Text 4. Other Rig Workers

Besides the drilling crew, many other persons work at the rig site. They may be there during the entire time the well is being drilled, or they may come out only when their expertise or equipment is needed.

The operating company has an employee on the drill site to supervise its interests. The company representative, or company man, on a land rig, like the rig superintendent, usually lives on the rig site in a mobile home or portable building. Offshore, the company man has an office and designated quarters. In either case, the company representative is in charge of all the operator’s activities on the location. This person helps plan the strategy for drilling the well, orders the needed supplies and services, and makes on-site decisions that affect the well’s progress. The company representative and the rig superintendent usually work closely together.

Large land drilling contractors, who may operate rigs all over the world and who often have several rigs working in a particular area, often employ an area drilling superintendent. This person’s job is to manage and coordinate the activities of the many rigs the drilling company has working in a particular area or region.

An area superintendent’s duties include disseminating important information to each rig in the region, ensuring that all rigs are operating well and safely, and assisting each rig’s superintendent when required. Area drilling superintendents frequently travel from rig to rig, so they usually have an office in a town or city in the area.

Offshore, the sea and the remoteness of the site complicate operations. The contractor therefore requires more personnel than on land. For example, in many areas, regulations require that offshore rigs have an offshore installation manager (OIM). The OIM is in charge of the entire rig and has the final say in any decision that affects the operation. In some cases, the rig superintendent is also the OIM; in other cases, the rig has an OIM as well as a rig superintendent.

Offshore contractors also hire several roustabouts. Roustabouts are general workers on the rig whose duties include unloading supplies from boats to the rig. They also keep the offshore facility in good repair. A crane operator runs the rig’s cranes and supervises the roustabouts. Cranes transfer supplies to and from boats.

Radio operators install, maintain, and repair complex radio gear that keeps the rig in constant contact with shore facilities. Medics provide first aid and are often certified emergency medical technicians (EMTs), who can stabilize injured personnel and prepare them for evacuation to shore.

On floating rigs, such as drill ships and semi-submersibles, more personnel are required because in some ways floating rigs are like ships. Not only do floating rigs drill, but also they move on the ocean’s surface just as ships do. Consequently, floaters require marine crews, individuals whose primary responsibilities have to do with the sea-going aspects of the rig.

Floating rigs require subsea equipment. Crew members place the equipment on the seafloor and operate it from the rig on the water’s surface. Such equipment includes subsea blowout preventers. When closed, these large valves keep high-pressure fluids from escaping to the surface should the well encounter them.

Accordingly, floating rigs employ subsea equipment supervisors, whose primary job is to keep the equipment in good working order and supervise its installation on the seafloor. Often, floaters also have an assistant subsea equipment supervisor.

Vital to any drilling project are those who work in or near company offices. Operating companies, drilling contractors, and service and supply companies hire geologists, accountants, bookkeepers, sales personnel, and trainers. They also hire personnel specialists, planners, drilling engineers, environmental specialists, warehouse personnel, and safety specialists.

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 1005