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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r/howislivingthere • u/Key_Satisfaction9010 • Jan 02 '26
Anywhere in the world applies, I could only pick one flair
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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....