Photo credit : Provided by author
Yulia Staneva Cody Aaron Jeff MacGuidwin
Jeff spent the majority of his time as a field engineer in Saudi Arabia working for Schlumberger Oilfield Services – the world ’ s largest oilfield service company with yearly revenues of $ 35.5B USD . He worked within the ‘ Well Intervention ’ segment , which meant using giant steel tubing and fiberoptic tools to go deep into client wells to both gather data and increase production . This meant Jeff found himself offshore in the Persian Gulf just as much as the desert fields of Saudi .
Munib too worked as a field engineer in the Middle East . He spent the majority of his time working for Gyrodata , a company that specializes in directional drilling , gyro surveying and wellbore logging . Gyrodata was hired by Schlumberger , Jeff ’ s employer , Halliburton and the other major players to optimize drilling and avoid costly drilling mistakes such as well collisions , which Munib oversaw on site .
Moving midstream we meet Yulia Staneva , hard at work for SIBUR Holding , the largest Russian gas processing and petrochemical company with 2015 revenues of $ 6.3B USD . Yulia worked as the head of strategic planning and business development , where she would supply SIBUR executives with extensive industry analysis . This is important because SIBUR , like many midstream petrochemical companies , straddle upstream and downstream and thus compete internationally against importers and exporters alike . Yulia wasn ’ t just a number-cruncher - she spent may days on site visits , getting as much ‘ hands-on ’ experience as she could .
Finally , we come full circle and downstream to Seema Verma . Seema worked as an operations officer for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited ( BPCL ), India ’ s second largest state-owned oil and gas company . BPCL would purchase oil , process it into various petroleum products , and then market it to the end-user . As part of her role , Seema would do daily site inspections , work with vendors on plant expansion , negotiate with supply chain partners for better deals , and engage with vendors for material purchases .
I was curious to hear what these five industry experts thought about the current and future states of petroleum production . All of them commented that there is a lot of oil and gas still in the earth , meaning running out of oil won ’ t be a pressing concern for ages . Despite the supply glut , there ’ s still hope for other means of energy . Previously , oil prices were so high that they actually encouraged investment in alternative energies , which are now seeing increased efficiency and lower costs . In the end , it ’ s all about price ; and consumers , ultimately ruled by their wallets , are going to go with the cheaper option , regardless of its environmental impact . And for this reason , regardless of the cheap prices of oil right now , consumers just don ’ t need as much oil as is currently being produced . Petro companies need our classmates , with their dual experience in business school and deep industry knowledge , to help them pivot and stay relevant in ever more fuel light economies .
STAR 11