Going Green Soon to Be Advantageous

The major challenge in alternative energy production is cost. Historically high oil prices and quickly developing alternative energy technology may soon make that an issue of the past. Even though the fuel (sun rays and wind) is often free, alternative energy producers must spend large amounts of cash to capture and convert that energy into electricity.

New technology in alternative energy is beginning to change the picture. The cost of wind power varies widely with the quality of the windmill site, but good locations within the United States generate electricity at 3 cents to 4 cents a kilowatt-hour, making them cheaper than natural gas fired plants at current prices. Electricity generating solar panels invented 50 years ago that cost $100 a watt in 1976, now sell for less than $3 a watt and are expected to continue declining 5 percent annually even without technological breakthroughs. In all, the cost of generating electricity with solar panels is 35 cents to 45 cents per kilowatt hour, according to the International Energy Agency.  According to the US Solar Energy Industry Association, U.S. costs are typically around 26 cents to 35 cents because there's better sun.  Geothermal energy costs about 6 cents to 10 cents a kilowatt hour, without subsidies. The main expense is actually drilling the holes and building power plants on top of them. And expertise is needed to properly manage a site to make sure the right amount of liquid is cycled through the geothermal source to extract the heat. Geothermal energy is especially valuable because it makes electricity around the clock, unlike solar or wind power that require backup sources of generation. Geothermal plants also have a small footprint, smaller, even, than many fossil-fuel power plants. Advancements in equipment are making it possible to generate electricity with lower-temperature geothermal resources, and new drilling techniques let producers plumb greater depths.  An MIT study found that far more geothermal electricity could be generated if companies (especially oil companies) leveraged their knowledge of drilling techniques, geology and hydrology to tackle the problem. An investment of $800 million to $1 billion in research and development would be required, equivalent to the expense of a single coal-fired plant.

Public outcry over recent price spikes in oil prices also helps alternative energy proponents by putting pressure on politicians to maintain or even increase tax credits, grants, loan guarantees and other subsidies that stimulate investment in biofuels. These monetary incentives make alternative energy research and development more attractive for oil companies.

Another aspect favoring alternative fuels over time is that the most accessible deposits of fossil fuel are being rapidly depleted.  Some estimates say our fossil fuel reserves will be depleted within 50 years, while others say it will be 100 to 120 years. The bottom line is that our fossil fuel supplies will run out and we must develop alternative fuels. According to the US Department of Energy, world energy consumption is expected to increase by 50 percent within the next 13 years. If the global consumption of renewable energy sources remains constant, the world’s available fossil fuel reserves will be consumed in 104 years.

Recent events indicate that the oil industry’s defensive strategy concerning biofuels may no longer be effective.  World governments are engaged in negotiations with the oil and car industries over ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector with the major burden being on the car industry. Recently, the car industry seems to have convinced its critics that meeting their reduction targets will make vehicles unaffordable. This has resulted in an automatic shift in attention towards the fuel side.  Oil companies refusing to invest in alternative energy may lose downstream customers and political goodwill.

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Talent Pool

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.

Chief Geologist with Master's in geology and more than 20 years experience.  A proven track record of planning, implementing, and successful completion of multi-faceted projects.  A highly technical, self motivated, goal oriented individual with exploration and development experience in the Gulf of Mexico shelf, Gulf Coast (Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas), as well as east and west Texas.  An expert in Landmark Suite, GeoGraphix and SMT.  This great candidate has outstanding communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work independently or in a team setting.   Ask for G1750.

Geologist with a Bachelor's in geology and 30 years experience in exploration and exploitation. Highly experienced in prospect generation, submittal evaluations, seismic interpretation, integration of geological and geophysical information, field development, economic analysis, field studies, regional mapping, prospect marketing, and presentations to management.  Also skilled in acquisitions, log analysis, workovers, re-completions, and well site operations.  Expert witness before the Texas RR Commission and the Louisiana State Mineral Board.  Geographic areas worked include east Texas, south Texas, Texas Gulf Coast, north and south Louisiana, Louisiana state waters, Alabama, and Mississippi. Expert proficient in all modules of SMT KINGDOM Suite software.  Ask for G863.

Petrophysicist with 30 years experience, a Master's in petroleum engineering, and multi-disciplinary oil and gas experience including upstream E&P, servicing, and consulting.  Highly skilled in design of data acquisition programs, log and core data acquisition, analysis and interpretation, and open hole and cased hole log analysis.  Software experience includes Geographic areas of experience include North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, South America, Egypt, Angola, and Nigeria.  Openworks, Petroworks, Geolog, Petcom, IP, Stratworks, Zmap, GOCAD, Saphire, and various proprietary engineering application tools.  Extensive experience using Sun and NT workstation platforms.  Excellent communication, presentation, and computer programming skills. Ask for GS245.

Geological / Geophysical Technician with 20 years of experience in international projects in both operations and exploration departments.  Areas of expertise include organization and design, loading seismic data, setting up and monitoring data rooms, and directional surveys.  In-depth experience conceiving and coordinating data storage, retrieval, and transfer protocols, especially in conjunction with JV partners and NOCs.  Software skills include OpenWorks, OpenSpirit, SeisWorks, ZMap, PowerLog, Geolog, RECALL, Petrel, PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, and ArcGIS. This candidate is self-directed, highly motivated, team-oriented, and multi-lingual.   Ask for TG434.

Project and Quality Coordinator with a Bachelor’s  in mechanical engineering and over 15 years in the oil and gas on/offshore, petrochemical, LNG, refinery, power, drilling rig construction, pipeline, tar sands, and coal gasification industry.  Areas of expertise include project management, QA/QC, and safety management.  Experience in implementing project management tools to achieve safety, quality, and schedule objectives.  Further experience in project planning, engineering, procurement, and construction in multi-national working environments and according to international industry standards.  Very capable of interfacing with project management teams, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers on projects to manage and resolve quality issues.  Further experience in developing, implementing, and monitoring the company’s quality management systems and in assessing and reporting on system performance issues.  Language skills include French, Russian, some Thai, and Indonesian.  Computer skills include MS-Project. Ask for TI114.

Business Analyst with a Bachelor’s degree, CMA certification, and over 12 years of experience working for a major oil and gas company.  Areas of expertise include asset economics and risk management analysis.  Extensive experience in decision framing techniques, facilitating investment decision analysis, risk and uncertainty analysis, value of investment analysis, deterministic and probabilistic modeling to perform project economics evaluation, preparing tornado charts and running decision trees.  Strong team member, able to work effectively in a multidisciplinary integrated team.  Computer skills include PEEP, Decision Framework DTrio, Palisade Decision Tools, Crystal Ball, and a number of excel based economics evaluation models.  Language skills include Chinese. Ask for BA332.

Health and Safety Professional with a Bachelor’s degree over 20 years of experience and in the HS&E industry.  Areas of expertise include providing regulatory consulting to international clients across respective upstream and downstream business units.  Experience includes onshore and offshore drilling, production and pipeline operations with emphasis on environmental and regulatory compliance assurance, analyzing applicable regulations, formulating compliance strategies, developing training and implementation programs, and writing compliance assurance plans and manuals. Further experience in providing due diligence expertise, expert witness testimony, compliance assurance inspections, permitting and associated regulatory filings.  Directed all of the HS&E and regulatory affairs matters for an exploration and production firm related to drilling, exploration and production activities, encompassing land and legal aspects also germane to operations, maintaining corporate operator status, designing, implementing and directing corporate environmental, health and safety programs and policies, conducting program and policy reviews and implementing improvement initiatives; championing company-wide environmental, health and safety excellence; ensuring regulatory compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and liaising with regulatory agencies.  Ask for HS401.

Subsea Engineer with a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and seven years of experience in the offshore engineering and construction industry.  Areas of expertise include the analysis and design of mooring, riser and subsea systems.  Experience includes a wide scope of engineering activities, including offshore LNG terminal developments, detailed analysis of moorings, turrets and riser systems, subsea field architecture design, vessel motions studies, uptime and availability analyses, drilling and work over studies and installation support activities.  Further experience in project management activities for a variety of floating production systems, loading terminals and drill rigs provided on some major and renowned deep sea project developments.  Computer skills include Orcaflex, AQWA, RIFLEX, Fire Dynamic Simulator (CFD), Matlab, and MathCAD.  Four papers issued on FPSO technology aspects. Ask for MD50.  

Reservoir Engineer with a PhD in petroleum engineering and 22 years of experience in the oil and gas industry with major and independent companies. Skills include reservoir development, reservoir simulation, and well log analysis. He is an expert in the development of complex simulators. Geographic areas worked include the United States, South America, North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Computer skills include various simulators and MS Office. Fluent in English and French, moderately conversant in Italian and Spanish.  Ask for R847.

Reservoir Engineer with a Master's in petroleum engineering and 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Skills include reservoir simulation, transient analysis, material balance, project economics, and SEC/SPE reserve evaluations.  Geographic areas worked include Austria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Africa, Oman, the United States, Israel, and Italy. Computer skills include OGRE, PhdWIN, MatBal, Saphir, Oil Field Manager (OFM), Eclipse 100, FORTRAN, AutoCAD, Microsoft Office Program Suite, and PEEP.  Ask for R849.

Reservoir Engineer with a Bachelor's in petroleum engineering and a Masters in business administration and 3 years of experience with a major oil company.  Knowledgeable in PVT analysis, simulation, material balance, and volumetric estimates. Also knowledgeable in business, economics, and planning analysis and the application of these skills to the oil and gas industry.  Computer skills include Microsoft Office.  Ask for R830.

Business Analyst with a Bachelor's in business administration and 10 years of experience in data analysis working for major and independent  oil companies, consulting firms, and service companies. His expertise is in database management and applications support. Skilled in performing data analysis in Access for engineers to perform reserve evaluations, creating and maintaining data in PhD WIN and Aries applications, creating custom queries, and preparing and publishing data room presentation materials. Computer skills include Aries, PhD WIN, Microsoft Office Suite, PI Dwights, Geographix, and various other software and computer programs.  Ask for BA250. 

Forever Young and Desired?  

No one really knows when youth ends officially. But if you are over 50 and looking for a job, you probably feel the rules have changed.  Age bias still exists - let's not be in denial about that!  However age is now less of an issue.  Today, companies are realizing that younger employees are more liable to shift from company to company to strengthen their careers.  Older employees are more likely to be more loyal.  Companies have begun to recognize that stocking their workforces completely with younger candidates may not be the wisest thing to do with respect to retention.

Erin White, from The Wall Street Journal Online, says that for a candidate to help counteract prejudices of hiring managers, career counselors suggest you highlight skills rather than age.  Suggestions include excising your graduation date from your resume, dressing differently, and taking care not to refer to world events that betray your age.

You also must take stock of your qualifications and skills.  Once you determine what skills are marketable, you will probably stand out from all the other candidates.  One of the biggest misconceptions about older employees is that they are less technically savvy than their younger counterparts. If you are computer literate, add that to your resume. List all the software packages that you know how to use.  If you aren't proficient with the computer, consider taking classes.  

Networking is extremely important for the older employee in the job market today. Search for former business colleagues, organizations and employees at firms that interest you. Kate Wendleton, president of the Five O’Clock Club, a career-counseling network, advises older applicants to “say, I’ve been through it all, I had people working for me, and I’m happy now.”  She also advises 50-somethings to convey that “they plan to stay on the job for a long time, and have a lot of energy.”  Interviewers aren’t allowed to inquire about when applicants plan to retire but “it’s important to sense if they think that’s a concern,” Ms. Wendleton says.  If you think it is, she adds, tell the interviewer you plan to work for the next 15 years.  The worst thing an older applicant can do is speak dismissively to a youthful-looking interviewer.  Never talk “about the ‘old days’ ” and “how we did it,” says Ms. Wendleton, who also tells older applicants to update their wardrobes and not hesitate to color their hair.

RetiredBrains.com suggests we always concentrate on past achievements and not on our age.  You can leap over impending hurdles with regard to your age by displaying strong vitality, good work experience and refined work ethics. Portray yourself as a person who can get the work done and who can bring profit to the table with your maturity and exceptional qualifications.

The bottom line is that an organization either has to hire talent or develop talent.  So, if you articulate your skills and talents and show that you are a fast learner, your chances of getting a good job, irrespective of your age, are very high.

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About Us

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

Reservoir Solutions the Industry Trusts...

The Collarini Associates petroleum engineers and geoscientists specialize in evaluating oil and gas reservoirs. Specific projects include integrated field studies, acquisition evaluations, independent reserve appraisals, and exploration and exploitation prospect generation and assessment. Our full divestment services include creation and hosting of electronic and physical data rooms in addition to the technical evaluation. Our teams in Houston and New Orleans are very experienced and stand ready to help you on projects of any size. Try us!

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.

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Contact Us
11111 Richmond Avenue, Suite 126 Houston, Texas 77082 832.251.0553		4200 South I-10 Service Road, Suite 230 Metairie, Louisiana 70001 504.887.7127

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