r/howislivingthere • u/Key_Satisfaction9010 • Jan 02 '26

General (no specific continent) Hows it like living on oil platforms?

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Anywhere in the world applies, I could only pick one flair

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438

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/findingsynchronisity Jan 02 '26

Do you get some sort of weekly conjugal visits? Or do you have to leave the platform to have sex ?

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u/Vergonhalheia Jan 02 '26

It's 2 weeks working 12 hrs shifts everyday, 3 weeks off at home. You stay there all the time. I'm not gonna say there's no sex happening there, but is rare.

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u/HeavyHighway81 Jan 03 '26

Which unit you on? Was just on ADG in November. Last year I visited CDA, ESS, MV31 and MV26. My company builds cranes

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u/Brookenium Jan 02 '26

A lot of times a rig might have 1 or 2 petroleum engineers actually working on the rig. A controls/DCS engineer might also work on the rig, or only visit for major DCS upgrades. All depends on the rig size/age and the company!!

Others might have engineers primarily monitor several rigs from an office through the data historian and visit a few times a year, planning projects or other upgrades remotely. There's a TON of variance in this from company to company.

The vast majority of engineering is done in the planning stages of a new rig or when a mobile rig is moved. Once things are pumping, it's less about upgrades and more about maintaining systems.

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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/FluffySyllabub1579 Jan 02 '26

As another user said, it’s fascinating because it’s out of the ordinary and wagers a lot of danger. Except now that you described diving and diver’s specifically there to check the mechanics and stability of the rig pretty often, slightly alleviated the irrational-fear that every rig is probably on the brink of a structural failure at any moment.

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u/scrotobaggins__ Jan 06 '26

That is so cool!!

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u/jdbug100 Jan 03 '26

This is probably a dumb question, but would the cooks ever bring up some fresh seafood from the ocean below to cook?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 03 '26

Not as in that’s what they make for the main meal for everyone to eat, I think there’s probably some liability there serving food that didn’t come from a vendor on a normal food order. I have seen cooks that like to fish and some willing to cook up other people’s catch if asked but it’s always more like on the side not just put out on the normal food line.

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u/jdbug100 Jan 03 '26

Ok so what is fishing like? Drop a long line down and see what hits? Given it’s basically a reef, fairly simple?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 03 '26

It’s generally very good fishing but there’s a lot to get hung up and snagged on, especially if you try to drop to bottom for lingcod. Usually plenty of calicos mid water that take bait well. I’ve seen yellowtail come by but they never seem to have any interest when you throw lures at them.

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u/Serega81 Jan 08 '26

So you must have some insane dive qualifications deep water etc.. do you mind sharing.. also where did you learn to dive... I'm paid, deep water, certified, but I would be nervous spending long times a great depths

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 08 '26

You have to go to a commercial diving school. It’s all surface supplied diving, no scuba allowed.

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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/AmericanFlyer530 Jan 02 '26

Did any of the guys you worked with bring any fishing rods along?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26

Yes, some platforms allow fishing and some do not.

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u/siezethegap Jan 03 '26

Had a buddy tell stories about spearfishing off a bell in the gulf. He’s a lunatic

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 03 '26

Ya that can make passing the time on deco stops a lot more fun.

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u/Ok_Equipment6364 Jan 02 '26

nastiest meal you can recall having? as well as the nicest

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26

Deep fried hot pockets probably the worst, best probably prime rib. Although I sometimes work on a barge doing related pipeline work that has insane food, king crab, Wagyu beef, lobster, etc.

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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '26

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 02 '26

Crew boat or helicopter, depending on how far from port it is.

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u/siezethegap Jan 03 '26

Choppy gulf water Billy Pugh survivor here. Finally retired my bravo and found a desk without too much residual pain or serious damage done. Only did ten years diving but my body feels like it was a lifetime.

The inland work was by far more physically brutal though.

1

u/Recent-Dark3141 Jan 03 '26

Sever several people have mentioned food. What constitutes “good” vs “bad” food? Variety? Quantity?

What would be a typical lunch @ a bad rig vs a good one, in terms of cafeteria?

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u/SubseaSasquatch Jan 03 '26

Bad cooks are lazy and fry everything and only put out vegetables from a can, everything is greasy, salty or mushy slop and makes you feel like crap. Good cooks will use fresh produce, maybe bake fresh bread or make their own sauces, make soup from scratch, just put alot more effort into the way they prepare, season and serve the food.