BlueCrest Energy pledged to hire four Kenai Peninsula College graduates to work at their drilling site near Anchor Point. The company made good on its promise. One of BlueCrest’s local hires says the job is the next step in what he hopes will be a promising career.
“…construction – residential and commercial construction – mining and oil and gas,” said Robertson.
Robertson says his dream was to get a job as a production operator so he enrolled in the Kenai Peninsula College – Kenai River Campus’ Process Technology program.
“Process Technology is the actual process of converting a raw material into a finished product. It’s much more than just oil. There’s sediment and water and gas and wax and a variety of things,” said Robertson.
While he works for BlueCrest Energy Robertson and other operators will control the flow of oil that the company pumps out of the Cosmopolitan Oil and Gas Field in Cook Inlet.
BlueCrest is building an onshore drilling facility north of Anchor Point. They plan to start drilling for oil in early May and to eventually produce up to 17,000 barrels of oil per day.
BlueCrest officials say about 60% of their construction staff are locals. The company hired an out of state general contractor but they say all of their sub-contractors are from Alaska with most coming from the Kenai Peninsula.
Robertson says working for BlueCrest is a big step up from the uncertainty he has faced in his past work.
“As a contract hand you’ve got to make hay while the sun shines. One day it can be there and the next day it can be gone. It’s just contingent upon so many things. Being what’s called a company hand is still at-will employment but there’s quite a bit more stability involved there,” said Robertson.
Robertson is one of four hires out of Kenai Peninsula College. All four started work at the beginning of February.
Quinton Chandler is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.
