What kind of jobs related to oil/gas industry are booming? (Gillette: unemployment rate, construction)

[Kansoku]

It was only a few years ago that Hawai`i's unemployment rate was the best in the country. It could change again in the next decade. In the meantime, I'd urge you to think about going where there are jobs (e.g., parts of Wyoming where the oil/gas industry is booming).

http://www.city-data.com/forum/11595234-post17.html

[WyoNewk]

NONE! Whoever posted that message is unaware of Wyoming's current economy and the energy industry as a whole. Oil and gas prices are in the dumper, so there's little/no profit for drillers, which means jobs in the industry are scarce. Even the coal industry is down, and just as we think uranium mining might finally help provide some jobs, our President wants to sell off the military's supply of uranium, driving the prices still lower. I'm not sure Wyoming's economy has a chance of a comeback with the current leadership in Washington.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

NONE! Whoever posted that message is unaware of Wyoming's current economy and the energy industry as a whole. Oil and gas prices are in the dumper, so there's little/no profit for drillers, which means jobs in the industry are scarce. Even the coal industry is down, and just as we think uranium mining might finally help provide some jobs, our President wants to sell off the military's supply of uranium, driving the prices still lower. I'm not sure Wyoming's economy has a chance of a comeback with the current leadership in Washington.

You're right! Not sure what's going on at this minute, but a month or so ago there were "NO" rigs drilling in the entire state. Or at least, that's the report I got.

Coal industry is in the dumper. My son works at the coal mine and they just finished a "MANDATORY" week off. Entire mine shut down for one week. It was either that or start laying off and they can't do that. Right now they are running a minimum crew to keep it open. If they layed anymore people off they couldn't keep it going. No relief in sight either.

With the current leadship in Washington, the coal industry can do nothing but go down hill. Wyoming supplies 60% of the nations energy and if Wyoming is in the dumper, what's that tell you?

[Coolhand]

Oil is almost at $80/bbl.... not sure you could say that's "in the dumper". But that said, it seems the price has no connection to actual demand these days. So if I was a driller I'd be nervous about investing big capital in exploration or exploitation until the trend becomes more obvious, both in the markets and in Washington DC and abroad...

[georgiainwyo]

In the relatively short time (about a year & 3 months) we've been in Gillette things have turned around a bunch! Not 100%, but a lot. When we moved here there were pages of jobs in the newspaper & on the job service website every day. People had trouble finding places to live. Unskilled job opportunities couldn't be filled so some places had to either shut down or reduce hours due to not having people to work. Overtime was abundant in many places. Now there are very few jobs available, and when there are there are gobs of applicants. Virtually all overtime has been cut back or cut out altogether as well as some regular hours being cut and layoffs being made. One employer here just laid off 90 workers. Just last summer people were coming here in droves as jobs were fairly easy to come by. Now there are a lot of people who are saying they just feel fortunate to have a job! Things changed very quickly. Wyoming just got hit with the recession later than most places. It is still a wonderful place to live and work, but getting work is not so easy now. I can't believe the difference in what I was saying in posts a year ago compared to now! I hope things turn back around soon!

[molon labe]

Oil and gas is NOT booming in the least. CBM has been dead slow for the last six months and oil, although up a bit from a few months back, is not even flat on years past.

The coal mines and new power plant construction are keeping us afloat here, but even they're not looking for anybody right now. Most of the mines are holding, some have laid people off, and the power plant construction is phasing out.

[Coolhand]

Not an oil/gas question but an energy question.... I was hearing earlier in the year about the sage grouse / wind energy conflicts. All politics aside (if possible), has this issue been resolved to your knowledge? I know UW was making quite a bit of noise about a Wind Energy Research Center and then it seems to have dropped below the radar at about the same time I heard that the Sage Grouse may be listed as endangered...

[t82801]

The Department of Environmental Quality has a 'sage gource' map, it covers large parts of the state. I know for a fact that if youre located in these areas youre going to know about it if you want to say have a gravel pit or drill for natural gas or oil.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

Not an oil/gas question but an energy question.... I was hearing earlier in the year about the sage grouse / wind energy conflicts. All politics aside (if possible), has this issue been resolved to your knowledge? I know UW was making quite a bit of noise about a Wind Energy Research Center and then it seems to have dropped below the radar at about the same time I heard that the Sage Grouse may be listed as endangered...

The current edition of Wyoming Livestock Roundup has a number of articles about the sage grouse situation at this time, including an editorial by Gov F regarding this as a move by the enviro crowd to affect public lands use in Wyoming through the ESA.

There's also articles about the sage grouse populations and mortality rates due to t-post and wire fencing concerns, and how the University studies have found that marking the top fence wire substantially reduces the losses.

For the moment, attention seems focused on the upcoming court decision expected in FEB of next year about the ESA potential listing. The sage grouse issues are far from resolved at this time, and public lands use may be radically affected if the sage grouse is listed endangered. What's interesting is that the current studies would point to a large enough population of sage grouse as to suggest that "endangered" is hardly the case, and that a great deal of localized decline of the bird population is due to normal predation in their breeding and nesting grounds.

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

For the moment, attention seems focused on the upcoming court decision expected in FEB of next year about the ESA potential listing. The sage grouse issues are far from resolved at this time, and public lands use may be radically affected if the sage grouse is listed endangered. What's interesting is that the current studies would point to a large enough population of sage grouse as to suggest that "endangered" is hardly the case, and that a great deal of localized decline of the bird population is due to normal predation in their breeding and nesting grounds.

Very interesting, thanks a bunch. I have to assume this is why I'm not hearing anything about the Wind Energy Research Center at UW... they must have gone to ground until this is resolved.