Energy Issues

I just finished a remarkably funny, and particularly astute, book that explores the world of marriage in relation to husbands, wives and their employment, among other things. The book, entitled How to be a Husband, by Jim Dowling, discusses various aspects of the life of the author and his wife, much of it related to their jobs (his as a one-time freelance writer and, currently, a journalist with The Guardian and hers as a program director for television and multimedia).

As I read it, I continually nodded my head in recognition for, it seems, working in the oil and gas industry is a lot like being married. The industry is your wife, or your husband, depending on your gender, and many of the problems of that relationship are mirrored in our relationship with our industry and, more particularly, between contractors and operators in our industry. It’s a love/hate relationship. Below are a few examples from Dowling’s work, of areas where marital issues and issues in the oil and gas industry correspond.

1. Social Organization:

1.1. Dowling notes that “in my marriage, this chore is divided along rather traditional lines: my wife does all of it. She holds all of the phone numbers and addresses, and she keeps me apprised of upcoming social events with only as much notice as is necessary. I have a diary of my own, but I really don’t write in it, because it has no official status.”

1.2. In the oil and gas industry, the operator’s representative is, generally, the wife, holding all the vital information about what is about to be required and why, especially in the drilling sector. Contractors keep notes but, like Dowling’s notes, they have little official status unless requested by the operator.

2. Housework:

2.1. Housework is not a pleasant endeavor, Dowling notes, and it would make sense to divide it up equally between spouses. However, “there is a popular notion that housework should actually be assigned, according to the economic theory of ‘comparative advantage.’” “Simply put, this means that whichever of you can perform a task comparatively more efficiently should specialize in it, so long as this labor is effectively traded for another chore at which the other person excels. This way, less time, overall, is expended on housework, and both parties end up happier.” But, “with comparative advantage, it still makes sense for a husband to do the washing up, even if he’s the less-efficient washer-upper, as long as there’s another chore—mopping, let’s say—at which he is so hopeless that there is a net gain of efficiency when he trades one for
the other.”

2.2. In our industry, the idea of comparative advantage is fluid, or was. Traditionally, operators did the things that operators did, such as geological and geophysical analyses, drilling planning, and production facilities design (and, often, maintenance). But, comparative advantage is now hard at work in the industry, and the results are very visible. Many of the traditional operator–conducted tasks are now being farmed out to the contracting industry, from analysis to planning to execution, because of comparative advantage, applied in most cases both to expertise and to cost.

3. Driving:

3.1. If, like me, you have been married for a long time, you and your spouse have likely settled on routine driving assignments. Dowling and his wife have split this chore across national boundaries. When they are going somewhere in the car together, he drives only in America and on the Continent. The right side of the road is his domain. In the UK, where the couple lives, his wife drives. This is unusual as, “apparently, when partners get in the car together, the man is four times more likely to drive.”

3.2. The division of labor within the oil and gas industry is much more complicated. One has to go no further than Macondo to figure this out. In that incident, the division of labor, strictly adhered to, led to unheeded but critical input which, had it been taken, might have prevented the disaster. It was all about the division of labor. One side decides; the other side carries out. Fortunately, that division of labor is on the wane in the industry—at least one is led to believe.

4. Standards Enforcement:

4.1. Standards, to some extent, define a marriage. They may be comprised of the simplest things, according to Dowling. “You must set a standard for the lowest form of cheese allowed in your fridge, and an agreed method for making coffee. Do you care whether your car is clean, or do you use it as a mobile skip? Are you a minimalist? Are dogs allowed on your sofa? Do you make people take their shoes off when they visit? ”

“From time to time household standards must be revised,” says Dowling, “either because of natural slippage, changes in taste, or a feeling that you’ve both reached an age where it’s unacceptable to drink wine from old Nutella jars.”

4.2. Dowling’s reasons for a change in standards may not apply directly to the oil and gas industry (although I have been known to carry a jar of Nutella and a bag of biscuits in my offshore kit). But, it is hard to argue that changes in standards—particularly as the industry moves into deeper water, and higher-pressure and hotter environments with new tools and technologies—are not a basic requirement of the industry. If you work in the U.S., just check with BSEE.

Dowling has, most probably, never been remotely close to the oil and gas industry, yet his descriptions of various marital issues ring with a clear resonance to those of us who have.

But, I haven’t cleared that idea with my wife yet.  

About the Authors

William J. Pike

World Oil

William J. Pike has 47 years’ experience in the upstream oil and gas industry, and serves as Chairman of the World Oil Editorial Advisory Board.