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Volume 15 • Issue 5 • September 2015Printer Friendly Version
 
Our Perspective

The images on television depicting people fleeing the desolate situations in their home country touch us at our core. At their heart, the people are seeking a safe life, a future, and an opportunity to provide for their families. One cannot help but think of them five years from now as young, educated, and a loyal workforce for employers willing to give them a chance. This is what some European governments are counting on.

There is a similar circumstance occurring in the oil and gas industry now while it undergoes one of its cyclical contractions. This may be a hidden opportunity to dramatically increase morale and loyalty in your future workforce. Here is why.

If you, like many others, are affected by the downturn, there are things you can do to re-position yourself for a positive step in your career. As always, one window closing will lead to another one opening. We thought you might benefit from some of these tongue-in-cheek comments to lighten your mood and make you regain your focus.


Your friends at Collarini



 
Upcoming Events^ Back to Top

SPE's Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) 2015

George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, TX

September 28-30, 2015
 
6th Annual Floating LNG USA 2015 Conference

Double Tree Hotel
Houston, TX

November 2 - 5, 2015



 
Employer Tips^ Back to Top

A Different View: Hire Now!

Our industry is going through another cycle of contraction, and every day more companies announce reductions in their workforces. And the predictions by the experts who observe patterns in the oil and gas industry are that we are not done. No one blames companies for trying to protect their investors by reducing costs, as these are natural consequences of reductions in profits. But are they unavoidable? How might it benefit companies to be contrarian?

Consider the millions of people seeking refuge from war by fleeing to more stable countries in Western Europe. Germany, France, Sweden, and others are struggling to absorb a large number of refugees and are working out the logistics, in-country politics, cultural, and legal aspects of such an influx of human beings. Quietly though, these countries are seeing the potential benefits of accepting these people for an altogether different reason: the population of Western Europe is aging dramatically, the countries are losing population, and they could really benefit from younger, motivated individuals wanting to join their workforce. There will be challenges integrating people from different cultures, but many of the newcomers are educated and have previously worked in professions beneficial to the economies of Europe, counting machine work, crafts, trades, and nursing among them.

A little bit of this farsighted thinking might benefit oil and gas companies in the long run as well. By taking a contrarian view and hiring or keeping employees now, your company could be poised to take advantage of several opportunities. The conditions at least are right to look at the plus side:
  • Hiring sought-after talent at a lesser cost compared to the recent employee's market with higher salaries as the norm

  • Adding expertise previously not in reach due to a shortness of talent

  • Strengthening your employees' level of loyalty to your company, because you are bold enough to do things differently and give individuals a chance when they need one

  • Preparing the organization for additional strategic moves when assets get added to the portfolio and business begins to turn around
Taking a contrarian view is risky and requires vision, but it may be rewarding in the long term scheme of things. If you can afford to take this approach, you may find yourself in an enviable spot in the next couple of years.




 
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 22,000 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 Production Engineer and Operations Manager with 11 years of experience working for small and large independents in both conventional and unconventional developments. Experienced in generating and executing expense budgets and in contributing to and executing capital budgets in excess of $40MM and $100MM, respectively. Also experienced in supervising production engineers and field operations personnel in assimilating acquisitions and optimizing production of more than 500 wells including participating in the evaluations of the acquisitions themselves as well as planning of the recompletions, workovers, including stimulation work, and facilities maintenance and improvement. Geographic areas worked include Texas and New Mexico as well as the mid-continent. Software includes PROSPER, ARIES, and other drilling and data retrieval software. Ask for P798.

Executive with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and over 30 years of oil and gas industry experience working for mid-sized to large independent operating companies. Experienced in production operations, engineering and construction, exploitation, surveillance, recompletion, workovers, decommissioning, and acquisitions and divestments. Successfully executed major acquisitions as well as divestment projects. As a company officer and member of the Executive team, delivered EBITA targets that exceeded budgets, maintained HSER performance at "best in class" levels, delivered exploitation and exploration new drills on budget and schedule, and completed decommissioning activities in compliance with BSEE requirements at roughly 30% cost savings. Geographic areas worked include shelf, onshore, and offshore GOM, offshore West Africa, and Brazil. Ask for P792.

Reservoir Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and 30 years of experience working for operators and service companies. Has served in managerial and technical roles. Managerial experience includes planning and overseeing subsea operations, ensuring HSE&R compliance, managing budgets, growing revenue and profits, and leading and developing teams. Technical skills include forecasting production, auditing reserves, executing drilling, completion, and workover projects; planning and writing procedures, reviewing contractor proposals, and recommending vendors. Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Ask for R535.

Executive with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and 40 years of experience in production engineering and operations management for large and medium sized independents. Extensively accomplished in diverse projects in the areas of production, drilling, completions, construction, gas processing, exploration, HSE, and government relations. Experienced in managing construction and production operations onshore, offshore, and in inland waters in the U.S., Africa, and South America including fabrication and installation of new platforms and facilities through decommissioning. Recognizes value overlooked by others, and can balance high technology and common sense. Possesses extraordinary problem solving skills and is capable of managing multiple crises simultaneously using creative, innovative, and three-dimensional thought process. Ask for P795.

Executive with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and over 30 years of experience with a single-family-owned group of oil and gas operating and service companies in Texas. Experienced in production and reservoir engineering through executive management of both the operating and service sector companies. Also experienced in prospect development, prospect screening, prospect trades, regulatory issues, drilling, completion, production, facilities, reserves, reservoir, geology, A&D, marketing, and leasing. A seasoned executive with a comprehensive understanding of how an oil and gas exploration company functions and prospers. Ask for M687.

Energy Executive with a master's degree in geology, an MBA, and extensive leadership, management, technical, and operations experience with a major oil company, independents, and a service company. Specialist in strategic planning and analysis, field optimization, acquisition and divestment, and organizational development. Has a demonstrated successful track record in asset management, business development, and economic evaluations to plan and execute budgets, work with capital markets, and guide service companies. Experienced with a large network of operators, bankers, and brokers and in exploration and development of unconventional and conventional reservoirs, including the use of 3-D seismic, and waterflood management throughout the lower 48. Ask for M643.

Reservoir Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and 21 years of experience working for large independents and a service company. Experienced in budget and planning, business and economic analysis, reserve analysis, booking and reporting, and coordination and optimization of engineering life cycle processes. Geographic areas worked include west Texas. Software proficiency in ARIES, PI/Dwights, and Petrolook. Ask for R1244.

Reservoir Engineer with a master's degree in engineering, a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering, and 14 years of experience in the oil and gas industry working for mid-sized E&P and service companies. Experienced in property evaluation, field development, acquisition analysis of unconventional and conventional assets, and business development. Geographic areas worked include the Gulf coast, mid-continent, Permian, Rockies, and east Texas. Software proficiency in ARIES, Peep, Rose and Associates Risk Essentials, GeoGraphix, WellSpring, PRIZM, RPI, Fekete RTA, PERFORM, OFM, Petra, Saphir, and CMG IMEX (Black Oil). Ask for R1255.

Reservoir Engineering Manager with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and over 30 years of progressive experience in the oil and gas industry working for mid-sized to large independent operating companies. Experienced in assembling and leading high performance multi-disciplinary technical teams, business development, overseeing asset acquisitions, annual company reserve estimates, and generating exploration prospects. Additionally experienced in field development, reserve evaluation, and field studies. Geographic areas worked include the Texas Gulf coast, south Louisiana, the Permian Basin, and the Arkoma Basin. Software proficiency in ARIES, PHDWin, Peep, Petra, Rose Risk Analysis, Geographics (PRISM), IHS Power Tools, and SMT. Ask for M553.

Reservoir Engineer with a master's degree in petroleum engineering, a doctor of jurisprudence, and 12 years of oil and gas industry related work with a major engineering consulting firm. Experienced in evaluating reserves and future production potential; evaluating production, test, and completion data; performing reservoir simulation studies and audits; analyzing key reservoir parameters for history matches; and modeling prediction cases to optimize field development plans. As an attorney, drafted legal documents and client consulting agreements and litigated oil and gas breach of contract, environmental contamination, and product liability cases. Geographic areas worked include Angola, Australia, Colombia, Denmark, the North Sea, Ecuador, the Permian Basin, the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, and the US onshore. Software proficiency in PHDWin, ARIES, CMG, Peep, and MS Office. Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Member of the State Bar of Texas and New Mexico. Language proficiency in Spanish. Ask for R1249.

Geologist and proven oil finder with a bachelor's degree in geology and 11 years of experience working for a midsize oil and gas company. Experienced in sandstones, carbonates, and unconventional reservoirs and in many types of depositional environments. Broad operational and technical experience in several different basins including the Permian, Ft. Worth and Anadarko. Software proficiency in Petra, GES 97, PI/Dwights, Microsoft Applications, PetraSeis, Petrel Geographix, and Production Explorer. Ask for G2301.

Reservoir Engineer with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering and ten years of experience working for a major operator and several independent companies. Experienced in creating type-curves, implementing reservoir management strategies, characterizing reservoirs, analyzing risk, creating production and capital forecasts, performing supervisory duties, planning the development of assets, and analyzing acquisitions. Geographic areas worked include Texas, California, southern Oklahoma, and the Gulf of Mexico. Software proficiency in ARIES, PHDWin, FDR, SpotFire, FieldVision, WellCore, CSBeam, Dl-Desktop, PVTsim, GIS, FieldDIRECT, Smart View, Visual Explore, Hyperion, and AutoCAD. Ask for R1137.

Regulatory Analyst with a bachelor's degree in land management and 35 years of experience working for major and large independent oil and gas companies. Expert in full regulatory cycle from initial well planning to plug and abandonment. Experienced in coordinating regulatory requirements from initial well planning to final permit to drill, assimilating application documents for permission to drill, compiling data to file well record and well completion reports, and resolving historical issues. Additional experience in managing transfer of ownership matters, managing state and federal bonding issuance, renewal and cancellations, and divestiture clean-up matters. Regional experience includes Pennsylvania, east Texas, west Texas, north Louisiana, and New Mexico. Ask for L1161.

Business Development Manager with an MBA in finance and more than 20 years of experience working for a major and an independent operator, and several investment banks. Experienced in investments, negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, relationship management, strategic marketing, divestitures, energy banking, portfolio management, due diligence, new business development, risk management, and credit quality management. Maintains an extensive network of upstream and midstream contacts in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Ask for M662.

Project Engineer with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and over 30 years of diversified power, oil and gas experience. Expert in mechanical and fired heat transfer engineering, front end engineering, project field services, and mechanical and process design services. Experienced in oil and gas processing for onshore and offshore topside platforms, refineries, petrochemical, chemical, power generation and cogeneration plants, LNG and cryogenic facilities, coal gasification pilot plants, and off-site utilities. Geographic areas worked include the US, Canada, Russia, Argentina, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Fluent in English and Arabic. Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. Ask for F28.

Health, Safety, and Environmental Engineer with a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering and 12 years of experience working for professional and technical services firms, environmental consulting firms, and the government. Expertise in air quality. Experienced in air permitting, air dispersion modeling, Title V, NSR, and PBR permitting and compliance; plant and industrial operations, NESHAP, NSPS, and BACT analysis; and compliance assistance. Passed the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering exam. Ask for HS997.

Financial Analyst with a bachelor's degree in finance and over 15 years of experience working for large independent oil and gas companies. Expert in financial analysis and accounting including budgeting, forecasting, cost analysis, reserve reconciliation, and operations reporting. Additional experience as a business analyst managing production from offshore fields, tracking well statuses, and advising regarding government regulations and reporting requirements. Software experience in Microsoft Office, Novistar, Enterprise Upstream, Oracle, Hyperion Essbase, BPC, Business Objects, PREMAS, SAP and AS400 Mainframe Applications, Lotus, ARIES, and WordPerfect. Ask for BA460.

Review thousands of talented people in
more than 30 upstream disciplines at
www.collarini.com




 
Career Advice ^ Back to Top

Scream, Dream, and Find the Window...

It is easy to lose heart in today's oil and gas market. What will you do if the music stops and no chair is left untaken?

Throw a temper tantrum or hibernate in a closet.
Take a day or two (no more) to feel sorry for yourself. Eat hamburgers, fries, and ice cream. Scream into a pillow or out loud! Be angry. Hit the wall with a Nerf bat. Don't exercise or shower. Consider this time an opportunity to blame the world for your misfortune. Eat lots of chocolates. Remember this time as an end to the old you.

Do something nice for yourself.
Drink lots of water. Exercise. Eat grilled chicken and vegetables. Eat two apples and some nuts. Do not think about working or about anyone in the industry. Remember this time as clearing your way to the new beginning.

Do something you have always wanted to do.
Fly a kite. Train for a marathon. Take a vacation if you can. Learn to paint or ski. Make your garden beautiful. Breathe for a few days. Volunteer for a worthy cause.

Focus. Get serious. Make a plan.
Now is your time to get going! What do you really want to do? Perhaps this is your chance to be a CEO; in Texas, you can form a company for $300 and be prepared to consult. Do a bit of research and you will be surprised at the number of companies there are who may be hiring now or in the near future. Make an attack list. Find the schedules of meetings for professional organizations in your discipline. Attend some of them. Already there are capital institutions on the sidelines eyeing the market and identifying ground floor opportunities. Once these transactions are underway, they will need individuals to get the transactions done and run the new company. To capitalize on these opportunities, be sure to keep your eyes and ears open and pick an agency you trust to contact you when they have an opportunity which might interest you.

"When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." (Maria in "The Sound of Music") You just need to find that window. Remember, oil and gas still provide 70% of our energy, and that number is not expected to decrease significantly in the near future. This is not the first downturn, and like the other ones it also will not last forever. Be sure to purposefully position yourself so you possess the ability to respond when your chance for another career step arrives.


 
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):
 
Accounting and finance personnel
Administrative and clerical personnel
Business analysts
Civil and architectural engineers
Data Management
Drilling engineers
Drilling operations supervisors
Energy trading professionals
Executives
Facilities engineers
Geologists, geophysicists, and petrophysicists
Health, safety, and environmental personnel
Human resources personnel
Instrument and electrical engineers
IT professionals
Land, legal, and supporting personnel
Marine engineers and naval architects
Materials and corrosion engineers
Mechanical engineers
Operations supervisors
Pipeline, riser, and subsea engineers
Process engineers
Procurement personnel
Production engineers
Production operations supervisors
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 ^ Back to Top

1500 S. Dairy Ashford Road, Suite 350
Houston, Texas 77077
832­.251­.0553

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