Oil & Gas Jobs in South Texas Are Abundant

S. TX Expo Event Registration Line

Oil and gas jobs in South Texas are abundant. From gate guards to industry sales reps and engineers, there's a flood of new people running the roads of South Texas and more open positions than companies can find qualified people for. The Eagle Ford Shale oil boom has added oil and gas jobs in South Texas at a rate no one could have predicted.

Pioneer Natural Resources, an Irving, Texas-based driller, has hired 400 people in the South Texas area in the last two years, says Joey Hall, vice president in charge of Pioneer's South Texas Asset Team.

About 75% or a little more of Pioneer's workers are located in the field and contractors employ another 1,000 people who help build rigs and move crude.

The story is similar for Conoco who added more than 500 jobs between its Texas plays and North Dakota's Bakken Shale. Over 50% of Conoco's hires were engineers, but most jobs in the field don't require a college degree.

About 15% of the 54,000 new jobs expected in the Eagle Ford shale by 2021 will require a college degree, and a little more than 10% will require direct experience in the energy business, Tunstall said.

Read more in an article from South Carolina's wltx.com.

Eagle Ford Energy Boom is Just Beginning

"The Eagle Ford energy boom is just beginning" was the comment for Texas A&M University professors earlier in the week. Hotels and restaurants are already benefiting in Corpus Christi and other industries will be following along in short order. The influx of South Texas oilfield jobs is supporting the economy across the area and not just where drilling is active.

Pulling Eagle Ford Trailers Safely - Crack the Whip!

Pulling Eagle Ford trailers safely is no task for the faint at heart. Combination vehicles are usually heavier, longer, and require more driving skill than single commercial vehicles. This means that drivers of a vehicle combination like a straight truck with a trailer need more knowledge and skill than drivers of single vehicles. These drivers also need a Combination Vehicle Endorsement on their CDL. To get one, you have to take a written test and a skills test. You’ll have to demonstrate that you know how to handle two characteristics of trailers that make driving a combination vehicle more of a challenge than driving a single vehicle. These are:

• rearward amplification and
• yaw instability.

Eagle Ford Trailers - Rearward Amplification

In the busy production-driven environment of the Eagle Ford Shale oilfield, “crack the whip” usually means, “get busy, get to work!” For drivers of tractor-trailers, however, “crack the whip” has a different meaning.

Federal Motor Safety Oversteer

Trucks with trailers have a dangerous crack-the-whip effect caused by rearward amplification. A quick lane change can cause the trailer to swing out, then swing back, like the tip of a whip. This effect is most severe in double and triple combinations. The last trailer in the combination will be affected the most. The result can be a rollover.

Steer gently and smoothly when pulling trailers. Maintain a generous following distance. Leave at least one second for each ten feet of your vehicle length, plus another second if you’re going over 40 miles per hour. Look far enough ahead to avoid having to make sudden movements. Drive slowly and make lane changes gradually. Keep plenty of space to the sides of the vehicle so you can enter or cross traffic smoothly.

Federal Motor Safety Understeer

Control your speed whether fully loaded or empty. When empty, large combination vehicles take longer to stop than fully loaded ones. When lightly loaded, the very stiff suspension springs and strong brakes give poor traction and make it very easy to lock up the wheels. The trailer can swing out and strike other vehicles.

A tractor can jackknife very quickly. Be careful about driving bobtail tractors which can be very hard to stop smoothly and which take longer to stop than a tractor-semitrailer loaded to maximum gross weight.

When the wheels of a trailer lock up, the trailer will tend to swing around in a trailer jackknife. This is more likely to happen when the trailer is empty or lightly loaded. Stay off the brake. Do not use the trailer hand brake while driving, it can cause a trailer skid.

Once the trailer wheels regain traction, the trailer will start to follow the tractor and straighten out.

Yaw Instability Can Cause a Rollover

“Yaw” means rotation around a vertical axis. In terms of trailers, this vertical axis is the kingpin and it’s where the trailer is joined to the tractor. This connection does not keep the trailer in a fixed, straight line behind the tractor. After all, the whole point of having an articulated vehicle is to create an angle between the tractor and the trailer. That allows the entire rig to take curves and corners.

However, this flexibility can cause problems called “yaw instability” or “snaking.” Sometimes this swaying, or oscillation, can cause a rollover. As the speed at which you’re traveling increases, your trailer or trailers will start to sway from side to side. A sudden steering maneuver can also lead to instability. Several factors can contribute to yaw instability such as:

• the condition of your tires
• the stiffness of the suspension
• the placement of the fifth wheel
• the distribution of cargo

Load cargo and pre-trip your rig with care. Use caution when passing vehicles on the highway or going around a sharp corner. Don’t understeer or oversteer.

If you have an interests in driving in the Eagle Ford, be sure to visit our South Texas Oilfield Jobs page and Devorah's website linked in her bio below.

South Texas Truck Driver Shortage Spreading Across the U.S.

Oil Tanker on the Highway

The South Texas truck driver shortage isn't alone. The American Trucking Association estimates the industry is short as many as 30,000 drivers across the country. The problem is compounded by high turnover rates: 70-90% a year. In South Texas, the high turnover rate is probably the only reason oil companies have been able to hire as many drivers as they have. It is school systems who can't hire bus drivers and local distributors who don't compete in pay that are struggling to find qualified personnel.

Average pay for an entry level truck driver ranges from $36,000-$45,000, but it rises to $50,000-$70,000 in the oilfield. Drivers work longer hours and spend time away from home, but for many the time away is offset by paychecks that twice that of typical jobs. Don't expect those pay rates to fall any time soon. It is more likely that rates for driving jobs outside of the oilfield will rise in response. If you have an interest in working in the oilfield, visit our Eagle Ford Truck Driving Jobs page.

Read the full article at mysa.com

Flint Hills Resources Plans $250 Million Refinery Expansion

Flint Hills Resources' West Refinery in Corpus Christi is getting $250 million in upgrades. The improvements will allow the company to process more Eagle Ford crude and reduce emissions. The upgrades wouldn't add capacity, but would allow the company to process more South Texas crude. Flint Hills operates two Corpus Christi refineries. The West Refinery that will be upgraded refines 230,000 barrels of oil per day and the East Refinery refines 70,000 barrels per day. Currently, only 50% of the crude processed in the West Refinery is sourced from the Eagle Ford, but additional processing facilities will allow Flint Hills to maximize the use of local supply. The expansion will not be noticeable to the untrained eye and will add 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction.

“If we receive the final go-ahead and appropriate permits the site will see construction activity for about two years, with as many as 1,000 additional workers on site on many days,” Gaarder added. “However, this project will not require more land nor will new equipment be easily noticed from I-37.” Flint Hills also is establishing a project-specific, near-neighbor panel.

Flint does have to file for permits from both the TCEQ and the EPA before construction can start. Read the full news release at fhr.com