Ep. #37 - From Bullcook to Field Operator: Life on the North Slope with Matt Serafine

In this episode of The Crude Cast, Travis sits down with Matt Serafine, a seasoned oilfield operator whose path into the industry is anything but typical. From painting houses and cooking offshore to managing wells on Alaska’s North Slope, Matt shares the story of how persistence, networking, and a willingness to speak up helped in oil and gas operations.

They cover everything from daily life on the slope—including negative 60° winters to how communication with leadership plays a huge role in career advancement. Matt offers practical advice on standing out, staying humble, and making yourself useful, even when you’re just starting out. Whether you're new to the industry or looking to grow within it, this episode is packed with relatable insights and first-hand experience.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Matt's Journey into Oil and Gas
• 6:05 Daily Operations and Commute
• 11:00 Field Operations and Responsibilities
• 19:00 Career Progression and Opportunities
• 23:00 Insights on Plant Operations and Recovery Techniques
• 29:00 Navigating Career Progression
• 34:00 The Importance of Networking
• 41:00 Maintaining Professional Relationships
• 42:00 Attitude and Adaptability in the Workplace
• 46:00 Finding Fulfillment in Your Job
• 59:00 Continuous Learning and Growth
• 1:00:00 Looking Ahead: Future Aspirations

Transcript

 here is my podcast episode transcript, "Matt (00:00) My is Matt Seraphine. I worked in the oil and gas industry for going on 11 years now. Travis McCaughey (00:11) Then what do you do? Matt (00:11) in my opinion. operator. Travis McCaughey (00:14) Right on where it at. Matt (00:15) Started out in Cook Inlet Offshore in Anchorage, Alaska and now I work on the north slope of Alaska. Travis McCaughey (00:23) And how'd you, you didn't always work in oil and gas. So what was kind of your path to getting into this industry? Matt (00:30) No. Well, my brother worked as a, still does work as a roughneck, basically in drilling. And he's the only one in like my family or friends or anything like that that worked in the oil field. So I thought, that sounds like a cool job. I want to do that. And so waiting to get callbacks, you know, putting my resume into companies. Worked at some restaurants, did painting for summer, worked at a moving company. No calls and then I had a friend who got a job as a cook on one of the offshore platforms and told me, hey, you're hiring a bunch of people, you know, I mean, I know it's not exactly what you want to do, but probably get hired. So was like, it's place to start at least. So took the job. And from there, I let the crews know where I worked, like, hey, I don't want to do this forever. I kind of want to do what you guys do. And eventually, as luck would have it, an operator shattered his foot. So he was going to be out for some time. And the crew gave me a chance. Travis McCaughey (01:47) Okay. So no one else, I mean besides your brother, no one else is in oil and gas. Matt (01:58) Now. Travis McCaughey (02:00) And your brother always Same thing that was must have got into it with buddies or something Matt (02:06) So was... Kind of weird, he was doing an odd job helping a friend help move some other friend's stuff. his mom was the hiring person for Neighbors Drilling. She liked how they worked. Yeah, he got a job. It was very random, lucky. after working in Cook Inlet and you know most of the people live in that area, you you kind of learn like you live down there you either know someone or you're related to somebody, family, friends, somebody works in the oil field. Whereas in Anchorage there's actually not that many. Travis McCaughey (02:39) Yeah. Right. or yeah, few and far between. Do you recognize more people that you work on the slope than you did working offshore? Matt (02:57) Yeah. Yeah, actually the first place I went to, there was a kid I went to high school with that was on my crew. So yeah, so like right out the gate, was something. And there has been a few people, like people I met through my brother that are up there and whatnot. Travis McCaughey (03:12) really? in operations. Matt (03:28) Drilling. I'll see him at like the airport or they'll be doing a job on my pad or something. Travis McCaughey (03:28) Okay, let's see. what's the commute look like? Matt (03:40) pretty sweet. 15 minutes to the airport from where I live currently. About an hour and a half flight, land in Dead Horse and since I'm in the field we have trucks so we just change out with our alternate and hop in the truck, go change at camp and get our drill site. Travis McCaughey (03:45) Yeah. so you are driving, you don't take like a crew bus from camp to like the field or from camp to the... Matt (04:13) So if you work in a plant, that's how it works. So if you're like where I first started when I went up there was in a plant. So I, yeah, they have a bus to the different camps and all that. But when you work in the field, you have your own truck basically. Your crew has trucks. So you just ride with the other people changing out. So you just drive yourself. Travis McCaughey (04:17) Yeah. Right? how far from Dead Horse? you're not working in Dead Horse, so from Dead Horse to the camp, how long is that? Matt (04:38) Yeah. 10, 15. Travis McCaughey (04:49) like 20, 25 miles an hour or what? Matt (04:54) 35 on most summer 25, but pretty much everywhere is 35 Travis McCaughey (04:56) Okay. Like what is that process? Matt (05:06) It's like... wells mostly online mostly all of them are online Travis McCaughey (05:07) That was pretty good. Yeah. So it's going from the pad to a flow station. that what's going on? Matt (05:19) Yep. Yep. Travis McCaughey (05:20) Okay. Matt (05:21) So there's flow stations Travis McCaughey (05:23) So then the plants, the gathering centers are different than the plants. Matt (05:30) No, it's the same. Basically the biggest difference was was BP, the ARCO. So they call them different things, but mean it's wells flowing into a plant to get processed. Travis McCaughey (05:43) Right. Matt (05:43) It's kind of the same deal. And they have, they're... connected to where if side goes down they can open up a valve and supply AL to side and vice versa. I said AL, that's what, they call a gas slip. So, you know, it's just, the nomenclature's starting to take over. Travis McCaughey (06:03) Now YAL, alternative lift or something? Matt (06:06) Don't get me started. Well, one of those things you taught me all those years ago, know, the five different ways you can flow well, the artificial lift. They call gas lift artificial lift. There's more things encompassed than that. Travis McCaughey (06:18) Yeah, yeah. Right. maybe you're using gas for who knows what up there. what is a typical day for a field operator? Matt (06:39) So where I'm at, we do our change out meeting with night crew at camp. So we've got a little room that we have dedicated for us. And change out there, it's called EOC. They're the ones that kind of overlook the whole field and make sure the gas plants aren't overloaded and all that. They kind of dictate what wells come on and get shut in. So they come in, give us some numbers, give us highlights of the field, what's going on, what we could be expecting for the day. And then from there, we go to our plant morning meeting, going over numbers, what the plant's doing, what the field's doing, and all that good stuff. And then we go to our drill sites. We sign permits, we have them, know, inspections, wire line, what have you. And then we have to do our manifold building walk down. You know, just making sure we walk through the manifold, checking everything, make sure there's no leaks, everything's functioning as it should. And then they call it running the wells. We know it as just doing your tubing and casings. Travis McCaughey (07:55) yeah. Matt (07:56) So we have to go in out in the pad and Go to each wall house take a look at the tree and make sure everything's hunky-dory Get our tubing case and readings whether it's 89 degrees which we hit one day this summer or if it's negative 40 degrees And yeah, from there whatever projects if troubleshooting if things aren't going right or what have you. And if you're at a drill site that has really high gas wells, you know, you're bringing on and shutting in wells throughout the day depending on the ambience. Travis McCaughey (08:33) you're opening, closing, choking back wells pretty frequently. So what is... Matt (08:39) Yeah, it's very different ballgame than what we came up with, Travis McCaughey (08:45) And that's all to recover the most amount of barrels per day. Matt (08:51) So it's mainly because The gas plants can only handle so much So and as you know when colder temperatures Turbines run way more efficient So when it gets cold The gas plants can move a lot more gas So we can bring on more rate that's what we're limited Travis McCaughey (09:16) you're bringing, if it gets colder, you're bringing on more wells to make more oil in theory. And there's probably some other balancing going on there. Matt (09:26) Yeah, it's other wells and a different drill site might get shut in for wire line work so we can bring on this other well to backfill it, you know. So we're always optimizing our rate. Travis McCaughey (09:40) Now is that all engineering driven or is that operations driven? Matt (09:40) That's actually a good question. So yeah, bitch. So you have operators that shadow and learn to do it, but it's run by optimization engineers. So basically like if at the gas plants, if a compressor goes down, they're calling the board operators at all the facilities like, hey, shut in these wells because the line's going to get super packed off and pressure up and not, they just won't be able to move the gas. Travis McCaughey (10:17) do they have standard like hours that they do that? Like they can make change within like blocks or is it just whenever you get a call from a board operator to shut in a well or something? I mean, of course you're gonna do that anytime if they call you, but do they try and standardize those time slots or something? Matt (10:32) Thank No, it's all just depend on ambience. So if there's like a 10 degree swing up or down Board operator was going to be giving you a call like hey, shut in These walls are bring on we're gonna bring these walls on Travis McCaughey (10:54) And that's all over radio Matt (10:57) Yeah. Well, they'll try calling first, but if you're out doing something, typically they'll call your drill site first and then they'll hit you on the radio. Travis McCaughey (11:08) Right, so you have your own control room out there. Now what else is on the pad? You have utilities, Matt (11:17) Yeah, it's pretty basic I mean The biggest difference and like what you and I would say we're used to is all the valves are hydraulically driven so you have a hydraulic skid and you do have an air compressor, So that's the only thing you have as a test separator the rest just goes in the manifold through the headers Travis McCaughey (11:40) and no chemicals. Matt (11:42) There are chemicals, like where I'm at makes a lot of water. So there's a lot of corrosion inhibitor and scale inhibitor. Travis McCaughey (11:51) Like down the well you're saying? Is that what you said? Matt (11:54) Flowline. Travis McCaughey (11:56) So then if there's, are you going from your drill site to the plant? Is that like, say you're going for lunch or something like that. Are you staying on site all day? Or are you like, do you have multiple like? Matt (12:12) No, one of our drill sites we have a break facility. So everyone in the field will all meet up there and have lunch. Unless of course we have something that we can't leave the drill site for, say safety related, right? We have like fire and gas testing, we have stuff bypassed, we have to stay on site in case of an emergency. Travis McCaughey (12:31) Right. Hmm. Right. are you getting rounds on multiple drill sites than typically? Matt (12:48) No. Unless you're... Yeah, just the one. Travis McCaughey (12:49) He's just the one. And then the natural progression is that you go from drill sites to what? What's your next step? Matt (13:01) I mean you just be drill sites. It's really weird. It's... I mean you got guys who have worked up there for 30 plus years and they've only worked drill sites or they've only worked in the plant. There's never been any like cross training. Like they've never done anything else but where they're at. Travis McCaughey (13:13) really? Is that typical? Matt (13:23) Yep. So I, with my past experience, I kind of have an advantage because like when the plants talking about their compressors or stuff like that, it's like, kind of understand because I have that experience. Whereas a lot of guys never worked in a plant. They just know wells. Travis McCaughey (13:42) interesting because at they work you into, don't know much about it, you know, oil, water, gas, utilities, like they work you through the whole system. I how does somebody go from what's your next like? raise or improvement or something like that. Matt (14:10) Well... That's what's funny. I mean really it would just be to become a lead. Travis McCaughey (14:16) a lead field operator. Matt (14:18) Yeah. And if I were to go to like the plant, I'd have to start at the bottom again. Travis McCaughey (14:25) Right. Matt (14:26) of working my way up to eventually working the board. Now in drill sites like, yeah, I just started back in May. So I still have to work up to my, to get signed off on my Tech 3 to be able to work what we call the gas pads. Cause we have wells that we inject gas down into to help the field make more rate. And those can be a really bad day, so you gotta know what you're doing there. Travis McCaughey (14:53) if you have field operators, like day's nights or Matt (14:56) They run full cruise day and night. So they have a night lead and a day lead. You don't really get into much projects because if something happens, you don't want to, you got to be able to break away and go take care of it. Travis McCaughey (15:14) you would have, you're saying you would have to apply for an open job in the gas plant? Matt (15:21) But I wanted to go to the gas plant. Travis McCaughey (15:23) Yeah, right. Matt (15:24) I really have, I mean it, I got to tour it, it's really cool. I mean, we're talking, it's just, everything is so big. I mean, the inlet to that facility, it's compressors that, basically your suction compressors, they, these valves, these suction valves, Travis McCaughey (15:34) Yeah. Matt (15:51) are so big. mean, everything is just so big compared to my past life. And they make special kind of gas that they inject down hole to help recovery. There's a lot of cool stuff to learn and go, but... I don't really have the desire to go. Travis McCaughey (16:13) Well, like you said, if you got, you just started up there in May, what was the truth? Matt (16:19) Well, it was actually September. I started at a water plant. The treatment plant. No, not even the treatment, just the injection plant. Travis McCaughey (16:25) okay. where people are hauling you waste or like produce fluids or what? Matt (16:37) So you have the seawater treatment plant that's like on the very edge on the ocean. It's kind of cool. They built it as a barge and they barged it up and then just anchored it right there on the on the ocean. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So there they take the water from the ocean, they treat it and they send it to the seawater injection plant where it just runs through some Travis McCaughey (16:54) Yeah. Matt (17:05) turbines to get up to formation pressure and then sends it back out the door. Travis McCaughey (17:10) So you're inject, is that another enhanced recovery then? Okay. Interesting. I would have assumed that most of the recovery was just almost naturally gas, just because there's so much of it, you know. Matt (17:28) Yeah, they do both. And there's a lot of... Yeah, and then there's a lot of produced water. You know, these plants, can three-phase separate. So there's a lot of produced water injection. Travis McCaughey (17:29) Yeah, and then, am I? right? What it's treating it is it just same thing like chemicals and that type of thing? Matt (17:50) Vac tower and chemical. Travis McCaughey (17:55) Yeah, well not a bunch of silt I guess, they're able to get enough. clarified enough with those screens or multiples or size or something Matt (18:05) Yeah, mainly just like the chemical. The old oxygen scavenger and back tower. Travis McCaughey (18:10) So you go from seawater to the field. Was that the same thing? Did you have to apply to get out of seawater or is that the same thing like just a natural progression? Matt (18:24) So that one was more of just I let my foreman know because the seawater plants are encompassed under I just let my foreman know. like, hey, you know, I'd really like to go to the plant or go to the field. Because that was just... The days were long there. Travis McCaughey (18:43) That place is really clean, I'm guessing. Matt (18:46) Yeah. Travis McCaughey (18:46) So how far from camp is seawater? Matt (18:53) So if you're at the seawater treatment plant, the camp's actually built in and you stay out there. Because it's quite a ways from where everything else is. Like if I were to drive from camp it would be like 30, 40 minutes. Travis McCaughey (19:00) Ow. and you're driving, you're not hovercraft or flying or something. Matt (19:17) There's a road out Travis McCaughey (19:17) Right. Matt (19:18) It's definitely like a platform type feel. except you can still drive if you want to go somewhere. Travis McCaughey (19:26) where you gonna go though, Matt (19:27) Yeah. Travis McCaughey (19:30) what has... Most of your progression has just been just letting people know what you're interested in, like what you want that next step to be. Is that what you would let, is that what you would tell other people? Like what kind of advice would you give people to like progress? Matt (19:56) Don't expect people to be able to read your mind and just give you what you want because they know without you telling them. You gotta be vocal. You know, it's the same thing like you hear in normal nine to five jobs, like, I haven't gotten a raise in such and such times, like, well, have you asked? You know, you gotta voice what you want. obviously do it tactfully. You don't want to go in and just come in and all hot and heavy and dissuade people from wanting to give you a chance. But yeah, I mean, starting from when I was a Bullcook, just always communicating like, hey, this is what I'd like to do. I'm willing to do this, this, that. I got a good attitude. I work hard. Travis McCaughey (20:36) All right. Matt (20:48) I won't let you down if you give me a chance to do it. Travis McCaughey (20:52) that's funny. You say that probably is very accurate in that people can't read your mind, of course, so they don't know what you want unless you tell them. Matt (21:03) Yeah, that's been the biggest thing. I when I was still working offshore, you know, I was wanting to go to the slope. I wasn't just sitting there like, man, know, chances I, any job that opened up, I'd apply for for the slope and I would let my superiors know like I have interest in going. Travis McCaughey (21:25) Yeah. How much of that is networking? I mean, are you just letting, are you just letting your supervisor know, or are you like letting other people that you know on the slope, like, Hey, let me know if there's a position open, et cetera. Matt (21:30) A lot of that. A lot of it. That's exactly how I got to the slope, was... The foreman who when I initially went So yeah, no, I applied and shot him off a message like, man, I applied. Travis McCaughey (21:59) What are you going to do for me this time? Matt (21:59) So yeah, no, I know there's something to be said of not leaving jobs or when you're working with people if they get moved to different places or whatnot, leaving on bad terms. It's always good to leave on good terms so in the future you guys can help each other out, what have you, or you have opportunity to go different places. Travis McCaughey (22:27) and there's value in knowing what you're getting, I'm guessing, as far as if you're the supervisor, you already know what Matt's capable of. it could be an easy transition. if you want it, if you want it and he needs somebody then. Matt (22:45) No, absolutely. that's... Yeah, there's some I can part on people. Yeah, don't leave on bad terms. Try to keep good relationships with the people you work with, superiors. I mean, look, it's been, how many years has it been since we worked together? Like seven, eight? Travis McCaughey (23:04) probably, yeah, was gonna say seven, Matt (23:07) And we're still on good terms, you know, like, it's what... It's a good thing to do. Travis McCaughey (23:13) how long was it from, let's say the time that you decided you want to go up there and you kind of like start applying and letting people know to actually going up there? Matt (23:25) It was about... A year, maybe two? Travis McCaughey (23:31) okay, so that's... I think that's a decent amount of time. Matt (23:36) Yeah, you know, I just anyone that popped up I'd apply and. Finally, one just worked out. Travis McCaughey (23:43) What do you think, makes you kind of a valuable part of the team? When what would you, you know, if we're giving advice to people, what are you doing really well that like keeps you as part of the team? Matt (24:05) Never getting complacent in the sense that, I learned how to do my job, I know how to do it. So I don't need to do all the stuff I had to do when I was coming up to get where I'm at. Just always have a good attitude in the sense of being willing to do anything. Like if it's to go mop a floor, even though I'm a board operator, say. Like just being useful, having a good attitude, always been willing to help people. And, you know, I learned this from a certain somebody, the first guy when I started, he was very, he was the only guy in my crew that actually took the time to actually start training me and teaching me, you know, and I took that, I've taken that. in my career and focus on that. And it's always good too to do the training because you learn how to do stuff again that you may not have done in a long time. No, it's, I would just say just keep a good attitude and make sure just have nothing's beneath you as far as work wise. make yourself useful. There's a task that not a lot of people like to do. Make that your task. Travis McCaughey (25:25) That's your inn. Matt (25:25) It. Yep. Get along with people. It just goes back to attitude. Whatever job it is, whether you work in the oil field or the office, we'd all rather be at home with our families. We'd all rather be doing something else, but you come with a good attitude. It can affect other people to where you make your time at least enjoyable. Travis McCaughey (25:27) Yeah, that's it. Yeah, you're working close quarters with everybody for a long time. Gets pretty old to work with crummy guys. Matt (25:55) Yeah, and especially when... I mean maybe not so much in your case anymore, but you know we technically spend more time with our crews than we do our family. Travis McCaughey (26:07) Yeah. it's even for us as well. You still have to show up. You still have to work with the same guys every day. So, mean, granted, even there you can drive and get away from them or you might not work with them for quite often. But yeah, having a good attitude is a big part of it. Matt (26:30) Yeah, and I would say too, one thing that helped me in my career is taking ownership. If you mess up, don't do the blame game. I always found from the leads or management that I worked for, they always respected the fact that I would take ownership of my mistakes. Let's say I learned from it, won't happen again, it's my fault. You know, if you put yourself in a leadership, you know, in a hypothetical, like what would you want to hear someone who messed up say? Would you want to hear a bunch of excuses and then blame a bunch of other people? Or would you rather than just be like, my bad, won't happen again. Travis McCaughey (27:06) Yeah. Yeah, try and figure out what happened for days or weeks on end. Matt (27:21) But yeah, I would say, yeah. And then the roundabout is just attitude and... don't have anything beneath you as far as what your job work is. Travis McCaughey (27:35) what's the best part of your job? Matt (27:37) Currently. Travis McCaughey (27:39) I guess you could do it at each one of your kind of positions, I suppose. Matt (27:47) I mean offshore, that job was just cool. I mean, it really was. You take a helicopter out to work, you're out in the middle of the ocean. know, the stuff we did as far as like what our daily tasks were, it was pretty cool. Very hands-on. On the slope, in the field I would say is the freedom. Like other than the morning meetings, you're at your drill site. You just have freedom. You're there by yourself. You kind of dictate what you want to do for the day as long as everything's running. And if you want to go, if some other drill site has stuff going on, you just drive over to go help them. Or if you want to go learn another drill site, you just drive over. Cause you don't have to really worry about being on site as much because you have a board operator who gets your alarms and they'll let you know. And granted, you don't make a practice of it, but if it's to go learn or help another drill site operator, then yeah, it's totally acceptable. Yeah, the freedom is amazing. Travis McCaughey (28:54) And I'm assuming, because it was similar for me. It was more dynamic offshore than it is where you are currently. Like you have a more varied like work scope, I guess. Matt (29:04) Yeah. Yes, offshore you kind of do everything whereas on the slope there's someone for everything. Like when I was at the water plant the toilet broke and I'm like, where do we keep our parts? And they're like, what do you mean? You just call someone. Like, really? That's pretty neat. Travis McCaughey (29:17) Right. Yeah, right. Yeah. Which is, yeah, that is nice. does it affect ownership in a certain way too, you know? Matt (29:39) Yeah, it does. It's, that's something I've been trying to impart, know, like certain things, like if we're too busy to focus on that, then yeah, we have the luxury of being able to call someone, but if we have the time and do it. Travis McCaughey (29:54) Right. Yeah, I'm always used to, like you said, coming from offshore, you are replacing piping, you're working with the crane, you're optimizing gas lift, you know, all those things. You could be replacing a toilet, everything on the facility. You're doing everything that's on the slope, you know, within reason, on a platform. So there's... Matt (30:22) Yeah. Travis McCaughey (30:26) I think there's a sense of, yeah, it's fun in that way. Matt (30:30) it's pretty sweet. It's definitely different, like you said, like I mean, in the field we do a lot of our own bolt-up work. But like even think of wireline. We just sign their permit and the well's theirs. Travis McCaughey (30:45) Yeah. Matt (30:51) They do all the opening and closing, connecting and all that, you know, what we would do offshore. It's actually kind Travis McCaughey (30:58) Yeah, that's... Matt (30:59) of easy because I'm so used to being hands-on on that stuff and being there. I kind of don't like just signing the permit and just being on site, making sure everything's going good. Travis McCaughey (31:14) But yeah, I just thought like, man, this is nice. They're adults, they're competent. That's like their trade. They know how to do it. well what else do want to tell people? Matt (31:32) Well, I would say the oil field is a pretty cool job. I mean, it's definitely, I think it's a little different in Alaska than it is everywhere else. Cause I think everywhere else is normal, like four tens or what have you, not kind of like the shift that we do. It's not for everyone. Some people can't handle being away from home, but it is pretty sweet. You get half the year off. Travis McCaughey (31:48) Right. You're on a two a two, two weeks out, two weeks off, Matt (32:01) in the work. Yeah. I mean, the work can be, you know, have some really bad days, but for the most part, if you got a good group of dudes you're working with, whether you're in operations, drilling, construction, service companies, you know, such as Wireline and E-Line, I think it's a pretty sweet gig. Travis McCaughey (32:22) So go ahead and scare everybody away with how cold and nasty the North Slope is. Matt (32:29) Well, this will be my first winter actually being out in the field last winter I was in a plant so it didn't really affect me But I mean it can get to temperatures to negative 60 negative 70 It can get cold And what's crazy is it's the wind is what really gets you so There was a couple days my last itch it was 17 degrees and when I went to go Travis McCaughey (32:35) Right. Matt (32:57) run my wells. It's like, okay, I'm in my Arctic gear, but it wasn't like as cold as like five degrees with the wind blowing 20 miles an hour. Travis McCaughey (33:10) yeah. Matt (33:10) Yeah, that wind is really nasty. Yeah, I it gets cold. I mean, it gets what you call phase conditions to where, say if I'm out at the drill site and it hits phase three, meaning you can't see more than 10 feet in front of you. You're stuck. Travis McCaughey (33:28) You're stuck at your drill site. Matt (33:29) Yeah. Yep. Travis McCaughey (33:33) Okay. Matt (33:34) Or if you're on the road, mean, you either just pull over and wait it out or if you think you can see the delineators, because on the road you have delineators to help guide you for those conditions. it's actually, yep. Yeah. You need to, and it's required you have art here with you in the winter time and then some food with you in case those do happen. have food and drink and warmth. Travis McCaughey (33:49) It's like a reflective stake or something. Matt (34:04) But I know at the security gate they'll do like checks. I know like at the plant, if you work at a plant, think like maybe there would be like one set in your crew van. Because the way it works is the crew meets up at a spot in camp. You go to your crew van and you drive out to the plant to change out with the night crew. Then they just drive back. Travis McCaughey (34:27) I mean the art of gear is insulated coat basically an insulated snowsuit in boots and stuff. Yeah. Matt (34:35) Yeah, it worked. It's actually quite amazing. Those insulated bibs are... Those things are awesome. I want to get a pair for myself. Travis McCaughey (34:43) Game changer. Yeah. When you're doing that daddy daycare and you want to go sledding or something, you're like, where's my Arctic gear? Matt (34:53) Yeah. Now those things are pretty sweet. Travis McCaughey (34:59) said you were working at the plant, now you're out in the field. I mean, what's the ratio of outside work to inside work still? Because that's one thing people talk about. Same thing offshore, where you had a coat, but you weren't necessarily outside all that often. And it's similarly true onshore where you're going from your truck to a well house, your truck to a building and unless you're actually working outside for an extended period of time, you don't put on full snow gear, you just put on, you have a set of long johns or something. Matt (35:24) Yeah, much fewer. Yeah, I would say it's being like an operator, it's comparable to that. Like really the most time you're gonna spend outside is to go run your wells. Unless of course there's like a line frozen, you got heaters going on it, but yeah, it's very, when it's that cold, you're not really spending that much time outside. Unless something bad's happening. Like this last stitch I was permitting, insulators and they were outside all day and by degree to negative 17 It doesn't just depends which job is as an operator It's yeah, like you said, I wasn't I was only putting on my Arctic gear for running my wells so I could get it done faster Now just run into a well house hop in the truck warm up go to the next one But with the Arctic gear I can go Travis McCaughey (36:20) Right. Yeah, most of those other jobs, they're building heated, tarps and plastic, or they have something specifically built, I imagine, or heaters or something. Matt (36:46) Not what these guys were doing. Some jobs, yeah. But these guys are kind of just going all over the pad for inspections. Travis McCaughey (36:48) Yeah. Matt (36:54) I would, I would say it's about the same being a field operator. It's like, okay, we have to go offload a boat or dumping chemical, you know, it's just those off one offset. You're to be outside for a little bit of time. Travis McCaughey (37:10) So what's next? So you were bulk hook, now you're an offshore operator, now you're a field operator on the north slope. What are you looking at? Matt (37:25) I mean, I'm still quite young, I mean I'm 33. Possibly, you know, I wouldn't mind moving into a leadership role at some point, but that's down the road. And field operator, though, on the slope is pretty amazing. I think I found my job that I really don't feel like leaving. Travis McCaughey (37:38) Right. You Yeah. Matt (37:50) And maybe down the road I'll want to go into the plant to learn that, but for the time being I'm content. Travis McCaughey (37:58) Yeah, sounds like a pretty sweet gig. And then like you said, if you're a self-starter, then I'm sure there's more than enough to do there. Matt (38:07) yeah, I've got so much to do for training-wise. I that's the thing that sucks about leaving a place where you were confident and competent. When you're on top of the totem pole, you go somewhere else, you gotta start all over again. Travis McCaughey (38:27) Right, yeah, you gotta ask all the stupid questions. Matt (38:30) Yep. Yeah, I remember asking someone a question once and them being like, are you kidding me? Travis McCaughey (38:40) That never happened. Matt (38:41) No, I actually tell all the new guys, I'm like, listen, ask all the questions you can, because there's going to come a point where you've been here long enough where people are just going to expect that you know these things. And it's up to you to ask the questions to get to know it or to drop your ego and in those times where you may come off as an idiot, still ask the question to save something bad from happening. Travis McCaughey (39:11) Yeah, there was, I think I was getting rounds. And I thought I knew what number, what gauge I was supposed to be looking at. Cause it was pretty close to what everyone else was looking at. And then I change out, we're talking about something and I'm like, where are we supposed to be getting this number? like you said, put your ego aside and you don't know it. So you have to ask that question. And that's better than being a year or two down the road. And everyone assuming you know what you're doing when you really don't, or you think you do, I guess. Matt (39:48) Yeah, and you know, if it's on your round sheet, it's probably pretty important. Right? Travis McCaughey (39:53) Yeah, well, I mean, can be. There's a, yeah, there's a reason anyway, why you're, why you're looking at it. It might just be so you're going to a specific spot to look at something else and, and while you're there, might as well look at this other thing. Matt (39:57) and be. Hahaha! But no, that's what I've taken away is just never stop asking, drop your ego. And if someone wants to give you crap, like, hey, I didn't know. Right? Like, I'm just trying to be honest saying, I don't know this, but I want to know this because I want to be a better teammate, do the job better, do it safer. Travis McCaughey (40:33) I think that's good advice for sure. All right, we're at one hour. Have we covered everything? I mean, there can always be a round two. There can be a follow-up Matt interview. Matt's in the gas plant now. Matt's in a leadership role. Matt (40:50) God help us. Travis McCaughey (40:51) No, it's all good. I appreciate you coming on and Yeah, I mean these these podcasts don't happen unless people want to take the time to Make them happen, you know, then the only way I get better same thing you guys come in and Let me ask you some questions, so I appreciate it Matt (41:12) Questions were good. Definitely do it again. Travis McCaughey (41:15) Cool. Thanks, Matt. Matt (41:17) I'm good seeing you buddy. " write a descripiton for the episode and the title