I recently located a really good job for my brother in law in the the oil industry as a welder in North Dakota. The pay was great but, being as how he lives in Florida, he decided to wait on the job until next Spring. Going from balmy Florida to the arctic blasts of North Dakota can be brutal.
He may want to look at South Texas for the winter work.
Eagle Ford Shale is doing the same type of work and struggling to find enough people.