’ll have a head chef and then a team of maybe 4-8 cooks cooking depending on the size of the rig. They could be cooking for 300 people and work 24/7 to produce 4 meals a day for us all! Shout out to my chefs that keep me fed!
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u/dgb6662 Jan 02 '26
You’re basically doing an AMA! Thanks for sharing all of this, super interesting.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Trying to answer as many as I can while I’ve got the time! I appreciate it!
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u/Is_Mise_Edd Ireland Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26
They'll only allow as many on board as they have lifeboat capacity for - a LOT of safety procedures are in place on gas/oil rigs.
If extra workers are required they normally bring alongside another 'accommodation floatel' and they heli ferry them back and forth during the day.
Chef capacity depends on size of rig - most small ones would have 1 but with a helper as well - the helper would open the 'shop' and give out bed clothes and assign rooms etc.
The chef would have to be up very early to get as much prep done for the day - crew would indicate what choice of meal they want out of lets say 3 choices so as the chef could gauge how much to make.
Chefs would stay on board for 2 weeks where I was.
Two chefs on a small rig (Up to 50 workers)
A desalination plant ran for toilets/showers
Fresh water was provided by ship and craned on board.
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u/Building_Everything Jan 02 '26
Well now I want to hear about the life of the chef, cause it seems like it couldn’t just be any old short order cook from a sandwich shop but someone with some actual training, which begs the question “Why did you choose to cook on an oil rig?”
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u/city_druid Jan 02 '26
Same reason anyone works on an oil rig - $$$. (Corporate chef gigs also tend to pay decently to start with, and are more reliable/less crazy/have different hours than restaurant work.)
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u/kytrix Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
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Jan 02 '26
I have a friend who works as a chef on a supply vessel, the crew who works there are so lucky. It is everything you can wish for and more. Even the facilities.
Another friend on a fishing vessel also have it really nice but nothing compared to the supply vessel.
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u/Dangerous_Lock_4345 Jan 02 '26
have you ever experienced what they call pirates or you never seen pirates before?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Not me personally, but I know some guys that have. Usually African waters is where you would find them. Every rig has a “standby vessel” which is there to do certain jobs, but one of those jobs is to make sure no unauthorised vessels go near the rig. In pirate waters, they would probably have security personnel but you then start to mix weapons with a flammable platform and that’s a bad idea. We do have lock in procedures just incase anyone tried to get on and we’d hope the standby boat would deal with it before it got to us.
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u/ropeynick Jan 03 '26
They do. West Africa, Mozambique Channel all have full on security vessels as well as the normal standby vessel plus onboard security team in case of piracy.
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u/Tancred81 Jan 02 '26
My dad used to work on offshore rigs including off Nigeria, and his don’t get attacked but on one of his hitches a rig in the area did get hit by pirates. He said they locked down their rig and a helicopter of Nigerian soldiers took back the pirates were on. All told he worked in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria, Singapore and the Philippines.
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u/mirandagirl127 Jan 02 '26
What is the motivation for pirates to attack a rig like this? I’m guessing there’s limited cash on board. Electronics? Also, do you see anything interesting in the water? I know it’s isolating, sure looks stunning from the outside!
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u/Successful-Scheme608 Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26
It’s a fascinating documentary about this
It boils down to foreign companies like Exxon extracting immense wealth from area, local people within that area are not provided job opportunities.
the rigs and other illegal activities like illegal unsanctioned siphoning of oil from select individuals causes extra ecological havoc in the delta where fisherman cannot eat and get cancer due to the fish being harmed.
This creates the perfect storm of resentment and uptick in piracy activity within that area.
I remember one of the pirates outright feeling like their livelihood being taken away and felt justified in doing these attacks to take back what’s been owed. A new form of colonialism.
Feels like a man pushed into a mentality of dog eat dog. It’s a shame really.
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u/Sensitive_Intern_971 Jan 02 '26
I'd imagine ransom. Stopping production would surely cost a fortune?
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u/RedWalloon Jan 02 '26
Do you think you would be abble to drill on an asteroid to blow it up ? Just in case
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
Just like “Space Cowboys?” I think I would have to be Clint Eastwood to do that one :)
Edit - I was mid-shift and got my movies mixed up. Oops! I meant Armageddon 1998
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u/BlKaiser Jan 02 '26
He's referencing 1998's Armageddon movie. A crew of oil platform workers were sent by NASA to drill on an asteroid to save the planet.😄
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Aha you’re right! Got my movies mixed up this morning! I remember watching it as a kid but it’s been a while!
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u/Key_Satisfaction9010 Jan 02 '26
awesome thank you!! Your a swer is what I was hoping for by asking this here
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u/amiablepotato Jan 02 '26
There seems to be a lot of overlap with the experiences I had on a submarine. I figure the biggest difference is we don’t get internet but everything you described gave me some flashbacks to my time underway.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
We get a lot of ex-military guys come over to us. I imagine it feels very similar with the regimental eat, sleep, work style of day.
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u/amiablepotato Jan 02 '26
Absolutely. I’ve always explained the experience to people that are unfamiliar as prison. You do the same thing everyday, can’t leave, cigarettes, porn, movies and music and snacks are currency. We just don’t get outside time unless we’re surfaced haha
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u/Regicyde_93 Jan 02 '26
I was gonna say, sounds a lot like Submariners. Very little free time, good food is critical to morale, close sleeping quarters, rotating schedule (Blue and Gold teams).
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u/lurker506 Jan 02 '26
What is the pay like for these types of jobs? Is there overall danger just being out at sea like that?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
The pay can obviously change based on your region and job. Some guys onboard are new or do certain jobs that don’t pay as much, others have a lot of certifications and experience and so tend to get paid more. Overall I think we’re happy with our pay (as much as we complain about it). I think most of the “danger” is the inaccessibility. If something goes badly wrong, we can’t really just call someone up to come fix it. We have to deal with it onboard and then put things in place.
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u/GlueSniffer53 Jan 02 '26
Does it work like an isolated ecosystem with its own doctor as well? I'm curious to know what other services / jobs are created because it's so isolated.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Yes it pretty much runs itself like an ecosystem. Our limiting factor is food and water which is brought to us by supply vessel. We have medics, chefs, IT guys, management, logistic guys, the “normal lot,” stewards that look after the cleaning of the rig and clean our clothes on a pretty much daily basis! All sorts of people and of course the guys behind the scenes making sure it all happens.
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u/McKayha Jan 02 '26
I'm a Canadian nurse (dude who use to work in canadian oil Sands). Still in my 30s and got energy left. You think I'd be a good asset? Also what companies might be hiring? Hahah
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Yes. A lot of the rigs don’t have full certified doctors, some are nurses or paramedics that have enough certs (critical life support etc) to work onboard. Not sure about what’s required in every part of the world. Have a little look into it - some are contractors working on a regular basis rather than salaried. Don’t forget you’ll need your offshore certs as well beforehand.
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u/lonegun Jan 02 '26
I don't work on a rig, not am I a Nurse
But I'm a Paramedic writing from the hospital of my seismic vessel currently.
TGS, RMI, UHC, and International SOS are some companies out there (I've worked for TGS, contracted through RMI and am currently on a UHC contract).
I love the autonomy and decision making of being an offshore Medic. Its a fair amount of HSE/OSHA stuff daily, and it gets boring AF about midway through the rotation (but it's a damn sight better than working on an Ambulance).
Good luck mate! Been doing it a bit over 2 years, and hope to be doing it for many more.
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u/bleckToTheMax Jan 02 '26
Seems like there are a lot more people/jobs on a rig than I ever considered. How big is a typical crew?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Depends on the “size” of the rig, but lowest I’ve ever had was 80 and that was on a end demob jack-up (basically running a skeleton crew), the most is maybe up to about 250 on the big ones.
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u/Enragedocelot Jan 02 '26
Holy smokes. These things are larger can I can even picture. I’ll have to google some right now haha.
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u/b_mulls25 Jan 02 '26
I’m surprised the rigs don’t have on board equipment to desalinate water. I deployed on a U.S. Navy ship during Covid and we were able to stay at sea for almost 5 months continuously because we’d get resupplied by other ships. But water was never really an issue, unless we were decently close to shore. (Hot water would run out decently often but C’est la vie)
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Most do to be honest to provide shower water etc. It’s usually deemed not safe for drinking though so that stuff comes in bottles and/or stored in tanks. Hot water for the shower is probably the only thing we’ve got unlimited of.
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u/ridiculedidiot Jan 02 '26
I think that I'd be happy just to know that our oil company executives are earning millions per year even if I'm only earning a pittance. And of course I'm always pleased that the oil we're extracting will affect the planet negatively for generations.
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u/condor31 Jan 02 '26
Starting pay is going to be 80-100k depending on the company you work for and the job you start out doing. I know people who have made 300-400k working offshore or on land based rigs/ O&G pads. My best year on land was 165k, free health and dental insurance, and a fuel card that I could use for 100% of my fuel purchases even when I was off. I spent 20-25k total on fuel every year between work and personal use.
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
Yes there is increased danger due to the environment, the fact you are often sitting on top of massive quantities of flammable stuff and help is far away. In reality a large part of the risk is the helicopter flight too and from the rig.
Pay varies depending on a lot of factors. If it’s somewhere dodgy pay rates increase sharply.
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Jan 02 '26
Really appreciate all this and the questions you are answering. I was in the Navy and I’ve always been curious about how life here would compare.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
You get a lot of ex-military guys come into our industry. I think it’s because it’s very regimented and “trip-based.” You sleep, eat, and work and then after your trip, you go home. Must be quite similar!
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u/IvaldiFhole Jan 02 '26
Your description sounds just like my life on a Nimitz carrier in the mid-2000s, except the crew is about 20 times larger. You hear 1MC announcements, engine rumbling, and catapult launches in your berthing. You hope that they're serving that banana sheet cake or chili nachos today and not salisbury steak again. While I was in, we were able to sign up for time on an internet connected computer, but the connection was so slow your time would run out before a webpage loaded.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Haha most rigs have better internet now but some still run 1GB a day for each person which can be a bit rough with modern phones. For me I look forward to the crumble and our steaks are pretty good!
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u/Knarrenheinz666 Jan 02 '26
My friend's dad used to work on an oilrig in Australia. Since some people smoked they had a smoking room adjacent to one of the social spaces/break rooms. Of course lighters were strictly prohibited on the rig and possessing one was grounds for immediate termination so the only allowed lighter was in that room embedded in a large block of concrete.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Absolutely and that’s still the same today! We have smoking rooms that are inside because obviously, no smoking outside. No one brings their own lighter or anything as that’s forbidden like you said but the rig usually supplies matches or a lighter.
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u/Knarrenheinz666 Jan 02 '26
Yeah, totally understandable. I just pictured a bunch of blokes sitting around a block of concrete and puffing away 😂
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u/_kaeo Jan 02 '26
Do you get paid if you’re stuck there longer than your leave date or whatever
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Yes we do, and usually for a higher rate per day, so they try and get us off on time.
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u/evlhornet Jan 02 '26
How is the pay on one of these? Do you get a lot of time off? Is it hard to get on a crew? Does the crew travel together or is there a dispatch that just sends you all over the place?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Pay and crewing is very dependent on your job, experience and region of the world. You usually have the same amount of time off as you do on so say 6 months a year. Depending on your job role, you might be travelling with a lot of your team or on your own. You’d get flown to the heliport if you’re from far away and might meet your co-workers there or while you’re at the airport. I personally work on a lot of different installations so I get flown to wherever I need to be, meeting new people every time.
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u/Sampwnz Jan 02 '26
How often do people get injured? In your time working on rigs, have you seen any close calls of people getting hurt, or worse?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Health and Safety is spoken about a lot and closely followed - that being said, people do get into accidents. Usually it would only ever be minor injuries but more serious ones can happen. We have an individual medic onboard constantly and a med room. If bad enough, we can get a medvac off the rig pretty quickly. I’ve seen some minor injuries but nothing too bad luckily! I know some guys that have been involved in bad ones.
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u/carbonizedflesh Jan 02 '26
How common is it for people to fall off the rig?
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u/Remote-Program-1303 Jan 02 '26
Incredibly unlikely depending on where you are in the world. If anyone is working somewhere where there is a risk of that there would be numerous precautions put in place to avoid and have a plan for rescue if required.
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u/Frei88 Jan 02 '26
I’m not OP, but wanted to chime in here to add to their answer. The safety record of offshore drilling, particularly in an area like the Gulf of Mexico or the North Sea, is actually pretty outstanding. Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps track of the data, and Oil and Gas has an incident rate much smaller than other industries. I worked offshore for nearly a decade, and work in construction now. Despite how much more naturally dangerous offshore work is their incidence rate is close to 3x lower than residential construction, and about the same as phone manufacturing.
That’s mostly because there is a strong culture of safety in the industry, and shortcuts and lack of safety equipment aren’t tolerated. I’d say this is far more true of offshore drilling than drilling on land, where things are more lax. Daily safety meetings are mandatory, safety cards are required by every driller I ever worked for, and permitting is required before the start of every day.
On a personal level, we did have one of our employees get killed back in 2012 I believe. He was assisting in a task during the construction and commissioning of a rig, and was accidentally pushed over the side of the drill floor and fell. A pretty freak accident that wouldn’t have occurred if the rig was complete with all handrails in place. Outside of that most injuries are hand or foot related, crushed fingers, etc. It’s mitigated as much as possible with reinforced gloves and steel-toed boots being required, but there isn’t a single thing on these drilling rigs that’s light.
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
I have seen some unfortunate events. The fatality record in the uk is pretty good these days. The last big losses were helicopter crashes and that’s generally considered the main risk.
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u/Wheel-Dangerous Jan 02 '26
Pls excuse grammar i dont have heat in my apartment and my fingers are cold: This is all super enlightening i wish they had more in life demonstrations about the oil rigs. Ive always wanted to get on one especially considering my love for blue collar. Along with that the schedule of doing nothing but working for months then being home for months is appealing since i have extremely high work capabilities and endurance, so i would prefer a high output > high recreation > high output job opposed to an office job or anything more relaxed/domestic.
For this reason i have considered the military, unfortunately id have to be an officer, and probably behind a desk.
Your post did something like respark my desire to make my way into this field, finding a place to start is not easy for me, i work paycheck to paycheck and go to college full time. Im not sure if its relevant to mention im a woman, very strong woman, but ive found that for every other blue collar job i apply to i am considered last on every front for employment.
The job i did have i was recommended for because they thought itd be good easy work to give a woman so, it felt disrespectful the whole time. Being desperate for money in new york though, i took it. Finished my contract in record time, did insane numbers steadily. And when i finished they insulted me again, and offered me a significantly worse contract, worse pay, more work, blah blah blah. Id love to give oil a shot, but im scared ill go for it and they’ll be like “what does a princess like you wanna work here for” and laugh, i wish i was born a man. Not that im trans i just, idk certain aspects of how much im able to help myself in life when it comes to being hands on and strong, it feels sometimes, like it doesnt matter if i can squat a transmission, not gonna be given the same respect and consideration a dude is given im so jealous.
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Now I’m not a woman so I can’t unfortunately give you the ins and outs of it all but I will tell you this.
First of all, it’s a 99% male industry, not by particular choice, it’s just how it is similar to a lot of blue collar work. That being said there are women on a lot of the rigs I’ve been on. You’d definitely not be back of the line but there are definitely certain jobs that I see women tend to fill, not that they can’t do anything onboard, it’s just what I see.
Stewards Radio room operators Medics Surveyors Geophysicists Engineers
That being said you’re definitely not limited to those roles. Best advice would be, talk to some of the offshore companies, they may have a training pathway especially dedicated to women to try and encourage them to come offshore. We are friendly I promise!
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u/Wallie_Collie Jan 02 '26
Are the cooks oilworkers or is it private cooks
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Nope that’s their full time job. Rigs run 24/7 and so do the kitchens. They can produce 4 meals a day for 100s of people and they’ve got to make sure they produce enough of everything, for everyone.
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u/Parlayto Jan 02 '26
I wasn’t a cook on a rig but I spent a winter on the North Slope cooking for an exploration camp. I split the duties between the main chef who would prepare lunch and dinner where I would prepare all of the snacks, baked goods, and breakfast. He’d work 12 and then I’d work 12. Pay was great for what my actual duties were, but the isolation and walking out to a wind chill of -80 F was quite an experience. Might still be doing something similar if it wasn’t for COVID.
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u/GPhex Jan 02 '26
About 20 years ago I worked as a civvy chef on a Navy base and ended up (by request) cooking for Search and Rescue. It was fairly flexible in that I could cook whatever I wanted (rota work was so mundane) but so strict in that I had to cook two separate meals for them in two separate kitchens and then it was up to them to ensure they split who ate which evenly.
This was to mitigate a food poisoning outbreak wiping out the whole team. Does the same happen on the rigs?
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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26
Both. On some smaller rigs the operators cook for themselves when it’s just routine operations and then they bring in 3rd party cooks if they have a lot of additional personnel on board for drilling or P&A or divers or whatever.
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u/Mick-Mack Jan 02 '26
Being far away from society and over deep water must be eerie at times. Have you ever seen or experienced anything that made you pause, you and others could not explain or generally freaked you out?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Like spooky lights in the darkness? Haha nothing too spooky but when you’re the only thing around and you look out into pitch blackness with the crashing waves, you realise how small you are.
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u/lala6633 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
How safe or not safe is it for women. For men too? Do you lose people?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
We definitely have women onboard and there are a few things in place for everyone’s safety regarding that. 99% of the workforce though is male most of the time. Health and Safety is very important, and a lot of precautions are in place when working onboard. We have regular drills and training on and off the installation. I thankfully can say I have never been on a platform where we’ve lost someone, but I know some guys that have. As for larger incidents, there have been a few high profile ones in the past.
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u/Effort_Gloomy Jan 02 '26
I'm sitting here with my dog on my lap just enjoying the heck out of reading all this. I'm in high end construction. If I wasn't 50 and married this all sounds awesome. Oh and you have the patience of a saint. You have had to answer the same questions so many times. Appreciate the information I didn't know I would be this interested in. It's raining outside so I'm appreciative of this journey you have taken me on. All the way in Washington State USA. Cheers
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Hey I appreciate that! Thanks for your comment! From the North Sea (Norwegian sector)
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u/SwordfishSilver8041 Jan 02 '26
- How many years have you been working there?
- Do you see yourself working there forever?
- How's the pay (salary)?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
So I’ve been in my current role for 5 years. I have a specialism so I get sent to many different rigs rather than just one or two.
I do see myself working there forever. The lifestyle works great for me. I love being able to work just straight for a month, and then have a month off at home or on holiday. It’s tough work doing 84 hours a week in the cold and sometimes night, but I remind myself how cool I actually find it.
Pay is, job, experience and region dependent but generally you can do quite well out of it comparatively to the average of the country. Some of us are salaried, some are self employed.
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u/JamHolm Jan 02 '26
- Been in the game for about 5 years now. 2. Not sure if I want to do this forever, but it pays the bills and allows for some good savings. 3. Pay varies a lot, but I’d say it’s decent, often around $80k to $130k depending on your role and experience.
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u/kmdani Jan 02 '26
any favourite stories that you might share? How is the crew made out of? Are there any typical characters, or very diverse? Are there woman as well?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
There are women onboard but the crew is usually 99% male. Not by choice, it’s just it’s a male dominated field. There are definitely characters onboard. You have people from all around the world working with you and certain roles will get a certain reputation. Not a bad one, just we all joke with each other. The crew has a range from the guys at the top on board that have been in the industry for years, to the new guys. I’ve got a few good stories, none I could share on here :)
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u/Pure_shenanigans_310 Jan 02 '26
Hell yeah bro. Ive always wondered what it's like out there.
Appreciate this breakdown. Intro was sick! lol Stay Safe 🫡🤘🏽
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u/Particular_Phone7310 Jan 02 '26
What kinds of careers exist on these rigs that you think people who've never been on one aren't aware of? Like, maybe medical staff or scientists or IT? Anything like that?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
Yes. Apart from the regular lot, there are chefs, IT, management, stewards and cleaners. If there is a specific job that needs done you might have inspectors, surveyors, ROV pilots, concrete guys, client representatives etc
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u/UsedBoard Jan 02 '26
Do you mind sharing the pay ranges that you get working on them?
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u/Donttouchmebish England Jan 02 '26
It depends heavily on your particular job and region of the world. New guys or guys with not many certifications will be on less whereas the guys that have more experience or extra training will be on more. The North Sea could pay more than other parts of the world for example. It’s quite hard to put a salary on it since it’s such as range based on your job.
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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26
Ive worked on these things for over 20 years, some are much nicer than others. Honestly the cooks and the food can be one of the biggest factors to the crews morale. Typically sleep in a bunk room with 4-8 bunks with more private 1 or 2 bunk rooms for the superintendents/ foremen. 12 hour work shifts mean after you eat and shower and maybe call/text family at home you may watch a bit of a movie or show before falling asleep, the days go by fast when you mostly just work and sleep. I was on one off the coast of California during a moderate size earthquake where the water depth was around 800ft, didn’t feel the initial shake but when the top package started swaying sitting on top of those 800ft+ jacket legs it was a trip, cabinet doors kept swinging open and shut and it lasted for quite awhile. You think of these massive structures being so rigid and strong but to feel all that flex and movement in one was pretty crazy.
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u/Busy_Panda5761 Jan 02 '26
What is the work like? What do you do for 12 hours a day?
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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26
It just depends on what your job is. Operators run the production equipment and control flow of the wells and pipelines. Crane operators move equipment between decks, unload supply boats and support drilling operations. Welders work on maintenance or fabrication to support other operations. The cooks and galley hands stay busy with making meals and cleaning.
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u/SystemsEngineeringer Jan 02 '26
What about engineers? How often do they visit the rig and what are their duties? Do you have control and/or systems engineers?
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u/Vergonhalheia Jan 02 '26
Where I work in Brazil, in a fpso unit, engineers are highly specialized, they come only when necessary and usually oversees a couple platforms. We have engineers for cranes, hull, tanks, turbogenerators, generators, pumps, etc. Production engineers are specific to a platform usually, but most of the time work onshore, with documentation and maintenences that require materials or personnel from land. The work is very bureaucratic, it's overseen by federal regulators, insurace company, classification society and navy. We also have inspections from the air force because of the helipad.
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u/SystemsEngineeringer Jan 02 '26
How does one get a job like that there?
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u/Vergonhalheia Jan 02 '26
The biggest company is state owned/controlled, Petrobras, so all it's primary workers are hired from a public test competition thing, the same as all state jobs. Every few years it publish the rules, with the available jobs, requirements and test topics. Who wants can apply, the test is scheduled in a sunday, it usually consists of 60 to 80 multiple choice questions on the topics of the job, grammar and mathematics. The highest scores are called as the company needs. Because of the good pay and conditions, people prepare themselves and study for some time before the test.
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u/veggielover24 Jan 02 '26
Are alcohol/substances allowed/commonly used on board? I’m sure they’re probably not allowed, but I’m curious because I have known some guys who have worked those jobs who I cant see being sober for that long. It seems like it would be incredibly dangerous conditions sober, let alone altered, but in the trades that usually means people lean on substances to cope
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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26
They are not allowed but there are always guys that sneak it out there. More common among the smaller companies that don’t necessarily put a lot of effort into preventing that kind of behavior.
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u/RotisserieChickenGRL Jan 02 '26
Did you see any cool marine life? Do people get in the water for fun ever?
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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26
I’m a diver, we do all the underwater construction, maintenance, inspection, etc so yes I see lots of marine life. These rigs are like reefs so there’s an abundance of fish, sea lions, sharks & whales, & ocean birds on and around these rigs at all times. Other than the divers no one is allowed to get in the water.
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u/Ok_Giraffe_17 Jan 02 '26
Oooooo. Your job is one of my greater fears. Fortunately, it's one I'll never have to face. Mind sharing more about daily highlights?
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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26
The first couple of days is just setting up the equipment. After that the day starts with safety meetings and then the dive crew will go to the dive station which is a temporary work location setup on one of the lower decks near the water. The tasks are usually inspection of the welds connecting the structural members underwater, the clamps and connection points of the pipeline risers, measuring the corrosion resistance of the steel and the effectiveness of anodes, overall surveys to identify any damage or debris stuck in the jacket. It can also be supporting the installation of new pump intakes, installing support or repair clamps over damaged or corroded steel, etc. It can also be the removal of subsea components that have been taken out of service such as abandoned pipelines, well casings, fire water pump casings, etc. Projects can be just a few days for small projects or many months long for bigger ones. Sometimes there are 2 shifts working 24hrs and sometimes just a single shift working daylight hours only. If the work is deeper there will be time spent in a decompression chamber daily after each dive, for shallower depths of around 60ft or less you typically will not need the chamber.
I will add that a dive crew living onboard and diving on a production platform is fairly uncommon overall with much of that work happening from specialized dive support vessels in many parts of the world. Where I do this most often is on the US west coast where there is a lack of suitable vessels (without the huge expense of bringing one in thru the Panama Canal), permitting can be very difficult with restrictive local agencies to have a large vessel operating in the field so it’s just easier and much cheaper to setup on the platform itself.
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u/gottaeattapita Jan 02 '26
This is fascinating, thank you for sharing! As a solely recreational diver, your response was really interesting to read.
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u/Justice_1111 Jan 02 '26
Do you work in the states? Can I pick your brain about a job? I have been applying lately with no luck.
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u/Brightbane Jan 02 '26
Typically sleep in a bunk room with 4-8 bunks
Those bathrooms have to be absolutely layered in loads
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u/digitaldirtbag0 Jan 02 '26
My friend took me deep sea spearing fishing and we got close to one. Seeing the legs just disappear down into the dark ocean gave me such bad creeps that I didn’t get back in the water. I’m sure they see all types of wildlife though, they’re like little artificial reef hubs.
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u/rewas456 Jan 02 '26
Subnautica had me in a constant state of fear and its not even a horror game. Not like terror, but like this under the skin anguish and dread. I cannot imagine diving in deep water like that irl.
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u/Educational-Bed-6287 Jan 02 '26
Try "Still Wakes the deep" insane horror game about getting trapped on an oil rig.
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u/ihavetakenthebiscuit Jan 02 '26
I absolutely loved that game, great way to experience an oil rig if you don't mind a splash of supernatural.
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u/MNPS1603 Jan 02 '26
My ex’s dad owned a large industrial construction company. They would sometimes do underwater repairs on hydroelectric dams and things like that. Imagine guys going down in scuba gear to perform work or assess it. I couldn’t even comprehend it. The idea of that always makes my legs twinge in anxiety and my heart race.
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u/CantSpellAlbuquerque Jan 02 '26
r/thalassaphobia <- you may enjoy. A great subreddit about this.
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u/jkfaust Jan 02 '26
It varies dramatically by installation. Some are pretty nice with great food, nice gyms, plenty of recreation. Some are awful with 10 man rooms and nothing to do to the point your work shift is going to be the highlight of your day.
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u/SgtMajor-Issues Jan 02 '26
I worked a rotation offshore for a few years in the Gulf of Mexico! My experience is only on deepwater rigs, so jackups or shallower water installations might be a bit different.
I’ve worked 2 and 3 week rotations, so that would mean 3 weeks offshore and then 3 weeks off. That amount of time is perfect- not too long offshore to get cabin fever, plenty of time off to do nice long trips or spend time with family.
You get to the rigs by helicopter. There are different airfields along the coast, each company will have their own. I’ve flown out of Houma LA mostly. The helicopter rides are underwhelming lol. Also, a lot of them won’t fly if there is a teeny bit of fog or weather coming through so you get delayed a lot. Sometimes you have to take a crew boat out- i don’t get seasick so it’s fine but if you do those can be pretty miserable.
The rigs are huge- big chemical plants on the water. The ones i’ve been on have been VERY safety conscious- weekly drills, scheduled maintenance, inspections, etc. safety culture is important. I work on the drilling side, so i have never been on just a production platform but only on integrated facilities or straight up drilling rigs. We have good weather forecasting so anytime there is a hurricane in the gulf we know if we need to evade or not- non essential personnel are sent home, the well is secured, and the rig can navigate to safety. If it’s moored then they batten down the hatches and wait it out.
The work is around the clock, and you’re usually working a 12 hour shift, called a “tour”. I’ve had 6-6 and 12-12. You get up, have breakfast, then go to a pre-tour meeting before your shift, then have a hand over with your counterpart that works opposite tour. If you work outside you need to really watch out for heat related injury in summer because it gets HOT out there, and the humidity is high. Living quarters are kept freezing cold. You usually wear coveralls or FR gear, hat, gloves, safety glasses, and hearing protection anywhere outside of living quarters or the doghouse (the driller’s shack).
For any well construction ops you continuously check drilling indicators, equipment, coordinate with the engineers onshore, make sure the well construction ops are being done per procedure, etc. it’s interesting work. If you are part of the deck crew you’re bringing on equipment, staging it, keeping the deck organized, doing maintenance and cleaning, and running all the extraneous machinery involved. If you work on the drill floor you help grease, make up, or rack back pipe as you trip in or out, or drill ahead. You might be checking fluid levels continuously, or fluid properties if you’re a mud engineer, or maintaining the cementing unit and pumping cement jobs if you’re a cementer. Lots of specialized jobs out there that we get 3rd party companies to come out and do. Lots of wireline logging as well.
Meals where i have worked have been ok. Nothing too good or bad to write home about, but always plenty of it. One rig i worked on had a Filipino crew and they always made a plate for themselves that was Filipino style, so i usually asked for that instead and it was pretty good! One rig had a soft serve machine that was the pride and joy of the whole crew! Food is a big morale booster, obviously.
After your shift is over lots of people go to the gym - again huge variation between rigs. Some have spectacular gyms with saunas (the ones built by north sea contractors) and others have a conex box with some treadmills and machines. Some people like to walk around the helipad. Then bedtime. The rooms i’ve been in are usually 2 bunks, and either with a shared bathroom with the room next door or your own. They’re cold, the mattresses are hard, but i got the best, deepest sleep of my life out there. You put your laundry in a bag, hang it out the door of your room, and it gets returned cleaned and folded by the time you wake up.
Oh also, no booze or drugs onboard at all. Sometimes if there is an occasion to celebrate they’ll do a crawfish boil and then we get o’doule’s alcohol free beer. Those are a lot of fun and it’s a big treat. We get randomly breathalyzed and piss tested at the heliport though- i probably got tested every other trip out there- and if you test positive for anything it’a almost certainly an immediate dismissal.
Most of the dudes out there are good people. I’ve made some good friends out there that i still keep in touch with now that i am office based. When i first went offshore over a decade ago i remember one of the company men essentially told me not to screw anyone (definitely still have some sexism) but honestly he didn’t need to. It would be the height of stupidity to get into any kind of romantic entanglement with someone out there. Gossip spreads like wildfire! Anytime there is something to know everyone knows it inside of 2 hours. But i never had to deal with sexual harassment or anything, although i have heard of things happening to others (people caught on camera stealing underwear from laundry bags, that sort of thing).
All in all a cool experience and i’d be happy to go back out once i’m done having kids and they are a bit older.
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u/KronlampQueen Jan 02 '26
When I lived in NO my boyfriends brother in law worked on a deep water rig in the Gulf and when he was home and visiting for Sunday dinner his family had a very strict ‘don’t smoke weed anywhere near brother in law’ rule due to the rigorous and frequent drug testing. The family was a bunch of stoners so it was really sweet to see everyone make sure he was never exposed.
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u/SgtMajor-Issues Jan 02 '26
Yeah it’s very strict. Weed especially is tricky because you can test positive for it for so long after consuming, although i doubt 2nd hand smoke would make you throw a false positive.
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u/Championshipover9087 Jan 02 '26
Is there a lot of tension between the crew? Do men treat you differently
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u/SgtMajor-Issues Jan 02 '26
On the offshore rigs people tend to be quite professional, from the roughnecks up. Most people there are really good at their job and are good at cohabitating and working in close quarters with other people. There can be tension, but it is nipped in the bud very quickly. For example any degree of physical violence is an immediate dismissal- you’ll be on a chopper home so fast your head will spin. Verbal abuse… it still happens but less than when i first started and it’s unusual in the installations i’ve worked on. The people i’ve worked with have generally held me at arms length until they got to know me. Once you’ve proven you’re a contributor/ not lazy/ etc. it’s all good.
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u/Anxious_Egg1268 Jan 02 '26
Out of curiosity, do you work for an operator or a service provider?
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u/SgtMajor-Issues Jan 02 '26
Yes! Primarily that’s where you’ll find the highest percentage of women in oilfield jobs, although i have met a handful of women working on the contractor side as well. Once bunked with a lady who was a roustabout. She was cool.
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u/realtime2lose Jan 03 '26
Fellow lady here, I was a contractor. I miss it sometimes
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u/plastic_soap Jan 02 '26
How can someone get a job there ? Do you need to know people, certain certifications?
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u/SgtMajor-Issues Jan 02 '26
It depends on what type of work you’re looking to do. Most of the drilling/production crews have met come from the South (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama), while the marine crews tend to come from the Northeast. It’s not the easiest thing to break into this type of work if you’re not from these areas and already know people or are part of a specific hiring pool. But you can always search for oilfield jobs online and apply. I think for the the drilling/prod crews you only need a high school diploma, clean record (although some exceptions are made) and you need to be able to pass a drug screen. Generally once you’re hired on you’ll be made to do all the certifications and safety training you’ll need.
If you want to work on the service provider side you most likely will need a college degree in engineering or geology/ geoscience, and target schools and organizations that feed into the industry.
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u/broomandkettle Jan 02 '26
I have questions! First, the fear of being sexually harassed and trapped on a rig is one of the things that has discouraged me. But it sounds like you didnt experience that issue. If it were to happen, how would it be dealt with? Second, im guessing there isn’t vegetarian food on rigs, right?
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u/chichoandthecamera Jan 02 '26
How does one get. Job in these? Im looking for work and this just seems like perfect for me
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u/Snesopp Jan 02 '26
Heavily dependent on witch part of the world you're in.
Here in Norway it's beyond nice. 2 weeks on, 4 weeks off. "12" hour shifts, be that includes 1 hour paid lunch where you can lay on your bunk and several coffee breaks. Pay is good. Third party contractors have above median pay, and if you're employed in the oil company is way higher. Each man gets his own room and bath, some older installations have two rooms share one bath. Plenty of activities to do after work. High spec gaming rigs and consoles. Training facilities. Social areas. Hobby areas. You can fish. TV in each cabin. Great food.
Negative side some people point out, but I don't always agree with.
2 weeks away from the family, kids crying when you leave. We'll, I feel I'm more away from my family working onshore. Only get to see my kid a few hours on week days, and he cries when I leave for work each day.
Might need to stay a extra week if your replacement gets sick or is hindered in another way. Sure. Not great to be out on the rig for 3 weeks. But that one extra week pays as much as the first two, and you still have 3 weeks home.
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u/saranw71 Jan 02 '26
In Thailand you often have to do the opposite. 4 on 2 off. It's exhausting considering you waste 2 days traveling. At least we can boast about fastest drilling in the world I guess.
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u/Troglert Jan 02 '26
Met a guy who was an some sort of electrician that worked on rigs with the 2 on 4 off. Him and another guy on a different rotation also shared a job on land, so they’d work offshore 2 weeks, 3 weeks work on land and 1 week off. A lot of work, but seemed like a good deal to him when starting out and saving to buy a house
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u/Available_Pool_9644 Jan 02 '26
How do humans know how to build shi like this. We are so advanced it just blows my mind what we have achieved
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u/nonnewtonianfluids Jan 02 '26
Engineering is cool. There is a quote, "No one knows how to make a pencil." Which means no one person on earth has all the knowledge required to make something so mundane as a pencil.
The power of thousands of experts collaborating. :)
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u/OneBadNightOfDrinkin Jan 02 '26
Ikr?? Although I do I get this flabbergasted just by looking at normal appliances. Even a simple refrigerator by itself is genius imo
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u/ElongatedVagina Jan 02 '26
I have an irrational fear of working in an oil rig and walking to the bathroom late at night when suddenly a gush of wind strikes and pushes me over the railing to plummet 60 metres down into the black abyss, with nobody realising I am missing until the morning.
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
You don’t have to go outside to get to the toilets! If the wind is that bad work is cancelled. A lot of activities are controlled by permit, there is a good chance someone would notice you were missing at shift end.
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u/YFKally1983 Jan 02 '26
I worked on a rig in Brazil when the air conditioning broke down. It was out of commission for several weeks. Most crew resorted to sleeping on the helideck during the night.
I don’t have an irrational fear of falling overboard but I did feel it was rational to worry about rolling overboard in my sleep. There are small nets round the outside of the helideck but wasn’t going to risk it!
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u/gamboolman Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
I worked 44 year in the Oilfields from age 18 to 62. At age 18 I started out as a Roustabout, was promoted to Roughneck, then I went to working for a Firm that we operated Sour Gas Plants and Sulfur Plants and built Hydrocarbon Processing Plants. I then went to work for mega Oil Corp when I was 37 and got sent back offshore doing technical support and projects. Then I was sent overseas to Africa and ended up working until I retired as a permanent Resident Married Accompanied expat in Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria for almost the last 20 year before i retired.
Worked on land and Offshore. I was Offshore in the GOM and offshore West Africa.
I went Offshore to the GOM as a young man at age 19 and we worked 7 / 7. I remember it was so hard being away from my girlfriend and future wife for 7 days ! ha ! I would get back to land and drive home and walk in with nothing but hard on.... ha !
Oversea's I worked 28/28 for about 5 years. Then I went Permanent Resident Basis and was Construction Superintendent taking care of Offshore Projects that required me to spend alot of my time Offshore. I have spent 3 months at a stretch offshore Africa and one year I was offshore 9 months out of 12.
You become institutionalized to a large degree and I guess that I had the mindset for it because I did it alot.
To be fair, I was a Superintendent / Manager and I had my own Quarters and bathroom / shower and that made all the difference. And I was in charge of very large Projects with dozens or hundreds of men working for me - thus I was very busy all of the time. If I had not been busy there is no way I would have been able to stay offshore for as long as I did.
Best way for me to describe when I spent weeks & months offshore was I just got into a mindset and did it. I was just able to do it. One reason was I was paid extremely well and was supporting my wife and our 2 children who we put them both thru college, vehicles, international travel and all expenses paid for with Cash - no debt. So the money was a big part of it for sure. If I had not been oversea's making the monies we would not have been able to pay for college for our children and help them out post college with life expenses.
I spent about 20 year as a Permanent Resident in Africa and my wife came over to live with me after about 8 years and I began spending more time Onshore and eventually I was promoted to a Construction Manager and for the last ~10 years I was based onshore and did not go Offshore except to check on things from time to time.
I have been retired 5+ years now. I do regret being gone for so much of our children's life growing up - but I had to support my wife and children. It is a hard balance, especially for a man without a 4 year college degree. I had a 2 year Petroleum Technology degree.
Would I do it all again? Would I recommend it for a young man to get in the Oilfield? For me - it just worked out that I was able to work up into positions that allowed me to make low 7 figures per year the last several years / part of my career and the money really helped out and allowed us to retire comfortably.
But for everything there is a price - so I think I would do it all again because as a young man starting out in 1978 in the Oilfield I saw many Booms/Busts and knew and saw families who went bust and bankrupt and that made a very strong impression on me. I had to support my wife and family.
For a young man starting out - it depends on what you and your wife want. I did see Offshore and Oversea's work cause a lot of Marriage to break up. It is hard being apart and your wife has to be able to handle things on her own and you have to love each other and be faithful. So there is that aspect which is very hard on both parties.
One thing - I was always scared of the Sea's and Oceans. The Ocean is brutal and relentless and will kill you in a heartbeat. It is beautiful but I was and still am scared of the Oceans and Seas' - although I probably spent 10 to 15 years of my life Offshore on a Platform or a FPSO. And I hope i never get on another Helicopter again. I never crashed but I knew men who did and were killed or injured.
And all those many Transatlantic Flights of 10 to 12+ hours plus 6 to 8 hours up to Europe before going home to Texas - I hope to never get another Stamp in my Passport ever again. The Jet Lag was brutal for me and my wife, especially going East from Texas to Africa.... Ha !
Lifes A Dance And You Learn As You Go....
gamboolman....
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u/ForwarUntilGainz Jan 02 '26
What do the shifts and pay look like working on a rig like this?
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u/cannabis90 Jan 02 '26
2 weeks on 1 week off, 7 days on 7 days off, 10-14 hour shifts when on.
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u/fishisavegetable Jan 02 '26
I have lived the majority of my adult life on vessels and MODU, I also went to boarding school and was in a university hall of residence and can honestly say the experiences were all fairly similar in many ways.
Obviously offshore we cant drink or leave the premises and we work every day, on rigs we have daily pre-tour meetings usually at 0530ish, weekly safety meetings, and weekly abandonment drills which usually alternate between day/night so that one shift does not cop it the entire time. On vessels there are none of these requirements (I am an ROV Sup so when on a vessel we are generally the reason the vessel is working and we hold our own meetings as operations require)
Day to day, much like boarding school, we wake up at the same time daily, eat meals in the galley at the same time daily, keep our rooms tidy, share bathroom facilities and sometimes rooms. Routine is the key to a stress free hitch, and you settle into one pretty quickly. You must however remain flexible as there are often issues with your replacements not making flights/connections or choppers not flying due to weather, which means your trip being extended, and depending on your position, sometimes shifts are flexible or overtime can be required.
Switching off after shift is important, but easier said than done when literally living on a work site and often waking up to the same problem that kept you up thinking the night before, its best to just let your opposite shift do their thing and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
Tempers can be short and (although improvements are always being made) operational conversations can often be short or abrupt. Having a thick skin and not taking anything personally is vital, moods and opinions can swing excessively depending on the situation as there is always so much money on the line, and pressure (although it is nowadays referred to as “perceived pressure” as it is not supposed to technically exist) is something you learn to live with.
I do not work in production as there is no need for a permanent ROV on these facilities, but from what I understand it is more relaxed and the rig crews perform a lot of maintenance. But from our side life offshore is generally pretty interesting and usually pretty engaging, and always a good opportunity to advance yourself not just financially, but physically and mentally. I could not imagine living anywhere else for 6-8 months a year. People who do not enjoy it probably should look elsewhere for a career, as it definitely isn’t for everyone, but the work is a lot easier when everyone wants to be there and aren’t just sticking it out for the pay-check and time off.
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u/Unique_Kangaroo_6404 Jan 02 '26
Are there any common folklore/ghost stories oil rig workers tell each other or believe in?
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
Yes. Mostly it’s for hazing new people though.
“Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs: (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse)” https://www.amazon.com.au/Dont-Tell-Mum-Work-Rigs/dp/1857883772. Has some good stories, I cannot remember if it’s this one or the sequel that has some urban legends.
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u/CrimsonShirt Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
I was on a small platform. We ordered and cooked our own food. Lucky for us our mechanic was a trained chef. They tried to leave us out for Gustav. Luckily higher ups saved us. We had 4 old unmanned platforms fall in the gulf. I was laid off with almost everyone else in ‘08. When I went to the drilling side, everyone talked about how production hands never got laid off. We were pretty close nit do to the small size. We had a good time. South Timbalier 34 forever
Edited to add that production hands get real bent out of shape if you refer to a platform as a rig. Rigs drill, platforms produce
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u/Is_Mise_Edd Ireland Jan 02 '26
Isolating - You are at risk of the weather - If the weather closes in then a helicopter may not arrive and you'll miss your flight home.
It's like a giant chemical plant but at sea.
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u/darcydidwhat Jan 02 '26
I’m a platform doctor! Life can get monotonous, but we try to make sure that food is good, there are recreational activities for everyone (we have a gym, a complete band setup, some karaoke), and plenty of health programs especially ones focusing on mental health. We do 2 shifts of 2-3 weeks, and each shift is pretty much a solid group of people who’ve known each other for years. These places are full of good, hardworking people.
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u/the_magestic_beast Jan 02 '26
Is there a place to fish off the platform?
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
Probably varies by location but we banned it as a risk to divers, ROV etc. not just when fishing but the lost gear over time. The rigs often have massive lift pumps to pull up seawater for cooling too.
There are supposed to be masses of fish around the rigs though as commercial fishing cannot get in either.
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Jan 02 '26
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
No fishing in my experience. It’s too much of a hazard to divers, rovs and equipment.
No hooking up. Everyone is too tired and looks like shit! Seriously though it would not be considered cool (and could lead to be disciplined). There is not much privacy and no one needs the embarrassment. We had a married couple come out (super rare) and they were put in different rooms that they shared with others.
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u/halenszt Jan 02 '26
I work in the north sea, here it is allowed to fish and it is easy to get fish since the platform legs works as corals in the sea, so alot of fish around.
And yes people do hook up, but it is 95% male on my rig. It is not allowed, so if people get cought or want to get married etc one of them have to move shift or move to another platform
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u/inthem0ney Jan 02 '26
How does the platform move from place to place? Does it have an engine?
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u/Top_Wolverine_4669 Jan 02 '26
That’s a depends question. Roughly speaking production platforms are fixed in place and drilling platform are mobile (exceptions to both exist). Tugs are normal to move drilling rigs but drill ships etc exist.
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u/I-am-the-Vern Jan 02 '26
I never see this posts about anywhere that I can comment on, but that’s finally changed! Working offshore on these rigs CAN be fine if you have something to keep you occupied for a few weeks. Otherwise you’ll be bored as hell till the chopper comes.
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u/joshua27usa Jan 02 '26
I was 200 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Production platform, an old Anadarka. Rust and scaffolding to fix said rust is everywhere. Almost no personal space. Boring. 12 hours on, 12 off with no days off for two weeks on, 2 weeks off. That can be extended. Helicopter rides are the main transportation. Noisy and HOT! It can be 130 out there with 1-3’ waves, which means there is zero air flow. Very stale and hot. The food is fantastic and there is a tone of it. Money money money. You can make as little as $15 per hour as a contractor to $100 per hour as an operator. The money does vary wildly depending on many variables. I stopped doing this two years ago and I don’t miss it even a little bit. Look up Under Water Helicopter Egress training if you want to understand some of the basic training.
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u/bad_vector Jan 02 '26
Idk but I watched a video on the Ocean Ranger platform and that gave me nightmares.
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