Oil rig workers being called back

(Seminole-AP) -- The boom in the oil and natural gas markets are putting more people to work across Oklahoma.

An additional 400 workers in oil and gas mining have been hired in the state over the past year and even more are needed.

The trouble is getting experienced oil patch workers who left the business when prices were low and don't want to return to the sometimes volatile industry.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission member Larry Claxton says drilling rigs sitting in fields now because there aren't enough people to operate them.

Mills Well Service owner Roger Mills of Seminole says he's trying to keep enough qualified workers to man his 15 rigs. Mills says he already has a backlog of requests for his rigs as producers wait to mine for more oil and gas.

Mills says he's given his employees pay raises twice during the past year, including one last week.