[Editor's note: A version of this story appears in the September 2020 edition of E&P Plus. Subscribe to the magazine here.]  

A focus of this month’s issue of E&P Plus is on what the oil and gas industry will look like as it moves forward into a post-pandemic world. It is a world that is a little bit different than the one the predecessors for the company that would become National Oilwell Varco (NOV) witnessed more than a century ago.

Clay Williams, the chairman, president and CEO of NOV, recently provided E&P Plus with an exclusive video interview in which he shared his views on the way forward for oilfield service companies.

Clay Williams
Clay Williams
NOV

“Our industry is going to have to put up better financial returns, but above all, we’re going to, most importantly, make sure that we’re adding value to the operations of oil and gas companies because they’re facing similar challenges,” he said. “If the value that we bring to their operations isn’t tangible and demonstrable, they can’t afford to pay for it. And so all of us, I think, across oil and gas broadly are going to have to head to a world where we’re more efficient and better at what we do.”

He shared the company’s efforts and its role in the current energy climate, the impact of digital on accelerating the energy transition and more in the interview. Williams also noted for those just getting started in the industry that while it has seen its ups and downs, it is essential to remember there is always another side.

“We’re going to see prosperity return. We’re going to get busy again. And so I would tell you hang in there. This is going to get better, and you’ll look back at this time and realize that you probably grew more through the downturn than you may fully appreciate right now,” he said. “But when I look back on my own career…I credit the downturns and the tough times that I went through for really making me who I am.”

In this exclusive video interview, NOV CEO Clay Williams discusses the energy industry’s recovery post-pandemic.

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