“I give myself very good advice. But I very seldom follow it.”

So uttered Lewis Carroll’s forlorn fictional character Alice during her adventure down the rabbit hole in Wonderland, in a book that many of us have probably read at one time or another.

The saying came to me, however, in the slightly less fantastical surroundings of the recent European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers meeting in Madrid, Spain, as I sat listening to a panel of six preeminent experts. This annual exploration and geo-fest is always well worth attending, and the panelists concerned (including three international operators) all gave great presentations and commentary in the forum focused on nontechnical risk in all its forms.

However, when each was asked to give an (admittedly) very quick closing comment on what they thought their audience should take away with them as a lasting thought, all came out with different perspectives—but they were less than inspirational.

One flagged up the risk of the upstream industry being too short term-focused and said that it needed to retain a long-term view. Another voiced the importance of the industry “continuing to reinvent itself” to remain attractive to potential new recruits. Other points mentioned were the increasing influence of government take on the E&P sector’s plans, the industry’s “patchy knowledge” within companies that needs to be brought together through better collaboration and a need in today’s climate not to underestimate “even the smallest shareholder.”

These are admirable and wise words, of course. But surely this is something we’ve all heard many times before. If we as an industry need to be reminded that we should take a long-term view of things, then we are in deep trouble, as indeed we would also be if the oil and gas business is not aware of the need to constantly reinvent itself to keep pace with the rest of industry generally.

My belief is, of course, that we are all very aware of the above points. These are things that anyone in the E&P sector should bear in mind every day and almost certainly does.

So all of the advice, therefore, is welcome but—like Alice—I’m not sure we should take it. When times are tough—and they still very much are—we look to the movers, thinkers and shakers in our industry for insight and inspiration to help us continue to look forward rather than over our shoulders.

Several times this year at various events I’ve had the distinct impression that a succession of VIP speakers have wanted to make more positive and aggressive comments but have felt obliged to stay on safer ground, hamstrung perhaps by the fear of sounding too upbeat or not saying “the right thing” in the eyes of their advisers and—heaven forbid—their investors.

But surely, as industry leaders in their own right—the reason they’ve usually been invited to speak after all—that’s a real waste of an opportunity.

As Alice also said, “Curiouser and curiouser!” I’d echo that; we’re all curious to know what our industry leaders are thinking rather than be spoon-fed safe advice. So come on speakers, speak up!

Comments