Energy Analytics

Inspiring Our Oil and Gas Workforce

byMark Nibbelink

We all understand the motivations that drive folks who hunt for treasures. Whether it’s buying extra Powerball tickets, trying to pick the next crypto or biotech winner in the stock market, or even using a metal detector at the beach to find a lost Rolex, we understand.

It’s the allure of making a risk pay off in a big way.

The careers of many oil and gas geoscientists have been made on the foundation of the inherent risk in conventional resource exploration.

Work up a hunch in an area no one’s worked before. Try to confirm it by pulling a bunch of logs and mapping out reservoir thickness and trap structure.  Assess that source, reservoir, seal and trap conditions are satisfied, and then lease the acreage. Confirm it with seismic if need be. Sell it to management or your investment group and then line up a rig.

Get your morning reports on drilling rates, samples and tops, and as you get close to your target pay zone, start looking for reports of oil and gas shows.

Finally, when the well reaches total depth, head out to the location and watch in anxious anticipation as the logging company shows the down log and you get your first look at the log response of the thing you’ve been chasing for months — or maybe even years.

Experience elation. You’ve found producible hydrocarbons that will make money greater — maybe much greater — than your workup, lease and drilling costs.

Or, experience dejection. You, your company or your investment groups risked a bunch of money and came up with nada.

In a weird way, the process was the perfect expression of the digital age — ones and zeroes — before the digital revolution even occurred.

The experience of exploring for oil and gas was both brutal and immensely satisfying. Brutal in the sense that there were no shades of gray. You either made tons money or you lost a lot of money.

But we kept doing it because we were totally captivated and enthralled by the idea of thinking in four dimensions and putting our minds deep in the earth to ferret out where Mother Nature had hidden and locked up hydrocarbons.

And the fundamental assumption that kept prospect generators engaged in the world’s greatest treasure hunt was that our societies always needed more oil and gas.

Fast forward to 2021. Unconventional reservoir development has become firmly entrenched as the dominant method of producing oil and gas in the U.S. Instead of discrete traps of various sizes ranging up to hundreds or even a few thousand acres requiring careful research to identify, unconventional plays like the Eagle Ford in South Texas are prospective over nearly 4 million acres.

And unlike conventional exploration, there are many shades of gray in these plays, ranging from wells with modest returns on investments to money-making superstar wells.

By now, we’re probably all familiar with the current mantra imposed on the industry by the investment community — deliver free cash flow, reduce your debt and live within your means.

So, my question is this: How can that possibly be inspirational for the exploration-minded geoscientists in the upstream workforce that have traditionally been guided to find more?

Maybe they can find inspiration in developing really detailed reservoir models that guide development plans. Perhaps this kind of incremental advancement of reservoir petrophysics and facies developments synchs up with the younger generation’s reported aversion to risk.

Or maybe the fact that they are getting great paychecks to support their future plans is enough.

But from my limited perspective, I always wanted to be inspired to do great things, to work against long odds and succeed. And it’s hard to see how management and C-suites can be truly inspirational for their workforce if they’re messaging management rather than risk taking.

Maybe we can close the circle by inspiring this upstream geoscience workforce to come full circle to identify the best places to store, rather than extract, the fluids and gases that we recognize as harmful to our planet’s climate.

Perhaps creation of true free cash flow will allow some companies to start adding incremental risk to their strategy portfolios by stepping back into conventional exploration to find exceptional fields like Utah’s Covenant Field — nearly 38 million barrels estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) with a median measured depth of 7,150 feet, most of it produced from just over 700 acres.

Chart showing EUR Oil vs Measured Depth

However accomplished, it’s essential for company leadership to clearly define inspirational goals to keep their workforce engaged, because without an engaged workforce a company can only look forward to long term decline.

Mark Nibbelink

Mark Nibbelink

Mark Nibbelink is co-founder and director of university outreach at Enverus. Before co-founding Enverus (formerly Drillinginfo) in 1999, Mark had a long career as a prospect geologist at Gulf Oil before beginning work as an independent geologist. Mark is responsible for quality control and data integrity. He received his Bachelor of Arts in geology and his master’s in geology and geophysics from Dartmouth College.

Subscribe to the Enverus Blog

A weekly update on the latest “no-fluff” insight and analysis of the energy industry.

Related Content

Group-Shake-Hand
Intelligence Publications
ByErin Faulkner

Operators in Oklahoma’s SCOOP and STACK plays have been improving their economics with “super pads,” which contain wells completed with more than 3,100 lb/ft of proppant, according to Enverus Intelligence® | Research (EIR). The resulting uptick in productivity can shave...

emissions-flare-women-working
Energy Analytics Energy Transition
ByKevin Runciman

In recent years, the oil and gas industry has witnessed a remarkable shift in focus towards environmental performance, driven by the growing importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations. Among the various environmental concerns, reducing flaring has emerged as...

CCUS-GettyImages-1056200534
Energy Analytics Energy Transition
ByAndrew Gillick

In case you missed it, Enverus virtually hosted EVOLVE, our flagship conference, May 16-17. The event included two full days of presentations, panels and keynotes, distilling the most relevant data and thoughts on the industry today.  Below Andrew Gillick, managing director...

blog-refinancing
Energy Analytics Other
ByShane Reddell

In the current landscape of heightened environmental and social consciousness, upstream oil and gas companies face significant challenges in achieving favorable refinancing for their existing credit facilities. These challenges are compounded by the recent volatility in the debt markets and...

unprecedented-wildfire-season-singes-alberta-oil-production
Energy Analytics Intelligence Publications
ByMaurice Smith

Wildfires that have already scorched more than double the average annual fire destruction across Alberta forced the shut-in of more than 300,000 boe/d while threatening future shuttering of output from the so-far largely unaffected oil sands region. Record temperatures saw...

ccus-risky-business-post
Energy Analytics Energy Transition
ByHeather Leahey

CO2 containment risk has become one of the most popular topics among our clients evaluating CCUS projects. Operators need to understand and evaluate subsurface features that could trigger CO2 migration and containment losses as well as introduce additional safety, reputational...

ev-parent-image
Energy Analytics Energy Transition
ByRyan Luther

Anyone who thinks spending time at a public charging station is a blocker to buying an electric vehicle (EV) might want to consider the numbers behind EV and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle refueling times. The answer is that it...

Enverus Blog - 6 tax preparation tips for mineral and royalty managers
Energy Analytics
BySilas Martin

Recent years have been a roller coaster for mineral buyers, from record low commodity prices to highs for oil and natural gas in the last year. Going forward, challenges and opportunities will be plentiful. We expect oil prices between $80...

wind-power-energy-woman-trader-stock
Power and Renewables
ByKenneth Curtis

It’s that time of year when generator and transmission outages are at their peak in PJM. The first half of April has not disappointed volatility-wise as the WHUB/NIHUB spread has set new 30-day highs largely driven by congestion. Figure 1:...

Let’s get started!

We’ll follow up right away to show you a quick product tour.

Let’s get started!

We’ll follow up right away to show you a quick product tour.

Sign up for our Blog

Access Product Tour

Speak to an Expert