Welcome to boomtown

MARK SPALDING took a gamble when he started applying for oil and gas work fresh out of university.

The 25-year-old knew it was the industry he wanted to work in but there were not many jobs going. Spalding didn’t apply for jobs in other engineering sectors. He was worried if things didn’t go his way he wouldn’t have many options.

So there was no looking back when the call came saying he had landed a job with engineers Independent Technologies.

‘‘It fits perfectly with what was after,’’ he said.

‘‘Taranaki is the place to be for oil and gas.’’

He had colleagues at the University of Canterbury who have headed to Australia, chasing a higher wage, but Spalding said he had no interest in that option.

‘‘The wages are better but it’s a bit too hot over there,’’ Spalding said.

Now, after working in Taranaki for the past 18 months, the only region in the country where unemployment seems to be dropping, Spalding hoped other areas would get in on the action.

Other areas in the country, such as the Hawke’s Bay, are calling for the oil and gas industry to move into the region to boost jobs. Spalding would encourage it. ‘‘A lot of jobs come from it. There is a bit of development in exploration at the moment so it would be cool if that came to something.’’

In the coming weeks, two colleagues from his engineering course in Christchurch are coming to join him at his company.

‘‘It’s where I want to be.’’

I

Photo: Andy Jackson/Fairfax NZ Go west, young man: Rather than head overseas, Canterbury University graduate Mike Spalding moved to Taranaki with his partner, Sarah Bynevelt, where they found work thanks to the oil and gas boom.