Q&A: Colin Black: A Passion for Energy Education

Abstract

Q&A Editor’s note: Energy education remains one of the primary responsibilities of the oil and gas industry. SPE’s main educational resource, Energy4me, serves a vital role in preparing students for jobs in the industry as well as in training teachers and conducting workshops at conferences throughout the world. SPE members volunteer countless hours to ensure that programs such as Energy4me are successful. In this interview, Colin Black, managing director of Carjon-NRG Ltd., speaks about his commitment to energy education and the industry’s role in preparing the next generation of engineers. How did you get involved in energy education? In 1993, I joined SPE and got involved with the Aberdeen Section Program Committee. I am also a member of the Energy Institute and, in 1998, I was asked to help out at my old school with SPE energy information career evenings promoting the oil and gas industry. This grew to promoting an offshore apprentice program in several schools and supporting Education Day at Offshore Europe since 1999. This then evolved to becoming involved in the industry/education partnership Careers in the Oil, Gas, and Energy Sectors, which I co-chaired. In 2009, we created the SPE Aberdeen Schools Career Guidance Committee, which I also chaired and still actively support. How did you get involved working in the oil and gas industry? From about 12 years old I started helping my father refurbishing engines and gearboxes and, at 16, served a 4-year mechanical engineering apprenticeship. My journeyman was the go-to guy for any problems and he mentored me. In 1982, the problem-solving skills I developed were in demand in the North Sea oil and gas industry and I was approached to apply for a job in a sector I knew nothing about. I spent several years in offshore drilling, logging, and well testing including time on the Piper Alpha production platform. In 1990, I came onshore and managed PetroQuip operations for a highly innovative completions technology company, Petroleum Engineering Services. The company grew between 35% and 40% a year for 10 years and, as operations manager, I attended Robert Gordon University to learn about strategy creation and implementation. PES was sold to Halliburton in 2000 and having gained an SVQ level 5, Post Grad Diploma, MSc in management, and wealth of business experience, I left to use this knowledge to grow other small innovative companies. From there I coinvented several patents and helped developed numerous businesses internationally.