Black Gold... Texas Tea

I have escaped Alaska for a brief educational respite in balmy Houston, TX. I am attending the Esri Petroleum Conference this week. 

Alaska is full of oil companies, particularly in Anchorage and the oil fields of the North Slope. That's where all those "ice road truckers" are headed...  A popular form of employment in Alaska is to be a slope worker.

These folks, mostly men, work 2-weeks on and 2-weeks off. Most live in Anchorage and get flown up to oil camps around Prudhoe Bay at the far north coast of AK. The pay is good. But the hours and work conditions are harsh. Stephen has considered trying this line of work. But, the schedule can be tough on family life. So, for now, we're sticking with more traditional employment. 

While Anchorage has several tall oil company office buildings, Houston is clearly a city built on oil! This conference is downtown. And, from my hotel room window, I can see dozens of skyscrapers full of oil executives.

I've also noticed how much this is a male-dominated field. There wasn't another woman in line at the rental car counter when I went to pick up my car on Sunday. And that line was long!  It reminded me of my trip to Dutch Harbor a while back... King crab fishing is another of those heavily male-dominated fields.

That one I can understand somewhat. Most woman aren't mentally deficient enough to choose to risk their life for "easy money". It makes me wonder what I might be missing about the dangers of the oil & gas industry. Hmmm.