Through his 40-year career, Ken Arnold, senior technical advisor to Worley Parsons, has witnessed the oil and gas industry conquer a plethora of feats. From ultra-deepwater drilling to advanced recovery techniques, Arnold has not just helped develop the technologies, but also the management processes that have unlocked hydrocarbons from some of the most challenging places on earth.
After receiving his BS degree from Cornell University in civil engineering, Arnold considered oil gas, with the idea that exploration would soon open up off the Atlantic coast, close to his hometown of New York. “I was not initially drawn to the field of oil and gas,” Arnold said. After interviewing with Shell, he realized that ‘big oil’ was not at all what he thought it was. “They were trying to do a very important job for the world in providing energy.” He began his career as a facilities manager with Shell and after gaining experience as a divisional mechanical engineer, Arnold was promoted to leading 150 engineers in projects involving offshore, onshore, and marsh platforms and facilities as well as engineering support for operations. While there, he developed a unique logistical blueprint, Shell’s Typical Facility approach, to the design and construction of offshore facilities. “We developed the whole system, including specifications, guidelines, design project management, the systems,” said Arnold. |
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