Peter Harriman

By Chad Schumacher

Peter Harriman was like most high school graduates when he graduated from Mandan High School; he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. It took him several years before he figured it all out, and he has since become successful in his professional life. 

When Harriman graduated he thought he would like power plant work. During his freshman year in college at Bismarck State College in the early ’90s, Harriman decided to enroll into the power plant technology program. After graduating from BSC he went to work at a power plant in Wyoming. There he worked with control men a great deal, and Harriman enjoyed that. So he became an operator at the power plant for three years.

Yet again Harriman thought he wasn’t completely satisfied with what he was doing, and he was around engineers most of the time when he was an operator. So he decided to go back to college in 1995 while still working at the power plant.

Three years later he became a process engineer. Two years after that he moved to Cairo, Egypt. But due to the decline of production in Cairo, because of the decline in gas prices and high demand, Harriman came back to the U.S., where he moved to Houston, Texas.

Even though there was a decline in production in Cairo, Harriman said, “In Cairo I built up my coaching and mentoring skills.” 

While residing in Houston, Harriman worked in the Gulf of Mexico as an operations engineer, working with about 200 people on his platform. He worked in the Gulf of Mexico from 1993 until 2005, when he was given a huge opportunity – Harriman went to work as a manager at the largest production facility in the world, Dorado, where he was placed in charge of about 300 employees.

Although he was in charge of 300 people and working at the world’s largest production facility, Harriman found yet another opportunity to improve his career. This January he decided to move his family oversees to Azerbaijan, a country north of Iran and west of the Caspian Sea.

Harriman said, “Azerbaijan has tremendous natural resources.”

He is currently the manager of one of the five platforms offshore in the Caspian Sea. In Azerbaijan, Harriman is responsible for managing about 190 people on an offshore platform. He makes sure that programs are running correctly so the platform is maximizing production and that everyone stays safe.

On Tuesday, July 21, Harriman came back to the Bismarck-Mandan area to visit his family and friends. While in the area, Harriman went to Bismarck State College and made a video to promote the power plant technology program at the school, as well as tell students that will watch the video about his career and what opportunities are in the power plant industry.

Harriman also mentioned that the job can be dangerous, and because of that, most engineers can make $20 to $40 an hour. Some operators can earn up to $80 to $120 an hour. Most employees work for 28 days straight and then they have 28 days off, and they work for eight hours a day. Harriman said it is a good job if you’re single, but it can be difficult if you have a family and children, because of the work schedule.

Harriman says that he sees a need for managers within the next six to nine years, because a lot of managers are getting close to retirement age. He also said that in his case, the keys to success are a hard work ethic, and for people going into power plant technology, he says the most important thing to keep in mind is to stay safe.

Harriman said, “Think long-term, take opportunities and make them available to you. You can never have too many opportunities, and if you work hard, opportunities will come.”