Oilfield and/or Fracking jobs- where do we start? (Houston: RV parks, mineral rights)

[mommameg]

My husband has recently taken interest in fracking and/or working in the oilfield. We have done some research, but really don't know what is the best starting point to look for jobs. He is a FF/Paramedic, and is also in Directional Drilling doing manual labor. We would be relcoating from Ohio. Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks!!
Megan

[High_Plains_Retired]

Hi Megan. I've never been personally involved in the oil industry but Lubbock is catching a lot of the fracking activities. However, the cities of Midland and Odessa which sit in the Permian Basin are major centers for Texas oil production. I have heard that that area is booming right now but there are some folks on C-D from the area who can tell you more. Most of the new oil activities in west Texas are from south of Lubbock to the Midland/Odessa area.

[Westerntraveler]

Midland/Odessa would be your best best but housing is real tight....people are living in motels and campers cuz they cant find anywhere else to live.Northwest Midland is best and Northeast Odessa is best.Midland has the lowest unemployment rate in the US

[SVTRay]

I'm a year removed from Midland. So I'm really out of the loop. I will however echo what been said about housing being very tight. My best advice is to contact Fracking companies and see it their hiring and if they can help with housing. A lot of oilfield companies are renting large blocks of hotel/motel rooms for workers as well as setting up living trailers at their work yards.

[slingshot]

Try the Eagle-Ford area in South Central Texas. It's one of the hottest (activity wise) areas in the country. La Grange and south of there. Good luck.

[KathrynAragon]

He needs to get his CDL and HazMat certifications (not very expensive but will make a big difference in his starting pay and his career).

Good luck!

[Kibby]

Originally Posted by slingshot

Try the Eagle-Ford area in South Central Texas. It's one of the hottest (activity wise) areas in the country. La Grange and south of there. Good luck.

The Eagle Ford area is not just a 'hot area' in the country ...... it's the "hottest area in the world". I travel through the Eagle Ford area about 3-4 times a year - the changes in one county (Karnes County) are almost unbelievable.

There are two major towns in Karnes County, Karnes City and Kenedy - this was one of the poorest Counties in Texas with a declining population. I've traveled this area most of my life and seen the decline ....... that has "changed". Don't let anyone try to convince you that the Oil/Gas Fracing boom does not mean "Jobs". The town of Kenedy along US 181 has slowly declined to a single motel and about 3 places to eat - population about 3,500 with 1,500 housing units. I counted at least a half dozen major Motel/Hotel chains that are building in the area. Office parks being built - it's like an old fashioned major Boom Town. I love to see this - it was sad to drive through this area for over 50 years and see the increasing decline.

Now ...... new apartment buildings, new bank, new shopping centers, dozens of RV parks while they wait for more housing, at least a dozen new restaurants and dozens and dozens of Multi-Millionaires in a county that had slid so far into decline that nobody every saw a way to reverse that.

There is a serious downside ..... nope, it's not "water", it's not "chemicals" ..... it's traffic and traffic accidents because of the boom. This is not a "transient" deal - they expect this to last for at least 16 years. People are coming from all over Central Texas to work in this county - waitresses in my favorite (new restaurant) tell me they are coming from San Antonio and the place is hopping 24/7. The County officials are concerned about the "boom", the State has stepped in a working on the roads - I'm a happy camper as this is my favorite route to the Coast from North Texas. I'm also happy that one of the poorest counties in the State is doing better and that they are paying attention to the "boom" and do some serious future planning. Point is ..... this stuff is MAJOR JOB's, it's not "50 people". It's construction, it's retail, it's mineral rights, it's employment across every sector and it's about dying Towns coming back to life.

[b][url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Shale-play-turns-Karnes-County-around-but-not-4303201.php]Shale play turns Karnes County around, but not without trouble[/quote]

The Houston article is Left leaning, but they can't hide the advantages to Central Texas - this could happen in many places in the USA. It happened (and is still ongoing in the Dakotas), it's new technology and it has a lot of oversight. They are moving pretty slowly with Fracking, haven't found any problems yet.

A bit of advise to everyone - IF you sell property of any type, retain the Mineral rights. You just never know when that might pay off. I live on a pretty small city lot in North Texas - I got about $5,000 for the original "lease" and get a Royalty check every 3 months. I live in a city of well over 300,000, on the serious UP side - the City owns a lot of land and has pumped up the City Bank account, keeps our taxes lower.

[CptnRn]

Lots of links to previous threads related to this subject here //www.city-data.com/forum/membe...vmessage118011