Offshore Engineering and Mining
‘Oil is like a wild animal. Whoever captures it has it’. (J Paul Getty, American oil industrialist, 1892 –1976)
People who work in this sector are concerned with extracting oil, gas and minerals from under the sea or under the ground. Most of the jobs are offshore.
Naval architects design, build, maintain and repair offshore installations including gas and oil rigs. Gas engineers are responsible for producing and distributing the gas. People doing these jobs may work both on land and offshore.
Workers on oil and gas rigs include toolpushers or oil rig managers. They manage teams of workers including drillers, derrickmen or women, roughnecks and roustabouts. Divers work offshore, in deep water. They dive from ships or rigs.
Mining engineers work on land. They are responsible for mines and quarries. They extract coal, metals and other materials such as sand and gravel or gemstones.
To work in this sector, you should be responsible, very aware of safety issues, willing to work (and perhaps live) as part of a close team. You might be outdoors in all weathers, or underground. You should be practical and fit, able to remain calm and think quickly in an emergency.
As an engineer, you need to handle complex information, be well organised and able to meet deadlines.
For some jobs in this sector you do not need qualifications. With experience you can work your way up from roustabout or roughneck to derrickman or woman, driller and toolpusher or oil rig manager. You may progress more quickly to toolpusher if you have a Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND) or degree in an engineering subject.
You can enter via an advanced Modern Apprenticeship scheme as an oil or gas technician. You need 3-4 Standard grades, including Maths, English and a technology subject. You would then study for Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ) Level 3 related to your discipline.
To become a naval architect, gas engineer or a mining engineer you will need a degree in an appropriate subject.
The UK offshore industry currently employs around 380,000 people. Most offshore workers are men, but the number of women working offshore has risen slightly in the last few years. There is still an ongoing a shortage of skilled workers. In September 2009 at the Offshore Europe Conference in Aberdeen it was reported that the expansion of offshore employment by 30% since 2004 has led to a shortage of keys skills and that up to half of the current workforce are projected to retire within the next 10 years.
The number of jobs in mining in the UK is very small.