There’s no denying just what a time commitment working on an oil rig can be, nor how isolated one might feel while doing so. The latter in particular comes with the territory at times: The Perdido oil rig is approximately 200 miles from the nearest land, situated in the Gulf of Mexico, the tragic setting for one of the biggest oil spills on record. This may be an extreme case in terms of distance, but this vast structure (550 feet in length) reinforces the familiar notion that working on an offshore oil rig often means significant time far away from home.
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The U.K. government’s National Careers Service underscores the importance of preparing oneself for demanding work schedules from the start if considering such a career, suggesting a schedule consisting of “2 to 3 weeks at a time on a rig, followed by onshore leave of around 2 weeks.” This is variable according to the specifics of a role, but dividing half of one’s time between the rig and home in this way is a standard situation for so many in the industry.
Similarly, rigs vary quite widely in size, and so can the number of staff active on them. There will be approximately 200 people on larger oil rigs at any one time. Speaking on the Club Random Podcast in January 2024, country singer and former oil rig worker Trace Adkins compared the hustle and bustle of life on an offshore installation as “a continuation of a team sport almost,” noting that “there were 40 or 50 men on that rig.”
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Working hours and different occupations on an oil rig
While the experience on an oil rig will provide a lot of challenges, it also offers a wide range of ways in which to direct and advance a career. One thing that’s always invaluable aboard an oil rig is a proclivity for repairing and maintaining the structure itself, which is where a welding specialist will be fantastically valuable. Aside from this, rigs will typically be home to roustabouts, those earlier in their career aboard these out-to-sea behemoths. A roustabout performs a range of vital duties such as managing equipment, maintenance, and supporting other team members. Drillers oversee what is one of the primary duties of such a rig.
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The catering staff, meanwhile, can have sizable crews to feed, as well as ensuring standards in unpredictable conditions. Everybody’s expertise in all sorts of fields goes into the smooth running of an oil rig, in short, to say nothing of the logistics of building an offshore oil rig in the first place. The long hours spent on duty are often divided up equally just as time on the rig as a whole is. North Sea rigger Peter Iain Campbell explained to Royal Museums Greenwich that “on a rig you tend to have 12 hours of work (the busier the better to be honest) and 12 hours of down time.” Another essential aspect of life on an oil rig, then, is to have something to do and somewhere to go to expend all of that time spent off duty while on board.
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The facilities on an oil rig
Distant facilities, like the space station or oil rigs, naturally need to provide a range of services for long-term occupants to make use of. Five star premium accommodation may be hard to come by out in the ocean, but in some cases the conditions on board are rather more salubrious than you might think. In November 2024, the Express shared the TikTok exploits of one @fifotok5, an oil rig crane operator. The rig worker showed off the well-stocked gym and games room aboard, and noted that the “extended time off between shifts” offered by the two-weekly system suited him well.
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The thing to note, though, is that working on an oil rig can really be a life of extremes, and as with any lifestyle or profession, it won’t be a fit for everybody. Luke Stoltman, perhaps better known as “The Highland Oak,” is a Scottish bodybuilder and veteran of Scotland’s Strongest Man, Europe’s Strongest Man, and World’s Strongest Man competitions. When committing full-time to his training, he left behind a career as a dimensional surveyor. Reflecting on his work in the role to Mulligan Brothers Interviews in November 2020, Stoltman said, “I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but … it can be a very damaging way of life.” The toll taken by being apart from family is surely great for many, as it was for Stoltman, who went on, “I found [that] when I went away, my … mental health really took a battering.” The close relationship between crude oil and eventual gasoline (among other things), however, means that the industry continues to be a crucial one.
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