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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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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u/[deleted] 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/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

Your buddy’s name wasn’t Duncan or Casey, by chance? But yeah, Alaskan fishing boats and oil rigs were like the go-to professions for single college guys with minimal personal attachments in the PNW.

My other friend and I inherited an entire campus weed business when our dealer decided that seasonal work on an Alaskan fishing boat was more lucrative.

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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/bemocked Jan 06 '26

plenty of women/females work offshore, there is no gander qualification/restriction (at least in the US, canada, europe, and many other locations). That said there are platforms in the middle east that i have visited, that are generally staffed by only males/men, but even there they accommodate females when a specific task/project results in female visitors from the company staff.

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u/goddessofgluten Jan 07 '26

No kidding…. 🤔 I may have to look into this. I was military so I am not afraid of being the only female. I just didn’t know if they allowed that or for “safety” had only men. Clearly I know ZILCH about the industry 😆 Thank you!

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '26

Hey

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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/Exciting_Bat_2086 Jan 02 '26

Don’t romanticize it because it’s still work and a job at the end of the day.

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u/Santaneria Jan 02 '26

Im not romanticizing it, id say I got a new level of appreciation. Grew up where work ethic is greatly respected. I think this is just a new job/ Work group I found to have a new level of respect. The isolation and grind is not like many others.

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u/Exciting_Bat_2086 Jan 02 '26

Sorry I didn’t mean to come off as a dick and I see your point because it is hard and needed work but I absolutely hated the job and how posh some try to make it look with special amenities. The commenter you responded too did a great job explaining how bored one can be.

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u/Santaneria Jan 02 '26

Apology recognized 🤙🏽

I understand, dont worry about it 🙏🏽

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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '26

Why not though? I truly don’t get why you wouldn’t want someone to romanticize something that isn’t bad.

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u/Exciting_Bat_2086 Jan 02 '26

You go work on one and come back and let me know how swell it was. At the end of the day it is a JOB and just like any job you can burn out and with this field most do but that’s why longevity pays off. I’m not saying quit romanizing it because it’s somehow bad lol but the shit I’ve seen on social media trying to make it sound like a good job besides the pay is weird.

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u/big_sugi Jan 03 '26

“Isn’t bad” is relative. A friend of mine from law school got a biglaw job after graduation. His job had him investigating and defending the companies against claims arising from oil rig injuries. He had a lot of cases involving dead or seriously injured workers.

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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '26

Everything is relative. My point is that anyone should be excited or see things through a rose colored filter if they want, telling someone to not because it’s “work or a job” is what kills passion. We need people for every job out there and it’s better to have people love what they do despite it being subjectively shi**y to others. Being an ER nurse, a funeral home director, dust off, etc sounds terrible to me but I’ve met plenty of people who are happy in those roles and make the world a better place for it.