Seven Tips for Finding a High Paying Job in the Texas Oil Fields
The Texas Oil Fields Are Booming. New developments in technology and rising oil prices have created a massive surge in jobs and investment in Texas’ Eagle Ford and Permian Basin oil fields. The shortage of workers is driving up wages. Currently 3% of jobs are going unfilled. By 2020 when we overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer, there will be an additional 1.3 million jobs to fill. All types of workers are needed. Here are some ways to cash in on the boom.
Learn to drive a truck.
The oil business runs on the back of trucks. They move rigs and haul water, oil, and frack sand. Truck drivers command $45,000 a year in the oil fields. Complete a training course in truck driving or get a few months of driving experience under your belt. Be prepared change tires and fix equipment.
Contact an oil field temp agency.
Tell them you’re not afraid of working hard and you want to be a derrick hand trainee. Before the year is out you will be a full-fledged derrick hand earning $50,000 a year. Derrick hands are the people you see in photos guiding the pipe into the hole.
Sign on as a roustabout.
Roustabouts are also called Floor hands or a Lease hands. If you have a high school diploma, are physically strong, and are willing to be around dangerous machinery, you can earn $54,000 a year. Roustabouts require less technical know how and perform most of the essential labor on a rig.
Use Your Brains
If you complete an undergraduate degree in engineering you can sign on as a MWD field engineer. The measure-while-drilling engineer takes samples while the well is being drilled. MDW engineers are needed at all times during the drilling process and work long hours. They earn $63,000 to $80,000.
Weld Away
Find a trade school and get your welding certification. Oil companies are currently desperate for welders to repair and maintain oil rigs. Welders are paid $18 to $28 and hour with salaries as high as $12,000 a month in boom areas.
Stay Clean
Complete your bachelors degree in accounting for a high paying job that doesn’t require you to get dirty. There is a huge need for accountants, especially tax accounts, to keep the books on oilfield operations. Robert Half agency in Odessa reports that accounts average $68,000 a year.
Options Everywhere
Even if you don’t qualify for any of the other jobs listed, or aren’t interested, there are countless options for you to find a good job. You could get your scale technician license and contact North Texas Truck Scales. Truck scales require periodic recalibration, testing, and repair, and it takes a skilled technician to keep them in good repair. You might even start a laundry business for all of the clothing soiled by use on oil drilling rigs, or a restaurant for all of the hungry workers. If you can imagine a possible need, you could probably make a job out of it.