The SPE Beyond the Borders Initiative of the SPE young professionals (YPs) of the French, Italian, and Romanian sections held its second meet up at Bucharest, Romania, from 13 to15 September.
One of the most important tools for the oil and gas industry to fulfil challenging projects with local and global impact is technical partnerships. From joint ventures to production enhancement contracts (PEC), the industry has to offer opportunities for the operators and service companies to grow together in a sustainable and responsible manner by setting common goals, offering support, and sharing technical and professional knowledge.
Emphasizing on a culture of partnerships, the SPE Romanian Section young professionals group planned the Bucharest events with a focus on partnerships, teamwork, and the cultural values.
The main event, the panel discussion on “Technical Partnership,” brought together experts from all segments of the industry—OMV Petrom’s Norbert Gröschner, director of partnerships and international assets business unit; Tudor Gafton, independent expert in oil and gas; Alexandru Coman, business development manager for Romania and Bulgaria at Halliburton; and Daniel Vlasceanu, partner at Vlasceanu, Ene, and Partners—covering the topic from legal to technical details.
The hardest way to learn is by experience, and the participating YPs were challenged in a workshop titled “Harvesting More Value Out of a Mature Field Portfolio.” The workshop had the scope to simulate a real-life situation when companies need to sit at the same table and find solutions and be ready to compromise. Three teams were created with specific roles—title holder, a PEC which wants to leave the current agreement, and a PEC which is looking for new opportunities. Each team had one common goal, to do everything they could in order to benefit. After setting their strategies, each team sat one in front of the other and negotiated their objectives, leaving at the end with one of the most important messages—that compromise is crucial and rewarding.
The YP group visited the Institute for Research and Technological Design of OMV Petrom in Campina the next day. The visit consisted of a walkthrough of the history of the institute and the development timeline. Participants had the chance to learn about the main activities of the several laboratories.
The main attraction was the cores storage unit, with the oldest core (as geological age) having 540 million years and sampled in the 1980s from a formation at 2000 m, Precambrian. The deepest core was sampled from a well drilled to 7025 m. The facility stores more than 150,000 boxes of core material.
The day continued with a visit to Schlumberger Ploiesti Base, consisting of a brief introduction of the base product lines and walkthrough workshops covering the various departments.
The third day combined a teambuilding event with an architectural hunt and concluded with a visit to the Cotroceni Palace Museum, headquarters of the Romanian presidential administration, with a history of over 300 years.
The Romanian Section had the privilege to share the 3 days with 13 international YPs from France, Italy, and Germany and is looking forward to participating in the next Beyond the Borders event in Milano, Italy.
[The article was sourced from the author by TWA Editor Bruno Rivas.]