In December of 2020, I headed offshore as the wellsite geologist on an exploration drilling campaign in the Bay of Bengal. COVID-19 restrictions were in place (and are ongoing), including a seven-day home quarantine in Perth before boarding the chartered flight to Myanmar, followed by a 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine in Yangon before being cleared to fly to the drillship and begin my six-week hitch. Once it was over, I returned to Perth where we had another 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine before being allowed to return home. In these photos, I take you through the protocol for working offshore in the midst of the pandemic.
the company to prevent mutiny!)
Headline Image: December 2020 – Airport check-in.
Amanda Barlow is a contract geologist whose 35+ year career includes working within the offshore oil and gas, coal seam gas and minerals industries.
Barlow is also a recreational marathon runner and a published author of three books. She has run 45 marathons in 18 different countries around the world, including the Jungle Marathon in Brazil, which is chronicled in her first published book, Call of the Jungle – How a Camping-Hating City-Slicker Mum Survived an Ultra Endurance Race Through the Amazon Jungle.
Her second book, An Inconvenient Life: My Unconventional Career as a Wellsite Geologist, documents her 35+ year career as a geologist and how she ended up working as a wellsite geologist on offshore oil and gas rigs.
Offshore Oil and Gas PEOPLE: Overview of Offshore Drilling Operations is Barlow’s third book and an overview of what it’s like to work on an oil rig, and the role everyone plays.
She can be contacted through her LinkedIn profile.
- Amanda Barlowhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/amanda-barlow/
- Amanda Barlowhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/amanda-barlow/
- Amanda Barlowhttps://energiesmedia.com/author/amanda-barlow/
Oil and gas operations are commonly found in remote locations far from company headquarters. Now, it's possible to monitor pump operations, collate and analyze seismic data, and track employees around the world from almost anywhere. Whether employees are in the office or in the field, the internet and related applications enable a greater multidirectional flow of information – and control – than ever before.