working and where to live in perth?
 

I work in the oil and gas industry here in uk and for a while i suppose when i move to perth i will probably do the same job as a pipefitter,i work offshore on the rigs a lot and also on sites,mostly for the big oil companies like shell,mobil,bp and many more who are upgrading or building new projects etc.

I am wondering are there any on here that work offshore on the rigs and if so where or who to they fly with to get offshore,currently i work in the north sea back here in scotland and when i leave on that day i need to travel 43 miles to get my helicopter which is based in aberdeen.

I wonder where you guys go to or fly from when going offshore?Also see the mines are these in different areas around w.a. if so is there one main base where all these flights take place or can it be from almost any remote airport,or would these be from the main airport?

As in oil and gas sites,like bp,shell which im sure is somewhere around perth,where are these based at,whats there address?Also where are many workshops based at that do lots or work for oil and gas companies etc

Reason i ask all above is,im trying to work out a location which would best suit my work,i know its a hard one as i could be working offshore which would make no difference where i was,or i could be working in fifo jobs again would not matter where i was living,but did wonder if there was such a thing as a best location for me.As in getting to airport and or flying to these fifo jobs,or them workshops.

I do have a few areas in mind,but wanted to see what other thought in what i mention above,i will be pretty flexible but to be honest dont want to be living in some remote area or run down place,i dont mind really if i have to travel an 1hr each day for work if needed too.Or on going away and coming back home.

I was looking at some jobs i printed out these past months,but most dont give where they are,and these below are probably mostly places out of the way or fifo.
In terms of where to be located where are these places:
goldfields
bibra lake
newman
pilbara
collie
pinjarra
kwinana
kalgoorie
maddington
port hedland.

Ok i have been in perth before and work there before and worked in welshpool,but if someone asked me where in perth that was near etc i would not remember,same goes for the above as well,i do remember some of these places being way up north,which really i dont fancy going too.

I am just trying to get a feel for what areas might be a good place to look into and maybe settle,but being also close to perth as well,i was thinking south of perth a little,my work might not always been offshore or fifo work and maybe some workshops from time to time so what not want to be miles and miles away from these as that would reduce my options,and i might not be doing this job for years to come.

Be good to hear from others in the same boat.

Re: working and where to live in perth?
 

Bibra lake and Maddington are in the southern suburbs of Perth (around 15km from CBD) not so very far from Welshpool, Kwinana is a little further south and industrialised. Kalgoorlie's about a 6 hour drive from Perth.

Port Hedland's a couple or 3 hours flight from Perth. Collie's probably 90 minutes drive. Newman is a flight north but don't know how long.

Google a map of WA, I'm sure it'd help!

Re: working and where to live in perth?
 

We came from Aberdeen to Perth 16 months ago.

I work in West Perth (about 45 min drive during peak traffic). We live in Maida Vale - 10 mins drive from the main airport and Welshpool if that helps.

Maida Vale is in the foothills - close to Kalamunda. It's lovely here.

Noticed your other thread about credit cards - we have an ANZ mortgage and they give you a credit card with it. I have an Egg card from the UK and as I still have a UK bank account I just pay the balance online by direct debit every month.

Hope this helps.

Jan

Re: working and where to live in perth?
 

I will look into that area you mention,just need to get as much info as possible before my validation trip in jan 09,so i can maybe have a better idea where to head too when i move.

Re: working and where to live in perth?
 

Oil and gas is all based out of Karratha, Dampier, Learmonth, etc.. which is a 2.50 hour fixed wing flight away., then its helo out anything from 40 mins to 2 hours.
Heliports are all up there, there is NO helo`s that fly out of perth.
Most of the O&G service companies have their bases in canning vale, (west) welshpool ( west) Bibra lake ( south west) or Malaga ( west north west) of the city.
If you work as a pipe fitter you, then apart from these places there is a huge refinary in Kwinana ( south west),

If youve seen jobs in hedland, Pilbara,Newman Kalgoolie etc these will be mining sites , not Oil and Gas. These all have airports and flight time from Perth is from 2 - 2.75 hours..

if you are going offshore or up to the burrup ( karratha, dampier) does not really matter where you live in Perth.. Perth airport is in welshpool , 20 mins from the city.

From your thread though I assume you were working on shell ,bp installations and sites through the likes of Amec ,wood group or KBR? ,Amec are big here , not so much the latter.
Good luck.
Paul.

Re: working and where to live in perth?
 

So sounds like south or perth would be a good place to maybe live then,ok ideally perth would be nice but i suppose cost more to own a home etc.I did not know amec was big there,is that the same amec as in the uk,as i been working on a job right now,the guy running the job has some good contacts over in w.a. with amec,maybe worth me trying to get these from him,i have worked with kbr but they are now called psn world which i believe has a place in perth,there headoffice is here in aberdeen.