[BBMW]

You don't seem to get it. The boom has gone bust. I just checked spot crude prices, they're under $60/bbl. I don't think they can frack profitably for that price.

Yeah, there's some momentum keeping things from shutting down immediately, but I bet new hiring is going to stop really soon. Then, and as the contracts run out, the layoffs will begin.

I was all for this, until the Saudis dropped the hammer. But the did. Until/if they decide they can't sustain the prices they've created, the oil boom is over.

Originally Posted by WVREDLEG

Frack boom for 6-8 months. Don't like the cold? Entry-level jobs in the Eagle Ford shale in southeast TX, too, but slightly less lucrative.

If I were looking to break out of a rut, I would not intentionally slip into another rut expecting a different outcome. Shale jobs have short term results and long term benefit.

- some companies will train you and pay for certs...example, water truck driver, CDL, hazmat and necessary endorsements...after a few months you are in the $25/hr range at hours Von described..all the OT you can handle at time and a half.

- when the boom slows, and it will, you still have a CDL with those highly attractive endorsements...never hurts to have a skill.

- shale and its down line industry is here for at least your lifetime. There is more than enough natural gas in parts of the country to run our power grid for decades...not to mention oil. No one will tap into that fuel until the market demands it, so it could be dormant for years, but never gone.

By August you are starting out in Las Vegas with say, conservatively, $30K in the bank, which is more than enough to explore employment and establish a decent household.

Von's advice is worth investigating. Your short term gain would solve most of your short term problems.

Good luck.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by BBMW

You don't seem to get it. The boom has gone bust. I just checked spot crude prices, they're under $60/bbl. I don't think they can frack profitably for that price.

Yeah, there's some momentum keeping things from shutting down immediately, but I bet new hiring is going to stop really soon. Then, and as the contracts run out, the layoffs will begin.

I was all for this, until the Saudis dropped the hammer. But the did. Until/if they decide they can't sustain the prices they've created, the oil boom is over.

Already acquired wells are profitable down to $10 oil. Its new wells and moving onto new areas where its not economic. Much of the new production just comes from using new technology and methods to make existing wells or wells thought to be exhausted more productive. This is going to go on for years before it literally dries up. Oil prices will slow the expansion and jobs will be less plentiful, but in many of these places there will always be a need for workers.

[NewYorkiforniainHouston]

Originally Posted by von949

Either way, OP would still benefit by coming to ND. We hired two new people last week. Some of the guys that live in my man camp said that their company hired 5 pipeline inspectors to start beginning of January. Even if OP works for a couple of months, he will be further ahead financially than he is now. I haven't been out here a full 5 months yet and have made a little over 40k after taxes.

Wow, this sounds like a good solid idea. If it were me, i'd take it. Even if (goodness forbid) the job market there tanks in 6-8 months, at least i'd have some bank. Even if I walked away with 30k it would be enough to get a decent cash car and make the move with some change in my pockets instead of squeezing in with brother, gf and dog (trust and believe after about a week the gf will be ready for you to gtfo OP)

If you go directly to LV you will probably end up taking whatever's available (cashier in a store, fast food, etc) and still be scraping the bottom with no recent skills to market. At least this way you'll have something to bring to the table. And even if you STILL end up as a cashier or ff worker, at least you'll have a car to get around and money to fund a decent place to live that doesn't have to be in a shoot-em-up zone on the bus line

[von949]

Originally Posted by BBMW

You don't seem to get it. The boom has gone bust. I just checked spot crude prices, they're under $60/bbl. I don't think they can frack profitably for that price.

Yeah, there's some momentum keeping things from shutting down immediately, but I bet new hiring is going to stop really soon. Then, and as the contracts run out, the layoffs will begin.

I was all for this, until the Saudis dropped the hammer. But the did. Until/if they decide they can't sustain the prices they've created, the oil boom is over.

One thing you have to remember is that most of the large oil field servicing companies are operating stateside and overseas(Saudi Arabia). Schlumberger, Weatherford, Hallibuton and Baker Hughes all have operations in Saudi Arabia. For Saudi to ramp up production to 30 million barrels a day, a lot more man power is needed(hence these companies having hundreds of positions open right now). Every couple of weeks we receive notifications at work for anyone interested in working overseas. These companies have their hands in both cookie jars. These companies profitability isn't a big deal.

One more thing to consider is all of the refineries that are opening up in North Dakota. Soon companies will be able to pull the crude up from the ground and ship it down the street to the local refinery. Much cheaper than transporting to Texas.

And I do agree that the oil boom has been over for about a year or so now. It's just that there is always a shortage of workers and skills because of the cost of living, extreme weather and lack of what other places offer. I have watched a couple dozen people quit already.

[von949]

Originally Posted by Willy702

Already acquired wells are profitable down to $10 oil. Its new wells and moving onto new areas where its not economic. Much of the new production just comes from using new technology and methods to make existing wells or wells thought to be exhausted more productive. This is going to go on for years before it literally dries up. Oil prices will slow the expansion and jobs will be less plentiful, but in many of these places there will always be a need for workers.

One well can be refracted up to 10 times(I heard more). They can go to different depths and all different directions on an already existing well. This is where the Saudis may have underestimated the shale operations. But time will tell.

[C_A_Braun]

Originally Posted by von949

I wonder what gas prices would look like at the pumps at that price.

We are getting very close to finding out. I heard some place in MI was selling at $.46/gal yesterday.

[BibleBurner]

It seems all the guys singing the North Dakota anthem have gone radio silent.

What happened, boys?

[BBMW]

Von's still around. I wonder what he can tell us.

[BibleBurner]

There are a lot of credible voices saying oil is going to remain rock-bottom cheap for YEARS.

Factor in that Iran is about to dump all it's oil in the market...and the world economy is slowing down.

The North American oil industry has been annihilated.

As an environmentally-conscious guy, I can't say I'm sad about it.

[WVREDLEG]

Originally Posted by BibleBurner

It seems all the guys singing the North Dakota anthem have gone radio silent.

What happened, boys?

Still here, wise guy. Read the posts from more than a YEAR ago. At no point do I leave out the risks of employment in shale, but if you see the date of the post, had the OP jumped up and acted, chances were still good (even in the Eagle Ford) for him to pick up a driving job, gain endorsements and be driving for someone else.

My lifelong friend, who drove water and frack waste in Western PA, came out to Eagle Ford in TX, made a sizeable nut there, and now drives outside the industry and still has all his endorsements, which made him a no-brainer hire. He just moved into his new home he paid cash for from his boom days--and he has a full time job with skills, training, and certs paid for by someone who laid him off years ago during another shale bust.

You go where the work is, you learn, gain exportable skills, and you move again--the context of the advice for the OP was not about committing his life to shale, but getting paid to learn a skill and exploit it--read what the OP was conjuring for a fresh start. It is not hard for a single young person to do.

Pay attention to what is happening in and around Saudi Arabia. The House of Saud cannot dump oil on the market much longer, or there will be no more House of Saud--just ask the guys running the double envelopment from slightly further east. The Wahhabis hate the Shi'a more than they hate us.