well construction to wall construction

I’ve built more than 30,000 feet down. Now it’s time to build up.

This is the first topic in a series where I’ll explore transferable skills between the oil & gas industry and construction.

An O&G well always starts with a plan. Whether it’s drilling or completing, there’s always structure and intention. Construction? Sometimes there are plans… sometimes not. But the ability to see in three and four dimensions—that’s the real transferable skill.

Take the wall in this picture: 35 feet tall, governed by the same rules that apply to O&G wells. Young’s Modulus of Elasticity still matters.

I can remember the exact day I internalized that concept—shoutout to Karl Ulmer, MSc for teaching me.

Well plans and construction plans share a lot of common threads. The one that ties them together most tightly: the engineer.

There is no escaping the PE stamp.

In building construction, you’ll also find yourself working with more people—architects, designers, PMs, CMs, and of course, the ever-flaky and overly emotional “wife.”

On this job in particular, I learned a critical lesson: always check the details.

I overlooked a couple of key points in my takeoff, and let’s just say a 35’ wall costs a whole lot more than a 12’ wall.

Whoops, there goes a couple of percent in profit.

Looking back, I’m grateful for the many smart people who took the time to teach me.

That’s the real takeaway here: if you can be taught, you can succeed in construction.

Engineers—especially PEs—will always land on their feet.

But this isn’t just for engineers. I’m writing this for account managers, field hands, rig hands—the knowledge in your head has a lot of value.

At the end of the day, the rules of the construction game aren’t that different from O&G: make money. Period.

If you’re sitting around worried about commodity prices, foreign policy, or something else completely out of your control—stay calm.

Maslow to the rescue.

If you can solve one of the five basic needs, you’ll always find work.

Life is one big puzzle. Maybe the puzzle you’ve been solving for years has reached its end.

No problem. Just reach into the ether and grab another one.