This month, as thousands of Petroleum Engineers convene in Dallas at the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, one thing is painfully obvious. There are way, way too few of them.
That more young people have not entered the profession has always been a mystery to me. Speaking from experience, I can say that being an engineer in the oil and gas industry is one of the most personally challenging and rewarding careers one can follow. In fact, when people ask me about my "career," I usually snort and say, "Career? I didn't have a career; I had an adventure!"
What young person wouldn't relish the idea of working in the world's most exciting and critical industry providing the world's most critical resource, at arguably the most critical time? Apparently a lot of them. To be sure, the industry's cyclicity, characterized by its rollercoaster highs and lows, is not for the faint of heart. Maybe that's what bothers me. There seems to be a critical shortage of strong-hearted risk-takers out there, people shaped in the mold of the wildcatters who built this industry - people not afraid to take tremendous responsibility, make momentous decisions and work their butts off.
Put in perspective, consider the college student who avoids studying geoscience or engineering "because it's hard," or the aspiring graduate who passes on interviewing an oil producer or service company "because I might get laid off." What if Glen McCarthy, or one of his contemporaries, passed up a drilling opportunity "because I might get a dry hole?" Thank goodness they didn't. This industry is strong because it has always attracted strong individuals. Where are these type folks now?
The aftermath of the killer hurricane Katrina reveals our vulnerability. In a few destructive days, a quarter of America's production, and much of its refining capacity, was dealt a crippling blow. Can the industry recover? Fortunately, the disaster occurred during a period of unprecedented demand and high commodity prices. These provide the incentive, and the wherewithal, to repair the damage. However, one thing the current economic situation can't provide is the people. The demands on our thinning ranks of experienced engineers are intensifying. Companies are poaching talent left and right and dumping more and more responsibility on the shoulders of already-burdened staff.
There is no easy answer. At best, it takes years to train an engineer, and most importantly, provide the work experience needed to make the engineer effective. Even if we do all the right things - provide scholarships, equipment, internships and finally, jobs - the process will be painfully slow. Even though industry-sponsored educational outreach programs, science fairs and teacher workshops are acting as grass-roots disciples of the benefits of an engineering career, will it be too little, too late?
Technology can help shorten the cycle. By making workers more productive, by improving drilling and production efficiency, and by enabling exploration and production increasingly from frontier areas, reserves can be added, declines can be extended and recovery factors can be raised. But technology, frequently touted as the life-blood of the oil and gas industry, takes way too long to implement. Recently I interviewed a few dozen oil company engineers in conjunction with some research I was doing. One of the questions I asked was, "How frequently are decisions made using rules-of-thumb, or what has worked in the past, as opposed to investigating a new technology solution?" More than 90% said rules-of-thumb. Therein lies the problem.
While experience is undoubtedly valuable, for an industry that prides itself as being a member of the high-tech community, on par with the aerospace program, this is abysmal. Just because a practice has worked in the past doesn't mean it is the best way to solve a problem. A horse and buggy worked well getting Grandpa to town.
The three fundamentals of efficient problem-solving - people, process, technology - are unchanged. But with today's critical shortages in the people category, I think it's time for process and technology to take up the slack. The question is, "Will we let them do it?"

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