Bakken Hiring Blitz As Boom Turns From Exploration To Production

Some time ago I was told that Burlington Northern was getting ready to hire a lot of folks.

Today, The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

Oil-related companies are on hiring blitzes as the focus in the patch shifts from exploration to production.

Specifics:

Power Fuels: a subsidiary of Nuverra Environmental Solutions and one of the largest oil field service companies in the Bakken, put out its call for 300 new employees going into the holidays.

Needed employees range from commercially-licensed truck drivers and mechanics to support services positions in accounts payable, rental billing, credit and collections, information technology, and human resources.

The increase in production has brought need to other industries as well, like trucking, rail, pipelines and gas plants.

“BNSF is hiring a ton of new people,” Sanford said. “2014 is going to be a busy year.”

Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said with 8,000 wells on the ground now, companies have to have the man power to service all of them every day.
“It’s reaching the point that production is getting as big as exploration type jobs,” he said.

And then this: the new jobs will be more permanent in nature --

According to the National Labor Exchange website, the need for wellhead pumpers has gone up 399 percent over the last year. The need for service unit employees increased 135 percent. These positions are long term jobs on the production side of oil and gas as opposed to the more temporary positions needed for drilling.

It will be interesting to follow "Oil Patch Jobs" up at the top on the sidebar at the right.