- #8412
Job Overview
- Offshore
- High school diploma
- Post-secondary diploma
About This Career
For those who need to be at the centre of it all, there’s no better position than an offshore oil rig’s control room. Whether it’s a few dozen workers on a smaller rig or hundreds in deepwater, they’re all depending on operators paying careful attention to the numbers that keep production flowing and everyone safe.
Oil and gas exploration and production in Canada occurs both on land as well as on offshore vessels and installations. Offshore Control Room Operators have a number of responsibilities including monitoring, operating and maintaining the vast network of pipes, pumps, separators, centrifuges, processing units and valves on an offshore petroleum production vessel.
In this occupation, activities may include:
- Operating electronic or computerized control panels from a central control room to monitor and optimize physical and chemical processes for several processing units.
- Operating control panels to coordinate and regulate process variables such as temperature and pressure, and to direct product flow rate, according to process schedules.
- Adjusting equipment performance to match operating requirement (centrifuges for low gravity solids removal or barite recovery), optimize screen selection on shale shakers or mud cleaners etc.
- Ensuring equipment is in good condition and operating properly
- Reading automatic gauges at specified intervals to determine the flow rate of oil into or from tanks, and the amount of oil in tanks.
- Monitoring process indicators, instruments, gauges and meters to detect and report any possible problems.
- Operating and servicing compressors, pumps and separators
- Supervising, coordinating and educating service operators and operator assistants and any third parties in rig up, operations, routine service and maintenance and rig down of all operations equipment.
- Conducting general housekeeping of units, including wiping up oil spills and performing general cleaning duties.
Education
- A High School Diploma is required with some companies requiring a College Diploma in process operation, sciences or a related subject
Certifications
- The following certificates may be required and obtained by taking short courses for work in an offshore environment:
- First Aid
- Hydrogen Sulfide Awareness (H2S Alive)
- Blowout Prevention
- Well Control
- Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS)
- Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG)
- Firefighting
Licensing
- A provincial power engineer licence, compressor operator or refrigeration certificate may be required when certain kinds of equipment are included in the process.
Additional Requirements
- Specific health and safety certifications may be required, determined by location of work and company requirements. Marine work in general includes:
- Basic Survival Training
- Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET)
- Helicopter Underwater Emergency Breathing Apparatus (HUEBA)
- Marine Emergency Duties (MED)
- Building and Construction
- Production and Processing
- Works Safely
- Promotion of Occupational Health and Safety
- Interpreting Documents/Plans
- Mechanical Operation
- Preventative Maintenance
- Equipment Maintenance
- Equipment Selection
- Operation and Control
- Operation Monitoring
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Also known as
- Control Room Operator - Offshore Drilling
- Ballast Control Operator
- Dynamic Positioning Operator
- Operations Technical
- Petroleum Process Operator
- Plant Operator
- Process Technician
- Production Controller
- Production Technician
News Item
Offshore Control Room Operator Spotlight
PostedFor those who need to be at the centre of it all, there’s no better position than an offshore oil rig’s control room. Whether it’s a few dozen workers...
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