People Are the Thread That Hold This Industry Together

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It is an honor to reflect on the changes I have observed in the business since I joined it (and SPE in Dallas while backpacking around the US) in 1973. So much in the oil and gas industry has changed since the summer of 1973, and then again, in some areas, it has not. For me, one constant in the business has been the people. However, the composition of the global workforce and the way people actually work has changed dramatically. Consequently, if you will bear with me, I will share with you my perspective on people in the business. I entered the industry at the time of the hegemony of the "Seven Sister" international oil companies (Shell, BP, Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Socal, and Gulf) staffed primarily by petrotechnical staff from Europe and North America. Today, only four of the original sisters remain as independent companies, and, according to an article in the Financial Times earlier this year, the "new seven sisters" are Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, China National Petroleum Corporation, the National Iranian Oil Company, Petroleos de Venezuela, Petrobras, and Petronas, staffed to large measure with national Earth scientists and engineers educated in local (national) universities. I am struck by the progress made by a number of countries in growing successful and powerful national oil companies (NOCs). A case in point is in Malaysia with Petronas. This year is the 33rd anniversary of the founding of the company, exactly the length of time I spent working for Shell. I had many dealings with Petronas in the early 1980s while working for Shell in east Malaysia. At the time, its prime (but not only) responsibility was to oversee the work of the production-sharing contractors such as Shell. The company had modest staff numbers and modest premises but not so modest ambitions! Today Petronas is a truly integrated oil and gas company with a global reach, a workforce in excess of 30,000, present in more than 30 countries, and based in a building of "world wonder" proportions—the twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, one of the world's tallest buildings. Many of us who have worked in the business over the past 30-odd years can take a genuine measure of satisfaction in our contributions to the development of the national staff who built these companies. Whether as members of operating or service companies, we have helped train and coach national staff and as such have contributed to in-country expertise. In the case of Malaysia, Oman, and Brunei, I can name individuals in senior positions whom I have personally encouraged and coached, and whom I now count as valued friends or acquaintances.