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Seven career paths to choose in oil and gas

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Oil and gas industry offers an exciting variety of career opportunities both offshore and in technical disciplines on land. While working in this sector may be associated with intense shifts and hard working conditions, it is also known for high salaries, chances to travel the world, as well as working with cutting-edge technologies.

Despite these, a career in oil and gas does not seem attractive for the new environmentally-sensitive generation: A 2016 study by McKinsey revealed that a 14% of millennials would not be interested in pursuing a career in the sector, due to its ‘negative image’ from environmental and tough-working-conditions point of view.

#4 quick facts about working in oil and gas

  • Working conditions in oil and gas sector can vary from being in a ‘cushy’ office with personal assistant to working onboard desolate platforms in extreme weather conditions. The most intense work schedules are probably on the onshore and offshore rigs.
  • While oil and gas job is typically associated with working on an oil platform, only 6% are based offshore, according to MyOilandGasCareer.com.
  • An EY survey showed that younger generations, including Millennials and Generation Z, ‘question the longevity of the industry as they view natural gas and oil as 'their parents' fuels'.
  • Only 2% of US college graduates consider oil and gas their top job choice, according to Accenture.

The above reports indicate a powerful disincentive for younger generations to pursue a career path to this direction, but information around career prospects in any industry are key for professional orientation.

So, let’s explore 7 indicative career paths in the oil and gas industry!

1.Petroleum engineer

  • A petroleum engineer is involved in almost all stages of oil and gas field assessment, development and production:
    –Petroleum geologists analyze subsurface structures to find hydrocarbons,
    -Reservoir engineers use computer simulations to assist in risk assessment,
    –Production engineers manage the interface between the reservoir and the well through tasks such as perforations, sand control, artificial lift, downhole flow control and downhole monitoring equipment, and 
    -Drilling engineers responsible for developing, costing and supervising the operations necessary for drilling oil and gas wells.
  • The salary of a petroleum engineer is estimated at $96,374 per year in US, according to indeed.com, while they can expect to earn £55,000-£95,000 in UK, according to Prospects.ac.uk.
  • Working hours are the typical 9am to 5pm, but often require some extra hours. For the offshore segment, working hours are typically 12 hours on and 12 hours off continuously for two weeks. Then there is another two or three weeks break onshore.

2. Energy engineer

  • Energy engineer is involved in the production of energy through natural resources, such as the extraction of oil and gas, or from renewable sources of energy, such as biofuels, hydro, wind and solar power.
  • Energy engineers may be based in an office or laboratory on land or on-site.
  • In the field of design, research or development roles, estimated work program is typically the Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. In power plant or drilling operations, you may encounter a 7-day shift pattern.
  • In US, energy engineers can earn about $80,600 per year, while in UK, salary for experienced applicants can range £35,000 to £60,000.

3. Geoscientist

  • A geoscientist (geophysicist, geologist, geochemist, hydrogeologist or sedimentologist) is employed for interpreting geophysical, geochemical and geological data to develop models for discovering commercially viable reserves of natural resources, such as oil, gas, minerals and water.
  • Typical salaries at senior level range from £40,000 to £75,000 per year in UK and from $62,000 to $150,000 in US.
  • Geoscientists can be based in offices or laboratories with typical working hours or at sea with different working hours (i.e. in exploration).

4. Engineering geologist

  • An engineering geologist is to assess natural conditions, such as geological risks and deal with factors that could affect engineering works.
  • In UK, salaries for the experienced staff reach £40,000 to £50,000.
  • Engineering geologists typically do not need to work weekends or shifts.

5. Hydrographic surveyor

  • Hydrographic surveyors usually work onboard survey ships and platforms for measuring and mapping underwater surfaces and studying the morphology of the seabed.
  • Typical starting salaries in UK range from £14,000 to £25,000 plus an allowance of £70 to £110 per day for each day spent offshore. In US, hydrographers earn about $49,397 annually, according to indeed.com.

6. Mining engineer

  • A mining engineer ensures the efficient development of mines and other surface and underground operations. Mining engineers are involved at all stages of a project. Before a new site is developed, they assess its viability, oversee mining production processes and are involved in the final closure and rehabilitation process.
  • UK salaries can start from £21,000-£27,000 and reach £50,000-£75,000 at a senior level. The range is $54,218 – $119,797 annually for the US, according to PayScale.
  • Hours of work are long, mostly overseas.

7. Mudlogger

  • A mudlogger monitors drilling activity, recording information about the well status during the extraction of oil or gas.
  • Mudloggers frequently work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, sometimes for up to four weeks at a time. However, the more likely is to spend two weeks offshore and two weeks at home.
  • Salary for an experienced mudlogger varies from £45,000 to £70,000 in UK and $21,929 – $68,426 in US.

The opportunities are not drained to the end of this article, but extent to every aspect of operations onboard a drilling rig, an offshore platform, a seismic vessel, a fabrication yard, but also in traditional office roles.

The first step for a bigger appreciation of a career in oil and gas may be a bigger familiarization with procedures and opportunities surrounding the sector in a professional level. In a deeper level, the change may lie in a cultural change from the industry and/or a change of perception from the young candidates of the work market.

"Oil and gas companies may need more profound changes to meet demands for meaningful work and social responsibility to attract the next generation of top engineering and leadership talent," – McKinsey.

Source:safety4sea

 

Key advantages and disadvantages of ship autonomy

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As autonomous ships are becoming a much-discussed topic in the industry, Callum O’Brien, Deputy Underwriter working for the Standard P&I Club, discussed key advantages and challenges ahead surrounding the adoption and viability of this technology and how soon the industry will be able to embrace it.

Defining autonomy

The term ‘autonomous ship’ is mainly used to depict a self-sailing crewless vessel, but there are actually various degrees of autonomy. It is first important to distinguish between these levels of autonomy before commenting on when and why these vessels could start to become a reality. Lloyd’s Register has defined seven levels of autonomy (from AL 0 to AL 6 see box on page 3), which we have grouped as follows for simplicity:

  • Manned ship – traditional crewed vessel with a human operator making decisions
  • Remote ship – controlled by a human operator ashore
  • Automated ship – running pre-programmed software and can only operate within the scope of the algorithm
  • Fully autonomous ship – operating system can calculate consequences and risks, and make decisions by itself.

We are likely to see a steady transition from manned (AL 0), through the intermediate stages, to fully autonomous (AL 6) ships happening whilst the technology is tested and algorithms are improved through machine learning.

What types of ship will become autonomous first?

In our opinion the most likely initial applications for an autonomous ship will be in simple inland or coastal liner trades – mainly bulk carrier, passenger or roro ships. A good example would be a roro ferry operating across a Norwegian fjord. The waters are relatively calm and traffic-free, and the route is simple.

When will autonomous ships become a reality?

To use the most publicised example, the Yara Birkeland (an inland electric container ship) is expected start trading remotely in 2020 and fully autonomously by 2022, with the shipbuilding contract just recently signed. So, we are likely to see the technology in action within the next few years. However, the timeframe will vary hugely depending on the type of trade, trading pattern and, crucially, the level of autonomy being referred to.

What are the advantages?

The advantages of autonomous ships are plentiful. They eliminate human error, reduce crewing costs, increase the safety of life, and allow for more efficient use of space in ship design and efficient use of fuel. A threeyear research project by MUNIN (Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks) predicted a saving of over $7m over a 25-year period per autonomous vessel in fuel consumption and crew supplies and salaries.

What are the disadvantages?

Despite the operational savings, there will be a large capital expenditure in initially investing in the technology, especially in the early stages of its development. This is not just for the ship itself, but also the setting-up of onshore operations to monitor fleet movements. There may also be incompatibilities between the current marine infrastructure and an unmanned vessel. Further, the lack of crew will make maintenance of moving parts incredibly difficult on long voyages and breakdowns could result in significant delays.

Conclusion

In our opinion, there is no viable economic benefit for a completely autonomous (AL6) ocean-going ship in the immediate future. Despite a belief in the technology, there will always be value in a human presence on board overseeing operations, the safety of the ship and the safety of the cargo. There will definitely be an application with small inland and coastal craft, but in a 20,000 TEU trans-Atlantic container ship we are only likely to see the lower levels of autonomy to aid the crew in navigation.

Source:safety4sea

Gulftainer Signs $600 Million Concession for Port of Wilmington

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Gulftainer, a privately-owned independent port operator and logistics company based in the UAE, has finalized a 50-year concession with the State of Delaware in the U.S. to operate and develop the Port of Wilmington. 

The agreement, signed by Gulftainer’s subsidiary GT USA, will see an expected investment of up to $600 million in upgrades, turning it into one of the largest facilities of its kind on the eastern seaboard. Developments will include spending $400 million on a new 1.2 million TEU container facility at DuPont’s former Edgemoor site, which was acquired by the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2016.

Plans for the Port also include development of all cargo terminal capabilities at the facility and enhancement of its overall productivity. Gulftainer will also establish a training facility at the development site specifically for the ports and logistics industries that is expected to train and upskill up to 1,000 people per year.

The port deal represents the largest operation ever run by a UAE company in the U.S., as well as the largest investment ever by a private UAE company in the country.

The concession follows a year of negotiations and a thorough evaluation of Gulftainer’s capabilities globally, including in the U.S., where it currently operates the Canaveral Cargo Terminal in Port Canaveral, Florida, and provides services to the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the U.S. space industry. The Delaware concession agreement also involved a formal review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), granting Gulftainer exclusive rights to manage the Port.

The Port of Wilmington opened in 1923 and is a fully serviced deep-water port and marine terminal strategically located on 308 acres at the confluence of the Delaware and Christina Rivers. It is the top North American port for fresh fruit imports into the U.S. and has the largest dockside cold storage facility in the Country.

In recent years total bilateral trade between the UAE and the U.S. has grown from approximately $5 billion in 2004 to over $24 billion in 2017. The U.S. had a $15.7 billion trade surplus with the UAE, its third largest trade surplus globally.

Source:maritime-executive

GPA Announces Big Plans to Expand Savannah Terminal

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On Thursday, at his annual State of the Port address, Georgia Ports Authority director Griff Lynch described a $2.5 billion plan to expand the capacity of the fast-growing Garden City Terminal by nearly 50 percent by 2028. 

The Port of Savannah's main container terminal is already the largest single facility of its kind in the United States, and it is the nation's fastest growing as well: it posted an 8.4 percent increase in TEU handled last year.

Under the expansion plan, the terminal's rated capacity would expand from 5.5 million TEU per annum to 8 million TEU within ten years' time. “We’re preparing to redefine the Port of Savannah as not simply the load center for the Southeastern U.S., but as the port of choice for major inland markets east of the Mississippi River,” Lynch said. 

The port is already working towards this goal with projects like the Mason Mega Rail terminal, which will double the terminal's rail capacity by 2020. Earlier this week, GPA's board approved a $92 million package of improvements as part of the rail terminal project, including 124,000 feet of new track, rail control devices, and the infrastructure needed to support new RTGs. 

the procurement of new STS and RTG cranes. The port is also in the midst of a harbor deepening project, which is now about half finished and will wrap up in 2021. As neopanamax boxships have become commonplace in the USEC-Asia trades, Georgia's state officials have worked hard to secure federally-authorized dredging to accommodate deeper draft hulls. In future years, the prospect of even bigger ULCVs could also force a re-evaluation of the 185-foot air draft limit imposed by the Savannah River's Talmadge Bridge. 

Attracting business

At the event, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said that the port's connections to overseas markets and inland hinterlands are a major attraction for businesses relocating to the state. Last year, developers built out six million square feet of industrial space in the Savannah market, and ten million more are currently under construction, with vacancy at a rock-bottom low of 0.5 percent. 

 “Industries are drawn to Georgia by its growing population, economic energy and its superior connectivity to important centers of production and commerce,” Gov. Deal said. “Companies that ship through Georgia’s ports benefit from superior road and rail infrastructure, and more global container services than any other port on the U.S. East Coast.” 

Source:maritime-executive

Saudi Arabia May Invest Billions in Pakistani Port of Gwadar

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Pakistani officials confirmed Thursday that Saudi Arabia will make heavy investments in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a central pillar of China's international Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of infrastructure projects.  

“Saudi Arabia is the first country that we have invited to become a third partner in CPEC," said Pakistani minister of information Fawad Chaudhry at a press conference in Islamabad. "Saudi Arabia is expected to bring massive direct investments to the project."

Pakistani media pegged the value of the Saudi assistance package at $8 billion, and suggested that the scope of work would include a major petroleum complex at the port of Gwadar. A high-level diplomatic delegation from Riyadh will visit Pakistan in early October to discuss details.

CPEC is a sweeping portfolio of road, rail, electrical and port investments totaling to more than $60 billion. For China, it offers a way to connect the isolated (and restive) western province of Xinjiang to the sea, without hauling goods all the way to and from eastern China. It could also offer another way for Western China to source Middle Eastern oil: offload it from tankers at Gwadar, then ship it across Pakistan by pipeline, cutting weeks off of the circuitous route used today. Pakistan's Frontier Works Organization puts the cost of laying a pipeline from Gwadar to the Chinese border at about $10 billion. 

The Chinese government and Chinese companies have so far committed $19 billion to CPEC's development, including major investments in the Chinese-operated port of Gwadar. India, Pakistan's regional rival, is concerned that China could use the seaport as a base to support the People's Liberation Army (Navy) – a scenario confirmed by Chinese defense analysts. “China needs to set up another base in Gwadar for its warships because Gwadar is now a civilian port," analyst Zhou Chenming told the South China Morning Post early this year. 

Source:maritime-executive

UN Program Organizes Crackdown on Containerized Smuggling

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According to the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, a recent international operation to crack down on containerized drug shipments netted 5,800 kilos of cocaine in 14 separate seizures around the globe. 

44 countries and 52 seaports participated in the two-week enforcement operation, "Sports Bag-2," which was held under the UNODC-World Customs Organization (WCO) Container Control Programme (CCP). In particular, the sting targeted "rip on and rip off" trafficking – the contamination of legitimate containerized shipments with drugs, often packed in sports bags. 

The partners in the operation also worked together to identify new smuggling trends, improve risk profiling, develop inspection techniques and promote cooperation with industry. "This international operational exercise illustrated the cooperation, determination, solidarity and connectivity between the Port Control Units, Europe and the Northern American countries in fighting international drug trafficking," said Ketil Ottersen, Senior Programme Coordinator at UNODC.

Last year's Operation "Sports Bag" netted about 7,100 kilos of cocaine in 19 seizures. UNODC says that with more than 90 per cent of the world's cargo transported by sea, CCP and similar programs are essential to ensuring the security and integrity of the international supply chain. The agency operates in 50 counties, and over the years its work has contributed to the seizure of 240 tons of cocaine, 6 tons of heroin, 1600 tons of drug precursors, 70 tons of cannabis products and 750 containers of counterfeit goods, among other outcomes. 

Source:maritime-executive

Port of Long Beach awarded $4.2 to improve security

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The Port of Long Beach has been awarded $4,197,480 from the Port Security Grant Program administered by US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, to improve its security system maintenance.

The funds will be used for security system maintenance, along with expanding and enhancing physical and cyber security capabilities.

The Long Beach Police Department was awarded a separate $1,118,250 grant, while the Long Beach Fire Department received $315,000 through the Port Security Grant Program.

More than 30 ports in the US received grants totaling $100 million. The funds are awarded every year on a competitive basis to protect commerce and strengthen security for maritime infrastructure and transportation.

Tracy Egoscue, President of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, stated:"Maintaining security here is of vital importance to our local economy and the nation’s economy, and the Harbor Commission is appreciative of the federal funding for this effort."

For his part, Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, appreciated the funding, as it will enable the Port to service and replace critical systems .

Source:safety4sea

Austal Awarded Two More Independence-variant LCS

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The U.S. Navy awarded a contract modification to shipbuilder Austal USA to build two additional Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships, LCS 32 and 34, its 16th and 17th vessels in the class. The specific value of each contract is under the congressional cost cap of $584 million per ship.

“To be awarded these contracts in such a highly competitive environment is a great honor,” said Austal USA president, Craig Perciavalle. “This is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our talented employees and dedicated supplier network, and further evidence of the important role Austal plays in building the Navy’s 355-ship fleet.”

The Alabama shipyard has handed over three LCS to the Navy this year, noting that it continues to reduce cost and deliver on schedule.

The littoral combat ship has been identified as a key component to the Navy’s ability to gain sea control through distributed lethality. This, along with the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program, positions the company well to rapidly and efficiently support the Navy’s desired fleet of 355 ships with affordable solutions.

With eight LCS and nine EPFs already delivered, Austal most recently handed over the future USS Charleston (LCS 18) to the Navy last month and is scheduled to deliver USNS Burlington (EPF 10) before the end of the year.

“This amazing team effort highlights the value and importance of the American industrial base, and these awards will keep Austal busy building ships into 2023,” said Perciavalle. Construction of LCS 32 is scheduled to begin in 2019.

Source:marinelink

Aker Bets on Software Engineers for Its Oil Business

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When the owners of Norwegian oil firm Aker BP decided to digitise its assets and operations, they searched high and low for the right software company. But they failed to find a suitable one.

So instead they set up their own, Cognite, to create digital maps of Aker BP's oil industry assets, integrating data from equipment such as pumps, heat and pressure sensors, maintenance records and even staff rotas to improve efficiency and safety.

Less than two years later, Cognite is selling its software to Aker BP's rivals and one competitor, Sweden's Lundin Petroleum, has even agreed to share its real-time oilfield data with Aker in what they say is an industry first.

"This will be the first time two different operators, or oil companies, will share operations/production data live from two producing fields, that is between Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen," a Lundin Norway representative told Reuters.

By combining all the data that typically sits in different digital silos – such as matching flow sensors with the piece of machinery they actually sit on – Cognite says its software can help reduce maintenance costs, extend the lifespan of equipment and avoid damaging breakdowns.

Digitizing industrial assets can also mean fewer people need to be offshore, less downtime for oil platforms, more targeted maintenance and better analysis of information such as geological data and valve pressures.

For Lundin Petroleum, sharing information from its Edvard Grieg field on the Norwegian continental shelf with Aker BP's adjacent Ivar Aasen field makes sense because getting more real-time production data from a rival in a similar geological area could help it improve its own oil output.

"Aker BP's view is that, unlike seismic data interpretation for oil exploration, operational data is not a strategic know-how to be protected," said its chief Karl Johnny Hersvik.

For Aker ASA, the biggest shareholder in Aker BP and Cognite, the Lundin Petroleum deal is part of its plan to create software for an industry that can be improved and refined the more it gets used by different clients – rather than just focusing on an in-house model for Aker BP.

"The value that Cognite's technology brings to the Aker companies will increase with the number of customers Cognite serves," Aker Chief Executive Oeyvind Eriksen told Reuters.

Aker ASA, which together with Aker BP owns more than 75 percent of Cognite, is even considering floating the company on the stock exchange within two years.

Controlled by Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke, Aker also has interests in oil, engineering and construction services as well as fishing.

'That's Ridiculous'
John Markus Lervik, a software engineer who founded Cognite, said it has grown from just 2 people to about 110 in 18 months, has clients in oil and shipping and is only planning 12-months ahead for now because "things are happening so quickly".

It might seem counterintuitive to share technological expertise with rivals, but by learning from usage across companies and industries, software can be improved – even if no oilfield specific data is exchanged. Improvements can then be rolled out to clients, including Aker BP.

"To provide the algorithm and the software to be able to map or connect sensors to the right equipment, that's a big challenge all oil companies and also other companies have," Lervik said.

"The more companies we work with to create advanced algorithms to do this mapping, the more advanced, the more automatic, that mapping will be."

While Cognite is not alone in developing systems that can link masses of data historically kept in different systems, Alfonso Velosa at tech advisory firm Gartner https://www.gartner.com/en reckons when it comes to oil and gas, Aker is out in front for now.

"Those systems tended to be stuck in proprietary legacy systems and this is now an approach that is trying to marry (them) together," he said.

"This is a trend that's coming down and they're just ahead of the trend at the moment in the oil sector."

Other companies looking to bring thousands of data points together in the oil sector include Eigen http://www.eigen.co, a software firm in the United Kingdom founded by oil and gas engineers.

Chief strategy officer Gareth Davies said a new generation of people entering the oil and gas industry is partly behind the drive to come up with better digital systems.

"The guys who come in now who are in their 20s expect to have the information," said Davies.

"It's like, well you have to go to that system, you have to ask him to log in there and he'll export it here, and they look at you like: What are you talking about? That's ridiculous."

In one of its recent projects, Eigen digitally linked up 10,600 sensors on Italian oil company ENI's Goliat floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, the world's most northerly oilfield in production.

The system brings together gas and pressure detection to prevent accidents and fire detectors, sprinklers and extinguisher systems, evacuation plans, life boats and other data into one stream of integrated information.

"Up until now this would have been done through a monthly report," Davies said. "You don't want to know it every month, you want to know now."

Source:marinelink

EA2 and EA1 North open extra door

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ScottishPower Renewables is adding an extra consultation phase for the 900MW East Anglia 2 and 800MW East Anglia 1 North offshore wind farms off the east coast of England.

The additional consultation stage – called Phase 3.5 – will cover a potential new location for the onshore substations on land that is part of the Sizewell nuclear development, owned by EDF Energy.

SPR said the land, known as Broom Covert, is also planned to be used as a site to translocate protected wildlife in preparation for the Sizewell C development.

Broom Covert, which is situated within Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, would be an alternative location for the substations to the Grove Wood site north of Friston.

SPR added that the new proposal follows dialogue with EDF Energy, local communities, Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council.

Consultation will start on 29 September and run until 29 October.

SPR development director David Walker said: “Our initial feedback from local authorities and from EDF Energy advised that the Sizewell Estate was not available for our project to utilise, due to its location within the AONB and future developments already planned to support Sizewell C.”

However, recent requests from local authorities have indicated that SPR should explore this land further, and we have continued our positive engagement with EDF Energy to see if the land could be made available.

“We are committed to exploring all options fully, and this additional stage of consultation will focus specifically on the Broom Covert site.”

“We would like as many people as possible to provide their feedback on this additional stage of consultation. Residents will be able to come along to public council meetings we are attending, or view the plans on our website or at libraries and public buildings across Suffolk.”

SPR will hold four public meetings during the consultation. The first will be at the Sizewell Sports and Social Club in Leiston from 7.30pm on 9 October, followed by the second a day later at the same time at Friston village hall.

The third meeting will take place on 12 October from 6.30pm at Knodishall village hall, with the last event at Thorpeness Country Club on 15 October, also from 6.30pm.

Source:renews

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