Posted on 10/22/2011 4:48:13 PM PDT by Hojczyk
Halliburton, one of the major drilling and hydraulic fracturing companies in the region, even went so far as to have the Olympic Village housing units that were used for the security guards from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics relocated to the town for its workers.
Benjamin Lukes, 31, has been living in Halliburton's "man camp" for almost a year now.
Lukes is bringing in roughly $100,000 a year (including overtime pay), nearly triple the amount he made back in Minnesota when he was manufacturing plastics. But it means being far from his family and living in quarters that he likens to a "prison cell."
The facility is wall-to-wall white, with long empty hallways and flourescent lighting. Lukes' room is about 160 square feet, the walls are bare -- except for a drawing from his daughter -- and there's a metal-framed twin bed.
The $400 a month he pays for rent includes housekeeping and three complimentary meals a day, making it the best deal around, he said. But he will never call it home.
"[My wife and I] talked about trying to find something in the area where I could bring them, he said. One of the local hotels said they would have an apartment suite available in February for $6,700 a month. "[Y]ou can imagine that wasn't a real good option... there's just nowhere to put them."
Lukes hates that he missed the birth of his son this year, but knows he can't support his growing family without this job.
"Each work cycle as I drive away seeing my two-year-old daughter's face in the window, I wonder how much longer I can keep this up," he said. "In the meantime, though, I keep getting promotions, and raises, and bonuses. It's a mixed blessing."
(Excerpt) Read more at beta.finance.yahoo.com ...
It sucks, but you have to admire a man who will go where the jobs are to support his family. I’m firmly convinced that one reason young people can’t find a job is that they are unwilling to leave the comfort of the area they grew up in.
But, but, but everyone knows we have not been drilling for oil and just getting started would turn this economy around in a heartbeat. It is good people are making a good living, but drilling is not going to turn the economy around. Some people need to take a chill pill.
That is a man!:-)
We have many people from here making good money there.
Western Oklahoma is booming with new oil and gas production.
Do you really perfer BHO to Governor Perry?
I spoke with a Surveyor in ND a couple of weeks ago and got on the subject of the boom.
His observations: Crime is skyrocketing by “normal” standards for the area.
Convenience store friend of his pre boom was averaging 1.5 milion/year in revenue. He’s sold $3.5 million in Pizza alone since the first of the year.
No hotel rooms available for 150 miles.
Another friend bought land and put in a campground, bought 50 camping trailers and is renting them out. He’ll break even in 3 years.
You have a compenson gap, my post was we have been drilling and drilling and drilling, and drilling, this crap about drill here drill now is BS, we have no available rigs to drill any faster, and it was caused by 3.50 and 4.00 a gal fuel, not little boy rick perry. Hell there was a news story back in may that they had found a new field in texas and were going to drill 3000 wells as soon as possible.
RE land and campground - What has happened to property values? Are there still such opportunities?
I lived in a (software related) boomtown as a single man and prospered greatly. I was never bothered by my insufficient housing as I knew a better future awaited.
Which companies make the rigs that you need to drill with?
This is exactly what Gov. Palin meant when she said “Drill baby drill” because she’s seen what happened in Alaska when the government got the hell out of the way and let business work.
And hey you OWS hippies: this is what PROSPERITY looks like!
(It’s also what national energy security looks like, you idiots in Congress!)
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