How long sat on the beach..

[DJansen]

But what James is saying is correct.. Our industry isn’t in decline.. So why the long sob story and the ‘can you reduce your dayrate’ nonsense ?

Back in the year dot I was working offshore in China.. They were developing a field… An FPSO an FPS and a shed load of subsea infrastructure.. All in ‘deep water’ (relatively speeking) cost of oil per barrel ? around 9 bucks..

fast forward to last year.. Oil is topping out above 120 bucks a barrel..
Had my dayrate improved since 1994 ? Fook yeah ! but not in line with the oil price… Jaysus I would have been on 3k a day (maybe more) if my dayrate had been linked to oil’s % increase..

Again… Back then there was an Op’s manager, a secratary and some purchasing johnny… The company ran fine.. Now we have more guys in the office than offshore… and an email about serial numbers and tool box reports every day…. Why are they forcing a paycut on us coonts at the coal face ? If you want to save money trim the shiny ass fellas that don’t produce anything…

There is no need for rates to reduce… If you can’t rent you sub out for the same premium as before why is that my problem… The cost of living has increased and I need a payrise.. If the ROV companies got together and set the price of a sub+crew instead of cutting each others throat what are the oil majors gonna do ? We are already massively undervalued.. Has anyone seen the dayrate that wellhead and downhole tpe companies charge for their gear… It’s just a hunk of metal with a few threads cut in it.. nothing like the fancy gubbins in an ROV.. So why is a sub only worth a measly dayrate… and the crews money robbed to make up the difference ?

I wish I knew… alll I can say is management ain’t managing… A sub costs over a million bucks but you rent it out for a 1000 a day and pay to fix it if it gets fooked… Jaysus if I had a million I’d buy a few fancy cars and rent them instead.. a better return and insurance covers the dings..

Sorry for the rant…. two bottles of a nasty cheap shiraz

[Scott Beveridge]

Nice rant dude!!!

To all… read the above and memorize it. The job DJan was talking about was a ONE BILLION US$ project. And check this out… the jb was completed 56 days ahead of schedule, oil WAS low priced (it only takes approx. $20 to produce a finished product nowadays), wringing our hands for THE BONUS…. The oil company saved approx. $250M. Wringing our hands in anticipation of a decent bonus we received (drum roll please)….. 1 each jacket, 1 each bag , and one each perspex plate with the "First Oil" drop in it. THEN they told us that they paid TOO MUCH for the jackets and wanted it (the jacket) back…. Oh the joys of working for major oil company Richard Craniums!!!

And yes, there were companies with 5 – 8 systems offshore with only a handful of people running them – they DID deserve the bonuses they earned…. NOW???? farqin’ leeches… 4 ROV managers++ and no work… get farqin’ real. Why don’t management go on call out??????? Most can’t work offshore again cuz’ they’re useless!

[me]

How many of you guys have been asked to take a pay cut?? or have you just heard about someone. None of the people i have been working with this year have been asked, also the people back in Asia i am in contact with have not been asked, so is it a lot?? or only a few ?? who knows….

[Ray Shields]

16 years offshore, 27 in ROVs, never been asked to take a cut.

[Anthony]

Hi Im Muxsub , Just like to say hello to you all firstly ,Great site .

I’ve done 40 days this year, Agency work seems to have gone pretty quiet this but again with some working for peanut day rates maybe why the phone isnt ringing as much , All in all not its not the worst start for 2010,a lot of the work seems to be day rate only at present contracts seem few and far between?

Ps. DJansen nice post pal 8)

[luckyjim37]

I have never been asked to take a paycut by an individual company but when I was contracting I noticed rates varied between companies.

I think this argument will go on forever or until rates are fixed. What I do know is my company hired a guy in for some work who had not had a job offer for nearly six months regardless of rates. He has years of experience and is not bad at what he does. That must be financially hard on anyone.

I know this winter has been a lot quieter than in recent years and I it has caught a few people out. The weather has been a major factor in delaying the start of some jobs I suspect, simple economics have forced a few guys hands into possibly going out for less, others are maybe greedy or not really good enough as we have no pay agreements in place in the North sea it is a little harsh to be pointing at individuals and starting name calling. Simple fact is if there was a pay agreement then the situation would be different. It is just a real shame that we may all have to go the Uni0n route to get one.

[Scott Beveridge]

I have never been asked to take a paycut by an individual company but when I was contracting I noticed rates varied between companies.

I think this argument will go on forever or until rates are fixed. What I do know is my company hired a guy in for some work who had not had a job offer for nearly six months regardless of rates. He has years of experience and is not bad at what he does. That must be financially hard on anyone.

I know this winter has been a lot quieter than in recent years and I it has caught a few people out. The weather has been a major factor in delaying the start of some jobs I suspect, simple economics have forced a few guys hands into possibly going out for less, others are maybe greedy or not really good enough as we have no pay agreements in place in the North sea it is a little harsh to be pointing at individuals and starting name calling. Simple fact is if there was a pay agreement then the situation would be different. It is just a real shame that we may all have to go the Uni0n route to get one.

I have to disagree with the economic crises crap…. it still only cost approx. $20 to produce a bbl of oil…. do the math. The fat shiny butts are raping us for loads!!!!!

[mind-when-this-was-fields]

never been asked to take pay cut but never got a payrise this year.(
on the books though so i guess different situation to agency bods.
one reeason for this was the main contractor that we had large contract with was not allowing the company to increase rates.?mmmmmmm
at least i have had regular work this year unlike some of the agency guys i have been speaking to you
one senior supervisor got offered a job on xlx for 378 gbp per day recently? taking the p*ss somewhat i thought.
he refused and told them to up their rate but never heard anything back so i guess they got their crew?
hopefully the bigger projects will start soon and there is no reason why they shouldn’t looking at the oil prices?
time will tell i guess……..
one thing that puzzles me though- 2008 barrel of oil= $150.price at pump £1.20 a litre
2010 barrel of oil= $80. price at pump £1.19 a litre????
so who is making the money at the pump?? mmmmmmmm

enjoy

[zincanode]

73 days since I last flushed a hydraulic system…getting the DTs but I sniff my mate’s tractor when I’m in need of a fix.

Perhaps we all need 2 bottles of DJansen "tub-thumper special" before going into the office and thumping the desk….well said mate.

I missed the Oceanology meeting this year but got quite a bit of feedback from those who went to London. Basically all the "clients" were positive, but none had been given a budget for serious works this year due to the Bean Counters fixing their budget at last March’s level of $37/barrel.

Apparently these £150k+ whizz kids haven’t the forsight to look at previous oil price bouncebacks nor are they trusted enough to be flexible with the budgets. So no funding for major projects until possibly September when the North Sea will covered by a high pressure zone and calm seas until the following February!

The few companies that can be a bit more flexible will no doubt give the industry 2 weeks notice that they want to restart work but will conveniently forget about vessels and systems that were mothballed back in January…well you just step aboard and turn the ignition key don’t you?

Now I just completed my Survival refresher 2 weeks ago – 13 guys, 4 over 60, none under 40, and the following week I went to a briefing where the thirty-something client was asking for ideas about how to bring more youngsters into the industry (and keep them until at least their 1st survival refresher).

As the older guys have already said – don’t sell yourself short. Stick out for the pay you want and if some company/agent approaches you and asks how much you want to work in nicky-nacky-noo just say "THE GOING RATE". Until a couple off years ago the agents were a trusted bunch, but recently I’ve come across a couple who are skimming a huge amount (20-30%) so it may not be the oil company that’s being mean.

Things will pick up and 2011 is probably going to be manic – but by then experience will be thinner on the ground as we all go off to retrain as HSE inspectors and QA auditors (and some of us old buggers decide we rather like onshore work). One everyone needs to do is to avoid putting up with crap conditions, unpredictable rotations and all the false promises that we just got rid of before this downturn.

Certainly $85/barrel is a pretty good price so why doesn’t someone sign some contracts?
______________
3 bottles of Thatchers Cider helps clear the thought channels

[James McLauchlan]

Simple fact is if there was a pay agreement then the situation would be different. It is just a real shame that we may all have to go the Uni0n route to get one.

I wouldn’t worry about that too much.

Based on what I have read of late the OILC/RMT appears to be not the slightest bit interested in helping ROV members.

How I came by that information will remain unspoken… by me at least.

I’m now of the opinion that if an agreement is to be made it needs to be via some other route.

[Paul Bond]

It’s the first time i have seen that view mentioned on here. Before, it seems to have been the case that if there were enough ROV members……….
They are probably too busy helping out their ‘bread and butter’ clientele – the rail workers!

What does everyone else think? New forum?

[Anonymous]

James indeed, OILC/RMT a waste of monthly dues. Did you honestly think that OILC/RMT were gonna actually do something for the ROV guys.

BTW where is Niel OILC these days? He used to frequent these pages trying to recruit potential members. Better off with out the unions IMO, they will negociate rates down.

Its all down to everyone for themselves, as always, that alone will dictate how long your sat on the beach. 😯 being a contractor is being an offshore HO as we all know in it for the $$ in it for number 1

[Scott Beveridge]

James indeed, OILC/RMT a waste of monthly dues. Did you honestly think that OILC/RMT were gonna actually do something for the ROV guys.

BTW where is Niel OILC these days? He used to frequent these pages trying to recruit potential members. Better off with out the unions IMO, they will negociate rates down.

Its all down to everyone for themselves, as always, that alone will dictate how long your sat on the beach. 😯 being a contractor is being an offshore HO as we all know in it for the $$ in it for number 1

Yes…. But Hoes try to get the most / high $$$ NOT the other way around…..

[Anthony]

unpredictable rotations and all the false promises that we just got rid of before this downturn.

My life epitomized in one sentence ! 😛

[effinreps]

55 days so far, 75 by the end of the trip and guaranteed work for June and Aug. 145 days at £435 pd more than enough to see me through to next year if nothing else turns up.

[Author]

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