Collarini - September 2007

[This is a reprint of an article previously published in our July 2007 newsletter. We thought it might be helpful to you as a reminder and a primer as you are preparing for the next visa season. Please note that numbers and deadlines have not changed.]

With our industry’s human resource needs at an all time high, qualified candidates are becoming increasingly difficult to locate. There are many highly qualified professionals outside of the U.S., in countries all around the world. The issues surrounding immigration into the U.S. makes it difficult to add these candidates’ talents to the U.S. work force, where they are very much needed.

Immigration is one of the hottest issues in the U.S. today. Not only has it been the number one discussion among Congress, it has helped jump start the globalization of numerous companies. Congress establishes the number of immigrants who are allowed into the U.S. each year. The Department of State distributes visa numbers according to priority date and preference. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for immigration policies, procedures, implementation, and enforcement of U.S. laws.

Two common types of visas are H-1B and TN. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services:

The H-1B non-immigrant visa category allows U.S. employers to augment the existing labor force with highly skilled, temporary workers.

· The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000 people, and this maximum is usually met on the deadline submittal date

· An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are issued for those with a Master’s or higher level degree from a U.S. academic institution.

· H-1B workers are admitted to the U.S. for an initial period of three years, which may be extended for an additional three years.

· Individuals cannot apply for an H-1B visa to allow them to work in the US. The employer must petition for entry of the employee.

· H-1B non-immigrants may change jobs upon the filing of a new petition by the new employer as long as the individual is in lawful status at the time of filing and has not engaged in any unauthorized employment since his or her last lawful admission

The TN was established through the NAFTA agreement whereas Canadian (TN-1) and Mexican (TN-2) professionals may enter the U.S. to engage in professional business activities on a temporary basis. The category allows for admission of individuals for the purpose of working for a U.S. employer as a professional engaged in one of the designated occupations as specified under NAFTA, and they must possess the education credentials for the listed profession.

· TN beneficiaries are admitted to the U.S. under TN status for a one year period, even if the position is not for one year.

· TN classification can be conferred only upon persons seeking temporary entry without the intent to establish permanent residence in the U.S. If the beneficiary wishes to permanently reside in the United States, a TN to green card procedure is possible.

· TN-1 holders have two choices when renewing their TN status: back to the border or file with USCIS and remain in the U.S.

4. You hold the required licenses, degrees and/or experience to perform the job offered

If you are willing to add talent to your workforce through immigration, the pool of talent from which you can choose expands dramatically. Legal advice on regulations, costs, and procedures is recommended and available. Resources concerning these visas are available here. Other informational websites concerning visas and immigration are: the USCIS Website; and the visa website.

The following biographies are just a small sampling of the kind of talent available in our talent pool of 14,000 experts. Please call our placement managers if you are interested in learning more about these professionals, or check out our website for more candidates.

Senior Geologist with a bachelor’s degree in geology and 15 years industry experience. Expertise includes exploration, development, field operations and core analysis. Experienced in clastics and carbonates, prospect generation, volumetric analysis, and initiation of multi-well drilling programs, as well as, project management, mentoring and corporate presentations. Computer competencies in Petra, Acumap, Power Log and 2D/3D field programs. Extensive basin analysis in Western Canada and Brazil. Native English with working knowledge of Portuguese. Seeking US placement. Ask for G1775.

Geoscientist with a doctorate degree and 20 years of domestic exploration and production experience in the Albanian Petroleum Institute. Skilled in reservoir engineering, simulation, and model building. Experienced conducting integrated reservoir and field studies, geological and structural modeling of traps, and projections of exploration and development wells. Geographic areas worked include oil and gas fields and new areas in outer Albanide, Pre-Adriatic Depression, and the Adriatic Basin as well as South America, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana and Texas. Effective communication skills in Albanian, English and French. Ask for G1009.

Technician with 15 years of experience. Excellent time management skills with the ability to work reliably, accurately and multi-task when under pressure while scheduling workload to meet customer requirements. Retains the ability to understand and implement data management and quality management procedures essential. Excellent attitude that approaches data quality with skepticism and attention to detail, adopting a systematic, organized and dedicated methodology to resolving data management non-conformance. Proficient in the use of Microsoft Suite (Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, Visio, Project, Frontpage, Outlook and Internet Explorer) stand-alone or network environment. Knowledge in SQL Server, DB2, Visual Basic, and UNIX/Solaris as well. Ask for TG501.

Diversified Professional Accountant with a bachelor's degree and 11 years of oil and natural gas experience. Candidate has solid experience in financials/general ledger, gas marketing, and revenue accounting for both onshore and offshore operations. Proficient with gas imbalance statements, production accounting, finance and joint interest accounting. Experienced working with allocation and recording of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids sales volumes for the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming properties. Strengths include AP/AR, Sarbanes Oxley, cash positioning, royalty posts, and MMS. Computer literate with working knowledge of Oracle, Excalibur, Premas and Artesia Gas Management Systems; SAP, Dwights, Word, Access, and Excel. Bilingual in Spanish. Ask for A344.

Facilities Engineer with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and ten years of exploration and production experience with major oil and gas companies. Expertise in project management and design of subsea fluid production and processing systems, facilities/subsea systems operations surveillance and optimization including key performance indicator development, management of capital projects, project life cycle management including design, procurement, fabrication, installation, and commissioning as well as supervision of employees with various skills, trades, and backgrounds. Globally experienced in coordination of daily operations, equipment/system/component failure diagnostics and repair planning, coordination of plant maintenance shutdowns and subsea system repair interventions, facilities operations engineering associated with three phase hydrocarbon separation and conditioning systems, rotating equipment, and safety systems including integrity and reliability performance surveillance, and preventive maintenance planning and coordination. Computer software proficiency in AutoCAD, Plant Information, MathCAD, Maximo, SAP, PIPESIM, HYSYS. Ask for F1337.

Environmental Engineer with a master’s degree in environmental management and seven years experience in the oil and gas industry. Specialist in air compliance. Expertise in management of all air, waste and water compliance issues and internal programs. Experienced with the administrative responsibilities and certification of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, which includes compliance training, implementation, audits and issue resolution, as well as, incident reporting, interactions with regulatory agencies, and environmental remediation. Seeking Houston placement. Ask for HS455.

Instrumentation and Controls Engineer with a bachelor's degree in instrumentation and control engineering and five plus years of experience in electrical, automation, instrumentation and control system design, specification preparation, construction inspection, contractor liaison. Experience further includes DCS-PLCs, control panels, instrumentation system design, schematic preparation, specifications and contract document preparation. Computer skills include PLC programming of RSLogix-5/500, RSview, MS-Office, AutoCAD, Microstation, database, MS-Access, MS-Project, Triton, BAAN, Honeywell Control builder, Client builder. Ask for IE466.

Senior Project Controls Specialist with more than 30 years of upstream and downstream experience with major oil and gas companies and EPC firms. Background includes deep water projects, petrochemical and refinery turnarounds, drilling, engineering, construction and maintenance, as well as environmental remediation, power (cogen), pipeline brownfield / greenfield, IT and light rail. Expert in planning and scheduling, cost estimation, and project analysis and management. Successful history of meeting project deadlines. Expansive computer skills including SAP R4, JDE (JD Edwards) One World, Primavera Planner and Expedition, Kildrummy Job-Proms, U.S. Cost Success System, Artemis 9000 and 900EX, and numerous additional industry related software. In depth knowledge of setting up MOC (Microsoft Office Communication), EVMS (Earned Value Project Management), CBS (Construction Based Software), and WBS (Work Breakdown Structure). Ask for PA140.

Reservoir and Production Engineer with a master’s degree in environmental engineering and 31 years of work experience in oil and gas and environmental industries. Skilled in reservoir engineering, production engineering, economic analysis, SEC reserve reporting, and reserve estimating. Geographic areas worked include Colorado, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. Computer skills include ARIES and Microsoft Office. Ask for PR618.

Reservoir Engineer with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and more than 30 years of oil and gas experience. Skilled in oil and gas acquisitions, corporate lending, cash flow analysis, reserve evaluations, economic evaluations, and project risk analysis. Geographic areas worked include New Mexico, west Texas, Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. Computer skills include ARIES, PEEK, PEEP, OFM, MS Office, and Quicken. Ask for R694.

Reservoir and Production Engineer with a doctorate in petroleum engineering and more than 28 years in academia and the oil and gas industry. Skilled in reservoir planning and development, production geology, reservoir modeling, economic modeling, budgeting, waterflood design, and teaching. Geographic areas worked include Alabama, Michigan, California, Louisiana, Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, west Africa, and the Middle East. Computer skills include MS Excel, DSS, and Dwight’s. Ask for PR334.

Production Engineer with a master’s degree in petroleum engineering and 28 years of oil and gas industry experience working for E&P and service companies. Skills include asset management and development, financial modeling, risk assessment and analysis, well test analysis, production optimization, reserve studies, and field studies. Geographic areas worked include the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, the Rocky Mountains, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, Mexico, Kuwait, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Ask for P445.

A recent article in one of the leading industry publications raised the point that retirees, and those who are thinking about working less, make for great contract employees. We further learned that the only tool these experts need is a microphone to announce that that they are indeed available for ongoing opportunities which highlight their achievements and consider their preferences for future assignments.

The industry’s love affair with what’s cutting edge and what’s technologically cool is exciting, but it’s very easy to forget that this knowledge comes from the wisdom of experience. As referenced previously, despite the new technical innovations, mentoring from “the old guard” is still in demand.

To answer this demand, we have formed The Expert Club because the petroleum industry has a world of talent just fading away. We are looking for those professionals who are either currently consulting or considering consulting opportunities as a means of capitalizing on their natural resource…their experience.

Our clients request petroleum professionals to perform specific projects, many requiring precise skills and experience. It is therefore important that we know our candidates’ detailed level of experience to match competencies to particular projects. Updated resumes with key information such as previous job functions, geographical areas of performance, technical proficiencies, level of education/training; and leadership experience is most beneficial.

However, while your resume is important, we also want you to emphasize your preferences to make this a “win-win” opportunity for all concerned. We are asking you to send us your biographic profile, not longer than eight lines in total, and a very specific list of preferences relating to a potential assignment. The list should include:

We look forward to discussing the advantages of joining the The Expert Club and launching your career diversification. Please send us a summary highlighting your expertise today!