Houston job market, Jan '09

[ayahuasca_mike]

Originally Posted by DiverTodd62

Not a snowball's chance in he11

Agreed, you can quote me on saying gas will not be back up to $4-$5/barrel. My Scottstrade account proves this. Don't get me wrong I would love for fuel price to rise a bit so I can cash in some gains, but on the other hand I'm totally contempt at where things are right now. To the person that ask if I were in Houston during the 1980's and 1990's, I'm afraid not, I'm only 25.

With all due respect folks, jobs are out here in Houston but they are for qualified individuals who can hit the ground running. Business at this point want maximum return on their investments, you need to be able to immediately come in a generate work/revenue for them. If you are not being offered the jobs you thought you should get maybe its time to consider returning to school for some form of higher education. No better time than now. Hell, I'm 25 and still trying to finish my first degree in Geophysics, I was just fortunate enough to land an internship that turned into a permanent position. The world is a much more competitive place than it was 50/years ago and making yourself as marketable as possible is the name of the game. Good luck to you all.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by akhalfani

To moddestmike, I actually want to break into the oil industry as a roustabout, but heard they're slowing down oil production because of the low fuel prices. I'm not picky, I'd settlle for $13 an hour for an oil job.

If you are looking for oil patch work, you should be looking at something in production like being a "pumper" or gauger. Drilling and services (well testing, pumping services, etc. etc.) are probably not likely to hire anyone without experience at the moment. Unless something really spectacular happens, onshore drilling is going to be largely sidelined for most of 2009 and possibly through 2010. When these little downturns happen, roughnecks, shooters, cementers and flowback hands feel the pinch. Pumpers and pipeline servicemen stay busy.

There is always a demand for workover rigs and you could always find a job doing that, but it will probably mean living somewhere other than Houston.

I know a very little bit about offshore drilling but it seems that they have slowed down less than onshore and roustabout work could be a real possibility. TransOcean comes to mind. You may want to submit a new-hire application there. That would be a heckuva lifestyle, (30 days on, 30 days off) but that would also be pretty good scratch.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by moddestmike

Agreed, you can quote me on saying gas will not be back up to $4-$5/barrel.

I can't resist...

Geophysicists are notoriously bad at simple math. I guess that differential equations eliminates the notion of "simple" from the math lobe entirely.

$4-$5 / Bbl = $0.09-$0.11 / Gallon.

I will definitely quote that...


My forecast is that we will start to scratch $60/Bbl oil at the end of 2009. It is a total lose-lose if oil goes into triple digits again, so it would be great to see it stabilize around $65-$70. Natural gas is going to have a rough few years, though. I think that $6.50/MCF will be a great price until sometime in 2011.