The dialogue and this scene were invented by the screenwriter. But it relates to a summer job as an oil field roughneck that George W. actually had during the summer of 1965. The job was real, the scene is fictional.

George W. was a 19 year-old Yale sophomore when, with his father's connections, he got a summer job as an oil rigger on an inland barge based in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His commitment to the Circle Drilling Company was from June to August, but a week before his commitment was over, he walked off the job to be with a girlfriend and party back in Houston.

His father was furious with him for failing to honor his commitment (please see pp. 88-90 of "First Son" by Bill Minutglio for further info-- more notes on this in later scenes).