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re: People the grew up during the Louisiana Oil Boom in the 1970/1980s, what was that like?
Posted on 6/28/24 at 11:06 pm to CroatianTiger
Posted on 6/28/24 at 11:06 pm to CroatianTiger
Even Delchamps had to pay mad money back in the day to get workers.
0
Posted on 6/28/24 at 11:20 pm to ronricks
quote:
Every oil field baw had a gold Rolex.
Houma still has a Rolex authorized dealer.
Posted on 6/28/24 at 11:37 pm to CroatianTiger
I think my dad’s run is interesting. I was born in 76, my dad was in the oil business living in New Orleans area. They had a small mobile pipe cleaning business, servicing the big guys. He had a minority stake.
They crushed it, nice office, private plane, suite at the super dome, etc……
Things got ugly (mostly in fighting and market turning) and long story short, my dad lost everything including our house. Went to work immediately driving an 18 wheeler to put food on the table. Made very little and did this until he finally retired at 65. My mom also went to work during those hard times. They simply figured it out.
I’ve always respected that when shite hit the fan, he had no problem giving the dream up and grinding 50-60 hours a week to raise his family.
I’m sure there’s a lot of folks in Louisiana that have similar stories of going from riches to lower middle class but finding a way to survive.
They crushed it, nice office, private plane, suite at the super dome, etc……
Things got ugly (mostly in fighting and market turning) and long story short, my dad lost everything including our house. Went to work immediately driving an 18 wheeler to put food on the table. Made very little and did this until he finally retired at 65. My mom also went to work during those hard times. They simply figured it out.
I’ve always respected that when shite hit the fan, he had no problem giving the dream up and grinding 50-60 hours a week to raise his family.
I’m sure there’s a lot of folks in Louisiana that have similar stories of going from riches to lower middle class but finding a way to survive.
Posted on 6/28/24 at 11:59 pm to CroatianTiger
LPB covered this in a documentary I only caught 10 mins or so of but I still want to see it all.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 6:20 am to CroatianTiger
The wealthiest zip code in the US was 77024 (Memorial Villages inside of Houston)
Posted on 6/29/24 at 6:51 am to CroatianTiger
McDermott fabrication yards in Amelia paid 1.5x Union scale wages. They didn't hire black people.
Companies which supported Edwin Edwards campaign for him to become governor automatically got a percentage of services for drilling wells on state leases (most of offshore at the time) and got to pick which wells they were going to supply.
New Iberia had Millionaire Row.
New Orleans was the center of the world for making offshore oil and gas deals. Without a New Orleans office you were a nobody in oil/gas. A now deceased Belgian friend lived the Royal Sonesta for several years then rented a townhome in the French Quarter. He sold wire cable to offshore drilling companies, even for the North Sea. All the deals were made in NOLA bars and restaurants.
Companies which supported Edwin Edwards campaign for him to become governor automatically got a percentage of services for drilling wells on state leases (most of offshore at the time) and got to pick which wells they were going to supply.
New Iberia had Millionaire Row.
New Orleans was the center of the world for making offshore oil and gas deals. Without a New Orleans office you were a nobody in oil/gas. A now deceased Belgian friend lived the Royal Sonesta for several years then rented a townhome in the French Quarter. He sold wire cable to offshore drilling companies, even for the North Sea. All the deals were made in NOLA bars and restaurants.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 6:56 am to CroatianTiger
The boom never stops for O&G baws
Posted on 6/29/24 at 7:01 am to kywildcatfanone
Grew up in Terrebonne Parish. My dad worked 7/7 out of Fourchon. O&G raised the family. I can remember a few distinct times when he was afraid of being laid off and things were a bit anxious around the house. He was never laid off and retired in the very late 90s.
My grandfather made his living working for Getty Oil. Plant manager in Houma, then was sent to Saraland, AL to close out his career. He retired in the early 80s and moved up to the Ozarks and built a house.
Neither my brother, nor I, are in O&G. Of my three cousins, one remains in O&G affiliated work. He's the only one left in LA.
My grandfather made his living working for Getty Oil. Plant manager in Houma, then was sent to Saraland, AL to close out his career. He retired in the early 80s and moved up to the Ozarks and built a house.
Neither my brother, nor I, are in O&G. Of my three cousins, one remains in O&G affiliated work. He's the only one left in LA.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 7:44 am to HighlyFavoredTiger
My brother got me my first job near Buras the summer before my last year in high school. I stayed with his family at the "Gulf Camp" in a community called Triumph. The job was mostly laying pipelines from a barge and general labor. I worked in a marsh area about an hour boat ride from Venice. He was a PE with Gulf Oil until it was merged with Chevron. He moved around like a career military man.
When he was assigned to Houston some time after several promotions later, I recall that he told me that he never thought he would see the day that a (cylindrical ) bale of hay would cost more than a barrel of oil. Many buildings in Houston were called "see-through buildings" because they were unoccupied. I do not recall what year that was.
Like you he missed a lot of money. At he time of the merger he was managing drilling and production in the North Sea out of Aberdeen, Scotland. Chevron had their own managers in mind so he retired and immediately sold his company stock. Not long afterward the stock dramatically increased.
When he was assigned to Houston some time after several promotions later, I recall that he told me that he never thought he would see the day that a (cylindrical ) bale of hay would cost more than a barrel of oil. Many buildings in Houston were called "see-through buildings" because they were unoccupied. I do not recall what year that was.
Like you he missed a lot of money. At he time of the merger he was managing drilling and production in the North Sea out of Aberdeen, Scotland. Chevron had their own managers in mind so he retired and immediately sold his company stock. Not long afterward the stock dramatically increased.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 7:47 am to CroatianTiger
Would tag along with my dad to go into Morgan City where he’d buy exotic skin boots for pennies on the dollar. They’d stocked for those millionaires and boom.
Place was depressing.
Place was depressing.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 7:53 am to CroatianTiger
quote:my dad was in the rental tool business. He said to me that you could have been the worlds worse rental tool salesman and still been a millionaire. Drillers didn’t care the costs, just if you had it. Same thing with south Louisiana boat companies when oil was found in the North Sea.
People the grew up during the Louisiana Oil Boom in the 1970/1980s, what was that like
Posted on 6/29/24 at 8:20 am to notiger1997
quote:Yeah in about 6 months time my dad went from high on the hog to several of his customers owing him a shite ton of money went belly up and vanished - led a lot of good men into despair they never recovered from. I think one customer paid him about 9% of what he was owed 15 years later. I had lunch last year with one of my dad's best friends whom I hadn't seen since 80s and I told him the oil bust killed him it just took 34 years to do it and he also got screwed as a sub by the worlds fair.
I still remember my best friend's dad owning a construction company that went pretty much bankrupt because companies couldn't pay them. And I'm assuming he must have owed people money too because they packed up and moved out of state with two days' notice.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 8:22 am to FlaTiger25
quote:Hmmm this sounds real familiar to one of my dad's friends.. last name starts with an L?
Things got ugly (mostly in fighting and market turning) and long story short, my dad lost everything including our house. Went to work immediately driving an 18 wheeler to put food on the table. Made very little and did this until he finally retired at 65. My mom also went to work during those hard times. They simply figured it out.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 8:29 am to CroatianTiger
It was new money and people thought it would last forever
I had clients with yachts, planes, condos all over, partying like it was 1999 and then…. Crash. Big lesson.
I had clients with yachts, planes, condos all over, partying like it was 1999 and then…. Crash. Big lesson.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 8:45 am to CroatianTiger
Was at LSU mid and late ‘80’s in Mechanical Engineering. Had two or three classmates who were laid off Petroleum Engineers going back to school for another degree. Older guys with wives and kids.
I entered the oil field in ‘89 and heard stories. One was Marathon had a layoff where they sent everyone to their office and told them to close the door. HR/Mgt would come knocking to go over their layoff package. At the end of the day only two guys walked out of their offices at 5pm still employed. This out of a whole floor of folk.
My first tuition payment at LSU was $325. You could work part time and between semesters and more than pay for school.
I entered the oil field in ‘89 and heard stories. One was Marathon had a layoff where they sent everyone to their office and told them to close the door. HR/Mgt would come knocking to go over their layoff package. At the end of the day only two guys walked out of their offices at 5pm still employed. This out of a whole floor of folk.
My first tuition payment at LSU was $325. You could work part time and between semesters and more than pay for school.
This post was edited on 6/29/24 at 8:47 am
Posted on 6/29/24 at 8:53 am to CroatianTiger
Boom? Our business in the 80s had to shift away from O&G.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 9:37 am to cajunandy
quote:
It was really crazy around Thanksgiving-Christmas. Booze, wine baskets smoked Turkeys, boxes of steaks, Shrimp oysters what every my dad wanted a salesman showed up with it.
As a kid everyday was Christmas with something new being brought home or delivered to the house. My favorites were the fresh pears, popcorn, and huge bags of pistachios. It was an amazing time.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 10:17 am to CroatianTiger
I know a few people who worked it, saved pretty much every dollar they could and when it crashed, moved on to something else with paid off homes and a nice chunk in savings.
My godfather had just gotten in it making real good money. Was building a house, bought a new truck and actually bought our family a NES for Christmas '85 but he told my dad not to tell us kids that he bought it. I didn't find this out until way later on in life. Ended up losing EVERYTHING when the oil bust happened and had to move back with my grandparents.
My godfather had just gotten in it making real good money. Was building a house, bought a new truck and actually bought our family a NES for Christmas '85 but he told my dad not to tell us kids that he bought it. I didn't find this out until way later on in life. Ended up losing EVERYTHING when the oil bust happened and had to move back with my grandparents.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 10:20 am to mdomingue
Retired now.. managed to stay in industry and actually did ok… but that oil price chart leaves me with a very odd feeling.. not really pleasant.. I can tell you were I was for each of those peaks… or more easily those significant drops.. as op said.. I remember the managers roaming the halls knocking on doors.. I recall people coming into work the later days and people stepping out into the halls and asking” hey is the system down I can not log in”
I remember the only growth was the massive swell of our hr department as the geologist and engineers ( guy that generates growth)… all disappeared.. I recall. Diversity training ( sexual.. etc) classes in the 1990 .. upward mobility targets focusing on the skills of race and gender.. yeah they actually had them in the pie charts.... only mistake I made was not getting on with a large independent earlier.. those disappeared and you were paid for your impact to the company..not pie chart..
Done ranting.. that graph just really left me with an odd feeling. I had forgotten those disillusioned days.
I remember the only growth was the massive swell of our hr department as the geologist and engineers ( guy that generates growth)… all disappeared.. I recall. Diversity training ( sexual.. etc) classes in the 1990 .. upward mobility targets focusing on the skills of race and gender.. yeah they actually had them in the pie charts.... only mistake I made was not getting on with a large independent earlier.. those disappeared and you were paid for your impact to the company..not pie chart..
Done ranting.. that graph just really left me with an odd feeling. I had forgotten those disillusioned days.
Posted on 6/29/24 at 4:47 pm to Thecoz
Two uncles in Laffy, one had a drilling mud company, the other fabrication of oil field at the wellhead equipment (mostly heater treaters and gas plants) both sold out in the late 70's. They didn't get the top dollar if they had waited a few more years but didn't get stuck with bankruptcy. The uncle in the drilling mud business had a partner who supplied two planes to EWE's campaign, one for EWE and aides, the other for the press corps. They got 10% of all the drilling on state leases and able to pick and choose which 10% they supplied. His salesman in NOLA who was bringing in all the money, ended up being a convenience store clerk the rest of his life. Zero sales skills. His three partners all died or went bankrupt within a few years of the sales of the company, just before EWE's 2nd term as gov ended.
One rental tool company had a restaurant in Morgan City only for when company men & drilling superintendents returned from offshore drilling rigs. Free booze, food and hookers.
One rental tool company had a restaurant in Morgan City only for when company men & drilling superintendents returned from offshore drilling rigs. Free booze, food and hookers.
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