How Can I Find Work In The Middle East Or An Oil Rig?

[soic]

Well, outside of the O&G industry, there are still some jobs in the middle east for westerners. All come with some degree of danger, that usually equates with pay levels. If he's looking for work in the Middle East, he can go online and look for some links to these companies; KBRjobs.com, ITT inc, PWC, IAP, CSA, DynCorp. There are different skill sets required, they range from general labor to highly skilled and schooled. The locations can range from Afghanistan, Georgia, Kuwait, U.A.E and Qatar. I've been working in Kuwait and Iraq for the past 4 years and was in Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia before that. I'm still here... but that's not to say that I haven't seen my share... my best friend was killed here in August of 2003. It's a matter of how bad you want or need to get what you're looking for. Myself, I'm an addict, I can't seem to get away from it... as soon as this visa stuff gets straightened out and a couple more of my business ventures take off in Thailand, I'm going home to stay...

[GuestHouse]

Soic, I wish you the best of luck and as much safety as there is going.

I was asked to go to Iraq two years back, we've got offices right there in the green zone and I have friends there now. The money is unbelievable but so are the risks.

Stay safe Soic, and when you've got enough don't go back for a little bit more.

[expatgaz]

Soic, I wish you the best of luck and as much safety as there is going.

I was asked to go to Iraq two years back, we've got offices right there in the green zone and I have friends there now. The money is unbelievable but so are the risks.

Stay safe Soic, and when you've got enough don't go back for a little bit more.

Guesthouse,interesting.I work in Nigeria, not the safest granted but when we where asked abt Iraq the money touted by all the main firms wasn't as good as here and not at all what I expected.An earlier comment by another poster in regard to the money earned is nonesense, over the last 3 years money has gone up everywhere in this industry due to a lack of qualified men.

EPG

[soic]

Soic, I wish you the best of luck and as much safety as there is going.

I was asked to go to Iraq two years back, we've got offices right there in the green zone and I have friends there now. The money is unbelievable but so are the risks.

Stay safe Soic, and when you've got enough don't go back for a little bit more.

After I get enough for my child support, work permit and visa, I'm done. I've got enough income to cover the visa and work permit requirements, but the support would be tight right now. I'm almost there though. I'm not going to drag this out any longer than possible... I'm too young to tap the retirement, so I have to generate my own income

[johnh101]

Coming from Aberdeen, I got into the oil industry after doing an engineering degree with emphasis on petroleum engineering.

I hated it although the money was good. Offshore life is a real oxymoron - there is no life.

"Offshore" I agree but the O & G business is like joining the army, you can get to see the world for free, but you get paid more (and you don't have to kill anybody either) and its only rarely that you find people shooting at you.

[Tolley]

I worked in Saudi for Saudi Aramco the national oil company for 6 years up until last year and I would echo a lot of the comments others have made.

As far as the Gulf is concerned westerners are not flavour of the month as there are security issues and of course financial considerations. The number of westerners working in the Gulf decreased markedly in the time i was there.

Having said that the Gulf is booming and there are opportunities in specialised niche fields. A lot of high tech jobs available but you need the skills which is the catch 22.

Without quals and/or experience and contacts it is next to impossible to find any good jobs in the Gulf. My advice is get skilled up over the next few years or look forward to spending your life in dead end jobs. The globalised economy is only going to push wages further down for those with low skills as you will be competing against people in poorer countries who are prepared to take less money which in turn will drive down wages and conditions.

[pmoores]

To bring back this old thread. Do each of those oil rigs usually employ a sysadmin computer type? Either basic windows/user support or UNIX sysadmin? Just curious as thats my line and though I have a number of military years ahead of me. Actually doing a rotation off Thailand would look interesting.