Looking for any advice for a new MWD hand... 2

[mtechGrad05]

I am graduating from Montana Tech with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering this Saturday soon to be a MWD hand bound for the Rocky Mountain Region (WY,ND,CO,MT,etc). I was wondering if anyone had any advice pretaing to the position of MWD hand. Or any information pretaining to any of the companies &/or crews in the region.


Thank You!
John

 

[DrillerNic]

You'll make more money as a Directional Driller!...there is still a little bit of "them & us" between the DDs & the M/LWD guys, with the DDs considering themselves the elite!

Seriously, go on as many extra training courses as you can, even on your time off: well planning, fishing, well control, accident investigation, leadership, marketing & sales, anything. It's your career and the more you can put on your CV the more options you'll have in the future.

Keep your eyes & ears open on your first couple of hitches; don't be afraid to ask what may seem like dumb questions (you'll find there'll be other guys quietly thinking "I'd always wondered about that"); volunteer for stuff like the safety meetings, the green team meetings etc to learn as much as you can.

Welcome to the oil patch!

 

[ctmtwilliams]

I was with Anadrill Schlumberger back in the 80's when MWD was first comercially introduced. I ran tools for them offshore California and finally left the patch as an instructor for them in Lafayette LA teaching how to operate the tools. I still think the if I had ever made a mistake in my career path it was leaving Schlumberger.

As far as DDs are concerned Drillernick is right they do think very highly of themselfs ;-) Anadrill used to have DDs and at one time you could work your way up from MWD Engineer to DD. Remember not all MWD jobs are directional(esp in the rockies) many are logging while drilling jobs just for picking casing points etc.

As far as advise is concerned learn to live on little to no sleep. Never plan on being anywhere close to what you call home and never answer you phone when you are on your days off!

Befriend the roughnecks when ever possible, do not let your colledge degree get between you and them. The roughnecks can be your best friend or cause you problems that could lead you to get run off. I knew of a fishing tool hand that used to have a barbeque on the trailer he hauled his tools on. He would spend his time cooking for the hands when they were tripping pipe rather than sitting in the companyman's trailer. Amazing how smooth his jobs went.

Good luck and enjoy the experience! Although its been a while since I worked in the patch if you have any specific questions ask away!

 

[coolbreeze]

I started out with Anadrill as well, and I can tell you that if you are married your relationship will suffer because you will live on a drilling rig. Working in the Rockies is hard duty because the drilling is slow. I doubt you will be running anything other than directional and gamma ray tools. In the gulf we ran resistivity and density tools, which kept us pretty busy but directional only jobs sucked becasue there wasn't much to do. I agree with everything CTMTWilliams says. DD's can be hard to work with especially right out of college and the degree will set you apart from just about everyone out there...just be cool and get your feet wet. It is a great job to learn about the oil patch but it's not something you want to do very long. The turnover at Anadrill for new college graduates was about two years, and that's about as long as anyone can take. Best of Luck

 

[briedmann]

Greetings to all I have just started as an MWD hand two days ago. I wanted to get out of the automotive industry, as the public was making me crazy. This MWD opportunity came up through a DD friend of mine; one thing lead to another, and I was hired on. was hired with no oilfield experience whatsoever. I am currently being trained on the job; training time said to be 60-90 days. This is a very interesting and challenging opportunity for me. I want to learn everything I can from whoever I can to grasp the whole job in general. I was previously a service manager at a GM dealership (stressful!) but I am totally lost after two days learning about being a MWD hand. I am an extremely driven person, and in 12 years took 2 sick days. The patch is out my back door, literally. My family is supportive of my career change, I read the post where the average MWD hand only lasts about two years. This is concerning to me, but thats what they said about a service manager, too, and I lasted 12 years with that. Any advice out there would be much appreciated! I have heard of baptism by fire, and I am thinkin I am about to have that! Bryan R

 

[ctmtwilliams]

I think the main reason for the high turn over is due to the schedule and the travel. Being away from friends and family for two weeks t a time is rough. I haven’t been in the patch for a while but we used to work 12 hour tours, two weeks on, one week off. North Slope & Alaska schedule was often three on, two off. If things got busy you would work three on, one off.

Others find working offshore tough. Boredom is a common problem on your off time. If you were lucky you would be assigned to work a particular platform and you could get to know all the rig hands. Long time married guys say that if you get released early (say for a casing run); you always call home before you get there, that way you aren’t showing up un-announced, surprising anyone.

Learn to embrace rig humor, just don’t let anyone try to show you how the derrickman can pick three men off the rig floor. Oh, and while you are on the rig floor, ask the driller where he keeps the keys to the V-door.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[DrillerNic]

One problem with MWD hands (and the Surface Data Loggers) is that the job can be pretty boreing- sitting in the cabin for 12 hours staring at a computer screen, getting hassled by the DDs... As I said above, just do every course you possibly can, even if you have to give up your time off, to learn about new tools, get to be safety rep, anything

A lot of people really like the on/ off rota (I know I did- 3 weeks holiday every 5 weeks!) but as a service hand your hitch may start or end at very short notice as ctmwilliams has said above...although some people may like that- I remember going out on the piss in Aberdeen with a couple of MWD guys and one of them phoned his wife to tell her that he was going to be delayed for maybe 2 days due to fog, just as he scored with a local girl....

 

[STI666]

I've worked as a wireline hand and MWD over the past 10 years for a few different companies in Canada and abroad. My advice to any MWD new people is to become an avid reader or take up something constructive on the computer (courses, programming, etc.) this will help to pass the time.

The work is not Rocket Science although it may seem overwhelming at first if you have not been in the industry. The toughest part of the job is the time away from home and family if you have one. If you are single - great. A good opportunity to travel and once experienced, you can move to other companies easily and "up the ladder to a DD"

Good luck.

 

[mtechGrad05]

I want to thank all of you for answering my thread with your advice. I have to admit that it is a great way to gain exposure to the field. I have to admit i am interested in becoming a DD. I am jsut not sure how to bring about that change. I just got back a few days ago from my first month in the field and am now preparing to head back out again. I can definitly see how this job can be hard on a married man. I have already been checked out on EMS jobs. Apparently you do one and your considered field certified. Well off to bed.


Thanks again! See you out in the patch!