The last couple of seasons, a reality show that purports to represent the behavior of rig floor personnel has gained an audience. I have been asked if this show accurately portrays life on the drill floor. Well here is what I have to say about that.

Drilling for oil and gas is one of the most dangerous jobs in industry. There are more ways to get killed or maimed on the floor or in the derrick of a drilling rig that I can count. Some of the steel nuts in the derrick are as big as your fist. If one would vibrate loose and fall on your body from 100+ feet above you, you would never be the same, if you survived.

The show does portray some of the risks of injury and death, but if rig personnel acted as the people on the show act, they would not last one tour (shift).

Rig personnel rely on each other to protect life, limb, and equipment.  Each person on the rig has a job that places safety first in the  performance of their job.  There is no time for the foolishness that is the basis for the TV show. I’ve been on many drill rigs and I have never witnessed anything like the behavior on the TV show, furthermore I would not stand for it for one minute. This show fits neatly in the category of most of what we see on TV: BS

Jim (Blacky) Pryor, Wildcatter