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Energy industry faces worker shortage Looming retirements face oil and gas industry; rigs also an issue, with equipment sought for U.S. work in China, Italy and Norway drilling Erin Gartner Associated Press Writer
Brian Barclay makes a 275-mile commute across Colorado every week to work near the dusty little town of Rifle, drawn by a natural gas boom that has added trucks, cranes and hundreds of people to the rocky landscape.
Asked why he travels so far for work, the former soldier from Colorado Springs grinned and answered: “The money, and it’s better than getting shot at.”
The natural gas industry has swamped parts of the Rockies with workers and equipment. But despite the surge in population, the energy industry is desperate for labor in the high deserts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
At least one company is helping American oil and gas developers bring in drilling rigs and crews from China, while others are recruiting engineering students before they graduate from college.
Experts say the oil and gas industry will lose more than half of its skilled work force to retirement within 10 years, even as companies consider resurrecting oil shale mining in the sparsely populated land north and west of here.
“We’re in the midst of a gas boom right now, and it’s beating us up,” said John Loschke, the mayor in nearby Parachute. “And to talk about oil shale on top of it? Whew.” Foreign rigs coming in to U.S. Presco Inc. imported a Chinese-built rig this summer and began operating the equipment in early August near Rifle. The crew is American, said Kim Bennetts, Presco’s vice president for exploration and production.
“We only went to China because we were having trouble finding equipment here,” Bennetts said, adding that rigs from Italy, Norway and other countries also are being sought by U.S. oil and gas companies.
The proposed use of foreign labor has upset Rep. John Salazar, a Democrat representing much of western Colorado, and some unionized workers. Salazar suggested providing grants to local colleges or allowing Colorado workers to train with Chinese workers.
“The rig work out there is not a highly skilled criteria. It is dangerous and it’s hard work, but for that kind of money you can’t tell me there aren’t local workers,” said Henry Solano, business manager for the Pipefitters Local Union No. 208 in Denver.
Others disagree.
“I’m sure with the wages the way they are, people will be recruited but not at the rate that’s needed,” said Bob Woodworth, a partner in Denver-based Western Energy Advisors, which helps North American companies work with the China National Petroleum Co. Looming retirements Oil and gas companies are dealing with some alarming labor statistics: About half the entire work force will soon be eligible for retirement because the average age for members of the Society of Petroleum Engineers/American Association of Petroleum Geologists is 50 years old, according to a study by the University of Texas at Austin.
The number of petroleum engineers in the United States dropped by more than 50 percent between 1983 and 2001, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of college students pursuing petroleum and mining degrees dropped by 80 percent over a similar span.
Forest and Olivia Bommarito, both 24, were among 11 students who graduated with master’s degrees in petroleum engineering in May from the Colorado School of Mines.
Forest Bommarito said he had seven job offers before graduating, and his wife received her first job offer a full year before she graduated. Husband and wife signed contracts in October to work for ConocoPhillips and BP, respectively, in Anchorage, Alaska, with starting salaries around $79,000.
“Right now times are great, but there have been times in the past and probably times in the future that haven’t been so good,” Forest Bommarito said. “But it’s going to take a long time, if ever, for the petroleum industry to phase out and for another energy source to become dominant.”
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