Im currently living in Rockwall (East Dallas) area. For the past 7 months ive been working as a frac hand in Odessa ( 2 on 1 off) for Halliburton. Typically the end goal would be supervisor/treater but that was never my personal goal. I wanted to break into the O&G industry and get field experience. Me being gone for two weeks at a time as really been hard on the wife and we are wanting to start a family soon. I have focused my job search the Bridgeport/ Decatur area in an effort to get closer to the Metroplex. I was able to talk the wife into relocating for North Ft Worth so i would be looking at a 30ish minute commute.

I got a job offer today from EP Wireline (Schlumberger) The terms are a $3.00/hr raise working 11/3 out of Bridgeport. Right now they are a daytime crew, im probably looking at 80-85 hours a week.

What are the advantages of moving from frac to wireline? .

Thats a pretty solid raise, fwiw.

The primary advantage that stands out to me is the opportunity to advance quickly, more-so than Frac(IMO).

There is good to excellent money to be made in WL - depending on the region. You should have somewhat of an upper hand when it comes to pump-down operations or plug & perfs. Also, worth noting is that there are some really neat, expensive tools run on WL...though those jobs are few and far between.

It brings you closer to home, which it sounds like that is what you really want. You may not make Frac money, but you won't hurt for cash. Climb the ladder to WL Engineer and make salary + dayrate and you'll be making fine money.

Do you know what your schedule/rotation would be? Most WL guys I know are on 10/4's. I would say that being "on-call" would take you some getting used to, but you said they're only working days so that shouldn't be much concern.

[This message has been edited by DadsanAG (edited 3/25/2013 11:45p).]

Just remember that E&P does only cased hole.

In other words...plug & perf most jobs or logging runs.

Key word is "right now"

Wireline is way more hectic than frac...not sure if I'd do it.

Be aware that "call outs" are much more prevalent in wireline. You could be eating dinner and get called in for a job.

what do you mean by more hectic?

FWIW wireline usually requires long hours. SO did it with Schlumberger for a few months and routinely worked 100+ hour weeks.

Stay in Frac. Easier to transition into the office IMO.

It really depends on the company. If you look at where the revenue is for HAL- its Frac/PE. If you follow revenue for SLB- its wireline/D&M. So the money, talent, and resources will follow the larger PSL's for each company. More opportunity for growth and pay over time. Good luck with the new job!

My brother, class of 94, is with SLB and my wife, a Rice Owl, is a DM with HAL.

I'm a cased hole field engineer for weatherford and we never go out at night (unlike open hole which does all the time). You'll be on call during your rotation, but you get used to it. There is a routine you get into usually. Most jobs will have you getting up between 3-4am and working till around dark. In my experience. There are days if y'all aren't super busy where you'll just be at the office all day doing maintenance and stuff.

Thanks for the input. I turned the wireline offer down. I'm going to stay with frac for now. I'm going to target the field associate (business development) program at HAL.

Congratulations. The VP of Frac/PE is an Aggie. Lots of good things happening in that business line/PSL. Be safe out there!

MVB 8th Ag how did you find that wireline opportunity? I work for SLB and never saw it, relocating to Fort Worth in may and I rather be based in Bridgeport in then Houston

I just walked onto their yard in bridgeport and filled out an app. That will be the quickest way bc you can side step the company that does their hiring (sos). I filled out an app on thursday and got an offer on monday. They said they are pretty short handed so if you do the same and you have a cdl youll probably have a good shot.

MVD 8th Ag can you email me the HR or Manager contact info to me for SLB Bridgeport location? I would greatly appreciate it!

email: bryanwest05 @ hotmail dot com

[This message has been edited by Bass Ag (edited 4/5/2013 6:14p).]

Email sent

quote:

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Congratulations. The VP of Frac/PE is an Aggie. Lots of good things happening in that business line/PSL. Be safe out there!

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Isn't HAL's VP of Frac a sip?

Their COO is an Ag.

[This message has been edited by Comeby! (edited 4/8/2013 10:43p).]

He was appointed VP Production Enhancement (Frac) earlier this year and is the class of '81. He is as maroon as they come....and a really nice guy.

Are you still in the program?

I had forgotten about this thread.

Yes I am, it took me longer to get into the program than I expected. I started this past January. I'll be done some time in April I'm guessing. Really glad I decided to stick it out for a fee more months and get into the program. So far the program has been awesome and I was able to get back to the metroplex based out of Alvarado.

That's the FA program, MVB?

Yes sir, Field Associate program

With slb, as an fst (field specialist trainee) it's all about completions, mwd, or artificial lift. Hardly any manual labor and big bucks.

Texan, do you work in one area or travel a lot during program?

I was with slickline (well intervention services). Most fst programs, especially the ones I listed above will take you all over the world for training for the first year or two. I know in Midland they are in need of completion fst's which I would recommend over e&p.

I can only speak for the Permian basin area as far as traveling, not familiar with offshore. Guy I know with artificial lift would drive as far as OK and the other one with completions would stay in about a 4 hr radius of Midland for jobs.

I completed the FA program last year. Great experience and Halliburton provides you with multiple opportunities afterwards. Less than a year after I broke out I was offered an account rep job in the Midland BD office. I recommend it for anyone with a business degree looking to move up fast in the oilfield.

Honest question, though. I was told that FA pay was pretty sub par and that sales positions at HAL more/less followed suit. Is this not the case? Not attacking those of you who are in the program or a rep for HAL, but I'm curious because it would play a role in my own decision.

The FA pay is really low. However you can work as many hours as you want and are guaranteed 70/ week. If you're looking to make a bunch of money right away then it's probably not for you. The experience and knowledge you gain in the short amount of time was worth it for me.

How much do Artificial Lift Field Specialist make? I am currently applying with baker hughes but I am not sure what the salary is. Thank you for your help.

Somewhere between 21-24$/hr. Not too sure how many hours Artificial Lift guys get though

That pay range is pretty accurate. I know guys in the Permian are working 60-80hrs/week and have a set schedule. It's actually a pretty decent gig. You're home every night 90% of the time as well.

That's pretty low for the Permian. Entry level pumpers are at $22-28/hr. No prior experience or degree required.

True. I had a fella with Laredo offer me an entry level pumper gig and was willing to start me right at $28.00 with little production exp.

Suppose it would/should be about career goals if you intend to remain in the industry for an extended period of time. I didnt take it because growth seems limited and I'm far more interested in completions.