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Volume 11 • Issue 2 • March  2011


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Our Perspective


Good Times, Bad Times?

By now we expect the negative press in our industry.  There are challenges and demands from left and right for the oil and gas community to perform technically, environmentally, and politically.  Now there is additional risk on the industry and on our country's energy supply with the events in the Arab world unfolding.  It would be easy to adopt a negative outlook on our business's future; but we do not.  As professionals, all of us in our respective organizations have been trained to overcome obstacles, whether they are commercial, legal, political, or technical in nature.  While the world around us may not seem to like us very much, the products and value we give to the world are essential.  In the near term, we feel that there will be a strong market emerging for increases in domestic production, which in turn can make our country stronger and more resilient to international turbulence.  The future job market is part of this equation.  We are advising our clients to continue to recruit the best talent, and we tell candidates to keep eyes and ears open as new opportunities arise.  Changes in the business environment will require the talent to adapt to new situations.  

Please keep us in mind if changes in your organization have you concerned about whether you have the right talent on staff.  We will be happy to assist you.

Your friends at Collarini   


Upcoming Events Back to Top

 

AAPG Annual Conference and Exhibition

April 10 - 13, 2011

Houston, Texas

George R. Brown Convention Center

 

Come stop by our booth #1508

 

 

Offshore Technology Conference

May 2-5, 2011

Join over 20,000 industry professionals at Reliant Center


Employer Tips

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Hiring:  What Will Affect It

A good friend of mine just told me that he had recently canceled a horse-back riding weekend trip to west Texas.  The reason: gasoline has gotten too expensive, and a trip with a pick-up truck and horse-trailer would not be cheap.  That reminded me of a statement Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil, made recently, that within ExxonMobil, $4 per gallon gasoline has been seen as the critical number when consumers would change their behavior.

We are not too far off from the $4, so there may be something to what Mr. Tillerson is saying. 

Focusing on crude oil for the moment, the Short-Term Energy Outlook of the U.S. Energy Information Administration includes a couple of interesting facts that might give hints of things to come:  

•   The EIA p around 3% growth in GDP for the U.S. economy for 2011 and 2012.  Internationally the number is closer to 4%

•    A further projection is that $4 mark at the pump will be reached this year.  Recent increases in crude oil prices have not made their way through the pipeline to your gas station yet, so additional increases have to be expected

•    Global oil consumption grew at a record pace in 2010, compared to prior years, by 2.4million bbl/d.  That is the second largest increase in a single year within the last 30 years.  The expectations are for the next two years to see increases at or over 1.5 million bbl/d .  The largest demand for the oil will come from China, Brazil, and the Middle East  

What can we make of these numbers, and what can we expect in terms of hiring trends?  What this means is more of the same.  Our industry has learned well to deal with uncertainty as we continue the process of providing hydrocarbon resources to the world.  Consumption, price, and market developments will play a large role, but at the end of the day the oil is still needed to make the world's economies run and grow.

Our practice has seen an increase in activity and a call for expert professionals.  Here they are with some possible explanation to the grown demand:

•    Risk management and HSE experts: The increase in demand is certainly in response to new regulation and forthcoming rules, and some companies see the need to strengthen their internal talent pool

•    Solid production, completions, and workover professionals: Mature assets are still being looked at harder to enhance existing value

•    Explorationists with solid international experience are needed to identify the next generation of large opportunities

•    Professionals with a background in the trading business: organizations are seeing the value that individuals with this particular background can bring to help understand markets and pricing trends

•    Bank engineers: there is still new capital flowing into the industry.  A&D activity is still high, as seen at the recent NAPE convention, and somebody has to handle and evaluate the transactions     

 

Whatever business cycle your company happens to be in right now, chances are that you should position yourself for more, not less, activity and seek out and attract the talent you need in the future now.
Talent Pool Back to Top

The following biographies are just a small sampling of the kind of talent available in our talent pool of over 19,000 experts.  Please call our placement managers if you are interested in learning more about these professionals, or check out our website for more candidates.

Geophysicist with a Ph.D. in geophysics, a master's degree in geodesy, and 29 years of experience working for midsized independent oil and gas and service companies in exploration, exploitation, and development.  Expert in 3D and magnetic field modeling.  Additionally experienced in designing gravity and magnetic surveys, depth conversion, technical writing, and geophysical interpretation.  Geographic areas worked include the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coast and the Gulf of Mexico.  Software proficiency in ArcGIS, Fugro-LCT, Geosoft, GeoGraphix, HIS PI/Dwights, and SMT Kingdom.  Ask for GG393.

Geophysicist with an MBA, a bachelor's degree in geophysics, and over 30 years of experience working for major operating companies.  Expert in 3D mapping, modeling, and interpretation.  Geographic areas worked include the Permian Basin, Williston basin, San Joaquin basin, Ecuador, Colombia, Yemen, Iraq, and offshore Spain. Software proficiency in Landmark Seisvision, Landmark 3D, Geoquest IESX 3D, and SMT.  Ask for GP1001.

Geophysicist with a master's degree in geologic oceanography and over 20 years of experience working for a major operator.  Expert in seismic stratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and seismic interpretation.  Additionally experienced in volume visualization research and seismic attribute analysis.  Geographic areas worked include offshore and onshore Alaska, Equatorial Guinea, offshore Angola, Tanzania, Madagascar, Chad, Nigerian deepwater, and offshore Brazil.  Software proficiency in Petrel, GeoQuest, and Paradigm.  Ask for GP1160.

Geologist with a master's degree in petroleum geosciences and 10 years of experience working for service companies.  Experienced in wellsite and logging geology, log interpretation and analysis, geosteering, and drilling in tight gas sands.  Additionally experienced in onsite and offsite operations support.  Geographic areas worked include Colorado, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.  Ask for G962.    

HSE Manager with a bachelor's degree in petroleum safety engineering and 18 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.  Experienced in the development of standards and management of safety environmental management systems, safety case development, and the creation and implementation of emergency response procedures.  Additionally experienced in managing HSE senior advisors and field coordinators, conducting safety audits, and staff training.  Geographic areas worked include Texas, Louisiana, and Kazakhstan.  Ask for HS859.

HSE Manager with over 25 years of offshore and onshore experience working for major drilling and service companies.  Experienced in program implementation, incident analysis and compliance.  Additionally experienced in designing and implementing HSE policies and training and supervising safety managers and representatives.  Geographic areas worked include offshore Nigeria, Trinidad, the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, onshore Alaska, and the Marcellus Shale.  Ask for HS864. 

Engineering Manager with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and 27 years of experience working for small to large independents and a major operator. Experienced in budgeting, cash flow analysis, contract negotiations, partner relations, and economic analysis. Additionally experienced in reserve reporting, production monitoring and optimization, acquisition evaluation, and remedial well work. Geographic areas worked include Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico shelf and deepwater, Brazil, and Indonesia.  Ask for P542.

Drilling and Production Manager with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and 35 years of oil and gas experience working for mid-sized to large independents and a major oil and gas company. Experienced in the management and operation of drilling and production departments, facilities design, safety, regulatory and environmental compliance, workover and completion design, and well troubleshooting. Geographic areas worked include Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Kansas, Colorado, and the Gulf of Mexico.  Ask for DP280.

Reservoir Engineer with a master's degree in petroleum engineering and 24 years of experience in the oil and gas industry; with 15 years working for major E&P companies. Experience includes reservoir characterization, dynamic simulation, production forecasting, reserves analysis, project management, and field development. Geographic areas worked include the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico shelf, west Texas, China, the Netherlands, and Nigeria. Computer skills include proprietary simulation software, BOAST, MBAL, Prosper, GAP, NODAL, PIPESIM, PIE Well Testing Tool, and Landmark SGM.  Ask for R260.

Engineering Technician with 15 years of experience working for a large independent oil and gas company. Experienced in loading and analyzing integrated sales volumes, processing monthly allocations and regulatory reports, processing monthly prior period adjustments, preparing annual state reports, coordinating with Sarbanes-Oxley auditors, streamlining reporting processes, and training and coaching junior analysts. Geographic areas worked include Texas, Louisiana, and the offshore Gulf coast. Software proficiency in Oracle P2.  Ask for TE511.

Project Engineer with a master's degree in mechanical engineering and 11 years of experience working for major and large independent oil and gas companies and engineering and construction firms. Experienced in coordinating engineering design activities, setting up construction support functions, and defining the scope, quality, cost, and schedule controls for FPSO facilities, gas gathering and compression facilities, and offshore production platforms. Additionally experienced in tankage and fluid transport systems, and refinery, petrochemical, and chemical process facilities. Geographic areas worked include California, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and Nigeria.  Ask for F1512.

Flow Assurance Engineer with a master's degree in subsea engineering and 12 years of deepwater experience in the oil and gas industry. Expert in flow assurance and operability including steady state and transient thermal hydraulic analysis and subsea processing, including separation and boosting. Experienced in subsea system design with economic analysis, well optimization including enhancement and management techniques, economic forecasting, and project interface management. Geographic areas worked include the Gulf of Mexico, Angola, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. Software proficiency in PIPESIM, Multiflash, PVTsim, OLGA 2000 and OLGA 5, and FieldPlan.  Ask for F1732.

Review thousands of talented people in more than 30 upstream disciplines at

www.collarini.com


Career Advice

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Outlook for Explorationists: On the way up!

According to simplyhired.com, the number of jobs for exploration geologists has increased 142% since July 2009!  And according to the AAPG, between the years 2009 and 2010, geologists with 25 years of experience or more reported an 8.8% increase in salary.  This indicates the desire of companies to increase and maintain their staff levels for experienced and proven explorationists.

Recent surveys by the AAPG have shown that the salary ranges for geologists with zero to five years of experience showed little change.  This is probably a result of the hiring surge for recent graduates and the subsequent cooling off period combined with a down economy.  And with a number of companies cutting costs and reducing manpower, most explorationists have chosen to stay with the same employer.  This information is based on a survey of U.S. salaries only, which due to its size and concentration of personnel working in the U.S. is still a good bellwether for the oil and gas industry.  In Houston, one of the main activity centers, geologists are paid slightly lower than the national average.  This seems to indicate that energy companies are momentarily shifting away from exploration in the Gulf of Mexico due to the uncertainty surrounding the new rules and regulations yet to come, coupled with a surge in personnel demand in other parts of the country where unconventional production prevails.

Today's list of major projects includes new areas that have yet to touch the job market for exploration professionals.  There are many international opportunities coming down the pipeline.  Recent major deals, such as the one BP struck with Russian giant Rosneft, will have a positive impact on the job market for exploration experts.  In this example, both companies plan to explore for natural gas and oil off the Russian Arctic continental shelf.  This gives BP access to a new area, and many job opportunities for exploration and development professionals will be one outcome.

With the price of oil rising rapidly by the day, and with exploration and production renewal in the Gulf still in question, companies are looking at many other areas of opportunity.  Natural gas and shale production is continuing to grow quickly throughout the beginning of 2011.  While natural gas exploration is currently increasing, crude oil prices on the other hand are likely to show more strength relative to natural gas, which in turn will affect the demand for further oil exploration.

Companies have a newly found focus for 2011, and onshore and offshore international and domestic exploration play a big part.  Job opportunities for explorationists are on the rise, and that is especially true for proven oil finders. 

 


About Us Back to Top

Connecting the Industry's Experts...

Collarini Energy Staffing Inc. is a full-service agency specializing in the placement of energy and EPC personnel and including the disciplines listed below (other supporting personnel are managed upon request):

Accountants and finance personnel
Administrative and clerical personnel
Business analysts
Civil and architectural engineers
Drilling engineers
Drilling operations supervisors
Executives
Geologists, geophysicists, and petrophysicists
Health, safety, and environmental personnel
Human resources personnel
Instrument and electrical engineers
IT professionals
Land, legal, and supporting personnel
Materials and corrosion engineers
Naval architects
Operations supervisors
Pipeline, riser, and subsea engineers
Process engineers
Procurement engineers
Production engineers
Project managers and support personnel
Quality control and inspection personnel
Reservoir engineers
Sales and marketing professionals
Technical writers
Technicians, drafting and graphic
Technicians, engineering and geoscience

Guiding Careers to the Next Level...

Collarini Career Management applies its deep understanding of the career paths of technical professionals in the E&P and EPC communities to help companies and professionals build successful organizations and careers. We leverage Collarini's unique combination of industry knowledge and technical expertise to guide companies and individuals during transition, training existing employees for high performance, and designing customized technical training plans for companies and individuals.


Contact Us
10497 Town and Country Way,
Suite 950
Houston, Texas 77024
832.251.0553

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