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Collaborating Authors
Permian Basin
Pillars of the Industry An Energy Career Compass Bob Barba, Integrated Energy Services After graduating from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, I spent 6 years in the US Navy and decided to move on when my obligation was over. After finishing my MBA, I began to look for a job. With an Annapolis degree, 6 years of management experience, and an MBA, I had numerous job offers from a wide variety of companies. In 1981, the oil and gas business was in full swing and many firms were hiring. The process of searching for and producing oil and gas was fascinating, and it called on a lot of the skill sets that I had acquired in my career. The job Schlumberger offered me provided a unique work environment and paid better than most of the jobs I was being offered by other industries. The position came with my own logging truck and crew of two operators. Each job was a technical and logistical challenge to accomplish successfully. I was able to work with oil and gas operators directly and received an excellent education in how a critical portion of the business ran. Going the Extra Mile Over the course of my career, I have found that the traffic on the extra mile is pretty thin. It is possible to survive most of the time without going the extra mile, however, your chances increase significantly if you constantly strive to be the best at what you do. The “only” constant I have observed in the industry is change, and adapting to change requires a constant effort. This involves attending a lot of conferences and staying current with new technology. When you are self-employed, this often requires a significant investment of time and money. What Inspires Me in My Career in Oil and Gas Lupo Guerrera, Woodside Energy It is actually quite humbling to think about the scales that we deal with in the oil and gas industry. At the most fundamental level, we are making something dynamic that has been static for eons of time, unleashing the energy harnessed from ancient sunshine captured by trillions of simple versions of the earliest forms of life. But think, too, of the industry in its complex current configuration. It is probably the most pervasive human endeavor of our time, involving staggering quantities of human, industrial, and financial capital, across all continents and their waters. It all points to huge responsibilities for those of us who work in and aspire to have an influence in this industry. We need to respect the resources that are at our disposal and understand the potential impact of exploiting them. This continues to inspire me in my career in oil and gas. As a reservoir engineer, I am passionate about the stewardship of hydrocarbons that ancient processes have provided us, and am driven to working with others to use more efficient ways of recovering them.
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > North America Government > United States Government (0.55)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > New Mexico > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
Technical Leaders Millennials, loosely defined as individuals born between the 1980s and 2000s, now make up the SPE young professional demographic. We are known for many things, both good and bad, but perhaps most notably, we are not satisfied with putting our heads down and waiting our turn to climb the corporate ladder. Millennials desire challenging and impactful careers. We have come to expect exceptional reward for exceptional work. As a result, we are rarely satisfied staying in one role or at one company for too long. So, the question is, how do we keep our careers exciting and dynamic? Kim McHugh, general manager of drilling and completions for Chevron Services Company, and Jake Howard, operations supervisor for Chevron, weigh in on how to manage these transitions gracefully and strategically. What was the motivation for your transitioning of roles? Kim McHugh (KM): Operations is such an exciting part of our business. I love being a part of the day-today operations at the rig, delivering production for the business plans, all at a very fast pace. That being said, the motivation to change to a corporate role is that I get to know what is happening around the world for Chevron. This is a role of influence with industry interaction outside of Chevron. Being able to travel is also a plus, as I get to visit operations around the world. Jake Howard (JH): I have always been excited to take on new challenges. Moving into operations as a production team lead, then as an operations supervisor presented a number of new development opportunities. With prior engineering experience in carbon dioxide flooding, waterfloods, and heavy-oil steamfloods, this move gave me an opportunity to learn the frontline challenges that come with our modern day unconventional tight oil play. This transition would also give me the chance to learn the core of the business from the ground floor, spending time at the wellhead learning. Yet, the biggest opportunity I saw was to begin expanding my scope within a technical role to a leadership role. Being responsible for a team to accomplish results through motivating and developing others was the biggest driver for taking on this transition. Being able to do so in a company such as Chevron, knowing I would never have to compromise my integrity or values, made the opportunity even more attractive.
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Midland Basin (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Delaware Basin (0.99)
- North America > United States > New Mexico > Permian Basin > Delaware Basin (0.99)
- North America > United States > California > San Joaquin Basin > Kern River Field (0.99)
TWA Interview You started out as a petroleum engineering student and now have been the chief executive officer (CEO) of Linn Energy since 2010. How did you get to where you are today? My dad was a petroleum engineer from Texas A&M University. I knew I wanted to pursue engineering, and A&M was the obvious choice. I would not say that when I graduated my goal was to be a CEO of a publicly traded company. Somewhere in that first 6–10 years, I realized I liked being in leadership and would like to develop a career to run a publicly traded company. With that in mind, I took a lot of rotational jobs in different functions to give me a breadth of understanding of the whole industry. Not only did I work in engineering, but also in marketing and transactional activities, so I could understand the business aspects of how assets fit within certain companies and strategies. In how many companies have you worked so far in your career? What lessons did you take from them? I have worked for five companies. You learn so much by going to different companies and really engaging in their cultures. You pick up on different leadership styles; different things that work in different organizations. At some point in your career, you try to take the best of all of them and create the culture that you think is the best culture for an organization. I realized that people are what make an organization run. You need great assets to be successful, but the assets do not run themselves—they are only as good as the people you have managing them. To focus a group of people on a common outcome, it is critical to set strategic goals, and make sure the organization is aligned in achieving those goals, ensuring everyone understands how they add value to the organization and feels they are important to the organization. At Linn, we devote the time necessary to make sure that everyone understands where they add value. A lot of our time in leadership is spent doing face time out in the field. I visit every location in the organization at least once a year, and I try to have a personal connection with everyone. It is not easy to do, but I think it is important.
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
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Economist’s Corner Oil and natural gas are the lifeblood of modern economies. Together, they account for close to 60% of global commercial energy consumption. Even in future scenarios with a high penetration of alternative energy sources or technologies, oil and gas are expected to maintain a share of about 50% by the middle of this century; more business-as-usual scenarios forecast a share of 60% or more. The transportation sector depends on oil products such as gasoline, diesel, bunker fuel, and jet fuel almost exclusively. The ability to travel and ship goods are the key ingredients for a successful economy; the lack of transportation infrastructure or its low quality has often been a major roadblock for emerging economies to attract investment. It will be difficult and time-consuming to switch millions of vehicles on land, sea, and air to alternative fuels. None of the alternatives, including biofuels, electric cars, and fuels derived from natural gas, appears to be ready to replace oil products in necessary scale although they are certainly making progress. What is the Interplay Between Oil, Natural Gas, and Alternatives? Natural gas is an important feedstock in many industrial processes such as methanol or fertilizer plants, but the growth in gas use has come primarily from the electric power sector, where it has been replacing oil and other fuels (primarily coal) in many countries, in addition to meeting new demand growth. In some markets, more than half of the electricity is generated in gas-fired power plants. The share of natural gas in power generation is expected to increase in most countries as countries try to lower their emissions and as more gas resources are proven and developed across the globe.
- Asia > Middle East (0.95)
- Africa (0.70)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.29)
- South America > Argentina > Patagonia > Neuquén > Neuquen Basin > Vaca Muerta Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
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- Management > Energy Economics > Market analysis /supply and demand forecasting/pricing (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Sustainability/Social Responsibility > Sustainable development (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment (1.00)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Natural Gas Conversion and Storage (1.00)
The Way Ahead Interview Ralph Eads is vice chairman of Jefferies LLC and global head of Jefferies’ Energy Investment Banking Group. His extensive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experience includes working on more than USD 300 billion in energy M&A transactions. Before this, Eads was president of Randall & Dewey, which was acquired by Jefferies in 2005. His previous positions were executive vice president of El Paso Corp., handling its unregulated businesses; head of the energy group of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; and senior positions at S.G. Warburg and Lehman Brothers. Eads serves on the board of trustees of Duke University. What or who inspired you to work in the oil and gas industry? I am a fifth generation Texan and a native Houstonian, so I have been around the oil business my entire life. One of the things that drew me to the industry is all the great lore around it. I have always liked all the stories and the traditions of risk-taking and boom and bust. It is just a fascinating industry. You have assumed various financial roles throughout your career in the industry. What roles do you or did you enjoy most and why? I enjoy my current job the most. Here at Jefferies, we have a true combination of finance and technical expertise. It is stimulating to see interesting projects and to do technical analysis on individual plays. You get the transactional activity associated with finance, but you also get exposed to the innovation in the industry. How do fluctuating oil prices, specifically the low oil prices seen today, affect the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) business? It kills it; the market just stops. We mainly act for sellers and that business has stopped because buyers want to buy packages at USD 50/bbl oil, and sellers do not want to sell that low given that the price of oil was USD 80/bbl only a short time ago. If prices stay low, sellers will start selling at the lower price, or if prices recover, we will get back to a market that transacts around USD 80/bbl oil. But for now, the market is frozen.
- South America > Argentina > Patagonia > Neuquén > Neuquen Basin > Vaca Muerta Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- (25 more...)
Why did you choose the oil and gas more about choosing which of those emotional intelligence, and solve your industry? I am often asked about the technical versus managerial track, KL: After attending the Colorado School JJ: I am the oldest child in my family and most people are surprised that I am of Mines, I knew the energy industry so I have always naturally gravitated a strong advocate of the technical track, was where I wanted to be. I understood toward running things. I began my especially for women. When I speak to the importance it has on our world and SPE leadership very early as a student audiences of young engineers, everyone quality of life.
- North America > United States > Texas (0.33)
- North America > United States > Colorado (0.25)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
- (22 more...)
For many engineers, it helps to discuss The National Society of Professional commitments such as sustainability ethical dilemmas with their colleagues Engineers in the United States has and social responsibility have higher and seek guidance for the appropriate a Code of Ethics for Engineers with chances of success in companies where application of a code of ethics. Providing case studies of technical societies have ethical professional duties, shall: actual situations illustrating violations guidelines for their members. Ethics can be complex, without presenting information, ethics, conflicts - Conduct themselves honorably, clear answers. The Decision of interest, nonbiased actions, personal responsibly, ethically, and Framework developed by the responsibility, impact on public health lawfully so as to enhance Ethics Subcommittee of the Society and safety, environmental impact, the honor, reputation, and of Petroleum Engineers can help multidisciplinary work, and observation ...
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
- (21 more...)
What's Ahead - Final column from 2013’s TWA editor-in-chief, Todd Willis. Ask most YPs what they want in their career, and you’re likely to hear descriptors like “cutting-edge,” “major project,” or “new development.” Ask us where we want to work, and locations like Houston, London, or Dubai might come to mind. You probably won’t hear us wanting to tend to 5-B/D stripper wells in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, or be a field engineer in Baku, Azerbaijan, one of the world’s earliest major energy hubs. Upon initial consideration, these places seem unimportant—not the sexy, cutting-edge future of the oil field. They are where the action was 50 years ago, a relic, interesting to read about in history books, but certainly not to work in. The real technology and capital spending—or so the thinking goes—is in deep water or unconventional gas fields. Indeed, TWA focused this year’s first issue on deepwater plays and the technology required to operate in these areas. On closer inspection, though, the level of ongoing investment into mature assets and their significance to the operations of companies large and small show that this initial impression just doesn’t hold up. Many operators have invested tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars into sustaining or revitalizing older assets. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and i-Field (intelligent-field) efforts enable an engineer sitting at a desk hundreds of miles away to monitor entire fields single-handedly. Waterfloods, steam floods, polymer floods, infill drilling programs, horizontal side-tracks—all of these enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and improved recovery projects bring tens of millions of dollars of investment capital to these so-called oilfield “relics.” They also bring with them the need for project managers, financial analysts, and talented engineers who can maximize return on investment.
- North America > United States > Texas (0.96)
- North America > United States > New Mexico (0.71)
- Asia > Middle East > UAE > Dubai Emirate > Dubai (0.25)
- Asia > Azerbaijan > Baki > Baku (0.25)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
- (21 more...)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Improved and Enhanced Recovery (1.00)
- Management > Asset and Portfolio Management > Field development optimization and planning (0.91)
- Facilities Design, Construction and Operation > Measurement and Control > SCADA (0.91)
- Management > Strategic Planning and Management > Project management (0.70)
Public Policy Focus - The status of carbon capture and sequestration. In 1972, the first commercial carbon dioxide (CO2) flood project in the world began with the injection of CO2 into the Scurry Area Canyon Reef Operators Committee (SACROC) unit in the Permian Basin in Scurry County, Texas. The goal was simple: To arrest declining oil production and recover bypassed reserves. Today, nearly 40 years later, CO2 injection is being considered on a much wider scale, and for a different purpose altogether: To help arrest an increase in the average surface temperature of the planet. CO2, among other gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, is a “greenhouse gas,” a gas that traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere by absorbing and emitting radiation within the thermal infrared range, causing a greenhouselike warming effect. The presence of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere is vital, for without them, Earth’s surface would be on average about 59°F colder than at present. CO2 is also a key ingredient that nourishes plant life through photosynthesis.
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
- (21 more...)
Excessive reliance on these teams, a common occurrence My first observation dates back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, in major E&P companies with large R&D departments, led to an when I first joined the industry. I noticed that a significant number intermediate breed of E&P professionals who are skilled in one area of those already regarded as successful, respected, and competent and retain somewhere between "working knowledge" and "awareness" level in perhaps two more areas. Luis Carlos Colmenares is a senior reservoir engineer for Shell's Ursa The early 21st century is bringing the new generation of E&P tension-leg platform in the Gulf of Mexico, based in New Orleans. The professional that is getting aboard during the best times the industry Ursa TLP serves as a hub for the nearby Princess and Crosby subsea has seen in decades.
- South America > Colombia (0.71)
- North America > United States > Louisiana > Orleans Parish > New Orleans (0.24)
- South America > Colombia > Huila Department > Neiva Basin > Balcon Field (0.99)
- South America > Colombia > Arauca Department > Llanos Basin > Cano Limon Field (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Conger Field > Wolfberry Shale Formation (0.98)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Conger Field > Pennsylvanian Formation (0.98)