What's new in exploration

I am told that this February is a month in which people in the industry read magazines only for technical content. What a perfect time to pick on political incorrectness. Are women more affected by the downturn in the [previously] male-dominated, good ‘ole boy oil industry, or will females thrive? Look at this from Shell: “Remarkable Women in Science, Technology and Engineering, You’re invited to Shell’s live webinar, to gain insight into some of our projects and careers from Shell’s remarkable female engineers and scientists.” That was September 2014, and oil was above $90/bbl.

Well, the gender battle was resolved a long time ago, in both the courts and in practice. My wife tells me that it was lost, the second I was born. Her point is that [American] women today have very different expectations, whether they toil at home, or sweat in the professions. She recently finished a PhD at Texas A&M University (TAMU), in College Station, while working full-time. The bigger truth is, if the industry plans to survive, great effort is going to be needed to introduce folks, female and male, into the technical oil and gas professions. A strong dose of mentoring will still be required.

What’s “new?” Women already are in exploration leadership. Back in the Jurassic period, when I was in college, we did not have co-ed dorms, and the few females who were in my rock sciences or engineering classes could win at arm wrestling, everyone sober. Today, educators have discovered that when given an environment without pressure from boys, girls excel at math and science. No, colleges are not going back to gender segregation of dorms. However, they are collecting students, male and female, who are in the same academic majors, into dorm clusters on the same floor [TAMU, 2014]. This is more than an attempt to compete with frat and sorority test libraries. It is an experiment in poly science and STEM mentoring. Women professionals can now be found in every position within the industry, including serious positions in exploration [e.g. Marathon Oil]. Men and women seem to have called a truce and have learned how to work in teams as equals.

I am inspired by a program in some high schools [Power Set–Powerful Opportunities for Women Eager and Ready for Science, Engineering and Technology]. This effort finds and mentors young women, who are in the top academic levels and might be eligible for college, but who lack the home or cultural environment to know that they have opportunities out there for a productive, successful future. Did I say that politically correct enough?

One of their recent mentors is a young female that I have known since she was born. She took physics in high school, and earned an MS degree in geophysics at the University of Houston from the super geo-group at that school. Like many, she started at a service company and is now an explorationist at a major operator. Kate Sposato is a volunteer—working to inspire other young women to plan for, work at and succeed in their futures. She also is inspiring a lot of the rest of us, too. This effort is much more than what existed, even a few years ago. Yes, I am looking for more volunteers, both corporate [HR] and personal. It seems to me that the industry, as a whole, should be paying more attention to the 13-18-year-olds in secondary schools for future talent. Congrats go to the AAPG and SPE on these fronts.

Bucking the trend. I note that Southwestern Energy (SWN) is among some companies buying exploration and production acres in shale oil plays. What do they know? I would suspect the first lesson is buy low, sell high. The second is that most of the folks with a little grey hair have been to this rodeo before, and know that price wars will end. Lastly, since RPSEA is involved with SWN on more than one front, we know there is a whole lot of mature skill over there. My business prof used to say, “It takes risk to earn a return.”

Several folks have asked why RPSEA links production [plumbing] to exploration. Answer? More intelligent interpretations of places to drill will likely result in a correct number of wells to drill. Not too many, not too few, but “just right.” While no one outside of our industry seems to care much any more about oil or gas production increases, or cost-cutting for Big Oil, they do care about safety toward the environment and human interactions. I have to add that humans are an integral part of the environment, just to clarify discussions among certain groups.

Given a more accurate number of drilling locations, it follows that offshore, since we have been over-drilling more than under-drilling [RPSEA Project 1701-Knowledge; IOR for Deepwater Gulf of Mexico, 07121-1701, Improved Recovery: Phase I Dec. 15, 2010], more accuracy will result in fewer wells drilled, and a smaller environmental footprint. We reason, then, that the fewer times we oil folks go to the seafloor, E or P, the safer the sea will be.

From the explorationists’ point of view, smarter, safer plumbing tech should result in management wanting to drill for at least two reasons: 1) Better, lighter, offshore hardware means smaller vessels and less cost per well, i.e., better economics; and 2) Macondo. That “well” remains the most expensive exploration hole ever drilled, maybe more than the NASA moon program. You know why.

I suggest this is a good time to peruse the RPSEA web library to bring yourself current on what most of the oil producers, and the public, agree is important research for the next tranche of technology, onshore and offshore: http://www.rpsea.org/ultra-deepwater-program/. At $120 oil, who cares how we explore and produce; at $47 oil, it will take new technology to create even more efficient, frugal E&P. 

About the Authors

William (Bill) Head

Contributing Editor

William (Bill) Head is a technologist with over 40 years of experience in U.S. and international exploration.