How to Find A Job In The Haynesville Shale Formation Oilfield

The Haynesville shale is a layer of rock about two miles deep in parts on Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas that contains huge volumes of natural gas. The oilfield is still booming in this area and there are good jobs to be found.

Instructions

1. Learn as much as you can about shale gas and the areas where it is found. The Haynesville shale formation is one of the hottest gas "plays" in the United States. The most drilling activity centers around the Louisiana parishes of Caddo, DeSoto, Bossier, Red River and Sabine with other areas opening up as the boundaries of the formation are discovered. There are many good jobs associated with the development of a new gas field.

2. Become familiar with the type of jobs involved in drilling for Haynesville shale gas. These jobs include working as a roughneck or a roustabout on a rig crew, laying pipeline and preparing lease locations, to installing gas compressors and wellsite equipment.
   Other jobs include water and oil hauling, and the various service companies that provide myriad services to a drilling rig. Companies such as Baker Hughes and Newpark hire mud engineers whose job it is to formulate the drilling fluid used in a well. Companies such as Schlumberger hire well logging technicians to operate equipment that tests the different rock layers for oil and gas.

3. Get job specific training. If you have no prior technical experience consider attending a local community college's program in oilfield technology. Most high paying service company jobs, such as mud engineer and well logging technician require some college. For those with a GED or high school education consider applying to the various drilling companies such as Nabors and Patterson. Check oilfield employment sites for job listings and check local papers in cities like Shreveport and Texarkana.

4. Learn about production jobs. The oil and gas companies will often hire production employees or "pumpers" to take care of the wells once they are drilled. Duties include maintenance of equipment and reading gas production charts and gauging tanks. Check the websites the major companies like EOG and Chesapeake for job postings.

Resources

• Information On The Haynesville Shale
• Texas Oilfield Job Postings