Christopher E. Smith
Managing Editor-Technology
The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) Gateway program has accredited Lone Star College's Oil & Gas Drilling Floorhand-Roustabout Certification. Lone Star is the first community college in the US to earn this accreditation.
Beyond technical training, Lone Star's program familiarizes its students with the safety, administrative, and other necessary aspects of work on either land-based or offshore drilling sites. The 296-hr Floorhand-Roustabout program includes certification in IADC RigPass and WellSharp. Completing RigPass confirms meeting basic requirements defined by safety and training professionals in the drilling industry. WellSharp, introduced in April 2015, builds on RigPass, further developing necessary proficiencies in well control, situational awareness, risk management, and hazard prevention.
IADC training is already widely available, particularly in Houston. But accreditation of the program offered by Lone Star at its Kingwood, Tex., campus is an important component of the industry's ongoing effort to add new, qualified, young employees to its rolls. Before Lone Star's accreditation, RigPass training was offered by such companies as Precision Drilling Oilfield Services Corp., GME Solutions, and UTEC Survey Inc.: fine if you were already in, or at least aware of, the drilling business as a career option, but somewhat removed from most of those just beginning to chart their post-high school lives.
Costs, benefits
Lone Star lists the cost of its program as $4,064, with a median floorhand wage defined by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics at $32,780/year. The course of study consists of:
• Introduction to Oil and Gas, 24 hr.
• Introduction to Industrial Maintenance, 96 hr.
• Work Skills for the Workplace, 16 hr.
• Basic Mechanical Skills for Energy, 48 hr.
• Drilling, Rig-floor Core Skills, 80 hr.
• IADC RigPass, 8 hr.
• IADC WellSharp, 24 hr.
James Ward, lead instructor for the Oil & Gas Program at Lone Star, has 28 years of industry experience, starting as a floor hand before becoming a safety and compliance officer, tubular manager, district manager, and finally vice-president of two oil field companies.
But the benefits of Lone Star's program stretch beyond affordable professional training led by an industry veteran and the prospects of starting a rewarding career.
When prices recover and the oil and gas industry starts restaffing, many of those let go during the downturn will already have found alternate employment or will be hesitant to work at the substantial pay cut likely to be offered. Workers who do come back will bring a wealth of experience with them. Those who don't, meanwhile, will be replaced by new, young employees freshly trained in the industry as it exists today and eager to get to work in whatever the post-recovery landscape looks like.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported a 1.1% growth in Texas payrolls in this year's first quarter. Companies are hiring, just not in the oil patch, with the Fed reporting Houston employers as having shed 5,500 jobs in the same period.
Brent crude oil spot prices increased $6/bbl in March to an average of $38/bbl, according to the US Energy Information Agency's Apr. 12 Short-Term Energy Outlook. Declines in the US rig count and some improvement in global economic indicators buoyed prices. But with global oil inventory builds expected to average 1.4 million b/d for the year, further price increases will be gradual at best. EIA forecasts a 2016 average price of $35/bbl, a 2017 average of $41/bbl, and a fourth-quarter 2017 average of $46/bbl for both Brent and West Texas Intermediate.
The expectation of continuing large inventory builds is a major source of uncertainty in the price forecasts. Attached to these forecasts are the prospects for additions to oil and gas payrolls. Absent a large supply shock of some sort, rapid movement on either front is unlikely. But programs like Lone Star's will make it easier to find new, young, diverse talent when the time comes.