Chapter 5

Benefits and the Unseen Opportunity

Benefits of companies involved in the oil and gas industry range from virtually nonexistent to excellent. The better companies will provide the following at little or no cost to you:

• Major Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Life Insurance
• 401 K Programs
• Profit Sharing

Profit sharing is when a company takes a portion of your salary, usually up to about six percent, and puts it in a special account. Then, if they have a good year, they will match up to 100 percent of what you contributed. Profit sharing is an excellent way to save and invest for the future.

Stock Ownership Options

Some companies, after you have been with them for awhile, will give you a pre-arranged number of shares of their stock each year.

The above benefits are mostly for hourly workers. Salaried employees, which are usually the upper supervisory positions, get not only those but others such as sick leave, disability insurance, and paid vacations.

The unseen opportunity is the time off. Where else can you go to work and get two weeks out of the month off? The time off presents a truly wonderful opportunity. Many people take their time off and do nothing but spend money and party. There are a lot of people who have worked 20 to 30 years in the oil patch and don't have much more to show for it now than when they first started. On the other hand, many others have worked hard in the patch, worked at part time jobs when they were off, saved a little money and started a business on the side. The opportunity is there for you. Do with it whatever you like, but if you'd like to give it a try, then by all means go for it!

"He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich." - Proverbs 10:4

Convenience

Working offshore is quite convenient. After rolling out of bed, you can be to work in two minutes flat! There is no hassle with traffic, truly a blessing. It's convenient to work where your room and board is provided for, usually free. I personally ate very well. When I worked offshore I didn't have to pay for groceries for two weeks. That knocked the heck out of my food bill.

Remember; the galley provides four hot meals a day, all you care to eat. Seafood and steaks are on the menu often. Snacks, cold drinks, and fruit juices are provided 24 hours a day. BR hands make your bed and wash your clothes every night and have them ready for the next morning. During your off tower (the time on the rig that you're not working) there are plenty of satellite programs and videos to watch, served with hot popcorn and cold drinks. The better companies go out of their way to provide all the convinces of home. Some of the rigs even have weight rooms and saunas. You can call home anytime you like via satellite phones.

Sea air is very healthy to breathe and ads to the invigoration of the experience. You will experience wonderfully beautiful sights, breathtaking sunrises and peacefully tranquil sunsets. You will experience these mainly because you will not be in a rush to go somewhere. When you're offshore, there's nowhere to go, except on crew-change day.