The world has changed drastically in the last two months. And it is not done yet. It seems every hour brings new developments. It is a very scary time. Global factors have influenced my life drastically, limiting my travel and most devastatingly, threatening the prospect of my work ending.
The price of oil is influenced by world events in ways no other industry experiences. Right now oil prices are down because of Russia and Saudi Arabia. This isn’t a new story for oil. They tried this exact playbook a few years ago. It hurt us then too but we recovered. Time will tell how we do this time. People ask why not keep drilling even just a little bit when the price of oil is low? It has to do with storage. There are only so many places oil can be stored after it is out of the ground. The way it works is the oil companies find oil, then drill a well, then produce or pump oil from the well. The oil is transported to a refinery where it becomes gas, diesel, motor oil, petrochemicals, and many other things. After that it has to be shipped to market or stored. If there is a surplus of oil, meaning more is being produced than consumed, like now, the extra has to be stored. The price drops when there is a high supply and low demand. So more gets put in storage. At some point the price of oil can even go negative, when the storage gets filled. And processed oil has a much shorter shelf life. Also, when drilled wells are left idle they can get corrupted. Water can penetrate, or the rock can collapse, or the steel can rust. It’s better to leave the oil untapped and wait for the price to rise until it is profitable to produce it.
This week, everyone’s industries are being affected like oil. My own travel has been affected by the current global pandemic. Way back in January when I had a very few days off I was able to travel to Italy and return to the US without problem. I remember as I moved around the airports that a few people had masks on and no one had gloves on. I remember an information help guy at the Rome airport not wearing a mask and then 10 minutes later I walked by again and the same guy did have a mask on. When I next left Alaska at the end of February I didn’t travel to Italy. I thought it might be difficult to get back for work on short notice, so I stayed stateside. When I traveled there were few precautions or problems. I saw a few in masks but mostly everyone was going about life as normal.
Then while on days off I watched my other home slowly catch fire with coronavirus. This week when I came to work there were a lot more masks, mostly being worn wrong, and some people with gloves on. The airports were strange. A few more shops and restaurants were closed. The crowds were less, but tense. Everyone seemed on edge, not like happy travelers. The lines were not there. People hung around the TVs listening to the news more, or were watching their phones. The only thing I can liken it to is how people acted on 9/11. Everyone is on edge and there is nothing they can do. They can’t find the enemy to fight, they can’t find a way to help. And that’s the most demoralizing part about it. People want to help. People need something to do. It’s our nature. But how can we in this time of struggle?
The price of oil has changed our work. We are no longer talking about big projects and future wells. We got the news today about which rigs will stack out (stop drilling) and who will stay. In short, of the 5 rigs 4 will stack out at some point in the next few months and one will keep going for now. We all expect that one to go down as well.
The camp life has changed too. Two days after I got to work they asked everyone if they were ok with staying up here for a longer hitch. Anyone who can see the price knows to always say yes to that question. The following day the news came out that they have suspended northbound flights for the next two weeks. That means no one else is coming up. They say it is out of “an abundance of caution” so we can keep the virus off the slope and out of our remote locations. But it means that we will work until the end, then pack it up and lock the door and hope for better times to come. The camps are nice and clean and way better than some I have stayed in before. They changed a few things to keep us safe from spreading disease, but that is normal for us. We have 100+ people crammed into these remote camps. When one person comes down with a cold we all get it. We always try hard not to spread anything.
While these bleak world events swirl around us, life goes on in the arctic. Yesterday was the equinox and the light and the dark were balanced. We are getting more light now and working towards that 24 hour sunshine. I get to see some of it now and that makes a huge difference. Not only do I see it on the way to work but now it’s starting to get light by the time I go to bed too. We had a lovely sunset today! The wildlife is out and moving. I watched a red fox chase an arctic fox across the snow last night. They were so quiet, if I hadn’t seen them I wouldn’t have heard them. The artic one got away! I saw him today. It has been way warmer than it was when I left last time! It’s lovely spring weather here! With spring always comes hope. Hope for a new year, hope for a better year.
With the reality that work might be ending soon, I realized that as of this month I have been back to working in the oil field after the last down turn for 3 years. I worked for 4 years the first time and was laid off for a year and now the second act has been almost as long as the first. So a total of 7 years working oil. It’s more than some get and less than others. Will I get to come back again? Will I find something better? Is there something better? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. I am grateful for what I have. For what I have done and for the fact that I got to work my dream job even if it was only for a few months. I’m thankful for all the friends I have made and the places I have been. I am most definitely grateful that I got to come back to Alaska.
With so many changes to life as we knew it all we can do at this point is wait and hope. Wait for this madness to pass and hope for better days ahead.
