Live my life as a Senior Drilling Supervisor

Discover the daily life of an Altea Energy consultant, Senior Drilling Supervisor, on a mission to a drilling project in North Africa.

“It’s 6:00 am. I drank my coffee and finished my morning exercise workouts. A new challenge awaits me. I feel a little stressed but determined to start a new experience and make this professional challenge a success.

Today is the day of my mobilization to the site. It’s a key day, like every first day on site. I have been in the oil drilling business for over 15 years and every time I have the same feeling before I leave my apartment and my young family for a month. With my suitcases in hand, I hit the road.

Two weeks ago, I started discussions with Yen, Head of Global Support at Altea Energy. We talked about everything related to my mission; we set the objectives and drew the broad lines.

Once my contract is signed, I start my preparations. My family first: I go shopping with my wife and fill the fridge. Then it’s the suitcase that you have to pack, you have to think of everything and cannot afford to forget something. When you’re cut off from the world for a month, sometimes a simple razor or a battery charger can ruin your life…!

After twelve hours on the road, I arrived at the site in the desert. I am taken to my room, a porta cabin; I put down my suitcases, put on my suit and PPE and head straight for the site to say hello to my colleagues.

Presentations made with my back-to-back, the Company Man of the day, and we start the handovers. This is an important step because every detail related to operations and safety is relevant for monitoring the site. The driller has a crucial role to play in ensuring the success of the project and the safety of personnel, equipment and environment.

During my stay on the site, I was practically disconnected from the outside world. We have no telephone network coverage on the site, which is located in the Grand Erg Oriental, lost in the middle of the sand dunes… We regularly use satellite phones and the V-sat internet is very slow, barely sufficient to read our professional emails. We sometimes travel twenty kilometers to reach a mobile network to call our families and loved ones in case of emergency or during the holidays.

The days go by, I work very hard, more than 12 hours a day, 7/7 non-stop. Coming into the fourth week of rotation, I am exhausted but happy with the work done with my team, and I’m about to see the civilian world again. The client is satisfied with our performance and signs my Timesheet, which I send to Altea Energy to process the payroll.

My back-to-back has just arrived, it’s my last day ; we start the handover again, and I’m going home. I have spent the month brainstorming and planning outings and activities that I will spend with my loved ones during my recovery period.”