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Due to the recession, many people have lost their jobs - even oil drilling rig jobs. More than one laid-off oil worker has been persuaded by all the bad news to take a low-paying job working at Walmart or flipping burgers at MacDonald's. But is the situation really that bad? Are there really no jobs to be found even in the oil sector?

If you have already heard the news that Schlumberger is cutting 5000 jobs, then you probably think the answer is "Yes, there are no jobs." But did you know that they have a $1.77 billion backlog of orders? That is a lot of work to be done. Do you really think they are going to lay off their frontline workers? In reality, most of their 5000 job cuts are coming from these three places:

* the bottom 10% to 20% of their sales and finance staff
* retiring workers hired in the previous oil boom (in the 1970s)
* normal attrition - new hires who find that working in the oil fields and offshore oil rigs is too tough

While it is true that many oil companies are shutting down their oil fields are idling their drilling rigs, if you read between the lines these are mainly the less productive older oil fields. Oil companies and drilling contractors are transferring their resources to newer oil fields which are cheaper and easier to drill. For example, in March 2009, South Texas was bleeding jobs while East Texas, Pennsylvania and West Virginia were hiring workers.

However, don't just rush off to these three places. Transocean is hiring 1000 to 2000 people for their new offshore oil rigs. They are not the only company with offshore drilling jobs. Increasing numbers of oil fields on land have hit peak oil and are producing less and less oil for higher and higher costs. New oil fields tend to be found offshore in the deep ocean (there are some new finds by Exxon off the shores of Brazil) or in inhospitable places like northern Canada (where drilling can only be done when the ground hardens in winter).

As you can see, there are still jobs to be found during the recession (if you are willing to move). But what about the future? Some of you may have heard that the world is running out of oil. No oil means no work, right? Not true - that is actually a simplistic interpretation of Hubbert's peak oil theory. His actual theory applies to a single oil field - that oil production is shaped like a bell curve. Once oil production hits its maximum rate, it will eventually start declining. This is true, and has been proven in real life. But! Some politicians, reporters and green activists have over-generalized it to say that the world is running out of oil.

The truth is - the cheapest oil is gone. Oil that can be drilled for $10/barrel has not been found for many decades. Oil today costs about $30 to $40 to pump out of the ground. In the coming two to three decades, oil will cost at least $60 to pump out of the ground because this oil will be from offshore deep ocean oil fields, oil sands or oil shale. Basically, there will still be oil, and there will still be jobs, only everything will cost more.

But the proof is in the pudding - Barclays analysts reported that oil companies worldwide will spend $400 billion on oil production and exploration in 2009, despite the recession. This is just a drop in the bucket. The International Energy Agency reports that oil producers need to spend $20 trillion over the next 25 years to meet the world's increasing energy needs.

With so much money floating around, can you doubt that there will still be oil drilling rig jobs in the future? Today, tomorrow, 10 years in the future, 25 years in the future, there will still be offshore drilling jobs for any man who is strong enough and tough enough.