Oil Rig Jobs

This is a question often asked by those new to offshore drilling rig jobs, “What are my retirement benefits on oil rigs?” The simple fact, though, is that no one works for the retirement package of an offshore oil rig job. Certainly not for entry level offshore work. Everyone works for the high wages paid here and now. This is obviously a different attitude than those of management or office workers. It is really a different way of living and a different way of working.

Oil drilling rig jobs are not safe. They are physically strenuous and often performed in hazardous weather conditions in the middle of the open ocean. There aren’t too many men willing or able to do this kind of work until they retire. Most oil rig workers, especially those at the lower ranks (e.g. roustabouts and roughnecks) often take their savings and settle down to a quiet life or easier job. These savings can be considerable. A newly hired roustabout working on an offshore oil platform can easily earn $45,000 a year, and a roustabout with 10 years of experience can make $50,000 or even $55,000 a year (if unionized). Add the fact that some offshore oil rigs operate in international waters and their workers are exempted from federal income tax (and even state taxes, in some cases), and those savings go even further.

That’s not to say there are no retirement benefits on oil rigs. Like on the factory floor or in a construction yard, an offshore oil platform has different grades of workers. Much the same as everywhere else, unskilled workers who provide general labor should not expect much in the way of a retirement package. What’s different for an offshore oil rig roustabout (as compared to a factory worker or construction laborer) is that he is compensated for the extra danger and hardship he faces. For doing much the same thing as a laborer in a construction yard or general worker in a factory, he gets paid double the wages while working only 6 months out of every year (because his duty rotation is two weeks of work followed by two weeks off).

As you would expect, higher ranked workers who work in management, possess trade skills or have a college education get treated differently. As usual. Depending on the seniority, role, importance to the company, the actual employer (oil company vs oil service contractor vs oil drilling company vs outsourcing company), some employees in the oil industry can receive very favorable compensation and retirement packages. For example, petroleum geologists salaries on offshore oil rigs range from $80,000 to $130,000 per annum, depending on experience. New petroleum engineers get paid $80,000 to $110,000 a year. Both are likely to have 401(k) paid for them, as well as other typical retirement benefits for high-flyers.

Another common question from those new to oil rig work is the health and safety conditions on oil rigs. Despite the reputation, it’s not bad at all. There is usually a dedicated medical officer on board. He or she is often a registered nurse. Major illnesses and problems are evacuated by helicopter.

Obviously, the oil company does not provide all these health services to you out of the goodness of its heart. They do these things for several reasons. For one thing, it is necessary to continue to attract workers. Despite the high salaries, oil rigs, especially those that operate offshore, keep on losing workers. The work is physically strenuous and the working conditions are tough. Many oil rig workers pull one hitch and then decide that it’s not the life for them.

Another reason is that it is expensive to replace workers. Even for so-called unskilled work, e.g. roustabout jobs, a great deal of expensive training is required before he is allowed on an oil rig to work. First of all, he needs Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), firefighting training, First Aid training, etc. (Details depend on the legislation of the oil rig’s area of operation). The new worker also needs to be orientated to his new duties on the oil rig.

More sceptical observers might say that all these things are not being done for the workers’ health and safety on oil rigs, but to keep the expensive oil drilling rig safe. That is probably true. A new oil rig can cost upwards of a billion dollars to build, and it can cost $500,000 to $1,000,000 a day to operate an oil rig offshore. But personally, this kind of dollars and cents vested self-interest does a much better job of keeping workers safe and sound in a dangerous environment.

Offshore oil rig jobs pay well. This is partly to compensate for the dangerous working conditions and hardship faced. But it is also partly to attract workers to a tough job. Most people work in this field for the high salaries paid in the here and now, not for future retirement benefits. Health and safety on board oil rigs are actually pretty good, despite all the recent bad press. After all, the oil rig owner can be trusted to not want his multi-billion dollar oil platform go *KABOOM* and sink.

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