Working in the oil and gas industry

Extracting oil and gas offshore is a complicated process carried out in a harsh environment. There are around 200 offshore installations, ranging from large structures standing on the seabed, where up to 200 people may work, to smaller floating production facilities that may employ as few as 30. Around 105,000 people are directly employed in oil and gas extraction, with another 65,000-plus involved with its supply chain. Another 97,000 people work in gas inshore, with a further 84,000 indirect employees, both upstream (from beach to meter) and downstream (everything after the meter).

The way the industry operates is changing, as a result of new contracting practices and the move towards operating offshore fields with fewer personnel. There is, however, a steady demand for suitably qualified and motivated people for the foreseeable future, with an ageing workforce needing new skills to compete with increasing foreign competition. Decreasing production must somehow balance operating costs, which are set to rise by 20 per cent by 2010. Climate change and sustainable development issues also affect the industry.

Total investment in the UK offshore sector is well over £200 billion, and around half the available oil and gas reserves are yet to be produced.

Once ashore, the oil and gas needs to be distributed to the users, storage and delivery systems need to be built and maintained, and appliances require installation and servicing. Oil is pumped to refineries, where it is separated into different grades and then transported by pipeline and tankers to power stations, factories, petrol stations and private houses.

Gas is delivered to beach terminals. It is checked for quality and energy content, and then enters a 133,000-kilometre pipeline system that delivers it to either a commercial or a private customer. Complex arrangements govern the buying and selling of gas and its storage.

The oil and gas industry and the Services

There is no direct relationship between the oil and gas industry and the Armed Forces. Nevertheless, many of the skills required and valued by employers are taught and practised by a number of people in the Services. Generalist skills, such as supervisory management, project management and administration, are wanted as are all manner of specialists like engineers, divers and cooks. There are also fuel specialists in units, and a few people highly trained in fuel technology.

Working in the oil and gas industry

Working offshore

Working offshore involves two or three weeks on a rig or installation, followed by equal time at home. Everyone works shifts, normally of 12 hours’ duration. They work close to others in places where there is little space to get away on their own. Conditions are noisy and dirty; work is outdoors, and involves lifting and carrying heavy weights and working with powerful machinery.

Jobs include the following.

Searching

• Geologists locate possible sites and calculate how much oil is there

• Geophysicists map the substructure

Exploration

• Mud loggers (geologists) analyse mud, fluid and debris from an exploratory drilling

• Reservoir engineers assess oil reserves and drilling sites

Drilling

• Roustabouts are offshore unskilled manual labourers

• Roughnecks/floormen carry out the drilling operation under supervision

• Derrickmen work above the rig, handling the drill pipe sections

• Assistant drillers co-ordinate the activities on the drill floor

• Drillers control the drilling team

• Toolpushers oversee the whole operation

• Rig superintendents are responsible for the operation

• Drilling engineers order the drilling programme

Well services

• Operations supervisors oversee the well crew’s activities

• Wireline operators maintain the well and the tools

• Coiled tubing operators use a tube to pump fluids into the well

Production

• Production engineers monitor wells and check efficiency

• Production operators manage the flow of oil

• Control room operators manage the equipment that reports on production

General operations

• Offshore installation managers are responsible for offshore operations

• Radio operators control movement and communications

• Crane operators load and unload cargo

• Caterers feed and water the crews

• Stewards maintain and clean accommodation

• Divers inspect and maintain subsea structures, often using remote equipment

• Medics deal with minor complaints and major injuries

• Storemen order and hold equipment and supplies

Business support

• This includes accounting, legal, IT and administration

Entry requirements for the industry

• Minimum age of 18, but the preferred range is 21–30

• Minimum height of 1.63 metres (5ft 5in)

• Physical fitness

• Not colour blind (for some jobs)

• Relevant employment experience (if possible) and good Services work record

Competition for jobs offshore is fierce; relevant skills and experience are valued, with ex-Forces people often highly employable.

The industry is one of the largest employers of divers. Diving also requires life support technicians managing and controlling all aspects of a diver’s well-being in a decompression chamber between or after dives. ROV technicians man two types of ROV; work and inspection.

Working onshore

Work onshore encompasses a wide range of activities. Scientists and technicians work to produce improved fuels and more efficient energy; while engineers and construction workers build and maintain the plant and pipelines.

Energy supply is governed by complex and sophisticated ICT systems so technicians, programmers, designers and trouble-shooters are involved. Transporting bulk fuels by road demands specialist transport, licences and safety qualifications. Liquid fuels are commonly sold to the consumer at petrol stations, which are increasingly becoming shops as well. Jobs in gas include laying mains supplies, plumbing, and appliance installation, inspection and maintenance.

Training and development

Cogent – the Sector Skills Council for the oil and gas extraction, chemicals manufacturing and petroleum industries – is developing standards, qualifications and training. Energy & Utility Skills (the new sector skills council for electricity, gas, waste management and water) is also developing occupational standards and qualifications for people involved in main laying and service laying.

All offshore workers must complete fire, emergency and survival training. A basic rig crew course, covering drilling operations and roustabout/roughneck skills is highly recommended. The Vantage personal passport provides a record of every offshore worker; including survival training, medical examinations and employment history, and eventually skills and competences held. A Forecourt Contractor Safety Passport has also been introduced to improve awareness of rules for working on forecourts and at service stations.

People with degrees in geology, chemistry, engineering and logistics, and experience in project management, are highly prized. AS-levels or the equivalent are required to enter as a technician, while GCSEs or equivalent will give people a start at craft level.

NVQs/SVQs may be gained in subjects including:

• Process Engineering Maintenance Levels 2 and 3
• Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Petro Chemical Manufacture Levels 1 to 4
• Safety Services Oil and Gas Extraction Levels 2 and 3
• Offshore Crane Operations Level 2
• Offshore Deck Operations Level 2
• Processing Operations – Hydrocarbons Level 1 to 3
• Processing Operations – Hydrocarbons (Control Room) Level 3
• Well Services – Electric Logging Levels 2 and 3
• Well Services – Mechanical Wireline Level 2
• Well Services – Tubing Operations Level 2
• Offshore Drilling Operations Levels 1 to 3
• Metering Maintenance Level 3
• Measurement Processes Level 3
• Bulk Liquid Warehousing Level 2
• Refinery Field Operations Level 3
• Refinery Control Room Operations Level 3
• Nuclear Technology Decommissioning Level 2
• Oil Fired Technical Services Levels 2 and 3
• Polymer Processing and Related Operations Levels 1 to 3
• Sign making Levels 2 and 3
• Domestic Natural Gas Installation and/or Maintenance Levels 2 and 3
• Emergency Services Operation Level 3
• Domestic Natural Gas Installation (Non Aligned) Level 2
• Gas Networks Operations Levels 1 and 3
• Gas Networks Operations (Service Laying) Level 2
• Gas Networks Operations (Main Laying) Level 2
• Utilities Metering Operations Level 2
• Gas Networks Engineering Management (Design) Level 4
• Gas Networks Engineering Management (Installation & Construction) Level 4
• Gas Networks Engineering Management (Maintenance) Level 4
• Gas Networks Engineering Management (Project Management) Level 4
• Engineering Surveying Level 4.

Anyone working on gas appliances or fittings as a business must be competent and registered with the Council of Registered Gas Installers (CORGI). Competency can be proved under the Accredited Certification Scheme (ACS). CORGI provides a route to ACS through a distance learning programme. ACS has a two-day core domestic gas safety assessment and a number of appliance assessments that take half a day each; both are available at 150 centres in the UK. A competent student should take five days to pass the full domestic suite of qualifications.

Useful contacts

International Marine Contractors Association, 5 Lower Belgrave Street, London SW1W 0NR, Tel: 020 7824 5520 Fax: 020 7824 5521 Website: www.imca-int.com

Transco plc, NGT House, Warwick Technology Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick CV34 6DA Tel: 01926 653000 Website: www.transco.uk.com

Cogent (Sector Skills Council)

Aberdeen office: Minerva House, Bruntland Road, Portlethen, Aberdeen AB12 4QL Tel: 01224 787800 Fax: 01224 787830 Website: www.cogent-ssc.com

Energy & Utility Skills, Friars Gate Two, 1011 Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull B90 4BN Tel: 0845 077 9922 Fax: 0845 077 9933 Website: www.euskills.co.uk

Council of Registered Gas Installers, 1 Elmwood, Chineham Park, Crockford Lane, Basingstoke, Hants RG24 8WG Tel: 0870 401 2200 Fax: 0870 401 2600 Website: www.corgi-gas-safety.com

Been there done that…

Chris Ball

Ex-Royal Signals Corporal Chris Ball has been RigTrain’s UK Training Centre Manager for four years. He left the Army in 1978 after 12 years as a radio telegraphist in Northern Ireland, England and Germany, and used his HGV3 licence in his first job as a delivery driver.

He rates an ‘ability to get on with the job, no matter how distasteful, or seemingly useless,’ as a useful skill that he brings to his new task of ‘commercial training, running Drilling and Well intervention regulatory courses, associated oilfield upstream courses and corporate training, handling 4,000 trainees a year. Every day is a challenge; I have a good team that works well under pressure.’

Starting as a roustabout on the Brent Charlie after a month-long ‘green-hand course,’ Ball was promoted to Roughneck after just nine days on a packet that was ‘four times that of my army salary, and I only worked six months of the year.’

‘I stayed with drilling crews for a further four years, going to derrick-man then assistant driller, and then transferred to the oilfield service industry, on twice the pay for half the work.’ Now in management, he has resurrected the same green-hand roustabout course – ‘the P Company of the oilfield’ – offering ‘12 days of pure hell. The oilfield is a magical place. Work hard and honestly, and make common sense common practice, and you will go far.’

You can contact RigTrain on 01224 382300, e-mail training@the-rig.com or visit the website at www.rigtrain.com