Have you ever thought about why oil field employment has such high pay? Not to mention that you only have to work half of the year? Then there are the travel opportunities? Have you ever wondered why the oil companies are so kind? The truth is, they aren’t (kind). The benefits they give you are compensation for these four big problems with jobs in oil field.
1. An Oilfield Job Has Very Long Hours
Most oil field jobs go 14, 21 or even 30 days without a break. Sometimes you have to take a 12-hour day-shift, and other times you have to take a 12-hour night-shift. You work rain or shine, doing dirty and physically strenuous work. Oilfield jobs can take a lot out of you.
2. Working An Oil Field Job Can Cause A Divorce
Oil field employment is best left to bachelors. Society has taught most women that their husbands should at home in the evening after work, or at the very least return home at night. Their husbands are also expected to be at home during the weekends. When your wife does not get what she expects, there will be a great deal of strain on your marriage. Divorces and separations are common among men in oil field jobs.
3. There Is Sometimes Great Danger In An Oilfield Job
Your high pay and bonuses are danger pay. By its nature, an oil well is more dangerous than a factory or warehouse. Many things can go wrong – the drilling rig could blow up, the offshore oil platform could collapse or sink. In addition to that, oil rigs, pipes, workers and infrastructure are often popular terrorist targets, as oil field workers in Nigeria and other Third World countries can tell you.
4. Too Hot, Too Cold, In The Middle Of Nowhere
Most oil fields are in very inhospitable environments in the middle of nowhere. It’s either too cold, like Alaska, north Canada, Siberia and the deep oceans. Or too hot – the Arabian and African deserts. Convenient places like the Texas oil wells no longer exist. People working in oilfield jobs need to deal with sub-zero temperatures, gale-force winds, ice, snow, poisonous snakes and wild animals.
Your very high salary and bonuses for oil field employment is to compensate you for the danger to life and limb. Is this double-pay enough? Only you can decide the worth of your own life. But an oilfield job separates the men from the boys. If you can do the job, you know you are a real man.