YeeHaa

March/Spring has got to be one of the greatest times of the year to be in Houston. Usually, the weather is a clear and sunny 75 degrees during the day while a warm breeze keeps the crisp and cool evenings at a perfect 55. In addition to the great weather, the month of March is Rodeo Houston month-- the largest rodeo in the world. The rodeo is not just about cowboys and bull riding. It is a 20 day event with headlining concert acts each night, International Wine Festivals and dinners, world-class BBQ competitions, carnival and circus rides, charities and an heritage built from all parts of the country.

I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a week off of work. Aside from enjoying the rodeo, here are some other activities that one can only experience in Texas...

I convinced and introduced some pedigree Texans to Guinness and Irish car-bombs on St. Patty's Day by revealing it's close resemblance to Texas Tea...black gold...OIL!

At 2AM after enjoying some Shiner Boch with old work buddies the only place to stop is Whataburger. Get 2 Potato, sausage and cheese Taquitos...you won't be disappointed.

Sit in The Woodlands Park and watch the Red Birds (cardinals) invade people's privacy.

Of course you can golf all year round and every course in the greater Houston area is top-notch.

That's all for now. Speak with y'all soon. Much Love.
rf

Oh Lucky Day.

Short and sweet today, I've got a lot of Guinness waiting to be drunk.

Well after 16 days in Fort Worth, the good Lord decided to reward me with a vacation on one of me favorite holidays...St. Patty's Day. My Da has a bit o'irish in'em but no one believes me. But I reckon a day like today proves it. I have me an excellent job, money in the bank and no work to speak of on this festive eve.

I also want to tell you about a friend of mine, Patrick Mathes.* Pat is more of a character than a man but at 6'4" and 250lbs this 58 year-old man is an imposing figure. He's got a few scars and smokes about 3 packs a day. Big buck teeth and a pony tail frame his weathered grimace well. When I hear the Johnny Cash hit "A Boy Named Sue" I picture the father looking and acting just like ol' Pat Mathes. Yeah, he's a "charmer." And he's my friend. I don't want to spoil all of his stories about women and drinking...oh I've heard a few about ex-wives, gambling, stealing and stabbing and getaways in 58 Fords. But his best story is about his birth. The son of a Scottish-American oilfield worker and an Irish homemaker, Pat was born in the wake of the second great war, on a barge off the coast of Belfast, arguably in Scottish waters. I'm not sure if anyone really knows. His grandmother was a Scot through and through and when she saw his hand reach out of his mother's womb, she noticed something. He had an extra knuckle on his right, little finger.

According to his grandmother, this means that he is the "last defender of Scotland". I have no clue what that means and I can't recall what Pat said it means. But his grandmother worked to make him a Scottish citizen while his mother tried to make him an Irish citizen. His father overruled making him an American citizen and taking him back to Mississippi. According to legend he is no longer allowed to enter Scotland or Ireland. We know this because a terrible storm in the North Sea forced his platform rig to evacuate to the nearest point by helicopter which happened to be Aberdeen, Scotland where Patrick Mathes was unable to set foot on Scottish soil. However, being born to an Irish mother, he was flown to Ireland where he was allowed to sleep in the airport terminal just for the evening.

Pat Mathes is a Great American Oilfield man. He's worked in Africa, Alaska, every state in the US and most countries in Europe. Each year he works each day tirelessly, 24/7, no matter what...but know this: On January 1st of each year Pat Mathes will submit 2 vacation request forms. One form will be for December 25 and the other is for March 17. Whatever city Pat is in today, I garuntee you can find him in an Irish Pub drinking scotch.

As for Christmas, he'll be at home with his wife probably drinking Jack Daniels. Every other day, it's tequila...but not while he's working.

* The events and stories in this blog may or may not be true and are not to be accounted for as historical fact. The author has been known to add a little color to each story for the benefit of those who will listen and read.


Sláinte.
rf

The PDC Bit killed the Oilfield

I know I usually don't blog on Sunday but living in the Bible Belt keeps one thinking about the good Lord... and energy exploration. Plus my Jewish friend C.W. (who celebrates the Sabbath on Saturday) sent me this. You'll find a significant correlation in information between this article and a few of my older posts and since the NY Times has been tapping into my blog I wanted to be sure y'all new that my information truly is cutting edge. My sermon is simple....

Jesus Saves,
God Spends... &
We Consume.

Our consumption, or rather over-consumption, has gotten us in trouble once again. We are a nation of heavy-hitters, over-eaters and over-reactors. In my last post I wrote of changes-- quick and even rash changes. We have to be real about our economic recession. Things are not better than they seem, they are going to get worse. I wish they were not but they are. 3 years ago when I first entered the oilfield, the outfit I was with must have hired a hundred employees in a year's time. The oilfield was booming and we needed as many hands as possible to meet the demand. They over-booked to cover themselves in case another worker was ill or needed a vacation or left/fired. A company with 300 employees 2 years ago, servicing 70 - 90 jobs a day is now employing 200 employees and serving 40 jobs a day...if they are lucky. This does not include pay-cuts. Oh and did I mention that the energy stocks and companies continue to outperform the rest of the markets by at least 10% daily. I'd hate to see what the marshmallow peeps Q1 numbers look like.

When the boom hit, companies doubled their prices and their employee base. Demand and exploration is down so jobs and pay follow suit. In the Barnett shale, a service company like mine will charge $9000.00/day for a standard package. Recently, I have heard of companies offering the same services for $3500.00. Trust me this is an absurd number that barely covers the cost of tools and supplies, never mind compensation. I agree with the linked article above which points out that when the oil and gas demand increases again, we will see a sharp increase in prices at the pump. Since the oilfield and market is in a constant cycle of over-reaction, when we see a resurgence in demand, it will take time to hire recently laid-off or fired workers. Money will be thrown around again in a rushed and haphazard manner. The supply will again fall short of the demand and vice versa. Time is money and to get it done quicker...well, there will be a fee for that.

One last comment about time and the Barnett Shale. We use different drilling bits out here. Roller-cone pits, button bits and PDC bits...and others. PDC are diamond coated, and have cutters all around the edges. They are mean, aggressive, fast drilling bits. Button bits and roller-cone bits often drill at a tenth of the speed at which PDC bits drill. These Shale wells used to drill 8000' in 3 weeks at about 15'/hour. We drilled 8000' in 6 days last week. Technology is a two-edged sword as it has significantly contributed to the ease at which we are now able to drill while simultaneously taking vast quantities of money out of the pockets of many men and women (keeping even greater capital circulating throughout the economy) as they sit at home for longer durations between jobs.

Now we are cutting back so much, that oilfield hands are faced with surmounting bills and credit payments that they can not afford because they over-extended themselves believing the market would sustain itself after 4 amazingly profitable years. Not to mention the rig workers that remain in the field don't see home often because they are some of the few hands left, thereby imposing additional strain on their psyche by keeping them away from valuable time spent with their families. So when they do have time off they may self-medicate with alcohol or worse. I'm not trying to paint a bleak picture for you but I'm giving you some truths that I've realized while out here on the open road. This is the oilfield and this is part of our American landscape.

But, Dallas/Fort Worth and Texas in general maintain a flowing well amidst an economic drought. (Dallas #1 fastest growing city in the nation, Houston #2) It could be the ridiculously low housing prices, the infrastructural and industrial diversity, the non-existent state income tax and government benefits for business owners...the weather maybe, but I like to think it has to do with faith: real hope and belief in one another and a higher power. Many of these hard working longhorns are willing to make sacrifices while expecting the industry to recoup by late November and it is by the grace of God that I can spend a few bucks on my friends and family these days. Plus the mighty invisible hand of the market favors the bold.

Keep consuming...that's all we seem to do well.
Be Blessed.
rf

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

Today we had a TVD change. TVD stands for True Vertical Depth. In short, we don't drill straight down, we are in the business of directional drilling and therefore drill curves, s-wells and usually parabolic-shaped wells. When we do this we actually track depth in different ways-- One way is called measured depth which accounts for the amount of pipe in the hole and another is true vertical depth which accounts for the distance from the earth's surface to point where we begin running parallel to the earth's surface (90 degrees).

Change is good...usually. Today it helped us out a bunch because we were already drilling upwards and needed a change since the formation holding our gas is moving up toward the earth's surface. We had another change today. Many employees of our company received pay cuts. Healthy pay cuts. The economy is not looking good. Much to my chagrin, the oilfield is expected to decrease by another 10-20% by the end of the 3rd quarter. However, the stock market has seen a surge in the past 4 days and Obama says that the crisis is not as bad as we all think.

There were other changes today... After wallowing in self-pity, Citibank stocks are hovering around $3.00 a share, yet they now are refusing government aid. So where is all that pre-approved bailout money going to go? GE lost its top-tier status with S&P and Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway is no longer 'AAA' rated. But change has come to America. We all voted for it so here it is. Illinois knows all about it as they face a 50% income tax hike. All this change has got me saving my pennies.

We are agents of change. It's bound to happen, we adapt and evolove to the environment around us. But it appears to me that the issues remain the same. We've lost nearly 45% of the world's capital in the past 2.5 years and we can't be quick to call this economic crisis over. I foresee false hope and empty promises ahead and I'm going to be sure to hedge my bets. Salary cuts or not, I'm still happy and proud to have a job and if you're not sitting at home jobless you should be counting your blessings too.

A toast to change...because without change there would be nothing to save.

God Bless,
rf

Rigging Up: Trip #1

Good day, Dopeheads. Today begins the first installment in an unlimited and informative series of rig terms to educate you about the drilling process. I call it "Rigging Up"

Rigging Up: Any process involved in building the rig, running electrical wires and establishing connections around the rig so it works. (e.g. "Let's rig up the depth encoder so we can track our depth."

Trip: A rig trip is when we move pipe in or out of the hole, usually to change the BHA (bottom hole assembly). (e.g. "We're tripping out because the bit is worn.")

BHA: Bottom Hole Assembly. This changes often but usually includes the drilling bit, the mud motor, the non-magnetic monels, heavyweight drill pipe, stabilizer subs and a number of other metal connections at the bottom of the tool string. (e.g. "Time to change the BHA.")

Joint: A piece of drilling pipe usually about 28' to 32' in length. (e.g. "We have 130 joints in the hole")

Sub: A shorter metal connection with a pin and box end or box to box end for connections various other joints...usually between 2' and 9' in length. (e.g. "Pick up that muleshoe sub so we can orient the mudmotor.")

Now people wouldn't think of the oilfield as a glamorous place but Hollywood and Aerosmith obviously thought so and made the blockbuster hit, Armageddon (Touchstone Pictures, 1998) to romanticize the world of drilling. In this spirit, y'all should know that we have a catwalk on location. The catwalk is a length of plank iron that extends off the sub-floor of the drilling rig. The catwalk is where we lay pieces of pipe before we pick them up and connect them to the drill string before and after we connect them to the rest of the pipe. It's a waiting area. Just as in the world of high-fashion, the catwalk is a dangerous place and easy to fall from.

Also, my dad is "unbreakable" like Bruce Willis.

Just another day in paradise. Hope to see y'all soon.
rf

Taking it to the Man.

At $30.00+/barrel most Americans have not had to worry about filling up at the pump lately, compared to one year ago when some parts of the country were paying $4.50/gallon. I guess the public is really taking it to the man these days. But I've got to tell you...I am the man. In all senses of the phrase. Now, I dabbled in pacifism and hippie-ism for about 9 college months but in growing a bit older and wiser I can safely say that we need the man. As Pacino said, "You need people like me!"

The threat of $30.00 oil is upon us. At $30.00/barrel, energy companies can not finance land leases, rig leases, pipe costs and production costs. Truly, oil needs to level out at about $80.00/barrel before we start seeing a significant economic stimulus. On average, global petroleum production is down 25% this year. Russia needs to garner $70.00/barrel to remain solvent and OPEC needs $55.00/barrel. In turn new exploration projects have been postponed for 2 plus years and the Athabaskan tar sands (speculated to place Canada, our best friend, as the largest oil producing country in the world by 2010) has been put on hold until further notice. Due to these recent economic difficulties oilfield workers are being laid-off or let go daily. Not to mention the truckers, welders, and specialty service hands that remain unemployed. Mexico (our number 3 source of imports) is on the road to civil war as the 20% decline in oil production and exportation has left it's burgeoning drug trafficking business as it's number one grossing industry. War and blow flood the streets...Tony Montana would be proud.

I am thankful to be working, whether I am the hated man or not. The supply has met the demand recently, leaving the best of the best out here in the field. Meanwhile, many men sit at home without income. There are workers out here that have not asked for a day off in 6 months fearing they will be perceived as complacent or unappreciative and then they will be replaced. It's a tough world we live in and sometimes I feel ashamed to tell old college friends that I drill for oil and gas, but we live in America. This is capitalism and smoking dope doesn't pay the mortgage-- pipe dope does. It is fantastic to have ideal goals and to work for a greener tomorrow but we must be thankful for the resources we have today. But get ready folks, I foresee an increase in gas prices. Somewhere in the $2.50 to $3.00 range. Try not to loathe it...look at it as economic stimulus. We don't have battery powered vehicles yet. And remember Scarface is the bad guy but I'll be your Huckleberry.

Cheers,
rf

It's All Connected

The oilfield, as with life, is all about connections. Each time we put a new piece of drill pipe in the hole we call it, "making connection". The tool string must remain connected lest we lose it downhole. Most workers out here follow rigs because they enjoy the connections that they make with other workers. All of our computers are networked together so we can share information and thanks to this internet we can all remain connected even while hundreds and thousands of miles away.

The world's universal syntax was proven once again this morning when I began watching Thelma and Louise (MGM Studios, 1991). The movie's plot takes place in the south where an Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a '66 Thunderbird. By the way, I think, this is Geena Davis' most becoming role otherwise I don't find her very attractive.

After being in Arkansas for the last couple of weeks, I am now in Alvarado, TX and the name of this well is... the "Thelma Louise". The only difference is that no one out here plans on pushing this sucker to the edge and going down in flames. Stay linked up.

See you soon.
rf