Well, what a ride it has been! My time in the Kingdom has come to a close as I now have a bit of a clearer picture of where I go from here. But before I talk about the future, I should probably explain my last 6 months.
I last told the story of my entire 2014 in one comically long and mostly incoherent post. Now that I've matured into pseudo-employment, I will try to keep this one brief and with excellent
links. I returned from a fantastic Christmas and New Years break back in January. I'd had a great time seeing friends and family and spending heaps of time with AP. It was time to get back to work. I had assumed the role of Engineer-in-Charge for our growing tools cell in lovely
Udhailiyah (kindly note that video is remarkably inaccurate). I was ready to continue developing as a leader of the cell.
Our activity had basically fallen off the table completely however. As many of you know, Saudi Arabia decided not to cut domestic oil production last fall, despite objections from a lot of other OPEC and non-OPEC countries. The US and China had been fracking so much for the past few years that a global glut of oil supplies was driving down the price to half of what it had been at the peak of 2014. Supply > demand = lower prices. Saudi Aramco therefore decided that a lot of expensive services that we provide were
no longer financially viable. Somehow, we still stayed busy, mainly by preparing for tons of operations that had been 'promised' to us. I really started to find my groove and we had a bunch of new processes and initiatives that my friend (and now boss) and I were implementing. The rest of the industry was struggling, as all of our competitors had announced massive layoffs. SLB had too and in UDH, we felt a bit of the pinch. Our tools cell hadn't been touched because of our unique skills, and we actually got a few new faces, since their transfers had been approved way earlier.
As I crossed my 4-year mark in Saudi, I started seriously thinking about my next career move, especially during that hitch. I had asked for a transfer to
Australia for the first half of 2015, but considering the way the market was, it started to appear less likely that that would happen. Our activity remained pretty low throughout the first couple months of the year, and considering the cuts that were happening to the coiled tubing guys around, a few of us were definitely worried about keeping our jobs. The stresses of a long-term relationship had also begin to drive a bit of a wedge between AP and myself and I knew I'd need to make something happen if I wanted the relationship to endure. Despite the fact that I really enjoyed my job and loved the people I worked with, I started to plan for life after Saudi.
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| Spring cleaning |
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| Health and Safety Awards - somebody won best driver... |
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| Nothing like a good Saudi sunset |
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| Malaysia, India, Russia and Brazil. And we all enjoy mendhi! |
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| Because why wouldn't I bring my Presidents Baseball to Saudi? |
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| That's supposed to be straight. My bad.... |
Come March, I flew off to Brisbane to start planning my next move. I started thinking seriously about getting an MBA. I always thought I would at some point and I knew it would be pretty helpful if I ever moved back to the US. I dedicated myself to studying for the GMAT, which is the standardized test that is required by most MBA programs. Good scores can help you get into better schools and even help qualify you for scholarships. I spent 6-8 hours a day for 3 weeks deep into the GMAT preparation materials and finally banged out the test a couple days before I left back for Saudi. Luckily the hard work paid off and I scored well enough to get into any of the MBA programs in Australia. AP and I were both pretty pumped, and the three weeks we spent together helped ease the tension that had been building. We took a few trips up the Sunshine Coast for weekend hikes, sampled rugby at our neighborly Suncorp Stadium, and settled very nicely into our apartment in Brisbane. We even took a weekend trip down to Canberra to visit AP's old roommate. It offered her a much-needed escape from Bris and we both enjoyed our time thoroughly.
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| Canberra Festival? |
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| Magoo and animals. Awkward combo |
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| Conquering Mt Tibrogargan |
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| Underratedly dangerous climb |
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| No shirt, no shoes....no worries? |
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| Go Broncos! |
Upon arriving back in the Kingdom, I quickly learned what my fate would be. Working with our fiber optics for years and introducing some of our newest technology had apparently put both myself and the other engineer-in-charge on the radar of our upper management. The company made the decision that we were valuable to them but that the current market conditions couldn't justify keeping us in Saudi. Basically we were expensive and no one wanted the expensive technology we were masters of. Therefore, I was offered to take an incentivized leave-of-absence (iLOA) program. This was my chance to get out of Saudi and preserve my future. The only catch was that I would have to leave two days after I got there. Not cool. My boss had been probing around and asking other locations around the world if they needed a fiber-optic guy for a while. His hope was that it would delay my iLOA. It just so happened that Denmark was running some of our newer logging technologies and they needed a hand. So after a couple weeks of fearful anticipation and trying to spend some more time savoring what little time I had left with my buddies in Saudi, I caved in and flew off to Denmark.
I landed in the western city of Billund, which happens to be the world headquarters of
Lego. Had I had more time, I would've certainly plunged myself into all the riches that LegoWorld Denmark had to offer. Unfortunately, the taxi took me straight to the base in Esbjerg, a small seaside fishing town that had grown up with the nation's burgeoning oil and gas industry. Expats have started moving in and the town is now the hub of offshore activity for all of Denmark, with its proximity to the rich North Sea reservoirs.
I actually managed to fit in pretty quickly with the team in Denmark, since I realized just how small our little coiled tubing world is. One of the technical managers in Esbjerg had worked with me in Saudi before, one of the engineers had studied with me back in Tulsa, and a few of the other engineers had gone to training with people I knew in the Kingdom. Needless to say, the transition was smooth. Before I actually went offshore for the operation, I had to pass the Danish offshore survival training though. The training in Saudi had certainly paled in comparison. The Danish course was a three-day venture. We got theory and powerpoint slides the first day, and practiced getting into and out of the lifeboats. Day two was a bit more intense, with helicopter and sea survival. We were taken underwater in the giant hollowed-out shell of a helicopter not once, but SIX times, all in different scenarios. I learned how to use the breathing apparatus they have in the North Sea, which basically allows you to breathe your own air 7-8 times, which in theory is enough time to escape a helicopter and get to the surface. It was intense, and a little bit fun, and I realized that being flipped upside down in the water is actually way more comfortable than right-side up (buoyancy acts like gravity when you're upside-down!). We got some fire and first aid on day three, and I got my offshore survival card. Whoop! I also had to pass a health exam, which was performed by an insanely hot Danish nurse. Blood pressure might've become an issue....
I learned that I would still have another week in Esbjerg before I went offshore due to helicopter flight availability. Therefore, I went out with the team for a night of raucous dancing and absolutely no dinner. This latter point became painfully obvious the next day, when I left my room exactly once before 8pm and that was only to venture to the bathroom to puke. Note to self: you are not 21 anymore! I spent the other day that weekend thinking about food and avoiding the rain outside.
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| Less sandy than Udhailiyah |
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| Two beds for me? Ok... |
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| Clock Tower of Esbjerg. Like, the only landmark |
The next week in Esbjerg I mostly researched MBA programs in Australia (and the US as well). I also hosted an online web-presentation that discussed a lot of the successes we'd had in Saudi using the new tool that got me my last promotion. It was pretty cool to see the enthusiasm from coiled tubing folk around the world, since people were chimed in from at least 5 continents. But before I knew it, I was climbing into a helicopter and heading off to the platform to run some logging jobs.
I had the awesome fortune of riding out there with an SLB dude who also had a bunch of fiber optic experience. He was an excellent supervisor and friendly as hell, and with him next to me, I knew that all my fears and hesitations about running the job were for naught. We managed to run some tools that had actually never been run together in a well before. They worked almost perfectly and the client was very satisfied with the results we were giving them. I was pleased because I only had to work 12-hour shifts again! It had been years since I'd been in that position and it was refreshing to know the night shift guy could handle stuff without waking me up!
The platform itself was old by Danish standards, but was SOOO much nicer than what I was accustomed to offshore in Saudi. The crew there was mostly Scottish, so they worked hard and swore incoherently. The mess hall served amazing meals everyday, including comical amounts of bacon. I think I had dessert at every single lunch and dinner for 3 weeks. I compensated for that by using the gym they had onboard, which included cardio and weights. I found out that one of the guys I worked with even ran a marathon on the treadmill there last year! Overall, the time offshore was excellent. The crew I worked with was absolutely amazing, and it made me long for something different than the Saudi experience I'd had. I met Danish guys who were NFL fans, Scottish guys who had worked in Oman, and a friendly Norwegian wireline engineer who must've been the oldest field engineer in the ranks of Big Blue. It was very refreshing to see how civilized the oilfield could be and some of the differences between client attitudes as well.
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| Those clear North Sea skies |
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| Not exactly the rig I was off to, but you get the idea. |
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| There she is |
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| Cardio, here I come! |
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| Coiled Tubing at its best |
When we finished up our last fiber-optic operations, I flew back to town and immediately sat down with the bosses there. Apparently they wanted me to transfer there! What a decision. I talked everything over with AP, because the opportunity would've been very cool. More normal working hours. Access to the rest of Europe. Less sand. But in the end, AP and I still decided to go forward with the plan of me coming to Australia and pursuing the MBA. So I said my goodbyes to my new friends in Denmark and headed back to Saudi for one last hoorah.
In my time in Saudi, I've gotten very close with the guys I'm working with. You can imagine the camaraderie that forms when you work in very difficult environments together, away from your family and friends, and constantly under stress to perform. I imagine it's similar to military environments, although without the constant threat of death. When I got back from Denmark, I started the process of getting my exit visa and closing my bank accounts and trying to tie up loose ends. I didn't quite realize how hard it would be to say goodbye to my friends though. I spent so much time with the guys that the lines between professional and personal life were nonexistent. We were each other's family and social network. We've all shared pretty deep stuff with each other and the good times far outweighed the bad. My last hoorah made that very clear.
The other engineer-in-charge even flew back to Saudi for a week just to give his farewell also. We had a few farewell meals, I tried to give as good of a handover as possible, and I packed up all my stuff from four and a half years into four and a half bags. The good thing about our cell is that we have a couple excellent guys in the pipeline and, after a month or two, they should be able to get the hang of everything. I do think that the cell is better shape now than when I found it, and I know that I made some small contributions to that. It turns out that the only bodies to be shed from our cell were those of us in charge. 3 out of the 4 senior leaders were offered the iLOA package, which apparently is very selective anyway, as its a favorable alternative to either normal leaves of absence or outright dismissal. So while we may have been gutted a bit, the younger guys are more than capable of taking over.
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| A fellow UM grad came from Houston to help introduce some new tool in my last week |
So as I said my farewells, we had a big mendhi lunch and gave hugs and handshakes, exchanged some contact information, and eventually headed out from Udhailiyah. The guys apparently lingered around the parking lot for a while, sort of in disbelief that myself and the other EIC were leaving. He'd been in Udhailiyah for 5 years and between the two of us, I think we'd made a big impact on a lot of lives there. Our trip to Khobar had us singing along to the songs of the last couple years. It was a bit emotional, since myself, the other EIC and our boss had all gotten really close. We had no idea when we would see each other again. The other EIC is charting a similar course to me, doing his MBA at Oxford this fall. I know I'll definitely miss these guys and the 'good ole days' were done for us.
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| Final trip to Burger Fuel |
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| Farewell lunch! |
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| They don't make better teams |
I'll have to write another post to talk about what my next plan is, but for starters, I flew back to the US, with an insane amount of luggage, and quickly traded out my stuff in San Francisco with stuff that I would be bringing back to Brisbane. I met up with some good friends and then took another inter-continental flight back to Australia. This time, it would be for good....
