I didnt have any experiance of the oil industry when I got a start but did have a trade (electrician). The others are right in what they are saying, its a pretty bad time to be looking at the moment but I think things are looking up.
I am in Croatia just now working on a driller in a yard and the company I am working for has 3 major jobs starting early next year mainly involving refitting Drillers while they are all laid up. The oil price is slowly rising so fingers crossed things will pick up.
Survival is about £800 for the uk sector I think, my refresher is due early next year:(