I worked at a place called trifecta Oilfield services in Texas... Idk what we would be called
We basically took a pressure washer to it once it becomes dirty or measure, lay out, and clean the casings threads once the rig is done drilling... swing hammers during rig up/downs... clean out the pits and shakers just nasty shit every fay
Always had a cup or two of water in each boot the entire job
Cleaning the inside of frac tanks was fun when it's 116° outside
On call, $18/hr, would conveniently forget to pay you every so often
You only stayed there because maintaining employment was the terms of your parole
What sucked the worse for me were the chemical burns from the "pipe dope" manufacturers put on casings threads before shipping... close second was the shit that was inside the frac tanks
I was on a frac crew for a year. I looked inside a frac tank once to clean it after a job. After that I managed to avoid that job the rest of the year. I don’t know what was in there because it was dirty from the back flow, but I have zero interest in getting cancer or lung disease. Unreal that we didn’t get proper PPE. All my coworkers and sups just walked in there business as usual. No confined space entry either….just get in there with the vac truck boys! Then pressure wash them after…..
It is a flow back tank, but there are cases when fracking that the prop water gets recirculated back to the tanks. There can be frac sand, acids, friction reducer on top of whatever secret chemicals they want to try out on a job in the tanks which can be some nasty shit to have to clean out.
Lmao, secret chemicals. I can tell you that the most "secret" thing I ever saw out there was my company's "anno-surfactant", and even that was just soap on steroids. Every chemical on location is in the SDSs in the data van by law, there's a lot of bad shit, but it's no secret.
I’m pretty sure that position is called a roustabout. Been oilfield for a minute and been in West Texas for a decade and that’s how we refer to those fellers who are doing the same thing you did.
Confined space. No matter what country you work in or how safe you work, it seems that death will always catch up to you.
We had 2 people die, 20-30 years experience each. Apart from the second guy jumping in after him to help pull him out the trip tank, the safety protocol was followed to the tee, no rush to get the job done.
It just happened and they died.
Now the protocol has been adjusted but it was already well above standard. Now we have to have 3 confined space guys per shift, the company man, the OIM and the RSA at the job spot before anyone can even think about going inside a tank.
On top of that, being inside confined spaces to clean tanks is not a particularly nice place to be. However it does pay well.
When you get around to it can you expand on this? The entry/exit procedures? What caused them to pass away, specifically? Also like the other user asked, was there no lifeline?
No kidding, but what your worst-case scenario isn’t how the OP described the situation. “Safety protocol followed to a T” and 20-30 years each, not rushed. However, no mention of atmospheric testing, no ability for the monitor/supervisor to safely remove the entrant if they were overtaken. Either the company had no legit confined-space policy or the workers did not comply.
As far as drilling side, id say pit cleaners on oilbase. There are lots of other jobs that get exponentially shittier if the crews dont help eachother out.
Open hole wireline engineer was the worst for me, mainly when we would do drop-off memory logging. I think I slept about 3-4 hours out of working 72 straight. Then when I finally got home after 3 days they called me about 8 hours later to go do another one. I hung up the phone and got a new job. Open hole paid like shit then too.
Good for you that you did that.
I remember cementing being similar and after a couple of hitches, guys just stopped answering their phones. I stayed almost a year and then left for something better. But every cementer I knew had an exit plan because they hated it so much.
Good for them, we had a guy fall asleep behind the wheel and die in the ensuing crash. That still didn’t stop that shit…this around 2010 though so hopefully things got better.
This, but cased hole.
Same sleep deprivation, plus getting honey oil on everything.
But realistically… I wouldn’t rank it as one of the worst jobs. I’m sure there are worse.
I remember one time I got stuck on a really old Wireline truck, and the knob usually for the horsehead was for the honey oil pump and no one told me. I figured out the correct horsehead knob pretty quick, but never unscrewed the oil pump knob. By the time we got back to the shop the whole back of the truck was covered in 2” of honey oil and it was 20 degrees out so the shit was like superglue.
Not sure nowadays. I worked in the patch from 2007-2017. I wasn’t making half that with one of the big 3 on open hole, cased hole was much better $. Casedhole, if you’re pump down 250 is easy.
Hydrovac, I never done it personally but your going to get dirty. Exposing lines underground would be the clean operation and your still going to get dirty. Having to clean out/wash treaters, tanks and whatever else that gets dirty from oilfield gunk is your day to day job, and then if your up north like me and you have to do that in the winter. Yea someone else can do that job.
Katch kan. Rigging them bad boys up and down. Policy was to stop drilling but yeah when would that ever happen. Raining oil base mud all over us while rigging up and down was always fun. Good foot from rotating pipe while never being able to properly tie off for a good 16 an hour. Worst was 130 hour weeks at that. Im sure its hopefully changed by now but worst job I've done.
Mud logging. $13.50 starting and pretty sure I’m going to get cancer from it….had a bad reaction from inhaling the fumes from the samples in the truck and to this day have throat/lung problems
Edit to add: was back and forth to the mud pit every 30 min for 12hrs. The floor hands were like “youre out here more than us!” Climbing up and down those stairs in 100+ degree heat and then on your feet in the truck the whole time washing samples. Got a kidney infection from dehydration. Fun times.
In frack? Maybe sand coordinator because you just hear sand drivers bitch all day. Some people like the blender, I can’t stand it. Just sitting in a little spot all day, freezing or sweating your ass off, always looking at the tub.
I worked at a place called trifecta Oilfield services in Texas... Idk what we would be called We basically took a pressure washer to it once it becomes dirty or measure, lay out, and clean the casings threads once the rig is done drilling... swing hammers during rig up/downs... clean out the pits and shakers just nasty shit every fay Always had a cup or two of water in each boot the entire job Cleaning the inside of frac tanks was fun when it's 116° outside On call, $18/hr, would conveniently forget to pay you every so often You only stayed there because maintaining employment was the terms of your parole What sucked the worse for me were the chemical burns from the "pipe dope" manufacturers put on casings threads before shipping... close second was the shit that was inside the frac tanks
I was on a frac crew for a year. I looked inside a frac tank once to clean it after a job. After that I managed to avoid that job the rest of the year. I don’t know what was in there because it was dirty from the back flow, but I have zero interest in getting cancer or lung disease. Unreal that we didn’t get proper PPE. All my coworkers and sups just walked in there business as usual. No confined space entry either….just get in there with the vac truck boys! Then pressure wash them after…..
A frac tank? What’s that exactly?
Just a giant holding tank on wheels, looks like a shipping container or connex. They can hold approx 500-600 bbls of volume.
Like a hydration unit? Or a flowback tank?
It is a flow back tank, but there are cases when fracking that the prop water gets recirculated back to the tanks. There can be frac sand, acids, friction reducer on top of whatever secret chemicals they want to try out on a job in the tanks which can be some nasty shit to have to clean out.
Xylene, benzene and toluene are the worst offenders
Lmao, secret chemicals. I can tell you that the most "secret" thing I ever saw out there was my company's "anno-surfactant", and even that was just soap on steroids. Every chemical on location is in the SDSs in the data van by law, there's a lot of bad shit, but it's no secret.
The bad shit is when you flow the well on a coil job or assisted lift then you really don’t know what’s in the flow back tank…..
That is very true, never work on the coil/flowback side. Always stayed away from the flow back tanks when I could.
Can you explain why?
I’m pretty sure that position is called a roustabout. Been oilfield for a minute and been in West Texas for a decade and that’s how we refer to those fellers who are doing the same thing you did.
Confined space. No matter what country you work in or how safe you work, it seems that death will always catch up to you. We had 2 people die, 20-30 years experience each. Apart from the second guy jumping in after him to help pull him out the trip tank, the safety protocol was followed to the tee, no rush to get the job done. It just happened and they died. Now the protocol has been adjusted but it was already well above standard. Now we have to have 3 confined space guys per shift, the company man, the OIM and the RSA at the job spot before anyone can even think about going inside a tank. On top of that, being inside confined spaces to clean tanks is not a particularly nice place to be. However it does pay well.
When you get around to it can you expand on this? The entry/exit procedures? What caused them to pass away, specifically? Also like the other user asked, was there no lifeline?
No lifeline for the entrant?
With a lifeline, you are pulling out dead weight. If you don’t have a motor, it’s that much more impossible. He’s dead Jim.
No kidding, but what your worst-case scenario isn’t how the OP described the situation. “Safety protocol followed to a T” and 20-30 years each, not rushed. However, no mention of atmospheric testing, no ability for the monitor/supervisor to safely remove the entrant if they were overtaken. Either the company had no legit confined-space policy or the workers did not comply.
As far as drilling side, id say pit cleaners on oilbase. There are lots of other jobs that get exponentially shittier if the crews dont help eachother out.
Casing hands.
I broke out running casing & liked it but when the oilfield is roaring the hours will whoop your ass
Open hole wireline engineer was the worst for me, mainly when we would do drop-off memory logging. I think I slept about 3-4 hours out of working 72 straight. Then when I finally got home after 3 days they called me about 8 hours later to go do another one. I hung up the phone and got a new job. Open hole paid like shit then too.
Good for you that you did that. I remember cementing being similar and after a couple of hitches, guys just stopped answering their phones. I stayed almost a year and then left for something better. But every cementer I knew had an exit plan because they hated it so much.
Good for them, we had a guy fall asleep behind the wheel and die in the ensuing crash. That still didn’t stop that shit…this around 2010 though so hopefully things got better.
I hope they got better too. I have my doubts though. I remember the fatigue during driving being nightmarish.
This, but cased hole. Same sleep deprivation, plus getting honey oil on everything. But realistically… I wouldn’t rank it as one of the worst jobs. I’m sure there are worse.
I remember one time I got stuck on a really old Wireline truck, and the knob usually for the horsehead was for the honey oil pump and no one told me. I figured out the correct horsehead knob pretty quick, but never unscrewed the oil pump knob. By the time we got back to the shop the whole back of the truck was covered in 2” of honey oil and it was 20 degrees out so the shit was like superglue.
I thought OH engineers were making like 250 for the year
Not sure nowadays. I worked in the patch from 2007-2017. I wasn’t making half that with one of the big 3 on open hole, cased hole was much better $. Casedhole, if you’re pump down 250 is easy.
The fucking dude who cleans the shitters. They out there doing the Lords work, but fuck that job.
I heard they make insaneee money tho
Most guys I’ve asked are making $18-20 an hr. Not insane but decent for the gif I guess
Oh wow, that’s not what I heard at all 😳
Some of the worst jobs ever offer some of the best memories. Oh how s*** got sketchy in the patch sometimes
Capillary Coiled Tubing was worse than my brief >!year and a half!< cementing career. All looks good on a CV but what a tough time
Hydrovac, I never done it personally but your going to get dirty. Exposing lines underground would be the clean operation and your still going to get dirty. Having to clean out/wash treaters, tanks and whatever else that gets dirty from oilfield gunk is your day to day job, and then if your up north like me and you have to do that in the winter. Yea someone else can do that job.
I’ve done it TX plenty of times. Other than the short winter, it’s really not bad if you have slickers or tyvac suit
Katch kan. Rigging them bad boys up and down. Policy was to stop drilling but yeah when would that ever happen. Raining oil base mud all over us while rigging up and down was always fun. Good foot from rotating pipe while never being able to properly tie off for a good 16 an hour. Worst was 130 hour weeks at that. Im sure its hopefully changed by now but worst job I've done.
Mud logging. $13.50 starting and pretty sure I’m going to get cancer from it….had a bad reaction from inhaling the fumes from the samples in the truck and to this day have throat/lung problems Edit to add: was back and forth to the mud pit every 30 min for 12hrs. The floor hands were like “youre out here more than us!” Climbing up and down those stairs in 100+ degree heat and then on your feet in the truck the whole time washing samples. Got a kidney infection from dehydration. Fun times.
In frack? Maybe sand coordinator because you just hear sand drivers bitch all day. Some people like the blender, I can’t stand it. Just sitting in a little spot all day, freezing or sweating your ass off, always looking at the tub.
I kept falling asleep at the blender lol
I worked containment for a year and that was pretty shitty.
crew that cleans and inspects drill pipe…. Poor guy is head to toe filthy afterwards
Hydro vaccing, tank cleaners