Going, going, gone! ........ Kind of

[kiwikrasher]

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-2 ... on/7187904

My old refinery. Most of the process equipment has been torn down, was just these and the flare stack to go.

Bit sad in a way.

[Deegee]

It's always sad when something you've put a lot of time into is past it and is defunct, I've seen it numerous times in my line of work where I've installed new kit, got a good working relationship with the customer and operator and looked after it for anything up to 12yrs, then had to survey the remains for disposal to a third world country where it's life is measured in weeks. Really sad to see a chunk of your working life disappear looking worse for wear.

[Rossgo]

Must be sad Kiwi but if the old is gone then hopefully something new, more than efficient and more energy efficient will replace it which will provide new jobs for those who are desperately seeking work

[Kwacky]

How long were you there for?

[kiwikrasher]

How long were you there for?

I was there for 7 years. I only left as 240 of the 250 of us in Operations got made redundant due to ceasing Refining operations and converting to a Terminal with finished product being imported. It's the whole reason I ended up out here Offshore.

They finally got the 5th stack down at 6.30pm tonight after 4 separate attempts to blow it up.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/stubborn-stac ... mzx5x.html

[Kwacky]

Excuse the ignorance, but is there much of a difference when you're working on shore to off shore, or is it a case of getting your head down and working the same way?

[kiwikrasher]

Excuse the ignorance, but is there much of a difference when you're working on shore to off shore, or is it a case of getting your head down and working the same way?

I guess it's different for everybody, but mentally I find it a huge difference. Although I have been out here just over 3 years I still struggle every swing, especially the first few days. It probably doesn't help that my personal life has been a mess the whole time I've been working here. I find the time away from my kids really tough. Although I can rationalise that I get to be there 24 hrs a day for them during my 4 or 5 week breaks home it sometimes isn't enough to pull me out of a semi-depressive mood. I am hoping that once the separation is finalised and life has some consistency to it time out here will be easier. The other consideration mind wise being here is you never get a break from it. At the refinery I would be home at night or morning, have a bit of normalcy and wind down, get the kids to bed or school. Out here, even off shift you are still at work, you are still on call. If an emergency happens I'm on the Response Team (no choice, all Ops are) and have been dressed in full turn out gear and Breathing Apparatus expecting to fight a fire at 2 am in the morning (was a false indication luckily). Then try and wind down from that and get back to sleep to get up at 5am for another 12 hr shift.

At the refinery, you were on a set shift, you formed a real bond and camaraderie. Two of the people on my shift at the refinery are like family to me now, pretty much the older sister and brother I never had. Out here it's a rotating shift so there is no fixed shift you are on, every week the work force changes by approx. a third. There is only 3 guys I line up with exactly the same, and funnily enough the are my closest friends out here.

Work wise, you have to be so much safer and careful and the procedures and policies reflect that. You are 5 hrs minimum (helicopter to get out here and fly back to Australia) from a decent hospital if you get seriously hurt or ill. Also the income this place generates before the oil price fall was approx. 15 million/day. You trip something and stop production your arse is in a sling. I caused a $30K loss of production at the refinery one day by making a simple mistake, the same thing here would've cost 8-10 mill. So it's far more intense. The level of professionalism out here is higher, very corporate (American owned independent) compared to the refinery which was heavily unionised. That makes a huge difference in expectation and workload too.

I also find when I go home, the first time I go out into public freaks me right out. After 3 weeks in a controlled environment with the same people, dealing with day to day stuff like grocery shopping (usually the first thing I have to do) is a real shock to my system. But I'm a bit weird.

So although it is similar work, it is vastly different work environments.

[Kwacky]

That's an interesting insight, ta for that.

[Perkles]

crikey kiwi that sounds a tough life,can you eventually retire from it but stay in the same industry on land thats more 9-5 ?

[kiwikrasher]

crikey kiwi that sounds a tough life,can you eventually retire from it but stay in the same industry on land thats more 9-5 ?

Not where I'm living at the moment. Processing Plants in the Sydney area have pretty much all been forced out by urban spread. If I moved to Darwin I could but I'd still be on a roster of 12 hr days of some kind. But Darwin is like moving to a different country. I had a 5 year plan to come out here, get freehold and take up an easier onshore job, but that's all gone out the window with the separation. This platform has 6-8 yrs more life in it and it's going to be touch and go if I'll need to move onto the new project or retire from offshore at that point. My exit plan is to move into Training/HSE management onshore and I'm amassing the required qualifications and experience as part of what I do out here with some study on my own back.

In the ideal world I'd like to move into workplace advocacy for Autistic adults. Learn a job and restructure it to suit ASD individuals, so it benefits the employer and employee, including workforce appreciation/familiarisation education of ASD. And as part of that provide training and education programs designed to suit an ASD learning method. People on the spectrum are not dumb, even the non-verbal ones, they just have brains that work differently. You teach them the right way get them enjoying a job, they will do it to a high degree with amazing dedication. It's a pipe dream at the moment and a big gap in our society, but a growing need IMO.

[Blade]

End of an era Kiwi.

Was surprised to see how close that refinery looked to built up areas tbh.

[kiwikrasher]

End of an era Kiwi.

Was surprised to see how close that refinery looked to built up areas tbh.

It is very close to built up areas Blade. It was built in the 1920's and expanded over time, but back then Sydney urban sprawl was no where near it. Now it sits smack in the middle of Parramatta which is being heralded as the second CBD of Sydney. Here's a view from google.

What is even crazier, is the Terminal that receives product from the tankers (bearing in mind this was crude until 3 yrs ago) is smack in the middle of Sydney Harbour with a pipeline 27 km long that runs up along side Parramatta river to the Refinery! If it ever let go, Sydney Harbour would be an oil slick!

To the bottom right is the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

[Blade]

1920's makes sense as they wouldn't build there now.