Drilling Tales: Stories of 45 Years in the Oilfield

How are wells drilled deep into the earth to find oil and gas? What challenges, excitement, and dangers are encountered? What is it like to live and work on a drilling rig, and what characters are involved? My job as a drilling engineer and manager for 45 years took me to many parts of the world. I have worked on offshore rigs in stormy seas and calm tropical waters, on land rigs in jungles, deserts and rice paddies, and in comfortable offices in many cities of the world. I learnt my trade in the boom times of the 1970's and early 1980's as the price of oil went from two to forty dollars a barrel. I was thrown into the deep end, learning as I went and making many a mistake along the way. The work was hard with long hours and heavy responsibility as I climbed the ladder of success. Then for a few years I was a budding entrepreneur as I started my own oil company. Success was shortlived with the sharemarket crash of 1897 ending my dreams of grandeur. So I returned to my trade of drilling wells, working for companies big and small in many exotic locations, each with its own challenges and adventures. It has been a journey with twists and turns, ups and downs, good times and bad. The heady cocktail of travel, expatriate life in foreign lands, and working in remote outposts makes for a story full of action and interest.