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Many Drilling Companies Are Very "Un-American"

Did you know that many drilling companies are outsourcing critical jobs to overseas markets? In recent years Diamond Offshore in particular has been sending its rigs to overseas areas. I believe Diamond is doing this for several reasons.

First, the labor is much cheaper overseas. Many of the jobs on drilling rigs consist of manual labor type jobs. Diamond would rather pay less money to foreign workers for these positions. Also, there are tax benefits to operating overseas rather than in the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, Diamond can often receive higher drilling rates from the foreign governments with which they contract. Many people know that rigs are stationed off the Coast of Mexico and typically these arrangements include working with the Mexican government in connection with the drilling activities. Many of these countries do not have safety laws, and they pay their government employees much lower wages thereby allowing the government to pay more to Diamond Offshore and similar drilling companies for operating their drilling rigs off the coast of these countries.

I find it very discouraging that a purely American based company benefiting from all of its workforce in the Houston, Texas area would take advantage of overseas markets to the detriment of American workers. Hopefully this situation will run its course and Diamond and other drilling companies will recognize that while there may be short term benefits to operating overseas, the long term benefits to operating within the United States, with United States citizens, are much greater than any temporary advantages. At the end of the day, any company is only as good as its employees and its reputation.