BLACK GOLD!!

Imagine a place that has ocean views, surrounded by hundreds of pristine lakes and ponds, and carefully nestled in ecologically fragile and heavily protected land. It is not uncommon to see herds of caribou and musk ox crossing roads, and you always have to be on the lookout for bears. In addition to the multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facilities, there is unlimited free food including ribs, steak, lobster, salmon, freshly baked cookies, ice cream…I’ll stop because it is making me too hungry. Did I mention all this doesn’t cost you a dime? Sounds like the most incredible eco-tourism resort, right? Well, its actually the North Slope, Alaska.

When the plane dropped out of the fog (literally) onto the runway in Deadhorse this morning, the thermometer read in the high 30’s. First impression: probably the flattest place I have ever seen, a strong cold wind, everything looked dirty, and the white sky melted into the thick fog cloaked the land. AWESOME!

Over the course of the day we visited a rotary and coil drill rig. I’ll spare you the details of the difference because I doubt you really care. What is cool, these rigs cost at least $200K PER DAY, even if they just sit there.

Lets put this in perspective:
1. If an error is made and the drill bit is damaged and needs replacing, at the rotary rig we saw today, it would take about 24hrs to pull up the bit ($200K), then you would have to replace the bit ($20K). Not a cheap mistake.
2. Ok, suppose no major mistake is made. A drill project could take a month to couple months (remember that’s at >$200K/day!).
3. The drill rigs are actually on wheels. This enables them to “easily” (at a couple miles/hr) drive to a new wellhead. The price of this move runs around a cool million.

Ok, ok big money, so what?! Keep in mind, they wouldn’t be doing all this if it wasn’t profitable. Wow!

I can’t finish this without talking about the food. I’ve heard that people who survive experiences when they nearly starve have a tendency to hoard food the rest of their lives. While I have never been close to starving and likely never will, I do have the tendency of hoarding food when its free. When the ribs are free, why not fill your plate? And when you are going home, why not take a doggy bag full of cookies? Good thing I don’t work up there, or I would definitely grow a nice gut.

By the end of the day, I touched the Arctic Ocean (Prudhoe Bay to be exact, but it’s all the same, right?), the sky cleared to beautiful blue, I had a full belly, and bag of cookies. Oh yea, not only was it all free (to me), but I actually got paid for it. I like it!