floorhand

derrick hand

rig manager

field technician

motor hand

Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC

I worked 14/14 schedule and loved it. Lots of hard work involved; so if you can't hack busting you tail, don't bother them with your resume.
While I initially saw this as a great opportunity to get my foot in the oilfield, I soon realized it was nothing more than wishful thinking. 

The culture of the company is dog-eat-dog. The training they promise is all dependent on the Rig and people you work with. Unfortunately for me, I got on a Rig where they did not welcome worms into the crew. They did everything they could to get me to quit, but I was the only one working to support my family. So, I held out almost a year before they finally got rid of me. This is what some of them do; or at least it was my experience; and the company will not investigate, accept any evidence or witness testimony in support of you when it happens - they just cover it all up, and deny, deny, deny.  

If you are lucky enough to get on a Rig that is willing to train you properly; you will be fine, and not understand what I am talking about. Otherwise, do your earnest to lay low, work hard, do what you are told, ignore the nasty comments, start sending out your resume, and check into a Rig transfer. What ever you do, DO NOT let them get to you. DO NOT ask for help from the toolpusher or HR, because it will put a target on your back and they WILL get rid of you. Do your job, get lots of rest, try to be appeasing and ask lots of questions, and they may just leave you alone and train you. I wish you luck!

Management: you need to follow your own policies and procedures. You should never have a knee-jerk reaction to accusations; follow up and try to work it out with the employee. Your reviews of the employee should demonstrate your desire to help the employee be the best they can be; not negative and useless criticism and remarks. If you struggle with this concept, then perhaps you should not be in management. 

Company: Don't assume that because someone in a management position claims something that they don't have ulterior motives -  investigate for heaven sake. How much more does it cost you to investigate allegations, than to have to advertise to hire a new employee, review resumes and applications, and spend time and effort to train them? Make a true effort to ensure employees are being trained, don't rely on management and HR to ensure this is actually taking place. If you can do some of these things - then you will do much better with moral and loyalty from your employees. I know I am a nobody to you, but if you are serious about ending the constant outflow of wasted funds, and good employees, then you will at least entertain the suggestions I have made. And remember, those out there on the Rig know what is going on - you don't because you aren't out there. Do some critical thinking, and realize that you need to listen, investigate claims, and view any and all evidence, then make your final decision - it will never be bad for moral or for the future of the company if you do.

A typical work day started at 5:45 a.m or p.m depending on which tour (shift) you were working that hitch (1 or 2 week work period depending on the rig). 
     The tour would start with a safety meeting discussing the days expected events (most days did not go as expected and this was also discussed) and how to safely handle them as well as important task that were expected to be finished regardless of the days events). 
     From the safety meeting we found our relief (co-worker we were replacing for the day/night) and were giving a report of what was done, not done, and needing to be done as well as if there were any safety concerns not covered in the meeting.
     From there a typical day consisted of (as a floorhand) cleaning the rig, maintaining equipment (tongs, st-80, slips, dyes, catwalk exe...) as well as making connections (building 90' sections of drill pipe and connecting them to the drill sting as needed), or tripping pipe (pulling the drill pipe from the hole and dismantling the bottom hole equipment: usually to change drill bits or mud motors).

     As a derrickman my day started off the same as a floorhand except while making relief i would do a mud check (checked the weight and viscosity of the drilling fluid) and walk with my relief and check my equipment (shaker screens, mud pumps, vertical pumps:checking air pressure to them as well as lubricant levels:, pit levels, and if we were in a state that did not allow the use of excavated pits for containing water I would check the closed system equipment usually a transfer pump and rustic bins).
     After making relief a typical day would include cordinating with the company man (the big boss on the site) and the mud engineer to find out what properties they wanted in the drilling fluid (ph, weight, fluid loss prevention, viscosity exe...) and start mixing chemicals into the mud as needed to meet or maintain these properties. 
    On a good day mixing chemicals and maintaining equipment on the pits was about it however If the mud pumps malfunctioned It was my job to troubleshoot and fix the problem (typically a swab or a valve would be the problem).

I learned everything from fall protection to well control working at Patterson.

The management was great! one of the companies VP's started out as a roughneck and our divisions training superintendent also started out from the bottom. My co-workers were also great as they looked out for each other and  were always willing to lend a hand when needed.

The hardest Part of the job (physically) was also the most enjoyable that that was tripping pipe.

have been working at Patterson-UTI Drilling full-time (More than 5 years)

Pros

The schedule is why I work here

Cons

Where do I begin? Been with the company going on 5 years. Currently a derrickhand. Worked before the downturn, then the company started taking things from us. First it was money per hour, then per diem, then bonuses. Made more money as a first year floorhand than I do now 5 years later as a derrickhand. This company claims to care about their employees on the rigs, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Now that things are booming again, they refuse to give us back ANYTHING they took from us before the downturn. Morale on the rigs is at rock bottom. People are just here for a paycheck now. They can't hire enough guys, because they're losing too many people due to frustrated workers. If you truly care about your employees, then give back the things you've taken from us. My God, we can only get one type of coveralls on the website now, which are heavy material and cause you to overheat in the summer. They think we're dumb. We know how many millions you're saving now because of the corporate tax reduction, but you still refuse to give anything back to us. Instead, the company uses that money to purchase stock buybacks to make their shareholders happy.  about the guys on the rigs at all. All they care about is working us to death to make them money. They seem to forget they make that money because of the guys working the rigs, yet we get treated the worst. Here's a hint, if you wanna keep guys happy and stop losing so many people, give us back what you've taken from us, because right now, guys are just going through the motions and don't care at all about doing a good job.
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Working for Patterson-UTI Drilling has been one of the most fulfilling jobs of my life. This company, in my opinion fosters a culture of personal growth, which has been a constant source of inspiration throughout my career. The ability to work alongside others in a positive environment has been a major factor in my success in my position with this company. The hardest part of my position is that I don’t have any help in my area to rely on if I need to take some time off, so even when I’m on PTO, I always take my computer with me so that I can keep up on my every day tasks. While I don’t mind doing that, because I truly enjoy my job, it would be nice to be able to rely on someone else to cover my duties so that I can be 100% engaged with my family when on PTO. I understand why they cut back on the administrative team back in 2019/2020 during the last downturn, however it does make it a bit complicated to be the only person in the office covering all administrative tasks and being given more responsibilities all the time to ensure our office runs smoothly. When you couple normal administrative duties, along with supporting our operations team, it is a lot of work for one person. While I enjoy always having something to keep me busy, I would be lying if I said it doesn’t get a little bit overwhelming from time to time. 

I learned a lot with Patterson UTI-Drilling never being on a drilling rig it was new to me but, I learn quick and I have a drive of someone there to prove a point and make a difference. It is more mechanical work which I have been in construction for years more so on remodeling and services type but, I learned a lot quick from repairing equipment, such as pumps, iron-roughneck, tongs, setting up rig when moving or relocating etc, also operating heavy equipment and machinery. One thing I can say is this company is extremely big about safety which meant a lot to me they really care about prevention and people not getting hurt or killed and implement it and procedures everyday. We have great crews with hard workers making the work balanced and more appreciative to be working together. It makes a world of difference to not be the only one out there giving it your all and not have some lazy guys sitting around watching you or asking you to do everything for them we had a great team with great support for each other. The hardest part of the job for me I would say is it is what you make it, if you make something hard in your head it will be some days you just have to work harder then others but, in my mind it balances out some days are full fuel pedal to the metal and others may be a little more laid back but, never expect a lazy day out here period. The best thing about this job was working a week on week off and making over a couple grand for the week very convenient and well paid for your hard work and effort.

I worked there from 2009-2019, starting at floors, and moving up to driller. I was offered Pusher a few times, but turned it down, as working 24/7 wasn't appealing. I made it through 2 slow downs, and even on the last few standing rigs due to seniority. But a lot changed in that time that caused me to no longer see it worth it. Bonuses and kickbacks were taken away, even while watching the regional guys in the office shmoozing with companies like NOV; going to football games, golfing, and getting fancy watches. There was entirely too much nepotism: employees shouldn't be hanging out with the head guy in the region on days off like you're buddies. You'll get passed up if you don't have the same interests, or aren't from the same home state or region (it happened to me a few times, and I've watched it happen countless more). They tout safety as being paramount as it should be but could never seem to find the balance between actually practicing what you preach, ad making the company men happy. Pay was nowhere near what it should be, considering how much they charge for each hand in the contracts vs what we actually get. It's a total crapshoot if you'll be on a good rig, have a good pusher, or even a good crew, or even how long you might stay with them. 

If you are just looking for a steppingstone job: then get in, make your money, and don't hang around. You'll just be putting your body and mental health at risk otherwise

You basically work 530-630 day and night tour. I never met a bad crew or manager in midland or pecos Texas. Work with your crew all tour everyday, go to town to eat with your crew, or cook in the onsite trailers with your crew. Sleep in bunks in onsite trailers with your crew. You see what I am getting at. You get to know each other like family and lookout for each other while doing dangerous work. Everyone on my crew got along and made sure nobody got hurt. They pay great and give you two weeks off straight. You can stay over as much as you want or you dont have to. I personally worked the 90 hours per week plus 40. Management, HR, Internal Development, and Superintendents are all great in midland. It is a very dirty job but they give you all ppe and 4 pairs of coveralls and boots. They also give you the option of attending classroom courses to learn rig knowledge, usages, safety ideas, etc. They provide hands on step by step instructions of every aspect of drilling with mock rigs and equipment setups in the yard. I hate classroom training but found this to be very beneficial once I started working in different locations. If you want to move up the ladder and receive more pay then you gotta learn new positions. Patterson encourages this heavily and you can move up within weeks.

There are no "typical days".  Everyday something new is bound to pop up.  

Management is good overall in my experience.  there are a few managers that I would refuse to work under, but other than that they are all easy to get along with.  Don't expect them to just hand over a raise for working hard or dong a good job though.  If you want something you practically have to demand it.  

Overall, the culture is good, but there is an unspoken rule that you work more than 40 hours per week.  There is one particular work site that have a very negative atmosphere and that stems from the manager mentioned above.

The hardest part of the job is managing multiple project at the same time and being ready to have your day disrupted with an urgent problem at any given time.  Also, management does not do a good job of communicating the priority of projects, so often you have to choose for yourself which may lead to some late nights if you choose incorrectly.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the diversity of projects and the people that actually take pride in working hard and doing a good job.

I was lucky and got put on a great crew. My driller went above and beyond to make sure I succeeded in my work. Other drillers don’t care about you, they only care about making themselves look good. Rig managers are also a large part of why I stayed there. I had mostly good managers but there was a few that were less than desirable. Lots of talk about promotions, and I finally got it after a year of promising me “next month”. Then when corona hit our rig was getting stacked. They laid off our relief and told us We could either work their hitch too or be fired for refusal to work. Which meant we worked 5 weeks instead of our 2. And the whole time nobody would tell us anything if we would be laid off after we finished stacking or if we were going to other rigs. The money was great, but the time away from family was the hardest part. Not being able to tell them when we were coming home. I would say if you’re single, this is a perfect job. If you have family, be weary. The money and benefits look good, but in the end watching my kids grow up is more important than the money. 

long hard working day trying to rig down or up.Depending on  readiness.I learned alot on safety & preventive measure's on incident's' injury's etc.poor communication could have been better when preparing  for rig moves.With my co worker's i met alot of  good people as well as bad.I always thought if you live by the golden rule it would make the difference.Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.Their's alot of others that just don't care. Now i have learned to walk away and let them be what they are.The hardest part of the job is being left without transportation  not being able to eat due to lack of vehicle's.The best part of the job to me was to put all my efforts in being the hardest worker,doing my job with a hundred and 20%effort and shining at the end of the day for my work ethic's.To me  that ment i gave an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.I also enjoyed when we use to take time out to talk safety & and orientations all day .Then have a big B.B.Q and get together like family that i miss. They quit doing that.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Floorhand 3 salaries reported	$25.67 per hour
Derrick hand 2 salaries reported	$32.50 per hour
Rig manager 2 salaries reported	$134,500 per year
Field technician 1 salary reported	$28.00 per hour
Motor hand 2 salaries reported	$28.50 per hour

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