End Game for Petroleum Engineering?

[Suresh Kumar Govindarajan 0]

Are we approaching the end game as far as petroleum engineering is concerned?

Does petroleum engineering follow mining engineering pattern of (slowly) getting vanished?

Will there be NO Engineering in the absence of Indsutry?

 

[James Regan + 1,776]

21 minutes ago, Suresh Kumar Govindarajan said:

Are we approaching the end game as far as petroleum engineering is concerned?

No - See Thread about WOB in long horizontal sections, more Engineers required as we move forward to push the boundaries of marginal fields and the performance from new and existing wells.

https://community.oilprice.com/topic/7551-getting-weight-to-the-bit-in-a-long-lateral/

21 minutes ago, Suresh Kumar Govindarajan said:

Does petroleum engineering follow mining engineering pattern of (slowly) getting vanished?

No- See Above

21 minutes ago, Suresh Kumar Govindarajan said:

Will there be NO Engineering in the absence of Indsutry?

Rhetorical question- You answered it clearly.

Edited September 11, 2019 by James Regan

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

● Global demand for oil & gas continues to increase, year after year after year, decade after decade after decade (despite what most media tell you).

● Oil & gas is in no danger of "running out" globally any time soon.

● However, most of the "easy" oil & gas globally has already been extracted.

● This leaves the more difficult to extract (and hence more expensive to extract) oil & gas.

● It seems logical to deduce that global demand for oil & gas engineering will increase, not decrease, as it will likely become increasingly difficult to extract increasing amounts of "difficult" oil & gas in the future. 

● Example: Arctic oil & gas drilling and extraction presents immensely more complex engineering challenges than say, legacy extraction in The Gulf of Mexico, or Saudi Arabia or Iran.

 

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

Also, the Big Crew Change will open up alot of work for less experienced engineers in all aspects of the oil and gas industry.

A frightening thought until the youngsters gain sufficient experience, with no mentors, to take the reins.

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

1 hour ago, Suresh Kumar Govindarajan said:

Are we approaching the end game as far as petroleum engineering is concerned?

Does petroleum engineering follow mining engineering pattern of (slowly) getting vanished?

Will there be NO Engineering in the absence of Indsutry?

 

Suresh,

I’m making the assumption that your are fairly young and perhaps asking these questions out of fear that ‘your’ industry is in danger of becoming extinct.

Let’s try some perspective here. When I entered the oilfield back in 1984, drilling directional wells was in it’s infancy. Drilling a horizontal well was science fiction. Massive hydraulic frac jobs were just starting to be done routinely and the first dynamically positioned rig was 9 years old (I believe). Rotary steerable systems, MWD and LWD did not exist.

I was onboard the Sedco 709 in 1986 when we drilled the world water depth well....at 5330 feet of water! They routinely drill in twice that water depth now. Top drives didn’t exist.

I could go on and on, but the point is that the oilfield is one of the most innovative industries on the planet. Everything that I mentioned above has come about in less than 40-50 years.

You may have notice or followed my recent thread concerning getting ‘weight on bit’ to the end of a long lateral well. I bet you some clever engineers come up with a tractor system to accomplish this more efficiently in the next few years.

I seriously doubt that the demand for oil decreases within your lifetime, nor will the need for Petroleum/Drilling engineers.

[Ian Austin + 131]

7 hours ago, Douglas Buckland said:

Also, the Big Crew Change will open up alot of work for less experienced engineers in all aspects of the oil and gas industry.

A frightening thought until the youngsters gain sufficient experience, with no mentors, to take the reins.

Douglas

I have heard many people reference this Great Crew Change. However, from the folks I know in most areas of the world, the people who were supposed to take over/mentor/train the young Engineers were jettisoned during the last downturn. Where/how exactly is that generation gap going to be filled, when the 35-45 Demo beared the brunt of 2015?

Is it any coincidence that 1/2 the people who provided answers to your Hz WOB post are out of work, myself included?

Not to jump to conclusions, but I think it is perfectly natural for a young Engineer to ask those questions - to be completely honest, I wonder if I’ve wasted 15 years of my life. 

Again, open to any alternative viewpoints

[Ward Smith + 6,615]

3 hours ago, Ian Austin said:

Douglas

I have heard many people reference this Great Crew Change. However, from the folks I know in most areas of the world, the people who were supposed to take over/mentor/train the young Engineers were jettisoned during the last downturn. Where/how exactly is that generation gap going to be filled, when the 35-45 Demo beared the brunt of 2015?

Is it any coincidence that 1/2 the people who provided answers to your Hz WOB post are out of work, myself included?

Not to jump to conclusions, but I think it is perfectly natural for a young Engineer to ask those questions - to be completely honest, I wonder if I’ve wasted 15 years of my life. 

Again, open to any alternative viewpoints

My experience in the oil patch is there are the super majors and there's everyone else. If you're lucky enough to get on with the big boys, and your boss isn't a jerk, you can ride out a lucrative career to a happy retirement. Every rung down the ladder you go, including being a consultant to the big boys carries orders of magnitude risk exposure. Sometimes, as is the case with BP leaving Alaska, even being with the big boy doesn't help. 

On the other hand, I have friends who've left the big boys and even smaller operators, hung out their own shingle and became their own boss, who have done quite well for themselves. The problem as always is how risk averse you are. I made my fortune in a completely different Industry and came into the oil patch by circuitous means. If you want to know how to make a small fortune in the oil industry, start with a large fortune…

As far as I can tell, the industry is made up of people who are very good at raising money, who, if they're lucky, get in bed with people who are very good at operations, and voila oilco. Without the money, the best ideas in the world fail, and without the ideas, the money goes down the drain. 

I have a friend who was CEO of a very successful mining company. If he hired you as VP of accounting, before you got to hang out on mahogany row, you had to spend weeks literally doing every job in the company. There's reality shows where the CEO has to work the floor in their own company and usually we all get to watch how clueless they are. I'd like to say his quality management means he's running the most successful mining company around, but alas, the best practices don't protect you from environmentalist activists funded by the Sierra Club and others who don't have to accomplish anything, other than (eventually) driving you out of business. Every extraction Industry faces this nightmare. 

So to a newly minted petroleum engineer I'd say if you're risk averse morph your way to Chemical engineering and find a job in any of the myriad process industries out there. If you're a gambler find some like minded souls and start a company solving the millions of problems the industry has and charge through the nose for those solutions. Or better yet, do what George Mitchell did and form your own oilco and revolutionize the world. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

13 hours ago, Suresh Kumar Govindarajan said:

Are we approaching the end game as far as petroleum engineering is concerned?

No chance of that.  Only a small fraction of the global oil reservoirs have been tapped.  There is lots and lots of oil still out there, and the industry will by crying for talented engineers in the years to come.   And after all the pools of oil are tapped out, then there are the large resources of oilsands oil to go after, and that industry will need smart engineers and chemists to figure out how to extract that oil from the sand, upgrade it, and get it shipped.  So:  if you have steady nerves, this industry can (and probably will) provide you a good living.  That presumes, of course, that you study hard, and become top-notch.  You have to make yourself valuable.  Cheers.

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

21 hours ago, Ian Austin said:

Douglas

I have heard many people reference this Great Crew Change. However, from the folks I know in most areas of the world, the people who were supposed to take over/mentor/train the young Engineers were jettisoned during the last downturn. Where/how exactly is that generation gap going to be filled, when the 35-45 Demo beared the brunt of 2015?

Is it any coincidence that 1/2 the people who provided answers to your Hz WOB post are out of work, myself included?

Not to jump to conclusions, but I think it is perfectly natural for a young Engineer to ask those questions - to be completely honest, I wonder if I’ve wasted 15 years of my life. 

Again, open to any alternative viewpoints

Ian,

Alot of those who responded may be out of work, but that does not mean they are unwilling to return once things pick up.

I’ve been out of work since Nov 2015, but as far as I’m concerned I’m on standby. I still chase the jobs that appeal to me. At my age, experience and background I am suitable for certain role. I am sure that applies to you as well.

We have to assume that at some point this downturn will recover. If we don’t believe this then we would have either retired (many have) or gone into other industries, if we could have.

Historically speaking, these slumps recover as quick as they set in. If/when this happens companies will be scrambling to put together teams.

I noticed that someone was touting the major oil companies. Granted, if they make you an offer, take it. Personally I cannot stand working for majors. You are just a number, everything is process driven (if it’s not in the manual you don’t do it) and everyone is fighting for promotion. Working for them is painful. Do not discount the small and mid-cap operators! Much more fun, get to wear a variety of caps, get to use your head and make a difference. If job security is the only thing you are interested in, stick with a major.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I firmly believe that if we can ride out this storm, there be an experience gap and we will all have a part to play. The oilfield is not even close to extinct. It will come out of this slump a bit leaner, but new wells will need drilled.

Last, but not least, don’t turn your nose up at onshore operations! Everybody these days seem to think that offshore is the place be. I started out offshore and had a blast. Recently I’ve been involved with onshore campaigns in Tunisia, Kurdistan, Brunei and PNG. Alot of fun, good challenges, good people and alot less BS!

If you have anything specific on your mind, feel free to drop me a personal message and I’ll get back to you.

[Ian Austin + 131]

2 hours ago, Douglas Buckland said:

Ian,

Alot of those who responded may be out of work, but that does not mean they are unwilling to return once things pick up.

I’ve been out of work since Nov 2015, but as far as I’m concerned I’m on standby. I still chase the jobs that appeal to me. At my age, experience and background I am suitable for certain role. I am sure that applies to you as well.

We have to assume that at some point this downturn will recover. If we don’t believe this then we would have either retired (many have) or gone into other industries, if we could have.

Historically speaking, these slumps recover as quick as they set in. If/when this happens companies will be scrambling to put together teams.

I noticed that someone was touting the major oil companies. Granted, if they make you an offer, take it. Personally I cannot stand working for majors. You are just a number, everything is process driven (if it’s not in the manual you don’t do it) and everyone is fighting for promotion. Working for them is painful. Do not discount the small and mid-cap operators! Much more fun, get to wear a variety of caps, get to use your head and make a difference. If job security is the only thing you are interested in, stick with a major.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I firmly believe that if we can ride out this storm, there be an experience gap and we will all have a part to play. The oilfield is not even close to extinct. It will come out of this slump a bit leaner, but new wells will need drilled.

Last, but not least, don’t turn your nose up at onshore operations! Everybody these days seem to think that offshore is the place be. I started out offshore and had a blast. Recently I’ve been involved with onshore campaigns in Tunisia, Kurdistan, Brunei and PNG. Alot of fun, good challenges, good people and alot less BS!

If you have anything specific on your mind, feel free to drop me a personal message and I’ll get back to you.

Douglas 

Sounds good - I’ll send a message later. Have a few things in the works. 

To be honest, he attitude is probably a little worse in Canada. It is almost complete oilpatch Armageddon here...