6G Pipe Welding: Why Does the Midwest Need Steel Mills to Fabricate Pipes?
Why are the first new mills in 30 years making tubes?
It’s because just like in the Beverly Hill Billbillies, old Jed is a millionaire. If he’s a farmer in places like North Dakota, eastern Montana, parts of Wyoming, Pennsylvania and other states, he may have recently given up the plow. Why? It’s because shale oil has been discovered everywhere, including Jed’s house. They’re making pipes in newly built steel mills because they have to get that oil off old Jed’s farm.
Guess who’s putting that pipe together?
You guessed it, pipe welders. Unfortunately, pipe welding requires special welding skill: you must be proficient in welding in the 6G position, which is a test joint at a fixed 45 degree position, causing you to have to weld in virtually every possible position. And you can’t just put it together. You must be able to pass X-ray inspection of your welds. Fortunately, if you can do this, you win. In North Dakota, pipe welders with their own welder on their own truck make $70 an hour.
How long will the pipe welders pen last?
Wages have fallen during the slowdown in the economy. A rig welder in the Canadian tar sands (they extract oil from the sand) averaged $330,000 a year, according to the American Welding Society magazine, October 2007. Now, however, the demand for pipeline welders is increasing, and this time, there is no end in sight, for various reasons.
Why will the demand for pipe welders continue?
America is in a bind with our cookie jar. We have no money, and we owe money like crazy. When you’re locked in a room that seems to have no doors, and suddenly a door opens, what do you do? You run through that door, don’t you? By getting our oil and gas out of the ground, we can change the US, and the powers that be know it. So despite what you’ve heard about oil and gas in the past, hold on to your hat, because the winds of change are blowing, and contrary to popular belief, they’re not turning windmills. oil and natural gas producer coming soon.
What about solar and wind?
I like green technology. I’m a journeyman electrician, and I get it. The day will come when solar and maybe wind will make a tooth, but it will be a decade or three from now. Why? Most people don’t understand the HUGE demand for energy and how much solar energy it takes to produce a little bit of electricity. You can buy a 45 watt solar system for around $300. That will power about 3 decent size LED bulbs, and that’s wonderful, and a huge improvement over ten years ago in initial cost and technology.
HOWEVER, an electric cookie oven requires about 4,500 watts. That’s one hundred 45-watt solar systems or $300 x 100 = $30,000. Now, turn on the air conditioner at the same time you’re baking those cookies, and you’ll need another 4500 watts, and we’re just getting started.
We need oil, and we need it now. China is sucking up oil like a milkshake and it won’t stop. If you want a great career, become a top pipe welder. Not all the country welds well. Most welders go to school for a couple of years, learn a ton of things they’ll never use, and get stuck in low-paying jobs. Meanwhile, they don’t know that if they only learn this skill and nothing else, they will be able to earn real money for the rest of their career.
Why?
Pipe welding is hand-eye coordination. It’s nothing else. You can burn a root and a hot pass that will pass inspection, or you can’t. Pipe welding is not reading, writing or math. Nobody cares if you ever went to a school of any kind, if you know how to weld pipes.
Think about it. What school did Tiger Woods go to? Who knows? Who cares? He can put the white ball in the hole better than anyone in the world, so no one cares what school he went to. Pipe welding won’t make you a golf star, but he gets the idea: all that matters is all that matters, right?
What should you do next?