| Description | Tape 1 Side A: WILLIAM JOSEPH (BILL) PIKE born 24 September 1947 St Angelo, West Texas. Lived in Kermit, small oil town. Eldest of 3 children ('oilfield trash'). Details re sisters, names. Father worked in oil industry. Details re his qualifications. Family moved to oil camp near Iraan. Reference Yates oil field. Earliest memories re camp life, housing, facilities, childhood entertainment. Recalls movie shows at supply store. No alcohol available for purchase. Nature of oilfield people. Attitude of farmers, ranchers, negative public perception. 'Seat-of-the-pants' nature of industry, rough element. Explains invisibility, image, unpopularity of oil industry which only acknowledged when something goes wrong. PR mismanaged. Mentions community activities. Influence of cultured Yankee mother. Compares own situation with other children's. Details re paternal grandparents, names. Grandfather a rig builder, then worked for telephone company as lineman following oil industry developments. Maternal family from New York city: grandfather a car dealer. Step-grandfather, Moore, electrical engineer from Brooklyn, later North Carolina. He installed first talking pictures in South America, later wrote operational instructions for Nike missile guidance systems. Reference to Western Electric. Recalls limited culture of childhood home town, mother's stories re life in New York, grandparents' visits. Compares own life with that of friends, difficulties because of own different frame of reference. Recalls father's sense of civic responsibility, relationship with him, his frequent absences. Recalls his and own early work training. Compares engineering theory with work in the field. Explains problem of disconnect between what theoretically, practically possible. Comments on arrogant American attempt in North Sea to transfer technology from US, results of this, frequency of 100-year storm, case of over-engineering.
Tape 1 Side B: Attitude of Americans coming to North Sea (cont'd). Comments on early over-engineering in North Sea, background to this. Reference to Mr Cap, Sea Gem disaster 1965. Impact of post-1973 high oil price on capital expenditure. Details re mother, parents' marriage, her situation as young wife, her move from New York to Texas oil camp. Reference to oral history in Midland Petroleum Museum. Recalls family social life, father's absences, differing politics of family members, loud arguments around dinner table. Own evolving political views. Went to local schools in Odessa, Andrews, Kermit, Beaumont, Texas. Effect on childhood friendships of constant moves because of father's work. Pattern repeated with own children. Has friends all over world in oil business international community. Details. Comments on lack of commemoration of oil/gas industry in song, poetry. Tendency to live the past when meeting friends. Details. Oil people think of themselves as different from others, doing dirty job which others don't understand. Recalls music, books in childhood. Family involved in church but religion not dominant. Got into oil/gas industry by default in spite of father's advice. Details. Explains desire to go to sea, family naval tradition. Details re admission procedures to naval academy. Recalls attitude as baby-boomer kid, moves through University of Texas, meeting with wife, marriage. Details re her, her names, children. Background to joining oil industry in Midland, Texas. Details re Midland, organisational oil centre in West Texas. Statistics re Midland, impact of oil/gas industry on city. Recalls summer work as roustabout, growing up in oil culture. Importance of summer work, camaraderie in industry.
Tape 2 Side A: Student summertime roustabout work (cont'd). Describes daily routine, dirty work, clothing, hazards, roustabout gang, ginpole trucks, equipment. Mentions cotton ginny. Worked on maintenance of one of the earliest water flood systems. Explains. Details re use of water to drive oil to production wells, hazards involved. Used ginpole truck equipment to drain water. Details re procedure, other work moving pipe, blowout preventers etc. Got second degree burns. Physically hard work. Mentions lunch pail, playing dominoes. Examples of oilfield humour involving Strawberry Deeton, Chairman of Safety Committee. Recalls attraction of fieldwork, need to be able to stand up to physical requirements of job. Mentions great heat on job. Further details re father, his work, responsibilities, status in the community. Family was one of more important in town. Sometimes went to oilfield with father. Experience of being boss's kid, negative aspects of this. His experience reinforced own interest in the industry. Married 1970. First jobs selling securities, corporate sales, did not last. Father well paid. Did not live off family, had to earn own money. Roustabout with Sohio 1973. Details re company. Became Pumper. Explains role. Reference lease operators. Mentions own university study in literature/history. No formal engineering training. Recalls meeting wife in typing class. Did typing at mother's insistence. Details re wife's background, oil industry links, university study. Further details re work including well testing, equipment. Few women, Blacks in industry. Explains. Mentions demographics in West Texas. Explains in detail procedure of shooting fluid levels in wells, accuracy of equipment, annulus, calculations, analysis of data. Own role to find improvements in system. Details re dynamometer, weighing well.
Tape 2 Side B: Further details re process of weighing well, nodding donkey, importance of balance. Own university study a drawback, irrelevant to work. Explains. Recalls early awareness of North Sea but main concern with Alaska. Sohio drilled initial wells on North Slope of Alaska, impact of this. Reference to oil crisis. Details re Alaskan situation, need to save money in company at all levels. Sohio at bottom of ladder technologically. Compares with other areas, glamour jobs offshore. Details re wages at the time. Explains oilfield work routine. Background to decision to join Aminoil USA 1978 as Engineering Assistant, desire to get into drilling industry. Production work then mainly equipment maintenance. Started offshore work, dealing with AFEs (authorisation for expenditures). Explains partnership arrangements offshore. Became production trouble-shooter on platforms. Details. Reference to JM Huber Oil Company. Compares offshore, onshore work, workers. Explains extra dangers offshore, need always to contain live wells. Live well situation in North Sea. Feelings about working offshore, camaraderie. Fascinated by mechanical things. Details re well-testing work. Reference to weather. Little impact of job on home life. First encounter with people working in North Sea. Compares it with Gulf of Mexico, impact of weather. Influence of Dick Black. Story re his attitude to difficulties with firing gun. Mentions 'big iron' (big rigs). Development of relationship with father. Recalls friends/colleagues in Aminoil, Mike Baugh who was in charge of Hamiltons' North Sea operations. Recalls scary boom times until 1982. People with no experience hired, many accidents. Gives examples. Casual attitude to safety in 1970s. Compares with North Sea, e.g. in helicopter landing routines.
Tape 3 Side A: Safety regime in Gulf of Mexico (cont'd). No helicopter landing officers etc. Reference to Jet Ranger helicopters. Explains casual refuelling procedures. Explains definition of words 'rig', 'platform'. Did complicated offshore drawdown, build-up tests on gas wells. Details re calculation of radial draining area. Explains pre-imaging capability to understand invisible environment. Intuition in industry in danger of being lost. Details. Reference to Society of Petroleum Engineers, make-up of membership. Changes to patterns of engineering professions, skills. Compares drilling and production work. Details re drilling processes, role of mud loggers. Hazards of possible blowouts. Describes signs of gas bubbles. Technical details. Explains current instrumentation equipment. Some drillers can visualise intuitively what's happening down-hole. Recalls Ray Turner, driller, his skills. Drillers are a different breed. Industry becoming more cohesive with project management teams. Compares with earlier separate groupings. Relationship of drilling side to industry as whole. Attitude of drillers. Drilling now called well construction. Explains attraction of drilling. Drilling is the visible part of the industry. Describes atmosphere on the rig, noises. Recalls an occasion when all engines stopped. Describes noise and use of brake. Recalls laying down for hurricane in Gulf of Mexico, subsequent dangerous situation, hazardous escape at night by helicopter. Explains strong emotional feelings about rig as being home. 1978 was nexus of original North Sea boom. Wanted to work there. Details re work routine as Company Rep, Tool Pusher, Explains risks of working offshore too long at a time, numbers of accidents on change-days. Recalls pressures on home life, role of wife, her feelings. Attitude of children.
Tape 3 Side B: Background to change from Aminoil to Drilling and Production Consultants 1983, working as independent contractor. Recalls a bad driller, examples of bad practices. Increase in working hours, worsening impact on family leading to departure from company to save marriage. Comments on earnings in industry. Came ashore, trained to be a teacher. Got Master's degree in American political history. Feelings about being mature student. Background to doing PhD at University of Aberdeen 1988. Recalls Piper Alpha disaster. Feelings about situation. Comments on possibility of disaster happening to others, conditions on Piper. Many platforms past design-life. Explains. Reference to Challenger space shuttle disaster. Impact of North Sea oil on UK economy. PhD thesis completed 1991. Reference to Lord Cullen. Mentions consulting work carried out for various companies. Recalls own initial arrogance when in Scotland. Compares North Sea down-hole technology with that in Gulf. New generation of petroleum professionals in Europe, unlike American situation. Details. Attitude of taxi drivers, Aberdeen people to oil/gas industry. Few people understand oil business. Recalls Maitland Mackie, a forward-looking Aberdonian. Describes skills of oil industry at moving, mobilising around the world. Comments on Sir Ian Wood's attitude to oil/gas industry. Reference to Newfoundland oil industry. Importance of evolution of exportable technology in Aberdeen. Recalls Wood's determined attitude. Recalls experience of writing thesis, talking to Aberdeen people. Less secretiveness in UK industry than in US. Recalls refreshing enthusiasm for oil industry in UK, Europe, last generation of Americans who said 'we've always done it that way'. Mentions paper post-1978 on technology transfer from North Sea to rest of the world.
Tape 4 Side A: Experience of writing thesis, career prospects. Research dispelled previous ideas. Impact on current work of North Sea experience, understanding of international implications of oil/gas industry.
Tape 4 Side B: Blank
Tape 5 Side A: In Aberdeen for 2003 Offshore Europe exhibition. Judges exhibition by demeanour of people attending, amount of new technology. North Sea a mature field. Explains Hubbard Curve re production increase, decline. State of North Sea industry. Changes in attitudes to US. Compares with other oil provinces. Significance of career-builder areas, where there is high technology. Comments on Aberdeen in 1983 and now. Reference to Halliburton developments in Aberdeen. Reaction of people in Aberdeen/UK to arrival of oil industry. Impact of people like Maitland Mackie, Alan Campbell. Comments on Ian Wood, Ted Strachan. Details re Mackie, association with him. Mentions the chances he took. Reference to his book. Recalls BP announcement of development of Forties Field, reaction of civic leaders, implications of announcement. Mentions first oil industry ship, Glomar 3, dock labour scheme which ended Aberdeen's role as fishing port. Oil industry's resistance to organisation of labour force. Reference to Ronnie McDonald, OILC (Offshore Industry Liaison Committee). Explains relatively low rate of Scottish investment in North Sea industry. Problem in Scotland - no-one understood the business, unable to react. International oil/gas industry a closed community. Americans etc set up infrastructure - little chance for Scots to get in on the game. Details. No indigenous Scottish industry that could do what was necessary. Explains why shipbuilding industry could not build platforms because they were too sophisticated. Effect of cost of labour on Clydeside, organised labour. The unstoppable met the unprepared. Comments on relationship between oil, service companies. Oil companies have whip hand. Explains. Oil companies becoming bankers. Service companies' perception of their situation, caste/class system in the industry.
Tape 5 Side B: No exit from caste/class system in oil/gas industry, a closed society. Explains. Offshore Europe a bazaar, little participation by oil companies. Details. Explains JIPs (Joint Industry Projects). Changing role of oil companies. Details re current job with Harts E&P Journal, remit, keeping up with newest technology. Current industry interest in deep water operations. Statistics, possibilities of oil. Details re possible equipment to be used, issues of buoyancy, dynamic positioning. History of gas use in US, two-tier structure, oil and gas. Details re situation in US. Problems with old wells, e.g. leaks in Gulf of Mexico wells. Effect of US oil supply peaking. Daily supply situation. Number of working rigs in North America. Supply, outlook in US, world context. Current centre of energy interest is West Africa. Details. Explains elephant fields. Five biggest service supply companies all American. US have understood cost of running down, but terrible about environment, decommissioning. Explains. 4000 platforms in Gulf. Details re extension of infrastructure life, installations being past design-life. Technology transfer of North Sea standard equipment back to Gulf. Mentions over-design of early North Sea installations. Reference to TLPs (tension leg platforms). Reference to Charlie Anderson, Andergauge, Petroline Group, in forefront with exportable technology. Compares attitude now in Scotland with 20 years ago. Ian Wood now a voice of prudence. Compares Scotland, Newfoundland situations. Comments on government involvement in oil/gas industry, disincentives to individual entrepreneurs. Outsiders' perceptions of Scotland, its engineering and technical prowess. Own current career situation, future plans, interest in antiques, SUV (sports utility vehicle). |