Grant Munro

Houma - New Orleans - Houston

Week two finished here in Louisiana and heading back to Houston tomorrow afternoon; that is however after and evening of fun and festivities in New Orleans which promises to be (insert quote)

      - crazy

      - really crazy

      - so crazy, ya'll gonna love it

So by all accounts its going to be an interesting and 'crazy' evening.......cant wait.

Work wise we spent the week helping Lorell on the eletrical panels that help to control the measurement equipment that ensure there are no discontinuities between the amount of oil actually getting extracted and the amount recored as being extracted; important as the 'black gold' (new fav. TV programme on discovery) is worth over $120 a barrel.

Towards the end of the week gone by we were meant to be going off-shore to visit one of the oil platforms out in the Gulf, unfortunately there was a slight issue with a hurricane named 'Dolly' that stood in our way. Never mind though I have an entire lifetime and career infront of me to get out on a platfrom - and according to Shane the novelty of the helicopter ride rapidly wears off when you step off it into 12 hour shifts, and back home, the North Sea weather that I am sure can give Dolly a run for her money.

Well New Orleans is waiting outside the hotel door so I'm off to listen to some blues, take a trip down Bourbon Street and have an all round 'crazy' time; then head back for a relaxing weekend before starting work with the Pressure Control division of the Wood Group.

Ill keep you posted on New Orleans and what it had in-store for us.......

      

Houma LA, population 100,000 + 2 Scottish Interns

We have spent the last 5 days working at the Wood Group Production Services (WGPS) offices and work-shop in Houma, about an hour away from New Orleans. WGPS in Houma deals with the measurement of oil and gas, and with today's proces it is a very important part of the industry. The measurement facility combines mechanics, electronics, programming and some complex looking pipe and valve systems all packed full of very expensive equipment, lots of small eletrical boxes worth over $10,000.

The Production Services devision in the Wood Group is contracted by various companies in the oil and gas sector to produce the measurement equipment, it is then calibrated, tested and altered to meet the criteria set down by the contracting company. Once everything has been passed off by an inspector it is then put into use on platforms, at refineries and at pumping stations throughout the Americas.

We started of by helping Lourell on the eletrical side of things by preparing the back panels that hold some of the previously mentioned 'small eletrical boxes' which go on to be mounted that control and monitor the measurement instruments.

Yesterday we had a half day at work followed by an 'educational field trip'. the Gulf of mexico has over 4000 oil and gas platforms and yesterday I saw a handfull of these from the beach, it was pretty spectacular; from about 2 miles out to sea all the way beyond the horizon there were hundreds of platforms, for someone who wants to work in the oil industry it was some sight, and of course I forgot to take my camera to document the trip, so unfortunatly there are no pictures for me to upload, but I'll try and make it back down to get some.

After taking in the view and recording some mental photographs, Shane and I headed into the boiling Gulf Coast ( I regularly have colder bath's) to do some soft shell crab fishing. What I learned most from this field trip was that by combining some string, some turkey necks and a couple of nets you can catch in excess of 200 crab; ontop of this valuble lesson in survival we also learned how to make a 1.5 hour journey turn into a 4.5 hour trip, we did this by combining wrong turns, poor navigation and a complete and utter lack of local knowledge, this second lesson was frustratingly easy to master.

As I write this blog there is an afternoon thunderstorm in full swing out side  so this is going to delay our trip to New Orleans to take in the sights and sounds and heading down Bourbon Street, probably best known for its Mardi Gras festivities. Well thats enough of the travel writing and hopefully this trip wont turn out to be anothe rmammouth journey into the wilderness of South Louisiana.

Welcome to Houston

      So after a long days traveling with the mandatory delays and missed connections on Friday we are here and settled into our apartments, which are fantastic. We spent this morning down by one of the two swimming pools at the complex; and I think I should be taking advantage of the 24hr gym facilities on offer here before a weekend trip to Galveston beach at some point.

      Houston itself is huge, we took a trip to one of the many shopping malls yesterday from where we stay in the west; a 20 min. drive only got us half way to down town, apparently the city is 600 sq miles in size (thank you Wikipedia), compared to Glasgow’s 67.76 sq miles.

      Day 1 of work starts tomorrow, but we have been told the good news by Maribel (who is helping to coordinate our intern programs) that we have a half day induction and then have the afternoon off, a gentle start to what will be a hard summers work I think. Tuesday morning Shane and I are headed to Houma in Louisiana for our first two weeks before coming back here to Houston for the rest of the summer.

      I would like to thank everyone at the Saltire Foundation who have made this great opportunity possible for myself and all the other interns scattered around the Globe this summer; also thanks to the Wood Group for taking on us 4 Scottish lads this summer, I look forward to getting started.

      Well I better get ready to go out, I hear a gargantuan steak calling out to get eaten…