T.D.: MWD = monitor while drilling? Fascinating technology, eh?
KSO: Besides the Polish jet engine method I mentioned earlier, the most-used method is to snuff the fire out with an explosive charge, drench the area with water from high-pressure hand-held hoses (the fire-figthing kind) to keep it cool, and then set a safety cap or “christmas tree” on the well. The Blockbuster where I live has a video (from the PBS TV special) that shows the process involved.
Johnt,
I work with TD, and I just finished a job for C-T, they are ok to work for, no added stress, I will gladly answer any questions that TD does not answer.
unclviny
Great Greenpeace Story, Tapioca. I wish I had one.
Sure thing, Tapioca…e-mail when you’re in town!
Just before I started my job here, I had this dream where I fell down a well bore…at least now I know it’d be a tight fit…not that I ever see an actual well…
Brit working in Norway - as a cementing engineer. Been in the office for to long recently. Nothing like the sound of a Detroit Diesel Engine. We have some of the tightest environmental legislation in the world here and the Norwegian governement next licensing round at the end of this year is to open up the environmentally sensitive Barents Sea regiona
Oh and I am female. Last summer we saw a group of killer whales swimming along - a beautiful sight!
ems
Is working on an oil rig really as dangerous as Discovery Channel claims?
yes
That depends on what the Discovery channel claims.
It is always said that the most dangerous part of our job is driving to the heliport/dock, but there are plenty of things on a rig that will bite you if you let them (and a lot of the equipment will give you your final bite).
unclviny
Hello i have a few questions to ask you.
Do they still spin chains on an oil rig?
How old do you have to be to apply to be a roustabout?
Can you smoke on the dereck?
Do you have to wear golves and coveralls while on the rig?
Thank you for taking your time and reading this message.
Do they still spin chains on an oil rig?
Some not for any creditable operators or contractors though.
How old do you have to be to apply to be a roustabout?
18 typically although if you know the right people they probably could set you up with part time work at 15 or 16
Can you smoke on the dereck?
No
Do you have to wear golves and coveralls while on the rig?
New OSHA regulations require FRCs while on a location. This isn’t necessarily coveralls though. Since you’re talking about roughnecks they wear gloves most of the time.
An interesting thread to see revived. I had no idea we had so many oilfield related people on the board.
My first zombie. Sniff.
Answer the questions! They’ve been waiting like 9 years to get the courage to ask.
I love this thread! I’ve done crab processing in Alaskan waters, and the last couple trips I swore that next time I was going to try oil-rigging instead; figured it had to be warmer, and less chance of seasickness. So…
…Does anyone get seasick? Judging from the relative lack of motion I’m going to guess ‘no’, but it’s amazing what can trigger it. I can ride around an island hiding from a storm no problem, but more than a few hours of ‘smooth sailing’ and…urkh!!
So if there’s none of that going on, I know where I’ll head to hire on if/when Mr.Tao ever gets tired of me! 
Interesting. I worked in Malongo camp from Jan 1997 to Oct 2002. No doubt we met on the tarmac at the Cabinda airport.
I guess zombie threads have some use. 
Once when I was on a Semi Sub we had saturation divers living in a dive chamber which took more than a few days to decompress. The young daughter one of the guys in the chamber was run over and severely injured so he had to get off.
The Divers weren’t told of the reason for the early decompression but suspected something was wrong.( they normally worked 28 days in Saturation and an early decompression was rare)
Unfortunately by the time they were at atmospheric pressure his daughter had passed away. Although he was evacuated the same day they were safely decompressed it had taken almost 48 hours to blow them down to pressure.
It left an incredibly sombre mood on the rig.
What kinds of safety equipment (immersion suit, multi-point restraint harness, etc.) are required on an oil rig? Does the type of equipment vary depending on the job?
It depends entirely on the job. If you work in the kitchen, it,s not much more than a hair net, but there are all manner of breathing apparatus or fall arrest equipment or what have you for those that need them.
What other types of jobs are there in the industry where you don’t physically have to be, say, hands on or bobbing in the ocean?
Is the air around the rig stinky or gassy as in not great for the lungs?
DO you like it?
Are they really going to mess with the Bay of Fundy?
Is the North Sea really dried up in the oil way?
For starters. 
I can answer your first question - the up and coming non-physical rig job right now is HES rep, with an emphasis on the E. I work in HES for an oil and gas company (I’m in Environment, and work in the head office, with regular visits to the rig), and work specifically on our drilling program. HES is in high demand right now.
I can answer your second question too - depends on the operations. Right now I work on non-sour shale gas rigs, and they don’t have an odour (unless something goes wrong). This may be different offshore, not sure.