Managing Career Transitions

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?
| YP CAREER TRANSITION STORIES | KEEP THE BRIDGES, BLAZE THE TRAIL
The Magazine by and for Young Professionals in Oil and Gas
VOLUME 12 // ISSUE 1 // 2016
Managing Career Transitions
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SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? | YP CAREER TRANSITION STORIES | KEEP THE BRIDGES, BLAZE THE TRAIL
The Magazine by and for Young Professionals in Oil and Gas
VOLUME 12 // ISSUE 1 // 2016
Managing Career Transitions
the Society of Petroleum

Engineers www.spe.org
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Contents
VOLUME 12 // ISSUE 1 // 2016
Whats Ahead: An Object in Motion Stays in Motion
SPE Presidents Column: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
TWA Interview: Going From Employee to Employer
Forum/Soft Skills: YP Life Stories on CareerTransitions
14
Academia: Conquering Change
15
Tech Leaders: Keeping the Bridges Intact While Blazing Your Trail
18
SPE 101: Career Guidance From eMentors
19
22
24
26
28
30
32
TWA Editor-in-Chief Jarrett Dragani on having a positive outlook during diffcult

times and looking at them as opportunities for career growth.
SPE President Nathan Meehan provides guidance to young professionals and

students on how to handle the downturn.
Cheryl Collarini, chairman of Collarini Energy Staffng, on her industry background,

experience, and journey to the energy staffng sector.
Six young professionals share the stories of the career transitions they have faced,
the challenges involved, and the soft skills they used to succeed in them.
Our industry is heavily driven by its perception of the reality. What this means for
young professionals is to use these times to learn about different aspects of the
industry to broaden their horizons.
Kim McHugh, general manager of drilling and completions for Chevron Services
Company, and Jake Howard, operations supervisor for Chevron in the Midland
Delaware Basin, answer questions on the types of career transitions in the industry
and how to handle them successfully.
SPE eMentoring program provides young members an opportunity to beneft from

the knowledge of experienced professionals from around the world.
Pillars: Energy Career Compass

Awareness of the industrys interconnectedness, respect for every colleague, and
diversifying your skill set are of fundamental value for success in the industry.
Striving to be essential in your job will improve your chances of staying on board.
Economists Corner: Is There a Magic Path to Career Success?

John Faraguna, president of Hays Americas and global managing director of Hays Oil
and Gas, explains the different types of employment terms available in the industry
and their advantages and limitations.
Discover a Career: Objectivity During Transitions

Maintaining objectivity during transitions can be challenging. It is important
to remember that the right answer may not always be the best answer.
Tech 101: The Essential Role of Training

Technical knowledge is improved through sharing, training, experience, or
identifying a better way to accomplish a goal.
HR Discussion: Strategies To Make Your Next Career Move the Best

A 1-2-3 method for planning and making your next career move a success.
YPs Guide To: Dallas, Texas, and Anchorage, Alaska

Be it to the Dallas metroplex or the arctic Alaska, moving to a new location can be an
adventure worth attempting.
YP Newsflash: Young Member Engagement Committee Update,

PetroBowl Winners
the Society of Petroleum Engineers www.spe.org
Printed in UK. Copyright 2016, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
TWA EDITORIAL
COMMITTEE
EDITOR-I N- CH IE F
Jarrett Dragani, Cenovus Energy
DE PUTY E DITOR-I N- CH IE F
Amber Sturrock, Chevron
T WA ADV ISE R
Tony Fernandez, Jefferies LLC
LEAD EDITORS
Carter Clemens, BP
Jenny Cronlund, BP
Tiago de Almeida,
Universitrio de Barra Mansa
Angela Dang, Colorado School of Mines
Harshad Dixit, Halliburton
Ivo Foianini, Halliburton
Craig Frenette, Cenovus Energy
Aman Gill, Nexen ULC
Rob Jackson, Mountaineer Keystone
Maxim Kotenev, Sasol
Anisha Mule, University of Tulsa
Islin Munisteri, State of Alaska
Rita Okoroafor, Schlumberger
David Sturgess, Woodside Energy
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EDITORS and ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Abhijeet Anand, Schlumberger
Ernesto Cedeno, Emerson Process
Management
Reva Cipto, Dialog Energy
Matthew French, ConocoPhillips
Dane Gregoris, ITG
Kyle Griep, Enerplus
Batool Haider, Stanford University
Alex Hali, Baker Hughes
Samuel Ighalo, Halliburton
Augusta Igweze, Seplat Petroleum
James Lloyd, Sidney Austin LLP
Colter Morgan, Chevron
Thresia Nurhayati, Halliburton
Chieke Offurum, EOG Resources
Oyebisi Oladeji, Schlumberger
Yogashri Pradhan, Devon Energy
Shubham Sharma,
Indian School of Mines Dhanbad
Thomas Shattuck, Deloitte
Michael Stratton, Accenture
Muhammad Taha, Mari Petroleum
Rodrigo Terrazas, Total E&P
Wei Wang, Shell
Asif Zafar, Halliburton
Li Zhang, Devon Energy
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Whats AheadFrom TWAs Editor-in-Chief
An Object in Motion
Stays in Motion
Jarrett Dragani, Editor-in-Chief, The Way A head
eing a young professional working in the oil and gas

industry right now means learning a lot of things
the tough way. Our business is changing rapidly,
working to refect the changing realities of a cyclical
commodity, changes to environmental legislation, and
increased technical rigor required to explore for and produce
oil and gas. This means that for many young professionals,
the required skill sets are changing quickly as is the need for
certain expertise.
I suspect many people have gone through some major
career transitions in the last year, or at minimum, have
association with individuals that have gone through one. The
simple truth is that we all go through major transitions during
the course of our life, whether it is at work or in our personal
lives. Some transitions are memorable, others are noble, and
some are regrettable, but all of them provide you with an
opportunity to refect, learn, and adapt.
I can think of several major transitions that I have gone
through in my life, and all of them have provided me with an
opportunity to grow as a person. One of the more memorable
ones was moving to Christina Lake, Albertalocated in the
boreal forest of the Canadian Northwhere I lived for 18
months supporting the construction and commissioning of a
major oil sands facility. The experience I gained on site was
both rewarding and exhausting. We worked long hours, lived
in an on-site camp (the baked goods always get you), and
spent evenings catching up on current events. Fortunately,
our camp had a great recreational center which allowed me to
keep in shape and inhibit the weight gain that almost seems
inevitable at such times.
I made some great friends at the site and I would say that
the experience was well worth it for my career development,
helping me understand our business and later transfer to
more subsurface-based roles. But there was also an impact
on my personal life. I was separated from the ones I loved
and lost touch with many people over the 18 months. In many
respects, I put my life on hold during the time I was up there.
Working in the feld as a young engineer provides
development opportunities that are hard to replicate
elsewhereseeing well and feld operations in action,
conducting inspections, troubleshooting on the fy, and most
of all, working with feld personnel who have a plethora of
experiences and wisdom to share.
I suspect that many readers have their own stories of
career transitions in the feld, offce, or academia. I would
encourage you to share stories of your career transitions on
SPE platforms like SPEConnect or SPE social media sites for

the beneft of other young professionals.
Opportunities, not Hindrances

Many people I talk to now who are unemployed or changing
roles are taking advantage of having the time off to refect
and adapt. A former senior colleague of mine recently told me
that losing his job was like a blessing in disguise. In his time
off, he has been able to spend more time with his daughter
and catch up with his personal to-do list. Others are using
the break to travel and see family members on the other
side of the globe. Some are volunteering in their community
and abroad to support humanitarian issues that riddle our
society. In fact, the individuals I know who have probably
gained the most over the last year are the ones involved in
community initiatives. These are periods in life that rarely
come about, and with a positive outlook they can be turned
into opportunities rather than being viewed as hindrances.
Through volunteering in my local SPE section, I have
beenasked by a lot of young professionals and students what
they should be doing in these tough times. I will not attempt
to try and predict what your future may be, because I have
learned that often I can hardly predict my own. But I do know
there are a number of things that you can do to set up yourself
up for success.
The concept that I have been playing with over the past
year is that an object in motion stays in motion. It essentially
means that there are always opportunities out there to
advance your career or personal experience, despite the oil
prices being depressed. For some it might mean working with
your hands, for others it could involve graduate education,
and for some others it could mean a much needed break from
work and time to reconnect with family and friends.
This idea is probably best exemplifed by SPE President
Nathan Meehan in his column in this issue. Meehan discusses
his personal experiences working in the industry through the
1980s and the impact of his decision to return to academia for
graduate education after he was well into his career. It clearly
did not turn out all that bad for him considering he is now
ourpresident!
There are many great articles featured in this issue and I hope
that at least one of them will speak to you in some manner. We
work in a cyclical industry and history has shown the industry
does eventually bounce back from a period of lower prices.
When that happens, the opportunities will likely become even
more prevalent for those who have worked to stay relevant. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
Presidents Column
Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Nathan Meehan, 2016 SPE President
Experiencing the First Downturn

A YP today is typically seeing his or her frst protracted
downturn, and no one knows how long it will last. I can
share with you some observations about that last protracted
downturn: It was the best time to be a petroleum engineer
in my 40-year career. During that time of low prices, our
1.6
Relative Rig Count
he English punk rock band, The Clash, posed

this question musically in 1982. It is unlikely they
intended it as a starting point for a discussion on
careers in petroleum engineering. Yet, this was the
topic of a SPE young professionals (YPs) meeting at the Asia
Pacifc Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition I attended
where, like everywhere else, YPs were concerned about the
downturn in oil and gas prices and the resulting impact on
their career choices.
Interestingly, the title of the session was Ridin the Storm
Out, another 1980s hit by REO Speedwagon. This title implies
a temporary drop in the industry, perhaps like the 2008 Asian
fnancial crisis. In that storm, oil prices dropped from more
than USD 140/bbl to less than USD 40/bbl; North American rig
count dropped from more than 2,000 to fewer than 900.
Mapping rig activity over industry downturns since 1998
shows that the three prior storms were all relatively brief. In
each of these downturns, rig activity in the US reached 80% of
its prior peak activity within 2 years of the fall. Until late August
last year, the current downturn had more or less tracked the
previous decline in 2008. Will we recover in 23 years as in
prior downturns, or will this be like the 1980s? What does that
portend for young engineers in our industry? I do not have a
magic ball, but I can share some statistics and thoughts.
During the 1980s, rig count dropped from a peak of 4,469
active rigs in November 1981 to 686 rigs in June 1986. The US
rig count stayed below 1,300 from 1 March 1986 to 1 February
2005, reaching a low point of 502 rigs in February 1999.
This marked the lowest rig count since Baker Hughes began
reporting rig counts in the 1940s. This was not a storm. It was
an ice age.
Here are a few questions you are probably pondering.
Will there be jobs available? What will it be like to work in an
environment of constant focus on costs and effciency? Is this
the industry in which I want to spend my career? Wherever I
go, students and professionals share thisconcern.
1.4
1.2
1
19982001
20012008
20082012
2014Dec 2015
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
50
100
150
200
Weeks From Peak Rig Count
250
300
Source: Baker Hughes

Will rig counts recover in 23 years as in prior downturns, or
will this be like the 1980s?
industry developed and commercialized modern horizontal

wells, multilateral wells, slickwater hydraulic fracturing,
measurement-while-drilling and logging-while-drilling
techniques, and multistage hydraulic fracturing of horizontal
wells. Most of the technologies used to subsequently develop
ultradeepwater reservoirs were envisioned, advanced, or
tested during that period.
The steam-assisted gravity drainage technique had been
conceptualized earlier but was proven during the downturn.
Geostatistics and geomechanics emerged from being highly
specialized sciences to routine components of how we
approach problems. Computational advances revolutionized
the way we solved problems. I received several promotions.
I had the opportunity to become an SPE Distinguished
Lecturer and see the world. Ihad the honor of serving on the
SPE Board of Directors.
There are advantages to these stormy times. Instead of
chasing rigs due to high activity levels, we have to innovate.
We have to fnd new ways of solving problems, and we will do
so. Our industry will succeed at any product price.
Most of you will keep your jobs; however, your jobs will
change. As the most senior professionals reach retirement age
during the next 510 years, you will have opportunities for
increased levels of responsibility that no previous generation of
engineers and earth science professionals have ever enjoyed.
Many people lost their jobs during the previous protracted

downturn, just as they have thus far during this one. On the
other hand, there are many, many more employers today
than in 1988. The types of jobs and opportunities available
internationally are radically different from those in the late
1980s. Some of you will go back to school.
Going Back to School: Is It for You?

During the 1980s downturn, I had the unenviable task of
either selecting or confrming which engineers would be
let go. It was no fun. After some serious soul searching, I
decided to go to Stanford University to earn my PhD. At the
time, I worked for my mentor and 1972 SPE president, the late
M. Scott Kraemer.
With four children and no guarantee of support from my
company, I was anxious about the decision. Scott advised
me, Take your time answering this question. When you
are 40 years old, will you regret not having a PhD? If so, you
go get it, no matter the cost, because you dont need to have
such regrets. I decided to go for it, and fortunately for me,
my company provided me just enough support. This single
decision was the best professional decision of my career. It
opened opportunities that I would never have had otherwise.
It is silly to try to run the economics on going back to
school. Your knowledge about what will happen in the future
is too limited. Perhaps you are considering a masters degree
in petroleum engineering. This is an awesome idea. Gettingit
as an online degree is an option, but a full-time degreewill
have more value. Consider a school other than where you
received your bachelors degree. Consider looking abroad.
For Americans, I often recommend Imperial College, HeriotWatt, Delft, KAUST, or any of the English-language masters
programs around the world. If you are going to broaden your
horizons, why not open them to the world? Students educated
abroad do not hesitate to consider coming to the US. Would you
be more or less attractive to an oil company with that masters
degree? Do you think that an engineer with a masters degree
will be more valuable in a decade? Will you regret not having
that degree when you are 40?
I often get asked about pursuing an MBA. Engineers truly
need to understand how their companies make money and
NPV [net present value] and EMV [expected monetary value]
concepts. An MBA may provide deeper insights into fnance,
but most engineers do not need one to understand cash fow
and economics issues. Getting an MBA may provide good
opportunities and alternate career paths.
I always recommend that if an engineer is going to make
that commitment, he or she go (full time) to the best school
possible. Decades of international travel have convinced me
that advanced degrees from the best-known schools maintain
value in many cultures beyond what one would expect in
the US, and that a Stanford or Harvard MBA maintains its glitter
long after the courses are forgotten. If you cannot get into one of
the top schools, then graduate in the top 10% and make friends
with the movers and shakers. They will be your colleagues and
competitors for decades to come.
Stay Current With SPE

Not interested in retooling? Not everyone is, due to family
commitments, fnancial situation, or other personal interests.
If you decide not to return to school, be sure to stay current.
SPE is the center of the state-of-the-art in technology, and
companies need people to implement this technology
economically. Volunteering at SPE gives you exposure and
opportunities you cannot get otherwise.
If you are technically inclined, try reviewing papers. It is
essential to keep the peer-review process working. Try reading
one full-length SPE paper each week, and summarize the key
points. When you go to SPE meetings with exhibitions, make
sure you understand what each of the exhibitors really does. As
a young engineer at my frst Offshore Technology Conference,
I had to ask dozens of exhibitors what they actually did. There
are still exhibitors I ask to explain what they do.
Some SPE sections run workshops on interviewing, rsum
skills, how to be a consultant, and even how to start your
own oil company. If yours has not done so, why not propose it?
How about organizing a How to make a professionallooking LinkedIn page workshop through your section, either
for all section members or maybe just for theYPs?
At one point in my career, I tried to buy oil and gas
properties for a while and failed miserably. Other investors
I met asked for help, and pretty soon I was a consultant.
Fortunately, my SPE connections allowed me to always have
opportunities to consult.
Maybe you can consider taking a break from the industry
with a planned return. I was fortunate to be able to go with
my wife to Asia for 18 months to coordinate our churchs
humanitarian efforts. While there, I could see problems
through the eyes of a petroleum engineer and see how much
of a difference safe, affordable energy makes. It was the most
meaningful period of my life. Perhaps a similar time-out
makes sense for some of you. While living in Asia, I remained
an active member of my local SPE section and attended a
conference and a forum. You should always stay active in your
local or technical chapter.
Keep in mind why you joined this industry. We provide
safe, affordable energy, improving the quality of life for the
inhabitants of our planet. This is where your ideas can be
translated into multimillion-dollar investments much earlier in
your career than in most other industries. It is where you can
have feld experiences or travel around the world. It is a place
where the greatest people in the world work.
We do not know whether we are in the midst of a storm or at
the beginning of another ice age. And, we do not know whether
you should stay or you should go, although we hope you
stay. What we do know is that SPE is here for you and will be
throughout your career. We know that what you do is important.
And, we know that what you do improves peoples lives. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
Leadership 360:
Going From Employee

to Employer
Cheryl R. Collarini, Chairman,
Collarini Energy Staffing
Islin Munisteri, State of Alaska, and Carter Clemens, BP
Cheryl
Collarini is
chairman of
Collarini Energy
Staffing, which
provides
technical staff to
customers on site, placing
upstream professionals in
temporary and full-time positions
all over the world. She is also the
manager and owner of DGC
Energy. Earlier in her career, she
held several positions at Mobil Oil,
including being development
projects engineer and reservoir
engineering supervisor. She
formed Collarini Engineering in
1985 to conduct independent
reserve appraisals and field
studies, and also conducted
petroleum investment classes for
Mobil. In 1995, she founded
Collarini Energy Staffing. In 2003,
she accepted a partnership in
Explore Enterprises and served as
its vice president of engineering.
She returned to Collarini Energy
Staffing as chairman in 2005. She
holds a bachelors degree in civil
engineering from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and an
MBAfrom the University of
NewOrleans.
How did you come up with the idea

of Collarini Energy Staffng?
My original company was called
Collarini Engineering, and we did
reserve evaluations for bank loan
determination, year-end reserve
reporting, feld studies, acquisition

analysis, and divestment support.
This required me to hire engineers,
geologists, geophysicists, and support
people. One of our clients, who often
hired us to work on offshore feld study
projects, told me that he had a team that
was missing an engineer and wanted to
hire one of mine on an hourly basis for a
couple of months. That day it occurred
to me that we could serve our clients in a
different way, and I incorporated PetroTemps, which is now renamed Collarini
Energy Staffng.
What attributes do you look for when

choosing candidates for consulting?
Consulting requires a certain amount
of experience, technical or professional
ability, and the confdence to make
decisions. It also requires someone
who can stick to their scientifcally
supportable opinion or fnding, and not
be unduly affected by client pressure.
Finally, it is important to have references
from prior clients, if any.
Many people are not suited to
consulting; a good consultant must be
a team player and respect the client.
He or she must be able to defend and
document his or her work. And, I always
ask about the need for medical and
other insurances. That is a cost that must
be considered if there are not other
arrangements, such as a spouse who
can cover the family. For many people
whom I have hired as consultants to my
businesses, it did not work out. But, for a

lot of them it did.
What characteristics impress

you when you see them on young
professional rsums? Do you
have any examples such as feld
experience, networking, or
leadership experience?
A well-organized and well-written
rsum, grammatically correct and
without spelling errors, is the frst thing
that I notice. I have read thousands of
rsums, and about 25% of people
will misspell the words principal and
principle and use lead as a past
tense. It indicates to me that they are not
careful or do not think how they present
themselves is important. But I think about
that. I worry about that. I used to throw
away rsums with grammar errors in
them and not save them, but I quit doing
that because I realize that, especially for
people who have English as a second
language, we just need to help them
with their rsums. I think a rsum that
shows progress isimportant.
Many engineers begin in the feld
and progress to another position in
the offce in 23 years. It is good to
see the progression, as it indicates
good performance. I really like to see
leadership experience in SPE and
other organizations. There is so much
to be learned about leadership even
before one is given the chance within
a company, and it is an indicator of
TWA Interview
initiative and energy when people
pursue those roles. Changing jobs often
is a negative to me unless there is some
reasonable story to go with it.
Can you share some statistics on the

number of rsums you are getting
now vs. the same period in 2013,
when oil price was more stable?
[As of 1 August] I checked our fgures,
and for the frst 7 months of 2015, we
received twice as many rsums as
we did in the same period of 2014. We
received about the same number in
2013as 2014.
You have a civil engineering degree

from Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT). How did you get
from studying in Boston to working
for Mobil in New Orleans?
I was born in New Orleans and grew up
in the close suburbs. At MIT, I began
in aerospace engineering. You might
recall, NASA was very active, and man
frst walked on the moon in 1969. But,
when I attended the very frst aerospace
class as a new sophomore, I knew it
was not for me. I quickly found another
major that was more comfortable for
me and to my liking and that was civil
engineering.Who does not aspire to
build a bridge?
My frst job out of high school
was with a construction company in
New Orleans. I did material takeoff
calculations for the pilings under the
Superdome, a domed sports and exhibits
venue, and also for the pilings under One
Shell Square, which is a 51-story building
in New Orleans. So I got to work on some
landmarks when I was 17 years old.
And that is the kind of company I
decided I wanted to work for in Boston.
There was a family-owned construction
company that was building several
buildings around MIT. So I applied there,
and I got the job, but I did not like the
snow. Driving in the snow was really very
diffcult, and I fnally said to my husband,
I dont like this. We need to go by one of
our families. Yours is in Detroit. Mine is in

New Orleans. Pick one. You can play golf
all year-round in New Orleans.
I chose Mobil in New Orleans
because the salary offer was the highest
of the ones I received. I was so lucky that
the environment was just beginning to
be friendly to women, as the Equal Rights
Amendment looked like it was going to
be ratifed. I knew nothing about oil and
gas, but I was so fortunate in that frst
job: Mobil had just invested in software
to design offshore platforms, and I was
the one to learn how to use it. I designed
seven platforms and a lot of auxiliary
equipment, including a 150-ft bridge.
Well, it is not the Golden Gate, but it
issomething.
The deepest water when I started in
the design feld was 300 ft. The deepest
one I designed was only 149 ft, but we
had to do some special calculations on it
because it was heavy and in a mudslide
area. It was off the delta of the Mississippi
River where, when the hurricane
comes, the wave trough and peak have
such a difference in water weight that
it can slide the mud, and so you had to
design the platform to be very heavy.
I learned a lot, but structural design is
not where oil companies make money,
so I asked for on-the-job-training as a
productionengineer.
When I started in production
engineering, the science was new to me.
I was used to pounds per square inch
in steel stress, but not as pressure. I had
a lot to learn, and Mobil was excellent
in training its new people. We also had
two very good developments going on
in the Gulf of Mexico that had recordsetting completions. All of the young
engineers were exposed to experts at
Mobils lab who were well-published
and were advising senior engineers
on newer technologies. We were doing
with a pencil and (large) calculator
what the nodal analysis programs are
doingtoday.
These very directional large
completions with gravel packs were
working, and the rates were very
predictable using engineering
calculations. It was fun because the
science was more accurate than most
of the sciences in our business. For

example, in reservoir engineering,
because of the nature of the data you
have, you cannot physically see it. But
with production engineering, very often
you can get a real answer, and I fnd
that I still use it because the reservoir is
connected to the completion.
From there, why did you move to

reservoir engineering?
That is where the money is. That is where
the promotions came from, in Mobil
anyway, and a lot of the oil companies,
and so is getting an MBA. I did my MBA
while I was working with Mobil, so it
took me the frst 4 years I was with Mobil
and they paid for most of it. But using the
knowledge from there and also the kind
of economics programs that Mobil had,
the reserves and economics piece was
just right up my alley.
I learned reservoir engineering
through training courses and on the
job. The reservoir courses that my
company put me through were 4 or 5
weeks, which is probably the equivalent
of 4 or 5 semesters, because they were
pretty intense. So I was able to pick
that up on the job, with the help of the
fundamentals I learned in math and
engineering. Forexample, I never knew
the decline curve formula, but I knew
exponentialdecay.
Why did you leave Mobil then?

I am far from the only person to adjust
a career path based on life issues.
I was on a great run with Mobil, a
supervisor with some talk of my taking
a ticket-punching position in the New
York offce. I had aspirations to rise
in management, and most of the local
upper management relied on me for
special projects and was supportive of
me. Then, my brother, my only other
sibling died.
He had been in a diving accident
and was a quadriplegic. My parents
were devastated, and I was the only
child. There was no question that I
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
TWA Interview
could not leave New Orleans, at least
for a while, and also no question that I
would advance too far in an international
company like Mobil without moving.
At the same time, a colleague who
had complementary skills to mine was
notifed nearly a year in advance that he
would be laid off from his job. We began
to plan for a consultancy.
Life circumstances change a lot of
peoples decisions about their careers,
and this was one I felt I had to do, and
I never look back and regret it. It has
been actually good fun.
Right after I quit Mobil, they hired
me back in 3 months to teach economics.
When I was the reservoir engineering
supervisor, my staff was bringing me
AFEs [authority for expenditure] with
mistakes, and I was the frst one to sign
them. Finally, I said we are going to have
a class. So I took it on my own time, and I
wrote a 30-page manual. It did not have
a lot of text, but it had 30 problems in it,
and I made my seven-person staff sit in
it for a whole day, and we did it. We did
economics, risk analysis, and I made
them cupcakes with the present-value
formulas on them. Putting together the
class was one of the the most careeraltering things I probably did, and I did
not know it at the time.
What do you see in the future for

staffng of the energy industry?
We are still early in the price downturn,
but we are seeing rsums from people
with more than 30 years of experience,
who might represent retirees or natural
attrition. We are also seeing rsums
from people with 5 years or fewer of
experience, but relatively few people
in the middle range. That is where the
age gap of what people are calling the
great crew change lies. The industry is
smartly keeping those people who have
1020 years of experience and trimming
from both the high and low ends to try to
even out the numbers in each age group.
I still see a need for mentors, which
will increase as staff levels decrease;
it takes time to mentor people. We
will be looking to fll gaps using
consultants, primarily those at the upper

end of the experience level. There
will be a need,because the work still
has to be done, and we tend to lay off
more peoplethanwe should to keep
expensesdown.
What would you recommend to

young professionals aspiring to get
on the board of private or publicly
traded companies?
I did it by starting my own companies.
I also have served in many industry
organizations, such as SPE, mostly
locally. I would recommend frst
becoming very active in a nonproft.
There are also organizations such
as the National Association of
Corporate Directors that are very
helpful in educational workshops and
innetworking.
How has volunteering helped you

professionally and personally?
I have been volunteering since I was in
high school. You gain confdence. I have
always had a can do attitude. It made
me unafraid to lead organizations in high
school and in college. I had three Girl
Scout troops when I was in my early 20s.
I was on the SPE Delta Section board
aswell.
Each leadership position gave me
more knowledge and experience. I
learned about working with people and
kept my organization skills sharp using
those learned MBA skills in a practical
sense. I still have my network through
all of those organizations and through
all these years. Your participation in
volunteer organizations is always going
to help you in some kind of way, and you
may not know why or when.
What do you think is the most

signifcant barrier to female
leadership?
I believe that women are their own worst
enemy. I believe that the successful
woman is somebody who believes she

can be successful. For example, if you
want it, you are going to have to grab
it, and you can look around and see the
women who have gotten into high-level
positions at international operating
companies. They have done things that
most women do not want to do and put
themselves in the pathway, and they
have been successful at it. It is probably
not as easy as for a man because it is
unexpected, but I think women do not
just reach out and take it as much as we
should, and that is a signifcant barrier
in myopinion.
How to overcome it is through
education and understanding that we
cannot have it all, but we can have what
we want. The senior-level women have
all gone through a lot, including disabled
children, husbands who are ill, and
many things, and they are still working,
and they are still successful in the level
they want to besuccessful.
I do not think you have to be the
head of a company to be successful. I
think you can just be happy doing what
you are doing and be successful. You
have to grab the opportunity when it
comesthough.
What was the most useful piece of

advice given to you?
The frst memorable one was from my
seventh grade math teacher when I was
12. She told me to consider MIT. No
one in my circle of family and friends
had even heard of it. The second one
was from someone in a class on ethics.
She said, If you cant look someone in
the eye and tell them what you did, it is
probably not ethical.
What legacy do you want to leave?

I want to be known as a good wife and
mother, and I want people to remember
me as a person who treated them
equally with respect and kindness
andwho reached out to help people
whoare less fortunate than I am.
Thatisit. TWA
Perspectives
on Career
Transitions:
Life Stories From Six E&P
Industry Professionals
Rodrigo Rueda Terrazas, Total E&P; Shawn Faurote, Edward Jones; Samuel Ighalo, Halliburton;
Aman Gill, Nexen ULC; Onyeka Ndefo, Total E&P; and Jane Norman, Santos
Finding and starting a new career can be a fairly

straightforward process for some or a daunting
taskforothers. The transition may start in the mind
when one begins to frst foster thoughts about it. A
signifcant change in direction, particularly when it
breaks free of the status quo imposed by a peer group,
often comes with its share of self-doubt lurking in the
corner. However, when one does go through with the
career transition, there are often rewarding results,
although sometimes not in ways initially envisaged.
In this issue, the TWA Forum section in collaboration
with the TWA Soft Skills section present to you six
different perspectives on career transitions from

the point of view of exploration and production
professionals. You will read about how the transitions
improved the careers and lives of the individuals, the
motivation behind the change, and what had to be
sacrifced to see it through. Read on to see how previous
experiences help with career transitions, what sorts of
resources were invaluable in managing the transition,
and the soft skills that were relevant in ensuring that the
career transition was a success.
Directing a Career:
From Filmmaking and Physics to Engineering
Rodrigo Rueda Terrazas, Total E&P
Rodrigo Rueda Terrazas joined Total Brazil in 2011 as an
intern in the gas and power division, and then worked as a gas
and power market engineer. In 2014, he joined the exploration
and production division, in the planning and development
sector of the Libra feld. He graduated as a petroleum engineer
from Universidade Estcio de S (UNESA) in Brazil, and is
currently enrolled in Heriot-Watt Universitys petroleum
engineering masters program. Terrazas has been involved
with SPE since 2011 when he cofounded and became the frst president of the UNESA
student chapter. In 2014, he joined the SPE Brazil Section board as young professionals
director, where he acts as young professionals committee chair. He received the SPE
Regional Young Member Outstanding Service award in 2015. Terrazas acts as vicecoordinator of the Brazilian Petroleum Institute youth committee, from which he
received the Professional of the Future award. He is currently an associate editor for
the TWA Forum section.
I believe that one of my biggest

professional transitions, which set me
onto my current path, was switching
from flm and physics studies to
petroleum engineering. In 2004, I was
attending university in Florida. At the
time, my plan was to complete the
general engineering core curriculum in
order to transfer to another university,
and major in engineering physics. On
top of that, I had a great desire to take
some flm classes in parallel.
Unfortunately, this combination was
not possible at the school where I was
registered, and as a result, I decided to
transfer to Brazil and attend university
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
Forum
in Rio de Janeiro. This transfer had
its downsides, such as having to
retake several of the core courses for
engineering. However, on the upside, in
Rio I was able to study physics during
the day and flm studies at night.
By 2009, I had completed my
major in flm studies, and had begun
to realize some achievements related
to it, such as directing, writing, and
producing diverse short and mediumlength flms; cofounding a small
independent flm production company;
and directing a full feature-length
flm. Furthermore, some of these
flms were selected for presentation
at international flm festivals such as
Cannes, Clermont-Ferrand, Brazil
National Cinema Awards, andothers.
Nevertheless, as much as my
flm career developed, it also
started to become clear that it was
an unreliable career choice in Latin

America in termsof job stability.
In the same manner, after several
semesters in physics, the questions
of career stability started to arise.
All of a sudden, I felt completely lost.
Although I had pursued two different
areas of study, none appeared to be
a stable career choice, and instead of
minimizing uncertainty I realized I was
surrounded by it. I needed to rethink
choices I had made years ago and
determine ways to make the most of the
time and effort I had already invested in
my education.
Luckily, as a physics major, I had
the advantage of being able to take
several electives, which gave me the
chance to study geology, geophysics,
fuid dynamics, thermodynamics,
and economics, all highly relevant
for a petroleum engineer. In addition,
and critical to my career transition,

I learned about SPE, and attended a
weekly fair organized by one of the
local SPE student chapters. This event
not only demonstrated to me all that
petroleum engineering offered as a
career path, but absolutely confrmed
my desire to follow that path.
Several years have passed since
then, and thanks to SPE, and my current
employer, I can proudly say that I have
found my true passion. Whats more,
most of the knowledge I obtained in my
previous studies has been extremely
useful in my career as an engineer,
such as problem-solving tools from
physics, and project management
experience from flmmaking. My
experiences have shown me that
all knowledge, regardless of the
feld, is relevant and useful for
futuredevelopment.
The Value of Engineering in the Financial Sector

Shawn Faurote, Edward Jones
As an expatriate engineer who had
lived in India with my family for
3years, I had already gone through a
substantial and rewarding transition in
my career. Not only did I learn a great
deal about food, culture, and language,
but the posting also provided a
wonderful perspective on the United
Statesmy home country.
However, upon returning to the US,
I began to refect upon the possibility
of yet another career transition;
this time to a different industry,
fnancial services. For years, I had
considered the possibility of making
this transition, as it would allow me to
help both individuals and families to
plan for meeting their own goals and
aspirations, by helping them achieve
their long-term fnancial goals.
When I worked as an engineer, I
also worked as a mentor and manager
for a global team. In this role, I was
often challenged to make complex
topics approachable and easy to
understand. In a similar way, as a
fnancial adviser, I am challenged
10
to make complex investments

straightforward and easily understood
so that investors can take action.
I have found in both of my careers
that a good analogy is a powerful
tool in helping customers and clients
understand the potential risk and
return that they are facing. Another
thing I took from my previous career
was that people, and engineers in
particular, often try to substitute a lack
of understanding of a concept with
more data. This typically does not
work; people often do not need more
data, but instead they need to take the
time to fully understand the data they
do have.
There is a forest of challenges before

the world today and engineers have a
unique set of skills to assist with these
problems, and not just in the standard
engineering disciplines. Engineering
attitudes toward problem solving,
such as being willing to overcome the
challenges that others are not with hard
work and determination, are tools that
cut many trees.
For any potential career transition,
I think it is critical to understand the
why before the what and how. It is
the why that will sustain you for years
and across different jobs, careers, and
pursuits. The what and how can
change to ft the situation.
Shawn Faurote is a graduate of the Iowa State University with

a BS in mechanical engineering. He served in various
engineering and management roles for Halliburton in the US in
Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico before taking an international
assignment in Gurgaon, India, and later in Mumbai. Faurote
returned with his family to the US in 2015 and is currently
serving as a fnancial adviser for Edward Jones in Colorado.
Changing Continents and Careers at the Same Time

Samuel Ighalo, Halliburton
I have had several career and life
transition experiences since I graduated
from college but I would have to say
that location transfer had made the most
impact. Making the switch from one job
to another within the same geographical
region or country is sometimes as
daunting as it is exciting; however,
making a transition from one country
to another without a job in hand is an
entirely different proposition with farreaching consequences.
Such was my situation when I made
the decision to leave my job as a drilling
engineer in Nigeria along with my family
and friends in order to relocate to the US.
The biggest motivation for my location
transition was to join my fiance at the
time. She was just graduating from
law school in the US and was making
a decision as to where she needed to
go next. After carefully evaluating all
available options, we thought we would
both be better served if we started our

lives together in the US.
Thankfully, I had good family
support during my relocation from
Nigeria to the US. However, I did not
have any prior experience on how to
relocate to a new country and embrace
a new culture. I experienced a cultural
shock the moment I landed in the US.
It was palpable and I knew from the
very start I needed to jump-start my
integration into this new culture. I looked
for organizations that assisted new
immigrants. I was led to Upwardly Global
(a resource for skilled immigrants) based
in San Francisco and other selected
cities where I was coached on rsum
building, professional networking, and
job interviews. These sessions really
helped and made it a lot easier for me
to acclimatize quickly to the US work
environment, and secure a new job in
petroleum engineering.
Samuel Ighalo joined Halliburton Energy Services in 2007

and is currently a senior drilling consultant with Halliburtons
consulting and project management division. He has more than
10 years of experience in well planning and drilling
engineering. Most recently, Ighalo has developed expertise in
advanced tubular design in deepwater and unconventional
resource plays. He obtained a bachelors degree in mechanical
engineering with honors from the Obafemi Awolowo University,
Nigeria, and a masters degree in petroleum and project development with distinction
from the Institute of Petroleum Studies, Nigeria. Ighalo recently completed a masters
degree in petroleum engineering (smart oilfield technology option) from the University
of Southern California, Los Angeles. He is a member of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers and an editor for the TWA Forum section.
I found that I had to utilize a great

amount of soft skills to speed up my
integration process in my new work
environment. The soft skills that I utilized
the most were adaptability, willingness
to learn, understanding the culture,
innovation, resilience, and networking.
These skills were very invaluable to
me during all of the transition phases
I went through and even to this day at
the workplace. Despite the challenges I
faced, I still believe my career transition
to the US was the best thing that
happened to me.
In the US, there is a huge amount
of competition for skilled jobs and this
presents a challenge, albeit a positive
one, for you to become excellent in
your career. In order to stay ahead of
the competition, you have to hit the
ground running through hard work
and dedication. At times, you may have
to upgrade your skill sets either by
pursuing an advanced degree and/or
attending professional courses. It is a
lifelong learning experience in order to
keep progressing in your job and your
chosen career.
I feel that anyone can make a
successful career transition if they have
a clear understanding of what they want,
set and manage the right expectations,
and have the resilience to deal with
unknowns. Things might not always
work out immediately the way they
were planned. Instead of throwing in the
towel, you should reassess and manage
your expectations based on the current
reality with your long-term goal in mind.
The First Career Transition

Aman Gill, Nexen ULC
Having been hired as a new graduate
employee for the same company
where I had done a student term, I was
looking forward to coming back and
also wondering what new challenges
awaited me. Looking back at my brief
but busy full-time career, I realize that
the road has been both challenging
and rewarding. My career and life have

already improved dramatically since
I started working full time, as growing
responsibility at work has strengthened
many of my soft skills both in and out of
work. As my responsibility has grown,
I have been given more tasks which
have bolstered my organizational
skills such as learning to prioritize

daily tasks. I have learned to be a
teamplayer who seeks continual
feedback and support from both
technical and nontechnical coworkers
in solving operational problems and
contributing positively to the key
results of thecompany.
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
11
Forum
The main challenge that I have
faced in transitioning to a new graduate
role from my previous student role
has been the realization that my
development is not just for a fnite
16-month term but rather for my entire
career. In line with this, I have learned
to be keen on seeking senior mentors at
work, both for career mentorship and in
supporting me in tackling and solving
challenging operational problems.
Working in a technical team and
implementing recommendations with
operations and maintenance teams has
strengthened my communication skills
and fexibility in receiving feedback.
My role has sparked my interest in
learning the elements of a variety
of other disciplines, which helps me
in achieving my daily tasks, be it by

using maintenance software or reading
instrumentation manuals.
To students transitioning into the
industry as new graduates, the advice
I offer to you is to be tenacious in
seeking to improve the effciency of
your organization. Make an effort to
understand and ft into the culture of

the company, and make sure you align
your goals with the goals of your team.
Understand how your role fts into the
company and how you can add value.
Seek out senior coworkers to provide
assistance to you when required, and
always, always ask questions.
Aman Gill graduated from the University of Calgary in 2014

with a major in chemical engineering and a minor in petroleum
engineering. After a 16-month internship at Nexens Long Lake
facility in 2012, he returned to the site as an engineer-intraining in an operations engineering role in 2014. Gill is the
lead editor of the TWA SPE 101 section. He has also served as
the president of the University of Calgary SPE Student Chapter
in 2014.
A Career That Takes You Places

Onyeka Ndefo, Total E&P
Moving from one location to another
has been a major transition that has
impacted my career. In the course of my
employment, I have moved from feld
offces to head offces, changed locations
within my home country of Nigeria,
and then moved to countries outside of
Nigeria before returning in 2014.
In 2011, I was asked to move from
Lagos, Nigeria, to The Netherlands. At
this time, my wife and I had two children
and my wife was expectant with another.
In addition, my wife had been working
for 5 years and when this opportunity
came up, we saw that for it to work that
she would have to quit her job. They
say that kids adapt quicker than the
adults for changes like this, and that
was exactly what happened. They had a
smooth transition. When we got to The
Netherlands, the challenge of fnding
employment proved to be frustrating for
my wife. However, she decided to take
advantage of the transition and used it as
an opportunity to go back to school.
My transition was different than that
of the rest of my family. I was going to
be doing a similar role as a geologist
in The Netherlands as I was doing in
Nigeria, albeit with a different context.
12
In addition to the technical differences I

experienced, I also had to adapt to the
pace of work in my new location, as it was
a smaller affliate of my company, and
was thus slower paced than what I had
experienced in Nigeria.
My family and I lived in The
Netherlands from 2011 to 2013.
Afterward, we moved to the head offce
of my employer in Pau, France. I joined
a team that was looking into service
quality on a global scale. That involved
less technical work than I had previously
been doing, but I worked autonomously,
incorporating information from affliates.
The biggest issue with this career
transition was the change in culture.
Although I speak French fuently, I found
that speaking a language is different
from understanding its culture and

society. It can be quite overwhelming,
and I found this the most diffcult career
transition I faced. However, thankfully,
there was an international school in Pau
and a vibrant Nigerian community so
the transition was made easier for my
children and wife.
Upon moving back to Nigeria,
my wife and I were surprised that
the transition did not go as smoothly
as we expected, given that we were
moving back to our home country. As
our children had progressed a great
deal through the Western educational
system, their education was not focused
on the same concepts as the Nigerian
educational system. As a result, my wife
had to provide extra guidance to our
Onyeka Ndefo has a bachelors degree in geology from the

University of Nigeria and an MSc in petroleum geoscience from
the University of Manchester. He has worked at Total E&P for
more than 10 years, starting in 2004 as a wellsite geologist for
the Niger Delta. Ndefo then moved to operations geology and
worked on a variety of major deepwater projects for Total.
Currently he works as a manager for deepwater operations
geology. Ndefo is married with three children.
children with their homework, and they

had to spend additional effort learning
some topics that they were not previously
exposed to. However, at the end of it, they
adapted, and their hard work paid off.
I have found that there are certain
soft skills that can help you to manage
career transitions. If you are new to a
location or group, you need to be patient
and demonstrate respect for those that
are there already. You can certainly
have your views, but be open minded,
ready to adapt, and appreciate that not
everyone will see things the way you do.
Being able to communicate effectively
and efficiently is critical. You also need

to understand what the group does and
how it can achieve the common goal of
the organization.
For anyone considering a career
transition, I would encourage you not to
be afraid. But recognize that transitions
by definition, never really last for a long
time. Try and appreciate your transition.
You are often most challenged then, not
to stress you but to test you. The test
could bring out the best or worst in you.
It is an opportunity to be a better person
and a better professional. If there is a
cultural change (due to the country, or
the work itself), immerse yourself in the

culture of the new environment.
Above all, enjoy any transition.
There are a lot of opportunities to enjoy
in a new environment and during the
change. It is not the time to be closed in.
It is a great opportunity to meet people,
especially people outside your technical
sphere, for at some point you may end
up working together. Looking back on
it, the career transitions I went through
were formative for my development as
a professional and in my progression
within my company. They were moves I
needed to make.
Striking a Balance Between Career and Family

Jane Norman, Santos
My career transition from full time to
part-time work was triggered by starting
a family and then taking on a new role
at a different company. Prior to having
children, I had worked full time for
nearly 10 years.
Working part time keeps you
in the workforce during the years
your children are young and you
wish to spend more time at home. It
might feel like you are putting your
career development on hold, but
part-time work, and flexible working
arrangements, allow you to keep your
skills up-to-date. In addition, it lets you
decide when you are ready to increase
your work commitments.
It can be challenging working part

time if your organization has a full-time
culture. The more senior you are, the
more challenging this can be. The lack
of full-time hours can be wrongly
perceived as a lack of commitment
during the hours at work. The onus
really falls on the employee to take
ownership and demonstrate they are
100% committed, regardless of the
hours they put in.
The soft skills you need to make a
transition to part-time work are really
the same skills that make you an
effective member of any team: strong
communication, trust, consideration of
others, personal integrity, and being
Jane Norman completed her chemical engineering degree

in France and joined Shell International E&P in The Hague as
a process engineer. After 3 years with Shell UK E&P on the
graduate engineering program, working offshore on the Brent
field redesign project, operations at the St Fergus gas plant,
and in facilities optimization in Aberdeen, Norman
transferred to a commercial role with Shell UK in London with
responsibility for developing agreements relating to the
southern North Sea fields. After leaving Shell, she held corporate finance and equity
capital market roles for several years with Cazenove & Co. and Goldman Sachs,
where she specialized in the oil and gas sector. In 2005, Norman joined Santos and
moved to Adelaide, Australia, where she has been the manager of strategy and
planning since 2011. In that role, she has responsibility for developing the companys
corporate strategy as well as oil and liquefied-natural-gas market analysis. Norman
is married and has three daughters.
very clear on priorities. Flexibility and

transparency are key, both for you and
your employer. There will be times when
you have deadlines and need to stay late
to finish work, and times when you need
to reschedule a meeting to take care of a
sick child.
To paraphrase an interview
published in the 2015 April issue of
Vogue Australia between Australian
author Anna Funder and actress Cate
Blanchet, my family and career are
mutually supportive and inspiring
and I cant imagine life another way.
... Children have expanded my world
and my understanding of human nature
more than I could have known, to say
nothing of my limitations and failures. ...
Children teach one about compromise.
They are spirited, passionate, political,
and demanding. All these are skills we
need to hone for the work place.
My advice to someone considering
a career transition to part-time work: Be
clear with your employer on what you
are and are not prepared to do so you
are both on the same page. Be willing
to accept opportunities and challenges
which might appear daunting. You can
usually adapt your childcare and home
situation to make things work. Remain
engaged in your career when you have
children; do not cut off options, and you
will be amazed at what you are actually
capable of. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
13
Academia
Conquering Change: Lessons From the Past

Mike Stafford, University of Tulsa
If there was one thing that I could tell

you, just one thing, it would be thisyou
have got to stay plugged in somehow.
I have seen three busts in my career
so far. None of those was expected,
anticipated, or planned for. I wish I could
say that it was all a carefully thought-out
plan and I made it happen but that is not
true. It was all a result of the changes
that happened in the industry and how I
chose to react to them.
I started out as a reservoir engineer
at City Service Oil & Gas Company
(1980) when the boom was on. I liked
my role, although it was the drilling
engineers who were the most soughtafter since drilling activity was at its
peak. Then one day, one of the vice
presidents just walked in my offce and
said, We have to get you some drilling
experience; we need drilling engineers.
Are you interested? I said yes. And
that is the rule in the industry: If you get
an offer, a promotion, or a transfer, you
need to take it whether you want to or not.
Because if you do not, you will never get
another job offer.
However, when the downturn
hit in the mid-1980s, a lot of drilling
engineers got laid off. I had to switch
my specialization, again, and move into
production. I rose through the ranks but
then the company got bought by another
f rm. It was not a move that I particularly
liked but that is what happens in
diffcult times: mergers, acquisitions,
takeovers. People do whatever it takes
to survive and stick around for the times
to improve again. Like a surfboard on
a wave, you just keep riding. Do not get

in a rut; learn everything you can. The
more you canlearn, the more you can
do andthemore opportunities open
uptoyou.
Here is an example of how
things do not work out all the time:
A friend, who was a consultant, and
I founded Winchester, my f rst foray
into entrepreneurship. This did not
turn out to be a proftable venture. I
ended up leaving in less than a year.
It was a business decision driven by
nonconvergent goals. You need to
recognize when things do not work
and get out of it when you can. It was
my decision to get involved but it did
not work out, so I stepped away. There
is a wonderful twist though. Through
our business interactions with Indian
Oil Wells, they converted from client
to employer. This is not unusual in our
industry at all. Reputation and networking
go a long way in helping you decide
your next moves. When you do good
work, word gets around. Even when
you do not, word still gets around. So
as professionals, we need to be very
mindful of our interactions with people,
our attitude, and work ethics. This was
true 30 years ago when I started my
career and it holds true even today.
One of the key aspects to remember
is to keep moving forward while not
losing sight of what you truly expect
yourself to achieve. Seize opportunities,
yes, but bear in mind what your
motivation is. As much as possible, try to
f nd something that you like. That way,
Mike Stafford is the owner of Stafford Engineering, PLCC,

and faculty instructor in the McDougall School of Petroleum
Engineering at the University of Tulsa. He has been a
consultant for 15 years and specializes in drilling and
completions operations, natural gas pipelines, and
regulatory affairs. Stafford holds a BS degree inpetroleum
engineering from the University of Tulsa.
14
you will never have a job. You will have a

hobby that you get paid to do.
I came back to the University of Tulsa
because I wanted to give back to my
alma mater by teaching the students what
to do when, on the feld, sometimes two
plus two will only equal three. You cannot
pull out your books and say, But this is
not what the theory states! You need to
be able to understand what two and
four represent, use your knowledge
to interpret the value of three, and see
how you can ft them all in the equation.
As much as we are told to think
on our feet and make engineering
judgments on the job, recall why you
put yourself through school and got a
solid foundation. If something does not
make sense to you, do not do it. As an
engineer, one needs to step back and
think about why something has not been
done so far if it seems too easy.
Our industry is heavily driven by its
perception of the reality. What this means
for young professionals is to use these
times to learn about different aspects of
the industry and broaden your horizons.
An excellent way to do this is to be an
active member of SPE by attending your
section meetings and conferences. Learn
what other people are doing. Every
professional needs to have an eye for the
bigger picture, and a way to develop that
understanding is to know what being in a
different positionentails.
The most crucial things that everyone
in the industry is talking about right
now are versatility and openness. Being
ambitious is great, but being around is
important. Build a strong network and
start thinking about being valuable in
various roles and capacities. Do not shy
away from getting grease on your hands
or traveling to different locations. Also,
remember to start saving the minute
you graduate and begin working. Save
enough to feel secure, so if bad times hit
and you get laid off, you have enough
time to f nda job. TWA
Technical Leaders
Keeping the Bridges Intact While

Blazing Your Trail
Angela Dang, Colorado School of Mines; Colter Morgan, Chevron; Chieke Offurum, EOG Resources
Millennials, loosely defned 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 satisfed 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 satisfed 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 andstrategically.
Kim McHugh is the general manager

of drilling and completions for Chevron
Services Company. In this role,
McHugh supports the drilling,
completions, and workover operations
around the world, including technical
standards, performance planning,
drilling and completions information
technology, operations geology, subsea well intervention, and
rig category management. She has previously worked for BP,
Unocal, ARCO, and Vastar in operator roles and as a
consultant. McHugh holds BS and MS degrees in petroleum
engineering from Texas A&M University.
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 infuence 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
beenexcited to take on new challenges.
Moving into operations as a production
team lead, then as an operations
supervisor presented a number of
newdevelopment opportunities.
Jake Howard is an operations

supervisor for Chevron in the Midland
Delaware Basin. He began his career
with Chevron in 2007 as a production
engineer in the Kern River feld. He
then led the West Central California
Lean Sigma program. In 2013, he
became production team lead in the
Midland Basin and later relocated to the Eastern Shelf of the
Midland Basin to become operations supervisor for the
Conger FMT. Howard graduated from Texas Tech University
with a BS in petroleum engineering.
With prior engineering experience

in carbon dioxide fooding, waterfoods,
and heavy-oil steam foods, this move
gave me an opportunity to learn the
frontline challenges that come with
our modernday unconventional
tight oil play.This transition would
also give me the chance to learn the
core of the business from the ground
foor, spending time at the wellhead
learning.Yet, the biggest opportunity
I saw was to begin expanding my
scope within a technical role to a
leadershiprole.
Being responsible for a team
toaccomplish results through
motivatingand developing others
wasthe biggest driver for taking
onthistransition. Being able to do
so inacompany such as Chevron,
knowingI would never have
to compromise my integrity or
values, made the opportunity even
moreattractive.
What steps did you identify to enable

your transition to a new role?
KM: When moving to a new role, you
need to have a clear understanding of
what the expectations are of that role
from your supervisor, because you
cannot deliver nor set strong goals for
your team until you know exactly what
is needed. You need to know who the
customer is and who the important peers
are so that you can focus on building
those relationships.
This works when transitioning
into any job, whether it is your frst
leadership role or an executive
management position. I continue to
workon them as I move through my
career. Find people whom you trust
togive you constructive feedback as
yougo along. And you have to seek
it out. People are not just going to
volunteer it.
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
15
Technical Leaders
As you move into leadership roles,
you really need to think about the people
that have led you, and decide which traits
they have had that you would emulate.
The best book I have read before going
to a new job is The First 90 Days by
Michael Watkins. It will give you some
great strategies for getting up to speed
faster and being more effective quickly. I
reread it before every new job.
JH: Find the balance between learning
about the operations and becoming an
effective leader as quickly as possible.
I learned early on that it is not only
okay, but imperative, to ask questions.
Many times, this includes direct reports
in addition to peers and other team
members. The key behavior I had to
learn to implement was the ability to
ask questions while still coming across
in a trusting manner. Also, learning
how to slow down around my new team
and realize what drives others to want
to achieve results was another critical
step I had to learn. Identifying which
methods of motivation work for various
personalities was the next step in
thejourney.
Often, people are afraid to embark

on a career change, especially early
in their career. What challenges or
obstacles did you encounter during
the transition, and how were you
able to overcomethem?
KM: First, not everyone is always going
to think you are the right person for the
job. You have to be mindful of that, but do
not let it keep you from taking the job. I
think the hardest part of a transition to a
new role or new career is the self-doubt
that will come with it. Have faith in your
strengths and understand that your gaps
are just that. They are not weaknesses;
they are just gaps. You need to be
actively aware of them, then take the
challenge, and just do it.
At one point in my career, I went
from working for a major to working as a
consultant. That was a big change, but it
was one of the best decisions I had made.
It opened a lot of doors and gave me a
16
lot of exposure overseas that I would not

have gotten otherwise.
Another challenge you may face
is that as jobs change, your time
commitment changes. This is especially
true if you are progressing up your
career and the company becomes more
demanding of your time. I have been
very fortunate that my family has been
able to talk about these challenges and
come to agree and support each move.
If you do not have that, it can make the
strain of a new job or career change
verydiffcult.
In the oil and gas industry, which

is highly technical, is there a time
frame in which a technical role has
to be mastered before transitioning
into a management or business role?
KM: I do not know that there is a specifc
time frame such as 5 or 10 years. I do
think the company sees the potential in
people and will know when that jump
needs to take place. My feedback would
be that when you are in that technical
role, focus on it and be really good at it.
Do not rush to get out of the technical
role, because your performance in the
role will be a strong decision point on
any potential promotions in thefuture.
Your ability early on in a technical
role to see the bigger picture plays
a big part in that future movement.
It is important when you are in these
technical roles to make sure that you are
taking advantage and really gaining the
big picturea strategic view of your
businesswhich will help a lot in career
progression. Again, I am not sure that
I can give you a specifc timetable for
getting out of technical roles, but I do
know that when leading teams later in
your career, you do not have to be the
smartest technical person in the room.
You need to be able to lean on your
technical base so that you can ask the
right questions of your team.
JH: The decision of when to step out
will be completely up to whatever you
decide you want in your career. Unless
you are working on a single asset or in a
small company, I am not sure one could

ever truly master all technical aspects of
theindustry.
While having a strong technical
foundation is obviously going to add
signifcant value, many of the great
business leaders throughout history have
had minimal technical abilities in their
given feld. Learning how to motivate and
lead teams and individuals is equally, if
not more, critical to being a successful
leader. If one can truly buckle down with
a couple of years in various assets and
roles within the oil and gas industry, I
believe that to be more important than
achieving a set number of yearsworked.
I would defnitely recommend to
engineers to complete at least one full
assignment in both production and
reservoir engineering prior to stepping
out into a leadership role. Once you have
the basics down, it will not only assist
your leadership role, but will allow you to
learn some of the differences in each of
the roles in the new asset.
If you do choose the expedited
route, while seeking continuous
growth through asking questions and
learning through your new role, you
must remember that your questions
will be viewed differently as a leader
than as a technical professional. I would
encourage other new leaders to precede
the questions with sincerity in your goal
to gain a better understanding of your
new area and its functions.
Is there a time when one has to say,

I am sacrifcing technical expertise
for management opportunities?
KM: I think it is important to note
that not everybody is cut out for the
management side. We need technical
subject matter experts and that is
a valuable skill. So it is okay to not
want to be on the management side
of things and still be very successful.
Sometimes, I think everyone thinks
we should all be in management, but if
we are all in management, we will not
have the technical expertise to plan,
develop, and operate large, technically
diffcult projects. If you really look at
organizations, there are a lot more

technical roles than management roles,
and we really do value our subject
matter experts.
JH: Absolutely. To maintain sanity
and a reasonable work/life balance,
while making the move to a leadership
position, one cannot possibly hope to
continue developing his or her technical
expertise at the same rate. If you are
continuing to gain technical knowledge
at the same rate as a leader, then
someone is feeling the sacrifce; it may
be your team, family, or friends.
When our readership looks to move

in and out of different roles, teams,
or even companies, do you have any
advice on how to properly close out
their time with a team?
KM: You need to have a transition plan in
place. If you are leaving the team that you
are currently leading, you need to give
your replacement the time to begin to
take over that team and establish himself
or herself as the new leader. Having
a good closeout with your team and
providing good feedback can help both
you and your replacement have a smooth
transition without any looseends.
JH: Be humble, sincere, and show
appreciation to the team for opening
up to you, letting you in, and teaching
you what you have learned. You have
invested lots of time with your team. In
some cases, more than what you spend
with your family. Encourage your team
to assist in the transition to welcome their
new leader. Communicate that they are
going to be in good hands with your
successor and lift that person up to a
realistic level, speaking only about the
positives throughout the transition.
How can one maintain networks and

communication with old teams?
KM: I use social media platforms like
Facebook and LinkedIn. I also meet
for coffee and lunch, or make a phone
call just to check in. The face-to-face

interaction is the most important, but
if you cannot do that, then you should
makea phone call. LinkedIn and
Facebook are good tools to stay updated
with what is going on with different
people, but it does not do much to build
the relationship.
JH: Maintaining networks can be a
positive thing, but keep the good of the
corporation in mind and be cautious
not to cross the lines of too much
communication. Before maintaining
frequent levels of communication
or engagement with your old team
members, put yourself in the shoes of the
leader who is taking over when deciding
the level of engagement with maintaining
the relationship.
What is your advice on successfully

integrating into the new team?
KM: The frst way is to reach out to
your new team and fgure out what their
expectations are for your role. Find out
what was working and what was not, and
understand how to continue or change
those practices. Having one-on-one
conversations with the people on your
new team and getting their feedback is
veryimportant.
You do not want to change everything
overnight. Integration will take time
based on the previous history of the work
group, and these one-on-one interactions
should help you develop a strategy for
that integration. You really have to have
a fexible leadership style. Not one thing
is going to work for everybody or every
team. Integrating into a new team is
when some of your soft skills can really
become an asset.
JH: Stop and take the time to get to know
the team on a personal level as well as
understanding your teams functions,
strengths, and weaknesses. Show the
team from day one that you truly are
there to not just achieve results, but to
get them in the right manner by truly
valuing every employee. Show that you
are willing to jump in and lend a hand
in the dirty work. Never ask of others

what you would not do yourself. Show
that you are there to lead your team, not
to push from above. Show enthusiasm
for the team, yet remain cautious not
to appear too ready for signifcant
changes within the team unless previous
conversations with your supervisor
lead you to believe there is a need for a
signifcantturnaround.
What are some ways to step into a

leadership role for a team that is
well established?
KM: The frst thing is to identify what
is working well and fguring out how to
support it. In a well-oiled machine, you
have to give it some time to identify areas
with potential to be strengthened. There
is always room for improvement. If you
are making a move to a team that is not
well oiled, you need to understand the
strengths and gaps in personnel.
You have to talk to team members
about what they believe they should
be delivering and what the barriers to
delivery are. Then you have to quickly
line out what the expectations are going
to be and get their engagement on
how the team is going to be successful
at attaining those goals. The most
sustainable performance occurs when
the team is helping to develop the
strategy and metric that will be used
tojudge progress, so getting their
buy-inand support is crucial.
JH: Stepping into a leadership role
on a well-established team is an
interesting challenge. You are the new
face. Every comment you make, every
action you take or do not take is under
a microscope. You will be the topic of
conversation for months. This can work
for you and the direction you want to
steer the team, but it could also work
against you. Until you are ready for
the message to be delivered to all, do
not deliver or even imply to any. Know
the values of your company and make
sure that every word you speak and
action you take refect those values in a
positiveway. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
17
SPE 101
SPE eMentoring: Expert Career Guidance

Across Boundaries and Borders
Aman Gill, Nexen Energy ULC, and Tiago de Almeida, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais
If you are, or soon will become, a young

member of the oil and gas industry and
have questions about which career path
to choose, and are looking for guidance
in setting and reaching your professional
goals, an excellent resource to use is the
SPE eMentoring program. For students,
mentors can provide academic and career
direction. Young professionals (YPs) can
receive guidance on how to orient their
career progression and diversify their
skill sets to speed up their career growth.
YPs also have the opportunity to serve as
mentors to students.
With an online approach, this
program helps mentees beneft from the
knowledge of experienced professionals
from around the world, irrespective
of the distances that might separate a
mentor and mentee.
Being a mentor in the SPE
eMentoring program has been a good
and rewarding experience for me,
said Brett Levy, who recently mentored
two students, one from Penn State
University, and another from Tufts
University. During my mentoring period,
I have lived in Denver and Worland,
Wyoming, working for Schlumberger,
and the program has allowed me to
build relationships with my mentees in
spite of being thousands of miles away
fromthem.
We would communicate regularly
via email and LinkedIn to check in on
how their classes and projects in school
were going, what internships they were
interested in, and what career paths
they were looking at pursuing after
theirgraduation. I provided as much
insight as I possibly could to help them
start their careers.
Building a Mentor Relationship

The eMentoring program is free for SPE
members and participation is easy.
18
1. Go to www.spe.org/ementoring to
register and complete your prof le.
2. Search for mentors by selecting
your set of criteria such as
mentors area of expertise, type
of company, gender, and country.
You will be presented with a list
of available mentors who meet
yourrequirements.
3. Review the mentor prof les and
submit a request to the mentor of
yourchoice.
4. Once matched, take a proactive
approach in shaping your
relationship by setting an
agendafor your goals and
aspirations.
5. Mentors in return share their
professional experience,
industrytrends, advice for
def ningand reaching goals,
as well as recommendations
for additional education
ordevelopment.
The mentoring relationship lasts for
1 year, and, if necessary, this period can
beextended.
From College to Industry

A current mentor in the program and
senior reservoir engineer with Shell,
Miguel Cabrera helped his mentee
Chen Bao, a PhD student at Penn State
University, to successfully transition
into a young professional with a job in
the industry. In May 2014, Chen and I
connected through the SPE eMentoring
program and developed a lasting
relationship that resonates to this day,
says Cabrera.
Throughout the year, we kept in
touch through emails where Chen asked
me about technical work performed by
petroleum engineers at Shell to gain an
understanding of where he would like
to aim his career toward, i.e., reservoir
engineer, petrophysics, geophysics. We

also had discussions on the different
types of simulation models in the
industry and their tradeoffs. I could tell
by the quality of our discussions that
Chen appreciated our periodic checkins as much as I did.
Bao said of his mentor, While as a
student I am always eager to learn more
about the industry and the technical
details of daily work, I found scarce
opportunities to directly communicate
with oil and gas professionals. Luckily,
I signed up for the SPE eMentoring
program and had Cabrera as my
eMentor. He was very responsive to
my emails and could always f ll me in
with the much-needed insights from
theindustry.
For example, initially I thought
optimization is essential for simulator
development. Cabrera made me
realize that sensitivity and uncertainty
analysis is even more critical for
reservoir simulation. Guided by
his notion, I decided to learn more
about the statistical methods for
sensitivityanalyses.
The mentoring program helped
in the interview process as well and
Bao started a full-time job at Shell
in December. Bao found Cabreras
suggestions during the job search
invaluable and feels grateful for his
efforts. Cabrera is continuing to be an
eMentor and is guiding another mentee.
Encouraging other young SPE
members to explore this program, Bao
said I think my experience exemplifes
how the program can serve as a bridge
between college education and industry.
It is tremendously helpful for students as
we grow into youngprofessionals.
To learn more, visit www.spe.org/
ementoring. TWA
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 fnishing 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 frms 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
mycareer.
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 traffc 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
signifcantly 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
signifcant investment of time and money.
As an employee, it is often diffcult
when management cuts back on
nonessential expenses during slow
periods. The attendance at the 2015 SPE
Annual Meeting was a good example as
many frms did not allow their people to
go even though the conference was in
Houston, where travel expenses would
be minimal. These events are critical
to maintaining technical momentum,
and I would submit that engineers
should strive to attend even when their
short-sighted companies refuse to pay
their expenses. The best investment you
can make is in yourself.
I often see an attitude among many
students in my classes that they need
to be familiar with only the job they
currently have. But when trends in the
industry change, if you do not have an
appreciation of the technologies involved
outside the current job, it is easy to get
caught fat-footed. It often requires effort
above and beyond what is required for
your job to maintain relevancy when
things change.
Bob Barba is the president and chief executive offcer of

Integrated Energy Services. He spent the frst 10 years of his
career with Schlumberger as an openhole feld engineer,
sales engineer, and product development manager. While at
Schlumberger, Barba was a pioneer in integrating wireline,
testing, and pumping inputs to optimize hydraulic fracture
treatments. He has since spent 24 years consulting on
petrophysics and completion optimization. He served as a
SPE Distinguished Lecturer on integrating petrophysics with the hydraulic fracture
treatment optimization process. His recent projects have integrated petrophysics
with completions in organic shale reservoirs in the Wolfcamp, Bone Springs,
Marcellus, Utica, Cline, Eagle Ford, and Bakken. Barba holds a BS from the US Naval
Academy and an MBA from the University of Florida.
The last 10 years have been one

of the most challenging periods in
the industry to date. When I started
teaching fracturing schools in 1993,
a signifcant effort was needed to
create the frst school. During the 2009
downturn, the industry was focused on
more economical methods to maintain
proftability and I retooled the fracturing
schools to focus on refracturing. This did
not last long though, as the shale boom
got into full swing within the next 2 years.
To maintain relevance, it required a
signifcant effort to retool the course to
focus on unconventional reservoirs.
One major client hired me full time
to optimize their fracture treatments
in the Marcellus, and the frst order of
business was to get the company up to
speed on the technology. Even though
this was an important project for my
client involving several billion dollars,
they would not cover my relatively minor
expenses to attend unconventional
conferences. Nonetheless, I chose to
bear the expenses myself in order
to stay relevant. The value these
conferences provided was instrumental
in maintaining my consulting and
teaching ventures, but if I had taken the
short-term view that these expenses
were not my responsibility, growth
would not have occurred. You are always
self-employed regardless of where your
paycheck comes from.
When evaluating a new job
opportunity, it is important to do as
much homework as possible about the
company and the job requirements.
Make sure it is a good ft or at least, it is a
position that can result in further career
growth. For example, a former petroleum
engineering colleague of mine left
a major in the mid-1990s. Jobs were
scarce and he took a job as a help desk
engineer for a decline curve software
frm with a mediocre compensation
package. It allowed him to transition from
a production engineering background
to an economic analysis position, and
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
19
Pillars of the Industry

he was shortly hired by one of the
software frms clients to evaluate all of its
properties. His compensation package
has not been limited since then, but if
he had not bitten the bullet by taking
the help desk position, it is uncertain
whether the outcome would have been
thesame.
Industry Today
When I weigh-in on the industry today,
I believe the unconventional game will
continue but on a reduced basis. A lot
of the unconventional projects I worked
on were not consistently working even
at higher prices, and costs can only go
so low for service companies. There are
also only a handful of companies that
can afford the huge capital investment
necessary, and there will certainly be
further consolidation creating fewer
opportunities for engineers.
While conventional reservoirs
have been out of favor, there are still
a lot of opportunities out there in the
conventional world. In my fracturing
schools, we still present a fair amount
of material on conventional reservoirs,
and I often see an unenthusiastic attitude
toward covering conventional rocks. I
saw the same attitude in my last round
of teaching refracturing optimization in
2009. A comment I often heard was Why
are we covering this? Nobody is doing
refracs. It is now one of the hottest topics
in the industry and has the potential to
improve bottom lines across the board.
A review of the current activity

suggests there are signifcant
opportunities to improve refracturing
results and that it would be prudent for
engineers to have a better understanding
of the process. This is a good example of
how most engineers know of fractures,
while only a small subset of engineers
understand the mechanics of how
they work. Fracture treatments are not
reserve-seeking missiles, yet the
majority of the refracture treatments
seem to assumethat.
With all of the above said, becoming
a refracture expert for both conventional
and unconventional reservoirs would be
prudent today. That is certainly not the
only potential high-growth area in the
industry, but it helps reinforce the beneft
of being on the cutting edge.
The most signifcant event in my early
career was when I was transitioning
from the openhole wireline world to the
hydraulic fracturing world in 198485.
There were not many engineers
that specialized in petrophysics and
hydraulic fracturing, and I had been
picked to be the product champion for
Schlumbergers FracHite log because
of my general feld engineer study
on fracturing the Spraberry/Dean/
Wolfcamp play. I got the opportunity
to take a course at one of the SPE
conferences taught by Steve Holditch
that brought me to the next level with
regard to fracturing. He reinforced
the importance of using wireline logs
to optimize fracture treatments at a

time I was not certain that there was
going to be traction there. Based on
his endorsement of the process, I dove
into the opportunity at that point and
did everything I could to integrate the
twodisciplines.
I saw the value in integrating
wireline, testing, and pumping and left
Schlumberger in early 1992 to consult
on that topic. The trend in the industry
was too strong to ignore, and I chose
to go where my customers were telling
metogo.
One of the best lessons I learned in
the navy was that most, if not all, of your
limitations are self-imposed. This was
very helpful in my early career with
Schlumberger and in the subsequent
years in the often highly volatile oil and
gas industry.
The long-term outlook is certainly
bullish; all of the forecasts for worldwide
demand show we will need increasing
supplies of fossil fuels. The cyclic nature
of the business is a challenge, and unless
you are consistently striving to be the
best at what you do, the chair may not
always be there when the music stops
during price downturns.
When rough seas hit a ship, the frst
things the captain throws overboard
are those that are nonessential. Strive
to be essential in your jobs and your
chances of staying on board improve
substantially. You will also have a lot
more fun in the process to boot. TWA
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 confguration. It is probably
the most pervasive human endeavor
20
of our time, involving staggering

quantities ofhuman, industrial, and
fnancial 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 infuence
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, andam driven to working with
others to use more effcient ways of
recoveringthem.
Challenges for the Industry

The key challenge in our industry
remains managing its complexity. On
the technical level, complexity arises
from the uncertainty in the description
of the underground assets and the need
to make decisions with certainty based

on these descriptions. This is a source
of reward, too, as integrated teams are
needed, formed to bring diversity of
experience and technical expertise to
analyzing every piece of data. When all
the pieces ft together for an elegant
resolution to technical complexity, this
can deliver the satisfaction of a eureka
moment. The industry continues to need
and develop people with the skills to
provide this integration.
But there is a broader
interconnectedness that the
integrators need to manage in the
wider commercial and societal
context of the industry. There are
multitudes of elements that need to be
considered when allocating the huge,
but still fnite, resources to support
developing petroleum resources. The
best integrators develop and nurture
relationships through a combination
of authentic communication, and a
personal awareness of their behaviors
and their impact, and when change is
needed inthem.
Managing the Crew Change

The petroleum industry needs to keep
challenging itself to remain relevant
and understand the needs of the society
and all the stakeholders. Having a
diverse workforce and embracing
generational differences can provide
an edge. We hear about Baby Boomers,
Generation X, and Generation Y. What
is Generation Next? The challenge is
that no one group can be expected
to know what will remain relevant.
But each group has a role in setting,
spotting, and taking advantage of what
will trend. For the younger, it means not
being scared to question. For the older,
it is acknowledging that one can never

know all that the young know. Yet their
necessary art is being able to provide
perspective and to draw out unique
contributions from those with different
viewpoints andtalents.
This fundamental skill of coaching
will become more and more important
as we seek to involve all the players in
the understanding and shaping of the
changing requirements of our industry.
At Woodside, coaching is recognized
as a core tool for supporting capability
development in young professionals
andis central to the organizations
continued hiring of graduates,
despite currently being in a trough
in the commodity price cycle. The
development of young professionals is
seen as an ongoing priority investment
even at a time when there is scrutiny of
all discretionaryexpenditure.
Managing Career Transition

I have now been in the petroleum
industry long enough to remember
a time when a mail room boy could
rise to the top. When I frst joined Esso
Australia, the chief executive offcer
was Jim Kirk, who had joined Esso at the
age of 16. Despite a humble beginning,
Kirk took personal responsibility to
improve himself (through further
business studies) and embraced the
opportunities offered by change. His
rise also demonstrated that respect for
every colleague is a fundamental value.
If nothing else, he showed anyone can
be your boss in the future. In accepting
the mail room job, and taking 42 years
to reach the highest offce in the same
company, he did not focus on any one
particular assignment. Rather he would
make every posting a winner.
Lupo Guerrera is the chief reservoir engineer at Woodside

Energy. Guerrera has been a part of the petroleum industry
for almost 30 years, frstly at Esso Australia and then, for the
last 19 years, at Woodside in a variety of subsurface technical
and managerial roles. During his career, he has worked on
resources in all major petroleum basins in Australia as well as
on assets throughout North Africa. He holds a BE and a BS
from the University of Sydney.
Learning is not always easy; in

fact, it sometimes comes through hard
lessons. When I look back on my periods
of highest stress, it was generally when
I had to take decisions in situations of
incomplete information. Yet, this is when I
learned the most.
One way to learn quickly is to
seekout postings that offer the most
diverse experience. I have been lucky
enough to have been on cross-postings
to other companies and countries, but I
have also sought roles in nontraditional
subsurface areas, like audit. Such
diversity can open you to understanding
a different way of thinking, exposing
you to different languages or jargon,
anddifferent cultures or mind-set.
It is worthwhile developing an
expertise or a niche, and to know
when to move forward. For a period
at Esso, I had the role of developing
the monthly production forecasts. The
forecasts soon gained prominence
within the organization, based on my
name as an acronymthe Least
Unlikely Production Outlook. While
one could argue this was more fun than
genuine labeling, everyone knew who to
approach for forecasts. The forecast no
longer exists by this name, as I looked for
new opportunities outside this niche and
I actively coached others to take on the
role of the short-term forecaster. The new
forecasters brought new elements to the
role, improving the product and making
their own name in the role, so to speak.
However, the story does show that one
can underestimate the impact one has on
others and also the value of change.
Lastly, I come back to personal
awareness and its importance in
tackling the interconnected issues
that the industry places before us.
To be successful as an integrator,
seek feedback, establish and nurture
relationships, and respect your
coworkers by being authentic withthem.
Change is a fundamental part of
ourindustry, as fundamental as energy is
to human existence. The professionals in
the industrys future have a responsibility
to integrate, partner, andadapt to take
advantage of whatever form is taken by
this energy and how itisdelivered. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
21
Economists Corner
Planning Your Career Path:

Is There a Magic Formula to Career
Success in Oil and Gas?
John Faraguna, Hays Oil and Gas
Given my experience in the

recruitment and oil and gas
industries,people often ask me
about career progression. Often,
the assumption is that jumping from
company to company is the most
rewarding and lucrative path. My
response has been that this is not
usually the case: There are certainly
times where a change will progress
you further and faster, but too much
movement can become a liability
on your rsum that will take years
tocorrect.
According to the Global Salary
Guide 2015 by Hays Oil and Gas, 25.6%
of the 45,000 survey respondents
indicated they had worked for their
current company for 35 years,
and 16.3% for 6 years or more. As
a rule of thumb, employers like to
see signs of commitment and deep
skilldevelopment, which typically
means staying in a job for 5 years
ormore.
There is no clear-cut path that will
guarantee a more successful career or
one that pays more. Your worth is really
determined by what value you bring to
the role.
Contract Worker:
Enjoy the Flexibility
Traditionally, contractors command
ahigher rate per unit hour or
projectasthe employer does not
haveto paythe same overhead as
a full-time worker, and benefts
fromhaving greater workforce
fexibility. Choosing specifc contracts
can help you developyour expertise,
creating demand for your skill set
based on your specialty area. For
example, niche expertise can help
you demand competitive pay rates,
particularly in areas where there are
skills shortages. However, before
committing to this path, there are a
few things to consider to ensure your
career progresses in a manner and at
a rate that is going to help you achieve
your career goals.
If your objective is to become a
subject matter expert, then taking many
contracts may be the right path for you.
Contracts can provide you with the
fexibility to choose exactly what you
want to work on, including the location
and duration. The trick is to ensure you
are choosing contracts based not solely
on salary, but that you are creating
John Faraguna is president of Hays Americas, and

globalmanaging director of Hays Oil and Gas.
Previously,he has served as president of Xansa North
America at SteriaUK Corporate. Faraguna joined Xansa in
November 2002 from Halliburton, where he served as
thepresident of Grand Basin. He has also held several
US-based executive positions with Top Tier Software,
BakerHughes, Arthur Andersen Consulting, and
WesternAtlas. Faraguna holds a BS in geology and geophysics from Yale
University, an MS in geology from the University of Houston, and an MBA from
StanfordUniversity.
22
an asset which you can monetize in

thefuture.
For a younger person, I think
contracting is going to expose you to
a much broader range of experiences
and potentially make you more valuable
to future employers, says Robert Frow,
asset project manager, currently on
assignment at a global exploration and
production company. Frow has more
than 40 years experience working in
the industry and has spent most of his
career on contract project assignments.
Frow started with a full-time role as
a piping designer and has steadily
grown a successful career in project
management. Whether it is working
on a particular project with a new
technology or for a target organization,
Frow recommends having a plan of
knowing what skills and experiences
you need to add value to your rsum
and to continue to keep your expertise
in demand. Depending on your goals,
and if the opportunities are available,
aim to select contracts that can help you
develop your skills alongside changing
market needs, employers demands,
and industry trends and developments.
Of course, this is often easier
said than done due to changes in
the industrys skill requirements as
well as economic cycles. The one
rule that always applies is to leave
each assignment with a positive
recommendation, as this industry is
small and your reputation for delivering
on your promises is your key asset.
Tenure: Be Rewarded
for Loyalty
Another option is working full time
for a company over a long period.
Tenure can carry a certain amount
of prestige and potentially open up

opportunities for career advancement
and fnancialgain.
Julian (Jay) B. Haskell, president
and chief executive offcer of Absolute
Completion Technologies, has
more than 30 years of domestic and
international experience. Haskell has
built his industry career with more than
25 years experience at Schlumberger,
where he held numerous management
and technical positions. This provided
him with a solid base of business
management skills that he still uses
while contributing to the successful and
continued growth of Absolute.
Haskell believes that working for
the large companies frst is the best
training environment, and is key to
obtaining a solid foundation in the
industry. Although the career path is
usually well established, a variety of
career options can be found that will
assist you in developing a wide range
of experiences.
Large companies often provide the
opportunity to work on international
assignments. This provides exposure
to a variety of cultures and logistical
challenges. The experience can be
valuable in personal development
and provide insight in becoming a
leader. Haskell recommends evaluating
your standing and advancement
after 5 years, and if you fnd yourself
not progressing at the pace you had
intended to, then contemplate making
achange.
Working for a small to mid-size
company, Haskell believes, will provide
better exposure to more areas of the
organization, which diversifes your
skills and expertise. He strongly feels
that it is very important to work in cross
disciplines in order to understand
the big picture. However, should you
choose to focus on a specifc discipline,
this could lead you to becoming a
subject matter expert.
Increasing tenure can also lead

to increasing benefts. Vacation
days, share options, and retirement
benefts can be tied to how long you
have worked with the business, as
can bonuses and perks. Training and
professional development are often
available only to full-time workers.
It is important to note that the grass
is not always greener on the other side.
A 2012 survey by Future Workplace
(http://futureworkplace.com/wpcontent/uploads/MultipleGenAtWork_
infographic.pdf) found that it has
been more common for Generation Y
workers (also known as millennials) to
leave a company after a shorter period
of time. However, it is important to
make sure that you are leaving for the
right reasons. Ask yourself whether you
have exhausted all the avenues with
your current employer. Have a candid
conversation with your boss about what
your options are based on your career
goals and what you have to do to get
to where you want to be. Switching
jobs can be risky as you could weaken
your rsum if you switch too often.
The next role might not be the right ft
or could make you vulnerable during
industrydownturns.
The expectation should not be
that the perfect role will fall into your
lap, as sometimes you have to prove
yourself before attaining the job you
want. If regular change and variety is
important to you, look for opportunities
that offer workplace fexibility, projectbased work, or organizations that have
sites nationally or globally. If you have
itchy feet, these types of companies
may have more opportunities for you
toexplore.
Job Hopping: Find Your Niche

There is a growing belief, especially
among younger generations, that
having experience working for
multiple employers is benefcial.
GenerationY, in particular, has a

reputation of job hoppingjoining
a company on a permanent basis,
only to leave within 12 years (Future
Workplace 2012 survey fnding). The
idea is that this can help expedite your
salary increments and increase your
knowledge base. While this may be
true, this may also generate a negative
stigma of not being loyal or committed
to any one company.
Landing a new job at a different
company can mean an instant salary
boost, but it is not guaranteed,
particularly when you take the
additional risk into account.
For example, a job with added
responsibility or more demanding work
usually comes with a higher salary,
but lateral moves rarely provide a
signifcant increase except in times
of great demand. If looking to make a
move, make sure to target positions
in a company with the right cultural
ft, which will develop your skills,
provide a new challenge, and offer an
opportunity for learning, as this is more
likely to advance your career in the
long term.
The benefts of working for
multiple organizations are the different
perspectives and holistic view you can
develop of the industry. This is also a
great way to explore different discipline
areas before narrowing in on what you
want to do long term. Spending time
with a variety of teams can also give
you an insight into different company
cultures and which is best suited to
your working style andpreferences.
Whichever path you choose,
great salary increases are not often
automatically handed out. You will
haveto prove your worth by bringing
the right skills, and attitude, to the table.
The most important thing you can do
to advance your career is to deliver on
your promises and make sure that each
employer regrets to see youleave. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
23
Discover a Career
Maintain Objectivity To Push

Through Transitions
Andrew Duncan, Gaffney, Cline & Associates
Andrew Duncan
is a principal
adviser, facilities
engineer with
Gaffney, Cline
&Associates
(GCA) based in
Singapore.
Duncan is experienced in acquisitions
and divestments in new business
development roles for various
operators and with GCA, and has
technical background in facilities and
project engineering. He has held
senior leadership roles in Southeast
Asia, with significant work experience
in Indonesia. He is a member of the
Association of International Petroleum
Negotiators, Southeast Asia Petroleum
Exploration Society, and a chartered
member of the Institute of Mechanical
Engineers. He holds a BSc in civil
engineering from University of Bristol.
If I had a time machine, would I travel

back in time to change anything if I
could do it again? Should I have taken
that job offer as a public relations guy
on a treasure-hunting dive boat in the
Philippines? No, I do not think so. All
experience makes us who we are, and
some say they would not change a thing.
On the other hand, if I have to change
one thing I would have striven harder
to learn the languages of the countries
in which I have previously worked
and would recommend the same to
anyone with similar opportunities. I also
recommend pursuing variety in ones
career. Change brings opportunities
and challenges. Only through change, is
progress possible.
When I was growing up in northern
Canada, we were offered career advice
24
in high school to learn a trade and

work as a welder, truck driver, or get
a job on the rigs. I did not feel these
career options suited me as I was
thinking in terms of further education
and I have always enjoyed traveling.
Hence, weighing both of these, I
decided to pursue a university degree
abroad. Since then, I completed my
university studies, joined the oil and gas
industry, and have enjoyed a diverse
careeroverseas.
Throughout my career transitions,
maintaining objectivity has been the
most recurring challenge I have dealt
with. Through experience, I have
learned an important rule when it comes
to expatriate life (which applies equally
to other career transitions): Never
make career-altering decisions in the
frst 612 months after moving to a new
country or taking up a new role. It is
human psychology to feel excited and
motivated about any new location or job
immediately after arrival. However, after
about 6 months a period of negativity
(or reality) sets in and one begins to see
only the downside of a new position or
new location. My experience suggests
that the period of negativity does pass,
and when it does, the experience can be
truly objectivebringing the positive
and useful aspects of past experience to
bear while learning and experiencing
the best that a new role has to offer.
Over my career, I have gained a
lot through changes in my role, career
path, or location. Changes in setting
can often provoke one to become
more open, a better listener, and more
patient. I have learned the importance
of clear communication and that
communication involves explaining,
listening, and confrming that both
parties truly understand both directions.
I have observed that there is always

more than one way of solving a problem,
and the right answer is not always the
best answer. Water does sometimes
fow uphill, and the highly sophisticated
and high-cost development solution
is not always the only solution. To
illustrate this example, I have provided
pictorial evidence of individuals in rural
China carrying natural gas in large
compressible bags (Fig. 1).
Years ago in Southeast Asia, I
was supervising the construction of
an exploration drilling access road.
We had upgraded the road to handle
heavy rig traffc and elevated it above
the expected food level to ensure allweather access. We had installed a few
drainage pipes under the road. The
drainage design was based on local
survey information and the engineering
assumption that any foodwater would
fow from high to low ground. However,
in reality, this area was located between
two large and distant rivers. Heavy
rainfall miles away in the watershed of
one of the rivers brought huge amounts
of foodwater downstream. Floodwater
levels built up on the low ground, forcing
fow in the opposite direction against the
normal fow. Water built up and fooded
all the land on one side of the road while
restricting fow to the land on the other
side. Our company was invited to the
road site to discuss the problem and,
upon arrival, our cars were blocked
and surrounded by angry farmers.
It was clear to me that we were not
going to leave without a solution being
agreedupon.
My approach to landownerrelated issues was always to seek
practical solutions rather than fnancial
compensation, as I have learned that
money does not solve all problems.
120
100
80
60
40
20
Brent Crude Oil Price (USD/bbl)
140
Source: The Daily Mail

Fig. 1A Chinese woman carrying a bag flled with natural
gas on her back in Shandong Province, China.
Thus, instead of paying in terms of

compensation, we brought in excavators
and cut a large opening across the road
allowing the water to fow through. We
quickly fabricated a simple motorcycle
bridge maintaining access for the
villagers. Fortunately, the drilling rig
had not moved onto location at that time,
and we were later able to put in a proper
bridge before rig traffc started using
the road. As far as I know, the bridge is
still there.
When Water Flows Uphill

We are living in interesting times in
this industry. Looking back, each oil
price crash has been associated with
an interesting and ultimately positive
career change for me. In 1986, while
occupying a comfortable role at Shell,
I was pretty much unaware of the
impending fall in oil price. However, the
price fall coincided with my relocation
from a civil engineering position in
Brunei to a mechanical engineering
role in Dutch sour gas operations. I
was fortunate to maintain employment
while gaining new engineering and
language skills, ultimately gaining
professional engineering status with
the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
The next oil price fuctuation during
19981999 led me to leave Shell and join
Independent Project Analysis, a project
benchmarking consultancy, which was
a rapid broadening career move
exposing me to many other companies
way of doing business. Subsequently,
the dramatic fall in 20082009 coincided
with my move from a small new venture
startup to join a mid-sized Southeast
Jan 1971
Jan 1980
Jan 1989
Jan 1998
Jan 2007
Source: www.tradingeconomics.com
Fig. 2Brent crude oil price trend from 1971.
Asian exploration and production

company as country manager
inIndonesia.
Today, the current price fall is
driving a healthy increase in my work at
Gaffney, Cline & Associates consultancy
business and generating a lot of
fascinating and challenging advisory
work. This work includes providing
advice to governments, lenders, and
borrowers, buyers and sellers, as well
as operators and partners. An impartial
assessment of project risks and upsides
is valued now more than ever.
I would argue that the same
opportunities are present for young
professionals in industry today. Fig.2
shows the trend of Brent crude oil
price since 1971. I am amazed at how
comparatively modest the oil price falls
of the past appear in comparison with
those of 2009 and 2015. But if you look in
more detail, the falls of 1986, 1998, 2009,
and 2015 have all been (proportionally
speaking) about the sameprice fell
to roughly half the precollapse high. It
is just that at USD 120/bbl it looks a lot
worse than at USD 20/bbl.
Young professionals have some great
options in this industry whether it is with
an operator, or a service provider such
as consultancy. Working for an operator,
be it supermajor, national oil company,
or independent, is about organizing
and motivating teams and resources
to accomplish a larger objective within
agreed upon resources, time, and
budget while identifying and managing
the risks associated with that activity.
One learns to specialize and become
good at a particular role as there are
opportunities to work on different

projects for your skill sets. The focus is
on cost and time, because revenue oil
price is largely an external factor outside
of day-to-day control. The budgets can
be huge, and the consequences are dire
if developments go wrong.
In a consultancy business, the
product is the consultancys brand and
reputation. That product is delivered
through the sale of a study, a report,
or productive man-hours incurred.
An intense focus is given to personal
effciency and high-quality deliverables.
Clients expect and value the external
perspective consultants bring. The work
is varied, with tight time scales and
budgets, but supports some of the most
exciting projects and developments
in the industry. There are less zeros
in the budgets, but most consultants
enjoy having infuence over decisions.
Although usually not in a direct decisionmaking role, consultant participation as
decision advisers poses responsibilities
to the client that must always be kept
inview.
I leave the reader with my three
pieces of career advice regarding the
management of professional transitions.
1. Be objective and positive. Try to
see the good practice and the learning
points. Ask yourself why they do things
differently here. There is an upside or a
learning in most every situation.
2. Maintain and value your network
and your reputation.
3. Keep good relations both arriving
and leaving. Do NOT slam the door on
the way out. The oil industry is a very
small world. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
25
Tech 101
Training Plays an Essential Role in

Delivering Practical Knowledge
Martha Apodaca, CM Learning Consulting
In theory, there is no difference between theory

and practice. In practice, there is.
Yogi Berra
Practical knowledge can be defned
as knowledge attained through
action while theoretical knowledge
is knowledge attained through
established facts or thoughts. One
of my favorite quotes on this matter is
from the recently deceased Yogi Berra,
an American professional baseball
catcher, manager, and coach. Yogi was
elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in
1972. In addition, he was famous for his
paradoxical quotes.
We are living in exponential times
and knowledge is at the center of it. By
the time you graduate, the skills you
learned in college will be outdated and it
does not stop there. Before you even feel
like you have mastered your current job,
you will probably transition to a new job
or even a new career. The typical person
changes jobs 10 to 15 times during his
or her working career. The US Bureau of
Labor Statistics found that people born
between 1957 and 1964 held an average
of 11.7 jobs from ages 18 to 51. Training
will be your constant companion, and
your ability to learn, apply, and relearn
will be your most important skill.
Knowledge Begins as
Practical Experience
The frst lesson in practical knowledge
is that you must make room for it. As we
attain theoretical knowledge through
formal education, we can get caught
up in a false sense of thinking that our
learning is complete. Do not fall into that
trap. You will really understand that the
frst time you go out to the feld you are
side-by-side with your colleagues who
are pushing the boundaries. They tackle
obstacles and challenges every day. It
becomes part of their nature; it becomes
natural and instinctive. That is what you
want to learn from them. It is important to
remember that openness and humility
are the real signs of intelligence. People
will not share their valuable knowledge
and experience with you otherwise.
Knowledge begins as practical
experiencesomeone discovers a new
and improved process or procedure
and then it is documented and tested
through time until it becomes truth or
fact. Technical knowledge is no different.
Technical knowledge is being improved
constantly through sharing, training,
experience, and identifying a gap, need,

or a better way to accomplishsomething.
Practical knowledge is in a state
of constant evolution, especially in
the economic climate that the energy
industry is in. As we speak, someone
has a new and better way to do
something because this economy
demands it. Practical knowledge follows
a path that only you can determine.
That is the great part of it: No one tells
you what is right or wrong, and there is
no beginning or end. Training is also
evolving and it is changing faster than
any other area in education. Knowledge
impacts the industry, and training is the
vehicle to capture and distribute it.
As a learning specialist, I have
worked with many technical subject
matter experts to document and capture
their practical technical knowledge. It
is important to design the processes,
knowledge, and procedures so that it can
be shared with others through training.
It may be a quick lunch-and-learn,
informal training session, instructor-led
class, or a virtual webinar. These are just
a few of the ways learning is facilitated.
Participating in the sharing of
information can create learning
experiences for yourself and others.
Everyone has practical knowledge
to share, so share, advance, and
documentit.
Networking is Key
Martha Apodaca is the founder of CM Learning Consulting.
She has more than 20 years experience in learning and
development in academic and corporate arenas, spanning
technology, fnance, and the oil and gas industry. Apodaca is
currently consulting for Linn Energy, responsible for
integration training during acquisitions and mergers across
various departments. She has also consulted with Microsoft,
Whiteblox, University of Houston, Lone Star College,
ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Cameron.
26
One of the most important ways to attain

this knowledge is through networking.
Create relationships and opportunities
to talk to people who are in your current
role and people who are in other roles,
disciplines, or industries. Join a group or
chapter, and become comfortable with
the uncomfortable.
Practical knowledge is always in
a state of discovery, especially when
you transition from a role or an industry

to another. As an example, I share my
experience working with an engineer
from the manufacturing industry who
transitioned to oil and gas. His expertise
was in multiwellpad drilling. He noticed
that there was very little standardization
from location to location and even
within the same area, so he wanted to
identify and establish standards for it.
He wanted to create an environment in
which engineers from different places
around the world within the organization
could share their methods and practical
knowledge. He wanted to capture the
information electronically so we could
see where the areas of commonality
were in order to establish standards
and best practices. We worked together
to facilitate a learning environment
for everyone to share their practical
knowledge. This included activities to
enhance communication and learning
on a platform that allowed viewing
presentations from around the world.
Wecompiled questions and recorded
their answers into a database to
beanalyzed.
Your personal discovery will include
reading and keeping up with current
trends through magazines, books,
Internet, and more. Read about what
others have done, how they are facing
their transitions, and what they have
learned. Even when you are tasked with
performing something you have never
done before, get all the information you
can from existing resources. Learn the
lingo, the issues, and how others have
addressed them.
Stages of Gaining Knowledge

Training and attaining knowledge are
not one and the same. Anyone can attend
a training class and say they attended,
without attaining the knowledge. One
is an opportunity and the other is
internalizing the knowledge into your
processes on a regular basis.
I have come to believe through
my transitional experiences that to
fully integrate knowledge you must
go through three stages: being open
to learn, fnding a way to apply the
knowledge, and integrating it into your
routine. If you cannot integrate it right

away, keep a list of things you have
learned and ideas that you can try at
a later time. One useful method is to
employ Outlook notes to keep a list of
ideas that you want to address at a later
time and put a short description or link
to ensure you will not forget. As you
learn and experience new roles and
careers, you will start connecting the
dots; if you do not jot down your ideas
and knowledge, they could be lost.
As was mentioned previously, you
will need to make room for this new
knowledge and its possibilities as
it relates to you in your current role
and as you transition from job to job.
If you are going to get the most from
the average 11.7 transitions in your
career, put together a plan. Identify
lateral industries that use similar skills
and that are interrelated; this will
enable an easier transition and a more
purposefulone.
Planning for a Transition

The transition plan that you put together
is like a huge puzzle. Like how you
begin putting together a puzzle with the
obvious pieces, begin your transitional
plan by enhancing your transitional
skills. These are the skills you will
need no matter where you are in your
career, such as time management,
communications, and leadership. On
the technical side, think about software,
practices, procedures, tasks, and tools
that can be used across disciplines or
industries. As you connect the pieces
and fnd pockets of knowledge and
skills, the picture of the puzzle becomes
clearer. Look at the job descriptions and
start putting together a rough draft of
at least three rsums in the areas you
see yourself transitioning into. These
three rsums should be focused on that
industry or role. Any training you attend
or practical knowledge you have should
enhance one of those rsums.
Another useful tip is to start a book
at the table of contents and pick an
area that catches your interest; it could
be in the middle or at the end. Read
it and go to the next area that sparks
your curiosity. This will help you to
understand and practice how to apply

random knowledge and connect the
dots. Be confdent in fnding your path.
When a transition does occur, you are
that much more prepared.
When was the last time you were
given an opportunity to do something
you have never done before? Were you
prepared? When your scope widens to
learning, you will be able to face new
challenges and you will be prepared.
You will have resources, a network, and
a reference to initiate a new job, role,
or project. You will understand how to
start and have the confdence and the
skills that you will need to seize this
new challenge. Also remember that this
does not happen overnight. Be patient
and do not be afraid to try new things
or start at the bottom because you will
advancefaster.
Practical knowledge moves across
your whole lifespan. Be prepared
to learn from young and old; never
underestimate someone because of his
or her age. They may not do things the
same way; it may be a better way or you
may have an opportunity to share your
knowledge with someone else.
How about applying what you learn?
With the network you have, seek out
people that will let you try new things.
Try on-the-job shadowing or training.
Let people know what you want to do
and work together. Infuse people around
you with the excitement ofpossibilities.
Remember that a possibility is much
more powerful than an expectation.
A possibility creates momentum and
excitement while an expectation can
create frustration because of its limited
nature. Concentrate on the things that
are important and in your control and
the rest can wait. The things that elude
you will eventually fnd their way into
yourenvironment.
Look at the full picture of the
practical knowledge within and around
you and see in which other ways it can
be applied. Find the principles behind
the practical knowledge and you will be
able to apply them anywhere, anytime. A
principle is constant and guides you; it is
part of the system of nature, and nature
is all around us.TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
27
HR Discussion
Three Strategies To Make Your Next

Career Move the Best Ever
Nancy Furbee, Furbee and Associates
It is time to polish those dress shoes

and update your rsum. It is time to
move on from your current organization
and fnd a place that appreciates you
more. After all, you have dreams. You
have aspirations. You have a career
path you have been following since
you graduated high school. It is time for
action. But wait! Before you pull up Word
to start editing your outdated rsum,
follow these three must do strategies
to ensure success.
1) Core Personality Review

Take an honest look at your core
personality and what really makes you
tick. And, no, I do not mean falling back
on your desire to be a chief executive
offcer, technical expert, or highpowered salesperson. You need to
spend some introspective time fnding
out what role is going to be a good ft for
your core personality. Start with some
online personality assessments such as
DiSC, Myers-Briggs, Predictive Index,
and many others. Find one that appeals
to you, take the time to go through the
assessment, and spend quality time with
the results.
Personally, I am a fan of the DiSC
personality assessment, where
the letters stand for DDominant,
iinfuence, SSteadiness, or C
Conscientiousness.It is simple: You will
fnd you are either a D, i, S, or C style.
Once you have your results, you will
have a better understanding of why

you like certain work situations and
avoid or dislike other situations.
To take this step to the next level, I
encourage you to do some additional
research to fnd a career coach in
your local area, or someone who can
work with you remotely. Employing a
career coach will give you someone
with whom you can discuss your next
career move and the results of your
personality assessment. My coaching
clients who have taken this extra step
have been incredibly happy with their
subsequentcareer move, even if it
meant staying in their current role with
anew mind-set.
2) Journaling on a Clean
Sheet of Paper
The frst time a work colleague
suggested I do some journaling about
a work issue I was faced with, I looked
at him like he had two heads. After all,
I was above the need to write about my
feelings, was I not? But after another
week or two of frustration over the work
issue and my inability to move things
in a positive direction, I decided to
listen to my colleagues advice. I pulled
out a fresh pad of paper, one of my
favorite pens, and sat down in a quiet
room to start journaling. Thirty minutes
passed quickly as I started an outline,
jotted down thoughts and opinions,
and doodled in the margins. When the
Nancy Furbee has more than 20 years of leadership

experience in all facets of the human resources profession.
Furbee has certifcations in Everything DiSC Personality
Assessments and Compression Planning Facilitation. She holds
a masters degree in human resources management and a
bachelors in fnance from La Roche College, and is a graduate
of Leadership Pittsburgh.
28
alarm on my phone signaled my next

meeting was ready to start, I looked
down at my now-full sheet of paper
and realized I had just given myself a
number of ah-ha moments about my
issue. I walked out of the room feeling
empowered to take some action to
resolve the situation positively in which
the parties could feel we had come to a
win-win-win solution.
Embracing the art of journaling
is a great tool for everyone in any
stage of their careerlife, school, or
retirement. Taking the time to write your
thoughts, impressions, hopes, desires,
and concerns in a private notebook or
Evernote application or Word document
is therapeutic and revealing. Over
the next 21 days, if you set aside just 5
minutes a day in the morning, during
an afternoon break, or before retiring
for the night, you will be surprised at
the clarity of mind you will gain, the joy
you will feel in the discipline in such a
private practice, and the life-altering
thoughts you will fnd written on your
clean sheet of paper.
3) Career Walk: What

Inspires You?
When I started my consulting business
in 2011, I looked back at the jobs I had
performed throughout my career in
human resources (HR). To my surprise,
I was not inspired by the high-powered,
corporate HR jobs in which I was
responsible for a large team. The job
that suited my personality best, and
where I had the most fun, was a job I
held at a large insurance company. I
was one of a team of HR professionals
tasked with transforming the insurance
claim organization. It was a diffcult job
because we were faced with changing
roles, eliminating poor performers, and
interviewing current employees for
newly created jobs. But with my energy

and drive, I was in heaven.
I used my empathy for others
to look at the transformation from
their perspectives, and as a result,
I was successful in helping to lead
the organization through a major
transformation over several years.
My hours were long, my work
was unpredictable, I had to think
on myfeet,and I could not have
beenhappier.
Here is how you can easily fnd
your true inspiration: Draw yourself a
Y- and an X-axis. On the vertical axis,
use the scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being
Not Inspired and 10 being Most
Inspired. On the horizontal axis, start
with the earliest age you can remember
and take it out to the right to reach your
current age. Along the horizontal axis,
list your education and each of your jobs.
Quickly, without thinking too much, plot
each position/role along the vertical
Inspire axis. Go with your gut reaction as
you think through which jobsprovided
you with the mostinspiration.
You should soon see some patterns

emerging. Which of your jobs did you
rate highest during your career walk?
Were you in a leadership role? Were
you responsible for large budgets and
multinational teams? Were you a solo
contributor responsible for your own
work? Were you in a technical role?
Were you able to use your education
andtraining?
Was the work totally unrelated
to your education? Were you in a
role in which you had to think on the
fy and make things up as you went
along? Wereyou to follow a wellwritten scriptand work a set number
of hours per day? Were you putting
in acrazy number of hours but
incrediblyhappybecause it did not
feellike work?
There are no wrong answers! This
is your career walk. Taking the time to
fgure out what inspires you the most
is key to making your next move a
wisemove.
I rated the transformational role in
the insurance company as a 10 when
Your Best Shot
Keeps nodding for the black fuel. Location: Alberta, Canada

Photo by Meiliza Fitri, petroleum and natural gas engineering, energy and
resources engineering department, Chonnam National University, South Korea.
it came to inspiration. As a result of

the self-awareness I gained through
my career walk, I was able to design
my own consulting business to target
clients needing the same type of work
I performed. And, I can honestly say
I am always inspired when helping
organizations and individuals transform
themselves. I rarely feel like I am going
to work.
Take the time to follow these
three strategies. Once you are done,
you will have a better idea of where
your next career move is going to
take you. Youmay end up in a new
organization, starting your own business,
or travelingthe globe in a new sales role.
However, you may fnd that you are
polishing your dress shoes and updating
your rsum to better impress those
in your current organization. After all,
you know the people and now you know
yourself, how to work through your
issues, and what inspires you. Go out
and fnd it. And, do not be surprised
if it is right under your nosein your
current role. TWA
DO YOU HAVE A
JOURNALIST
INYOU?
The articles you read in The Way
Ahead magazine are written
by TWA editors or solicited by
them from industry experts. If
you are an SPE member younger than 36 years of age who likes
to write and discuss industry
trends and technology, become
a part of The Way Ahead and
take your writing to a wider audience beyond LinkedIn posts
or blogs. You will also gain the
experience of being in an international team and improve your
leadership and communication
skills. To know more about becoming a TWA editor, write to
spethewayahead@gmail.com.
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
29
A YOUNG PROF
ESSIONALS
GUIDE TO
City Life to
Scenic Life
Dallas, Texas, and Anchorage, Alaska
Kristin Weyand, ConocoPhillips; Li Zhang, Devon Energy; Batool Arhamna Haider, Stanford University
Graduate Student
Deep in the Heart of Texas

Strategically placed in one of Americas
largest shale plays and namesake to
the popular oilfeld television drama of
the 70s and 80s, Dallas, Texas, has a
thriving oil and gas industry, with several
majors, a plethora of independents, and
plenty of oilfeld service companies
to support the activity level. Chances
are you will see an impeccably white
cowboy hat or two here and several belt
buckles the size of Texas, but do not let
that deceive youthis sprawling city
boasts cosmopolitan living at its best.
The Dallas metropolitan area
encompasses several cities, most notably
Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, Arlington,
and Plano. Whether you prefer to rent
a studio apartment in the heart of the
business district or enjoy patio life in the
suburbs, you are sure to f nd something
that fts your taste in the DFW (short for
Dallas-Fort Worth)area.
Dallas rose to the forefront of the
American oil and gas industry in the
early 1900s, when the discovery of the
East Texas Oil Field brought in myriad
wildcatters. So many productive wells
were drilled near Dallas that the Texas
government began forcing shut-ins to
stabilize prices.
As technology improved, attention
moved offshore, and many companies
relocated to Houston. Undaunted,
Dallas adapted and became a critical
marketing hub between the producers
in the Gulf of Mexico and storage in
Cushing, Oklahoma. This is evident
by the presence of several large
30
marketing companies in Dallas such as

Energy Transfer Partners and Atmos
EnergyCorporation.
When technology advancements
made the Barnett Shale economically
viable, Dallas once again surged to the
cutting edge of the US energy scene.
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic
fracturing in the Barnett created some
of the most proftable gas wells in
theindustry.
In 2012 alone, the Barnett produced
an average of 5.7 Bcf per day of natural
gas, out of an estimated total 26 Tcf in
proved remaining reserves, according
to the Railroad Commission of Texas,
the states regulator of the exploration,
production, and transportation of oil
and gas. After the crude oil and natural
gas prices disconnected in 2008, more
attention was given to shallower tight
oil formations in an effort to capitalize
on rising oil prices. Active exploration
and production companies in the area
today include Encana, ConocoPhillips,
andXTO.
With a population of almost
7millionresidents, the DFW metroplex
is the fourth largest in the US and trumps
Houston by almost half a million people.
In addition to oil and gas, you will f nd a
multitude of thriving industriesranging
from aerospace to technology to f nance.
The largest non-oilfeld employers in
Dallas include American Airlines, Baylor
College of Medicine, and AT&T.
Dallas is known for its diversity.
According to the 2010 US Census, 49.3%
of the Dallas population comprised
minority groups. No matter what your

cultural or social preferences are, there
is no shortage of like-minded individuals
waiting to meet you.
If all that does not attract you to
Dallas, this statistic will surely will:
Dallas enjoys a lower unemployment rate
than the US national average and also
a lower cost of living index. Your hardearned dollars are sure to go a long way
when purchasing food or tickets to the
Philharmonic. If you are thinking about
starting a family, DFW is home to some
of the best public schools in America.
US News ranks Dallas School for the
Talented and Gifted as Americas No.1
high school.
If you ever f nd yourself as a new
Dallas resident, do not let the huge
metroplex overwhelm you. The
incredible population growth in Dallas
has supported the booming service
and events industrythere is never a
shortage of things to see or food to try.
Start your morning with free yoga on the
lawn of Klyde Warren Park, spend your
afternoon strolling through one of the
many museums, and buy evening tickets
to your favorite professional baseball,
basketball, or football team. The SPE
Dallas Section also hosts many events,
including golf tournaments, sporting
clay events, and study sessions, which
offer opportunities to meet people and
network socially and professionally.
You Want Me To Move Where?

So you have f nally settled in, found the
perfect place to live, and even fgured
out how to avoid the worst of traffc on

your morning commute. Everything is
greatuntil your company surprises you
with a new position across the country.
What is a young professional to do?
First off, do not panic. Transitions
can appear both scary and exciting at
the same time. The famous American
baseball player Willie Stargell once
said,Life is one big transition, but
if you are in the oil and gas industry,
however, life can be a series of several
big transitions.
Many companies involved in the
petroleum industry are business giants
and have offces located in several
parts of the world. With new oil and
gas discoveries and advancements in
technology, the new activity hotspots
include places as far-fung as Egypt,
Greenland, Kazakhstan, offshore Brazil,
and the remote Arctic.
In the US, jobs created by the shale
gas boom have required a majority of
workers to move to remote sites ranging
from North Dakota to southern Texas.
The petroleum industry operates 24/7
on a global scale, and employees
work across all time zones. Moving to
various locations can be a part of your
careeradventure.
While moving to a new location,
1. Focus on the new and diverse
set of opportunities your future
destination has in store for you.
This will help you to stay positive
and face the fear of the unknown
that accompanies transitions.
2. Connect with friends, relatives, or
coworkers already residing in your
new destination and ask for their
assistance.
3. Tap into the large SPE network to
ask for insights about a new locale.
The local SPE section website can
be a great resource.
4. Keep a checklist of things to do
before, in between, and after
moving. It is easy to let something
important slip when you have so
much on your mind.
5. If possible, begin planning your
move well in advance. This will
help to organize the move and also
give you enough time to adjust
emotionally to the change.
Petroleum can be found anywhere,

from the scorching deserts of Arabia to
the frigid arctic tundra of Alaska. One can
literally travel the world as a part of this
industry, and the diversity that life brings
across this path can be priceless.
Big Wild Living in Alaska

Whale watching, hiking in pristine
national parks, salmon fshing, and
downhill skiingthese are just a few
of the unique activities awaiting you in
Anchorage, Alaska. This city of about
300,000 residents delivers plenty of Big
Wild Life, just as its mottopromises.
The 49th state to join the US, Alaska
is no stranger to oil and gas. In fact,
each resident, regardless of age, is
eligible to receive an annual payout
from the Alaska Permanent Fund, which
earmarks a portion of oil revenues to the
beneft of current and future generations
of Alaskans. In 2014, the payout was
USD1,884 per personnot too shabby.
During your stint in Anchorage,
you will have the opportunity to work
on unique and challenging petroleum
developments. On the North Slope lies
Prudhoe Bay: Discovered in the late
1960s, this feld remains the largest oil
discovery in North America to this day.
Major companies involved in production
on the Slope include BP, ConocoPhillips,
and ExxonMobil.
Although production from Greater
Prudhoe Bay peaked in the late
1980s, activity still remains strong
as technological advances have
dramatically increased the estimated
ultimate recovery (EUR). With an original
oil in place as large as 25 billion bbl,
every improvement in EUR matters.
Some of the enhanced recovery
techniques used here include massive
waterfooding, gas reinjection for pressure
maintenance, and miscible injectors using
natural gas liquids. Additionally, the fragile
ecosystem of the arctic tundra means that
minimizing the surface footprint is of vital
interest. Therefore, Prudhoe has been
a proving ground for multilateral wells,
with as many as six sidetracks off a single
surface well.
Any construction in Alaska requires
careful consideration of both thermal
expansion in the permafrost (permanently
frozen ground) as well as the possibility

of tectonic activityAlaska experiences
more than half of all earthquakes
recorded in North America each year,
according to the Alaska Earthquake
Center. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline
System, which funnels the oil produced
here, is a feat of engineeringachievement.
Speaking of the arctic climate, if you
are fortunate enough to earn a spot on
any of the fights to the North Slope, best
come prepared. Since the feld is located
250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, a
requirement for boarding a fight to
the North Slope includes parka, snow
boots, and other outerwear suited for the
extreme cold and snow.
The arctic climate and orogeny (look it
up, PetroBowlers) ensure that the Alaskan
landscape is full of breathtaking scenery
and soaring peaks. The state of Alaska
boasts no less than eight national parks.
These range from the Denali National
Park, home of the tallest mountain in
North America, to Glacier Bay National
Park, which features tidewater glaciers,
fjords, and a temperate forest.
While many of the national parks will
take some planning to reach (remote
Gates of the Arctic lacks any roads within
its bounds), there is plenty to see and
do around Anchorage. In early March,
spectators can view the ceremonial start
to the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog
Race. At Ship Creek, you can fsh for
king salmon from late May through July
and coho salmon from August through
mid-September. The largest ski area in
the state, Alyeska Resort, offers skiing on
1,400 acres only 27 miles from town.
Some of the largest oil and gas
employers in Anchorage include ASRC
Energy Services, BP, CH2M Hill, and
ConocoPhillips, according to the Alaska
Department of Labor and Workforce
Development. Additional employers
include the healthcare industry, large
grocery/merchandise chains, and
air carriers such as Alaska Airlines
andFedEx.
So relax, grab a pizza and beer at the
famous Mooses Tooth Pub & Pizzeria, or
some fresh Alaskan king crab if it strikes
your fancy, and enjoy your staywhether
that be for a summer internship or the
next 20 years. TWA
Vol. 12 // No. 1 // 2016
31
YP Newsfash
Young Member Engagement Closes Gaps

Lisa Song, Chevron
The SPE young member engagement
committee (YMEC) was created
in October 2014 as a result of the
reorganizaion of committees as
suggested by the SPE Board of Directors.
YMEC is a merger of the previous young
professionals coordinating committee
(YPCC) and student development
committee. Consisting of 20 young
members with considerable experience
as SPE volunteers, YMEC allows the
representation of student and young
professional (YP) members worldwide.
Our objective with this proposal
is to provide an overarching standing
committee which we feel would
provide a more holistic, strategic, and
coordinated approach to address young
professional and soon-to-be young
professional needs within SPE, said
Roland L. Moreau, 2014 SPE technical
director for health, safety, security,
environment, and social responsibility,
and current SPE vice president, fnance.
YMEC is responsible for developing
and implementing programs and
activities to engage SPEs young
members. Its mandate is to assist in the
development of technical and leadership
skills, providing all young members with
guidance and support to facilitate their
career progression.
Mitchell Sherston, the inaugural

YMEC chair, was previously the
chair of YPCC and has the necessary
skills and experience to lead YMEC
in its initial years. He said, YMEC
epitomizes all that young members
of SPE strive to achieve: A global
group of talented individuals that
come together to inspireothers and
to transform the level of engagement
of all young SPE members within the
industry. Im excitedto see this group
add signifcant value to SPE young
membersworldwide.
YMEC has three subcommittees
working in the areas of student
integration, innovation, and
communication, and each subcommittee
has 48 members. The student
integration subcommittee is tasked
with improving and creating programs
that both enrich the student life, such
as the student paper contest, and
help integrate the local student and
YP communities. The latter effort
focuses largely on the need to prepare
students for the big unknowns when
they enter the workforce. Some goals
for this integration include making
improvements to SPEs existing
Ambassador Lecture program and
theeMentoring program.
The innovation subcommittee is

tasked with developing ideas for new
programs as well as building continuous
improvement strategies for existing
programs. In its frst year, the team has
been working on a number of initiatives
aimed at increasing recognition and
engagement of young members.
The communication subcommittee
has a vision to promote better
communication between SPE young
member communities whether they
are at the student or YP level. To SPE
young members worldwide, this
means providing links between young
memberinitiatives, such as The Way
Ahead magazine and SPEConnect,
and also internally facilitate the
communication of initiatives by other
subcommittees to the SPE community.
The structure of YMEC with smaller
teams working toward common
objectives has allowed committee
members to clearly see how their
individual contributions are making a
difference and translating to value added
for SPE as a whole.
For further questions and interests
about YMEC, please contact YP@
spe.org or post your questions and
comments in the YP Network group on
SPEConnect.TWA
2015 PetroBowl Champions

UNAM Mexico. Team members,
from left: Alonso Magos Cruz, Ernesto
Quetzalli Magaa Arellano, Eder
Castaeda Correa, Mario Fernando
Crdova, and Csar Luis Meza
Orozco.
Preparations are under way for the 2016

championship. Winning teams from
the six regional qualifers will compete
during the 2016 ATCE to be held in
Dubai.To fnd out when your regional
qualifer takes place, visit http://www.
spe.org/students/petrobowl/. TWA
Credit: Phil McCarten, Corporate Event Images
32
Fuel for Thought

Energize your career with training courses from the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Get up-to-date industry knowledge from the people who wrote the book on E&P. Courses are ofered at multiple
locations around the world. Learn more at www.spe.org/training where you can browse the schedule and register
for courses that meet your interests.
SPE COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT TOOL
Are you on track?

Or way of course?
Take control of your professional development. An hour spent taking
our new self-assessment is an investment in your self-assurance
and your future.
Where are you? Find out now.
www.spe.org/training/cmt
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The Magazine by and for Young Professionals in Oil and Gas

VOLUME 12 // ISSUE 1 // 2016