By Joe Napsha, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Workers looking for jobs in the region’s booming natural gas industry may try their hand as a “roustabouts” — general laborers who work physically grueling 12-hour shifts for 14 consecutive days in all kinds of weather to build and remove drilling pads and assist production.

“It’s demanding labor, working long stretches without days off. You have to be ready to do quality work and do it a long time. Once they start production, they don’t stop,” said Richard Guenther, an employee relations specialist with Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Mt. Morris, Greene County.

Pay can range from $10 to $20 an hour, plus overtime.

The natural gas industry expects to create thousands of jobs in Marcellus shale gas development in this decade, and state agencies and colleges are gearing up to train workers to fill those positions.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group of about 100 gas producers and suppliers, said the boom created 44,000 jobs in the state last year. It is predicting thousands more this decade — some from gas production and some at suppliers, service companies and the spending of dollars generated by the drilling activity.

One complaint is that many jobs, particularly involving production, are going to out-of-state crews from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Last year, it was estimated that 70 percent of the jobs were being filled by out-of-state workers. Now, more local workers have been hired, and the percentage of out-of-staters has likely fallen to 50 percent to 60 percent, said Danielle Boston, a spokeswoman for the coalition.

Chesapeake has had success hiring workers from the region, which has a history of natural gas operations, Guenther said. The company had to bring in more out-of-state workers for drilling operations in northeastern counties than in Southwestern Pennsylvania, he said.

“We try to hire local workers,” Guenther said.

While Pennsylvania can supply engineering, technical, land acquisition and legal expertise needed by the industry, job training efforts are under way to make sure local workers have the skills needed to land production jobs.

The Western Area Career and Technology Center in Canonsburg has trained more than 100 in a roustabout training program since last year, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport graduated about 200 workers from its roustabout program since October. The Westmoreland County Community College plans to begin a three-week roustabout training program for 15 students on Sept. 13.

“We’ve had about 20 companies hire our students, and we’ve been running the program for a year. We’ve got to take care of that work force” by providing training, said Joseph Iannetti, director of Western Area Career and Technology Center.

Community College of Allegheny County is considering how it can tailor programs to meet the job needs of energy companies, said spokesman David Hoovler.

A group of five community colleges — called Marcellus ShaleNet — received a $4.96 million grant from the Department of Labor to conduct a three-year training program for the gas industry. The effort is to focus on low-skilled and low-income workers. The colleges include Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport and Westmoreland County Community College, along with schools in northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio and western New York.

One worker trying to take advantage of a training opportunity is Jeff White of Delmont, who was laid off this spring from a natural gas industry job. He knows all about the special demands of jobs in natural gas production and wants to get back into the field. He registered for the roustabout program at Westmoreland County Career and Technology Center.

“Once you get the bug of being with the guys, it’s hard to get it out. It’s your second family,” said White, who worked at a drilling site where pipe is lowered 8,000 feet underground to the rich Marcellus shale gas reserves.

Another candidate, Tony Bannister of Masontown, wants to replace part-time work with a full-time job. Bannister, 59, said he has a long career as a heavy equipment operator and hopes that helps him land one of those jobs.

“They make a lot of money, and there is a lot of opportunity for advancement. I’m up for anything,” Bannister said.

The state has identified six high-priority production jobs which local workers can be trained to fill, including roustabouts, rotary drill operators, truck drivers and service unit operators. About one in 10 requires a commercial driver’s license. And about 20 percent will be entry-level roustabout jobs, Boston said.

The drilling of one well can require almost 400 people working in almost 150 occupations.

Wages for roustabouts go up to $20 an hour, plus overtime, said Jeffrey F. Lorson, director of the Marcellus Shale Education and Training Center at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. The state estimates that the average weekly wage for an oil and gas production job in Southwestern Pennsylvania is about $1,600.

Some students graduating from Western Area Career and Technology Center in Canonsburg have landed jobs related to gas production and are being paid annual salaries of between $50,000 and $60,000, said Iannetti, director of the career center.

Range Resources Corp., a Texas-based gas producer with offices in Cecil, Washington County, is working with Western Area Career and Technology Center’s roustabout training program. Range hired graduates and placed them with experienced crews to learn on-the-job, said Matt Pitzarella, a Range spokesman.

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