There is no business like the oil business! We are very fortunate to be working in oil and gas. I believe it is the best industry in the world and that there is no better time than now for YPs in oil and gas to develop their careers.
However, this issue of TWA is not about self-promotion; we started planning our content with the vision of benchmarking our industry. Essentially, we wanted to know what we do differently and what we can learn from other industries to become even better.
There is the old story of a guy who asks a friend, “What is the most profitable business in the world?” The friend answers, “The most profitable business in the world is a well-managed oil company.” The guy asks again, “What about the second most profitable?” The friend answers, “A poorly managed oil company.”
This story, which I first heard some 20 years ago, is a reflection of the single most important fact keeping our industry from making an improvement breakthrough: There is not enough drive to generate a major change.
The funny thing is that this story is no longer true. Nowadays, there are other industries that are as profitable and valuable as ours; and, as we all know, the economic reality of most emerging hydrocarbon sources (shale, deep water, heavy oil, etc.) is that they will not be profitable without greater efficiency in delivery.
The driver for change is now looming on the horizon. There is no more easy oil being discovered, other competing energy sources are being developed at a faster pace, and we face a workforce shortage fueled by the “Big Crew Change.”
For all these reasons, I believe we are on the verge of experiencing a major change in our industry. This change will be toward greater efficiency anchored by the implementation of digital solutions to tackle both technical challenges and workforce shortages.
No other solution may be available than to further exploit technology advances so they reach their full potential to do more, better, and with less.
If technology is the solution, then we have some serious work to do. Technology uptake in our industry has a reputation for being slow. Technology development cycles can be as long as a couple of decades. In other industries, these cycles can be a few months.
There are valid reasons for this issue, mainly related to the cost and risk/impact of field tests and proving new technologies. However, there are plenty of cultural issues within our industry that certainly do not help speed up the process. We need to work on finding creative ways to overcome cost and risk concerns and to promote an even more innovation-centered culture.
With oil and gas industry ranks being filled every day with young professionals, I wonder how good are we at developing this talent and training the new generation.
I do not have the answer, but I want to share with you a perspective from another industry. At a recent conference, James Dyson, founder of Dyson Ltd. (fancy vacuum cleaners and more), offered this ground-breaking approach toward training young engineers: “The worst thing to do … is to train young engineers. Just get them doing something. And it’s brilliant what they do. I don’t have the ideas any longer. They all have the ideas. Because they have no fear. And they are really enthusiastic. And they want to change the world.” I bet you are thinking this sounds like you. My main concern is that, although this might seem utopian, I am not seeing comparable change initiatives in our industry any different than traditional people development methods. Has this been your experience or not? I want to know: Is there an energy company truly doing things differently?
This is my final issue as TWA’s editor-in-chief. It wraps up more than 4 years’ working to produce this excellent, unique SPE young professionals initiative. I have been fortunate to work with more than 60 excellent volunteer editors from around the world, who have made my work so much easier. They are The Way Ahead.
I also want to thank all our readers: You are the most important part of this experience, and I hope, so far, we have been able to fulfill your expectations. You are The Way Ahead.
The incoming editorial leaders, Todd Willis and David Vaucher, will lead the magazine with the vision of taking it beyond our expectations. They have put in place a great team and are working hard to take TWA to the next level. Stay tuned and enjoy the ride!
In our industry, as in TWA, success is not a given, and improving, when things are already satisfactory or quite good, requires a great amount of motivation, discipline, and vision. If we do not achieve our goals of getting better and becoming more efficient, there will be the usual “good reasons” and excuses. The problem is, this time around, we simply can’t afford them.
Is TWA meeting your expectations?
We challenge you to send us your feedback. (Being constructive is not a requirement; we have thick skin!) Write us at editorTWA@spemail.org or contact me at medinamyt@spemail.org.
