Traveling for work can be a pain for many and a good time for others. For some oil workers, it means being away from home for two weeks and coming back for one, repeat.
Standing outside of Teddy’s Residential Suites in New Town, North Dakota stood three gentlemen oil workers having a chat. After a long day’s work, these oil workers enjoy chatting it up, smoking a cigarette, and perhaps having a beer.
Each of them came from a different state: Arkansas, Washington, and New Mexico. It was each of their first time meeting one another and yet they had a lot of the same ideas and lifestyles when it came to working with oil companies.
“Whenever I’m home, I’m home,” stated the eldest. “My old lady likes it when I’m gone.”
His earlier marriage suffered from his job schedule, ultimately ending in divorce. He is currently in a new relationship and his significant other doesn’t seem to be bothered by the work schedule.
But their hectic schedule is one of the least of the workers worries. Many of the positions at oil companies come with multiple dangers and health hazards.
“Traveling is the most dangerous thing you can do in the oil field,” mentioned the youngest, who was 19-years-old, “and it’s not the actual work we do.”
The danger comes in when oil workers have to drive three hours to the oil field, have over 10 hour work days, then have to drive three more hours back home, fatigued. Sometimes putting in over 120 hours a week. But the dangers don’t end there. In the last 10 years, there have been more safety rules put in place in order to decrease the rising death toll of oil workers.
“They’ve got red zones we’re not allowed in,” said the eldest. “You’ve got to wear safety goggles. If you’re messing with anything you have to have proper protection.”
With an extensive amount of dangers must come a very reasonable pay.
“You don’t have to go to college, you don’t have to have a high school diploma, and you can make over $100,000 a year,” commented the 19 year-old.
“I wouldn’t even take a job under 100k,” joked the eldest as they all laughed together.
A job that is very hazardous to its employees must have some type of effect everywhere else. Fort Berthold is illuminated in the dark by flares coming up and out from the ground all day and into the night.
“Look at the other countries that don’t have EPA regulations,” spoke the eldest, “China and Africa are polluting 10 times worse than what we’re doing here.”
The reasoning behind many oil workers staying at working hazardous positions like this is the pay. A job where starting rate without a high school or college diploma is already 100k, it becomes difficult to turn down. Oil workers with families may find it more difficult to turn down an opportunity like that. Some who don’t have families find comfort in gambling.
“My old lady doesn’t have to work and my kids are well taken care of.” He spoke again in regards this time to why he kept working with the oil company.
Oil companies bring strangers into towns where everyone knew one another at some point. New Town had slowly become a place where strangers where now often seen at bars and restaurants. New Town residents no longer know everyone walking the streets. After the case of Olivia Lonebear in 2017 and 2018, many of the residents of the small town have began speculating and becoming afraid of strangers entering.
“If you look at the increase in child abductions and stuff like that, everything has increased,” he said, “but its not just people in the oil field that’s everywhere.”
After speaking with other New Town residents, it became apparent that they did not feel comfortable with the oil workers coming in to their town. They are all strangers to them.
“In the oil field, you make a lot of money. When you make a lot of money then drugs and addiction follow and it creates problems,” explained the youngest.
“A lot of the oil field workers by the time they come home they barely want to eat and go to bed because they got to back up in six hours,” stated the eldest.
At the beginning none of them wanted to acknowledge the fact that some oil workers could be reason for many Native American women who have gone missing in passed and recent years. They began joking. “Lets go on our crime spree tonight! No, I’m to tired I gotta turn it in man,” laughed the third gentleman who is a gatekeeper for one of the oil companies in New Town.