Schlummin It...

I decided to start this blog thanks to the coercion of my dear friend SST! I guess this is the best way to describe my current lifestyle and job to each of you without having to repeat the same stories multiple times, and here I can include pictures and let you ask questions. Please forgive me in advance for my sub par writing skills, let's remember that this isn't my forte with a technical degree!

I guess I should start out by briefly describing exactly just what it is I do for a living. My technical title is, MWD/LWD Field Engineer for Sclumberger Oilfield Services; within the D&M (Drilling & Measurements) segment. MWD meaning Measurements While Drilling and LWD is Logging While Drilling. MWD is the evaluation of physical properties of the formation, LWD is the measure of formation parameters. In layman's terms, I use real-time data from our LWD services to let the client make timely, informed decisions, reducing time and costs; as well as recorded-mode data to deliver logs, surveys, etc. All of this information allows the client to know what they are drilling into, ability to steer the well, and obviously find that Sweet Texas Tea.

Schlumberger employs just about 80,000 people, of about 140 different nationalities, throughout 80+ countries. It is the world's largest oilfield services provider, supplying the petroleum industry with services such as seismic acquisition/processing, formation evaluation, well testing, directional drilling, well cementing and stimulation, completions, software and information management, etc. The biggest thing to realize here is that SLB is solely a service provider. They do not own a single drop of oil, rigs, refineries, etc. We only provide the above services to clients such as Exxon, Chevron, BP, Anadarko, all the way down to the small mom and pop companies.

Thus far, my job has taken me across South Texas and currently the Gulf of Mexico. Right now I'm floating on a semi-submersible rig, the Ensco 8500, about 200 miles off the coast. This picture is a bit deceiving to the actual magnitude of the rig, but you get the idea...

In upcoming blogs I'll be sure to touch on what life is like on the rig, an average day out here (I'm not quite sure those exist), the food/people/accommodations, spending holidays at sea, weather, the work itself, and so on. Please feel free to post questions along the way! And I'll try my best to sneak pictures around the rig to post.

If at any point through the course of this blog I unintentionally use unfamiliar terms or you magically feel like learning more about industry specifics here is a great source to use.