Forty Under 40: Shaun Prestridge, LLOG Exploration Offshore

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Growing up in south Louisiana where oil and gas played a major role, Shaun Prestridge was always interested in the industry and the way it touched nearly everything produced or consumed. That interest, combined with a drive to excel that guided him even before starting his career, led Prestridge to earning a promotion to the senior leadership team at LLOG, an important milestone in his long-term goals—reaching an executive position.

Which of your professional achievements are you most proud?
“First, I would have to say is reaching Final Investment Decision (FID) for our Salamanca project last April. This was and is a highly complex project with many stakeholders, a creative capital structure and an innovative approach to development that consumed the better part of two years of my life. Second, I am most proud of developing a new budgeting and forecasting tool for LLOG which we call our ‘Working Capital Forecast.’ This forecasting tool is utilized nearly every day to aid our executive team in making major strategic decisions for our organization.”

What has been your most challenging project to date, and how did you meet the challenge and accomplish your goal?
“The process of reaching FID for the Salamanca project has to be my most challenging project to date. I became involved in some way in nearly every aspect of the project, finding ways to create value and move towards the goal of FID. This project required me to make personal sacrifices for many weeks. To meet this challenge, I spent countless hours reading and evaluating legal documents we had from similar precedent transactions, honing my modeling and presentation skills, analyzing and evaluating key drivers of value, strategizing a path forward in all identified scenarios all while staying in constant communication with all project stakeholders both within and outside my organization.”       

How have you exercised leadership to help shape your department and/or company?
“I have significantly increased communication and cross-functional collaboration within the organization through building relationships with individuals all throughout my organization. Also, hiring, training and developing my team while also providing a path for individual creativity has led to value creation.”

What professional and/or personal advice would you give other young professionals in the industry?
“Continuously evaluate opportunities to improve. Build a reasonable level of flexibility into all financial models produced. Without fail, a flex will be requested. Know the purpose of what you are doing. Ensure outputs developed achieve this identified purpose. Know the end-user and develop communications and financial models tailored to them. Take pride in and care of your work product as it is an extension of yourself. Anticipate questions before they are asked and answer them ahead of time. Clear, concise and accurate information is key.”

What keeps you motivated and passionate about working in the oil and gas industry?
“Although I feel I have a breadth of knowledge of my industry, there is always so much more than can be learned. I pick specific disciplines within the industry to seek a depth of knowledge and work hard exhausting all resources available until I am proficient. With so many disciplines and so much complexity within each discipline, I have no lack of work ahead to be proficient in all areas.”

What do you think young industry members (those under 40) as a group have to offer that is unique to them?
“Young industry members bring new creative ideas on either how to improve or replace existing systems and processes. This allows for the ability to continue to improve not only the industry, but the lives and wellbeing of all stakeholders for the better.”

Take a look at the rest of the Forty Under 40 2023 winners.