The gig on Thunder Horse had been temporary, and he needed another one. "BP executives appeared to be alarmed, as well. At Shell, this has included reducing staff on each rig and extending each employee’s rotation on that rig.At Chevron, where two offshore workers tested positive for the coronavirus last week, the company has moved all non-essential personnel off of its Gulf facilities, though a spokesperson said oil production would remain at normal levels.BP and ExxonMobil declined to provide specifics about the changes they were making.“It all depends where you’re working,” said Billy Fults, an assistant driller who was based on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico before being laid off in late March.


Employees who worked on a rig beyond the traditional 14-day period would receive overtime. If he didn't know the names of the other 300 workers by the time he left, he knew their faces.Back home outside Kansas City, Missouri, Bracken returned to routine life and spent hours at the kitchen table on his computer, looking for work.He lost his full-time position in February, near the beginning of what has become an unprecedented drop in oil prices.

It’s not contained to rigs.“It’s a risk you can bring to your family back home,” Conte said.Sydney: Why Is Everyone Snapping Up This $49 SmartwatchRobbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces Expanded Class Period in Class Action Suit Against United States Oil Fund, LPOil slips on demand worries, but U.S. supply declines help solidify weekly price gainsHalle Berry Just Posted A No-Pants Skateboarding Photo To Celebrate Her B-Day12 Golden-Era Performance Cars You’ve Forgotten from Bring a TrailerAshton Kutcher calls out President Trump after derecho: 'Where is the federal relief for Iowa? But They Don’t Want to See Her Biracial Heritage Erased EitherPHOTOS: John Lewis – congressman and civil rights activist – a life of extraordinary serviceCOVID-19 long haulers on months of debilitating symptoms: ‘They don’t know how to make me better’Where does Kamala Harris’s toughness come from? The gig on Thunder Horse had been temporary, and he needed another one. Last week, the price of crude oil fell below $20 a barrel, its lowest price since 2002.

Karen Dalton-Beninato, Contributor. Bracken and everyone else on the rig had been exposed.
"It's a risk you can bring to your family back home," Conte said.Public colleges hide donors who seek to influence students. "It just felt like they were using it as an excuse," Fults said. He shook hands with the guys he’d worked out with down in the rig’s gym, and he spent a while talking to the new kitchen manager, a young guy who’d arrived earlier that week.Bracken, who’s worked offshore for over 15 years, hadn’t known most of these guys long — just the 21 days of this most recent rotation — but offshore work is intense, with long hours in close quarters. The kitchen manager whose hand he shook a week earlier had tested positive for the coronavirus. "They don't really want to be producing oil right now. 1 concern, to make sure our workers are healthy,” said Cindy Babski, a spokesperson for Shell.Still, these staff reductions are coming at an opportune time for the industry.“They don’t really want to be producing oil right now. These, he reasoned, were similarly critical circumstances.

The price is so low," said Marc Conte, an associate professor of environmental economics at Fordham University. "I needed to get home to my kids, that's what's important to me as a man. Wes Bracken began his goodbyes to his co-workers, a few days before finishing his three-week shift in mid-March on BP's Thunder Horse, one of the biggest offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.The health and safety coordinator made a point to find a group of electricians he'd come to know and some of the crane operators. “You’re in close confinement. Thunderhorse (Courtesy of Wes Bracken) He lost his full-time position in February, near the beginning of what has become an unprecedented drop in oil prices.

And while BP did not specify the number of employees who had contracted the coronavirus, it did tell NBC that "several" on one rig had tested positive. If you don't, you're on your own. At Shell, this has included reducing staff on each rig and extending each employee's rotation on that rig.At Chevron, where two offshore workers tested positive for the coronavirus last week, the company has moved all non-essential personnel off of its Gulf facilities, though a spokesperson said oil production would remain at normal levels.BP and ExxonMobil declined to provide specifics about the changes they were making. Writer Near New Orleans.

“If you work for a good company, they look after you. But other oil companies emphasized that every staffing reduction made in recent months was done with an eye on one thing: ensuring the safety of the employees on the rig. If you don’t, you’re on your own.”Fults had been on his most recent stint for about a week when his mother called and asked him to come home. It's like a cruise ship except you're not going anywhere. “But the biggest worry is not so much catching it but that it’s putting a hold on the industry.”That hold is not likely to let up anytime soon. And social distancing, the one method proven to slow its spread, is impossible on offshore rigs.

But neither ExxonMobil, Chevron nor Valeris responded to multiple requests for information.Employees who work offshore admit that they are accustomed to assuming a certain amount of risk with the job.

Employees who worked on a rig beyond the traditional 14-day period would receive overtime. Bracken and everyone else on the rig had been exposed.“It’s scary,” Bracken said. Wes Bracken began his goodbyes to his co-workers a few days before finishing his three-week shift in mid-March on BP’s Thunder Horse, one of the biggest offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.The health and safety coordinator made a point to find a group of electricians he’d come to know and some of the crane operators. These, he reasoned, were similarly critical circumstances.“I needed to get home to my kids, that’s what’s important to me as a man.