Canada: The New 'Land of Job Opportunity'

Canada is being proactive in its recruiting efforts by searching the globe to fill much-needed positions in the oil and gas industry. The rapid expansion of oil sands production has made oil critical to the Canadian economy and with more than $100 billion invested in oil sands over the past 10 years, economic and political power has shifted westward to Alberta. It is estimated that production is connected to 75,000 jobs nationwide, and this number is expected to increase over the next 25 years.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates that Canada's current production of 3.2 million barrels of oil a day will reach 6.2 million barrels a day by 2030, with oil sands representing majority of this output. Additionally, it is estimated that $283.4 billion will be spent developing new oil sands projects by 2035, noted the Conference Board of Canada. With an increase in production, the demand for skilled employees will surge.

Essentially, conventional oil and gas producers need additional workforce to produce a barrel of oil or a cubic foot of gas today compared to 10 years ago. Canada's oil and gas industry will need to fill a minimum of 9,500 jobs by 2015, according to a report released by the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada.

Between now and 2015, the country's oil and gas industry is at risk of losing about 3 percent of its overall workforce because of obstinately low natural gas prices, according to the report "Canada's Oil and Gas Labour Market Outlook 2015". Two primary factors, growth in certain operations and age-related attrition across the industry, will offset most job losses and contribute to increased overall hiring needs, the report stated.

"It is a national problem," said Francis McGuire, chief executive officer of Moncton, N.B.-based Major Drilling Group International Inc., to the Globe and Mail. "It is very difficult to attract people. Salaries are very good … but they don't want to be out with the black flies and the snow and the cold and sleeping in camp and being away from home for 21 days at a time."

By 2015, employment in the oil-sands sector is projected to increase by 29 percent over 2011 levels, or about 5,850 jobs. The pipeline sector is estimated to add 530 jobs over the same period. Both sectors will need to amp recruiting efforts for turnover and replacing retiring workers. Looking forward, Canadian oil and gas employment is expected to rise to 145,000 jobs by 2035.

"This is a complex labor story," said Cheryl Knight, executive director and CEO of the Petroleum HR Council, in a released statement. "At a granular level, we're seeing high demand for, and reduced supply of, skilled workers in specific occupations, many of which are unique to the oil and gas industry. And employee turnover is the wild card that could have recruiters working to fill hundreds of additional job openings over the next four years."

In March 2012, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney outlined his vision for a faster, more responsive immigration system that is designed to better meet the country's economic needs.

"Immigration is playing an increasingly important role in our economy and we need a system that does a better job of attracting the people who have the skills that are in demand and getting them here quickly," said Minister Kenney in a released statement. "We have made some great strides towards an immigration system that is fast and flexible, but know that there is more work to do."

In his speech, he highlighted recent changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, where current applicants must have experience in one of 29 occupations in demand, or have a job offer in Canada.

One of the largest supply-chain effects associated with oil-sands investment is in the oilfield services industry. For every billion dollars of inflation-adjusted investment, 745 jobs are supported, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Total employment in the oil and gas sector has risen from 57,000 in 2001 to 96,000 in 2011.

Oil and gas well servicers, which include derrick operators, rotary drill operators, service unit operators, drillers and testers, are the high-demand occupations in Calgary, based on the "Calgary Labour Demand Forecast 2012" report. In 2010, there were an estimated 2,200 oil and gas well servicers in the Calgary labor force, but between that year and 2020, demand for these workers will increase by 40 percent, resulting in the demand for about 3,100 workers in 2020.

Also, according to current recruitment trends, employers will likely face difficulties recruiting qualified workers for both newly-created jobs and existing positions that become vacant.

"Technical personnel are the No. 1 positions I have noticed that are in demand," stated Neil Williams, general manager of Professionalcare Staffing Inc. in Calgary, to Rigzone. "The jobs have to be filled – there's no question about it. We are importing as many people as allowed. We are training and educating and filling vacant positions but the need is so great."

A portion, or if needed, a majority of the vacant positions in Calgary may need to be recruited through labor markets outside of Calgary, including international labor markets, noted the report. The Calgary Economic Development (CED) has identified the best cities and regions for recruiting workers in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The top-recommended cities for recruiting these workers include:

Houston, TexasDallas-Fort Worth, TexasCorpus Christi, TexasLongview-Marshall, TexasOdessa, TexasOklahoma City, Okla.Tulsa, Okla.Bakersfield, Calif.Lafayette, La.Shreveport, La.

Nine of the top 10 recommended U.S. cities for recruitment are located in the states of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Houston offers the largest total labor force with roughly 9,300 workers, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth with 3,000 workers. Furthermore, Longview-Marshall and Odessa, Texas, as well as Oklahoma City offer a younger oil and gas labor force with high out-migration probability index scores, the report noted.

"We can't just recruit from America, we have to look elsewhere considering the shale boom that is currently going on down south," stated Williams. "Americans are busy. We have to look beyond North America but where development is booming – Angola, Brazil and Australia – these candidates are too busy with development, as well. So where do we look? That's the million- dollar question."

In addition, oil and gas well servicers in the top-recommended cities could potentially earn higher incomes by relocating to Calgary. The U.S. average salary for oil and gas well servicers was about $48,000 in 2010, while in Calgary the base pay for these workers averaged at $61,000 per year.

"With the oil sands coming on-stream more and more with every passing year, the draw of people from every sector into oil and gas is going to become stronger and stronger, making it more and more difficult for employers in other parts of the economy to find qualified people," said Richard Truscott, director of provincial affairs in Alberta for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, to the Globe and Mail.

With so many vacant positions in Calgary, more and more Americans are relocating to Canada and dubbing it the "land of opportunity" according to a 2011 report by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In 2010, Canada welcomed the highest number of legal immigrants in 50 years – about 280,636 permanent residents.

And there are programs in the United States that are targeting Americans to relocate to Canada. Grice Energy, recruiting specialists providing workers for the energy industry, launched a Boots to Energy project, to place veterans into the oil and gas industry. Although the program hasn't placed anyone in Canada, yet, "we are working both with the American State Department and the Canadian Consul General's office to try to lower the barriers of entry that now exist," stated Rick Grice, president of Grice Energy, to Rigzone. The American Chamber of Commerce in Calgary is also involved in this effort.

"Our mission is to connect our returning heroes with energy companies who need and respect them," he added. "If the barriers to immigration are relaxed in order to bring in the labor force needed, the effect must naturally be positive."

A condensed version of this article originally appeared March 27, 2013 on Rigzone.

With more than 10 years of journalism experience, Robin Dupre specializes in the offshore sector of the oil and gas industry. Email Robin at rdupre@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Quickflange Increases GOM Footprint with INTEGRA Partnership

Quickflange AS, one of the industry's leading providers of high performance pipe connection systems, has appointed Texas-based INTEGRA Services Technologies as a local North American partner for nominated customers. The move comes as Quickflange continues to increase deployment of its leading Quickflange pipe connection solution onshore and in the Gulf of Mexico. The announcement was made at the Offshore Technology conference currently taking place in Houston.

The partnership between Quickflange and INTEGRA will provide a local support and manufacturing base to selected onshore and Gulf of Mexico-based operators with the storing, maintaining and deployment of the full range of topside Quickflange pipe connection solutions in addition to the provision of local support through qualified technicians.

"We are delighted to be partnering with INTEGRA as we continue to increase our Gulf of Mexico footprint," said Quickflange CEO, Rune Haddeland. "With safe, cost effective, flexible and quick pipe connection solutions so vital to Gulf of Mexico operators today, we are confident that our partnership with INTEGRA will provide real value and we look forward to continuing to build up our North American partner network over the coming months."

Quickflange is one of the industry's leading providers of total pipeline and piping solutions to the oil & gas sector and has deployed its topside piping solutions in over 2,900 activations worldwide in regions, such as the UK, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Brazil, the Middle East and Australia. Quickflange counts BP, BG Group, ConocoPhillips and Exxon among its customers.

The Quickflange pipe connection solution provides a fast, convenient, safe and highly cost effective piping solution equivalent in strength to a welded or mechanical connection. As it takes place within a 'cold-solutions' environment, the Quickflange solution doesn't require heat sources in the same way that welding does.

Benefits of the Quickflange include:

Ease of Execution & Reduced Costs. Traditional welding requires significant resources and comes with costs, permits, access issues and potential production shut-down through the welding habitats. The simplicity and speedy installation of the Quickflange solution, however, with a single Quickflange technician overseeing deployment, ensures piping connections equivalent in integrity to welding but at a fraction of the costs and disruption. Furthermore, with a reduction in personnel requirements, no system hydro tests and delivery within hours, the cost savings compared to welding are substantial.Increased Safety. The Quickflange dispenses completely with the gases, ignition sources, flames and hot work associated with traditional welding, while providing every bit as robust a connection. The Quickflange also removes the need to use radioactive isotopes offshore to X-ray the in-field pipe joints.Increased Flexibility. The Quickflange can be deployed in contained areas with no impact on production, covers a wide variety of piping diameters, and is compatible with all materials, such as carbon steel, stainless steel 316, 6Mo and Monel, duplex, super duplex and copper nickel (CuNi ). The Quickflange can also be combined with already popular cold-work systems, such as pipe cutting and spark-free grinding.

The Quickflange stand at OTC can be found at #5055.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

BP: Addressing the Skills Gap

As upstream oil and gas professionals near retirement, many companies in the sector are facing a major shortfall when it comes to the skilled and experienced people they need as the oil and gas industry continues to expand around the world.

The “Great Crew Change” has focused plenty of minds within the upper echelons of the oil and gas industry.

BP plc is one company that has recognized the need to take a proactive approach to training in order to obviate the skills gap challenges that it might face.

In a recent interview with Rigzone, BP Head of Learning and Development Don Shoultz highlighted that for a long time, BP has had a Challenger Program in place that is designed to equip its employees for their first three years with the company.

"We like it and we think it has good branding for recruiting as well. So we are pretty satisfied with that," he said.

Yet, in recent years, BP realized how quickly an oil and gas professional with a few years of experience gets to the same level of competence as a typical 25-year employee is often an arbitrary process. So, the company decided to take steps to help expedite and better manage this development.

"Over the last four years, we've started a program we call the Excellence Program, which starts right after the Challenger Program. So you literally graduate from Challenger and automatically move right into the Excellence Program," Shoultz said.

When coming up with the Excellence Program there was no "secret sauce or magic, silver bullet", according to Shoultz.

"So, as we thought about this the answer we came up with was rigor," he said, explaining that BP looked at the entire gamut of how people learn and get experienced – from formal learning to informal learning, via networks, technical coaching and mentoring.

"When you graduate from the Challenger Program and you move into the Excellence Program you're placed on a job that is intended to continue the development of our staff," Shoultz said.

"And then while you are in that job, which can be from two to three years, you are getting a prescribed program of formal learning that matches the job experience that you are in. And then the informal learning, we really try to formalize so that the technical coach that you need during those … years is prescribed. The networks that you belong to – if you're a water-flooding expert or if you're a reservoir engineer, whatever you are – those networks become more prescribed instead of arbitrary.

"So now, as an employee it's prescribed. What job you have, what formal learning you get at that point, the informal learning is plugged in as well. It's all lined up … It's very intentional. Each employee in every job category has a road map. They can go to a website, they can look at their roadmap if they are a petroleum engineer or petrophysicist … and see their roadmap and know exactly what they need to take, what their next job experience will be, [and] where it will be. All that kind of stuff is laid out. It's far more intentional.

"So really, we think that adding a lot of discipline and alignment will accelerate how an employee develops."

Indeed, BP's approach to training and development, and keeping its staff interested in the work the firm does, appears to be working, according to Shoultz's colleague, BP's Vice President for Upstream Resourcing Julia Harvie-Liddel.

"Certainly, what we are not seeing in BP is a great loss of talent. We are retaining a lot of our more seasoned and experienced staff, and what [we're] doing is we're supplementing this with much greater graduate hiring than we did in the past," Harvie-Liddel said.

"If you look back at what we did when the oil price took a dip during the 1990s and early 2000s, I think we did create a bit of a skills gap then because [the industry] hired less. But … we've worked quite hard since then to significantly increase the number of graduates that we take into the business to supplement the talent and also we're retaining more senior talent."

A satisfying and interesting career is required to help retain talent, added Harvie-Liddel.

"If you look at the portfolio of work we've got and the fact that we're using leading technologies I think people find that very exciting and they'll work beyond their first retirement eligibility point with some degree of ease."

And technology appears to be a way to sell the oil and gas industry to young people who might be considering a career in the sector.

"I hear most of our leadership defines the energy sector as a technology industry. It is energizing how much we depend on technology, and so the opportunity for us is in recruiting is to go out and make future employees aware [of] how exciting this industry is," Shoultz said.

"When you look at the bottom of the seabed in the Gulf of Mexico or Angola it looks like something out of a science fiction movie. It's unbelievable. And we'll drill a well somewhere and we'll tie it back to a rig 25 miles away, under a mile of water. And so, I think the challenge for us … is to get that message out."

Technology, of course, also plays its part in the learning and development process. According to Shoultz, BP now uses a variety of distance-learning technologies when training its staff.

"So, for example, right now I'm sitting in a learning center in Houston … What our leadership tells me is that it's not about bricks and mortar; it's about technology and getting learning out to all the regions," he said.

Of course, BP does not simply operate on its own when it comes to developing talent in the oil and gas sector, and equipping the industry's workers with the skills they need.

"BP is involved in a lot of joint ventures. BP in so many areas is required to get things done through national oil companies, so we have very, very close relationships with national oil companies and the countries themselves … We have to demonstrate to them that we are very good at not only equipping our own people but that we are very good at equipping your people as well, your country's people," Shoultz said.

The company also has a close relationship with a number of other international oil companies and service providers to the industry. Shoultz is particularly proud of BP's increasingly close relationship with Schlumberger Ltd.

"My team has entered into a partnership with Schlumberger in the area of training," he said.

"So my counterpart [at Schlumberger] and I see each other probably a couple of times a year … And so we have a very good understanding on how they do their learning and they have a very good understanding of how we do our learning, and we're actually moving into situations where we start to share."

Internal training and development explains some of BP's success when it comes to addressing the skills gap, but the firm's recruitment function "will always have a role to play", according to Harvie-Liddel. BP's sheer size, and related economies of scale, helps when roles need to be filled quickly!

"What we tend to do with all vacancies is we always look internally. So, we look at our own talent pools before anything will go to the external market," she said.

Of course, getting the raw material in terms of recent graduates into the industry is also highly important.

"I think as an industry it is incumbent upon us to persuade people that we can offer a compelling career and that's something that we all need to continue to work at because there was sporadic hiring during the 1990s and early 2000s. And I think that certainly, among my networks in the industry, we've all learned from that and we understand that that's not something we can do again."

A condensed version of this article originally appeared April 11, 2013 on Rigzone.

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Statoil: Proposed Tax Change Threat to Projects

Statoil has warned that a proposed change to tax breaks for investors on the Norwegian Continental Shelf threatens the attractiveness of future projects.

Norway is proposing to reduce the uplift in its petroleum tax system from 7.5 percent to 5.5 percent, which according to a Statoil statement Monday would reduce tax deductions on NCS projects by $38 million for every $1 billion invested.

Statoil said that a predictable and stable fiscal framework is important to secure the attractiveness of continued investment in the NCS.

"The proposed change in the Norwegian petroleum tax reduces the attractiveness of future projects, particularly marginal fields, and raises questions regarding the predictability and stability of the fiscal framework for long-term investments on the Norwegian continental shelf," Statoil CFO Torgrim Reitan said in a statement.

The proposed change is to be included in Norway's Revised National Budget 2013, which will be announced Tuesday.

The reduction in the uplift was designed to bring offshore investment in line with onshore investment in the country, an aide to Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Ola Borten Moe, currently attending the Offshore Technology Conference show in Houston, told Rigzone Monday.

The Norwegian government has also proposed a transition rule for projects where the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received a plan for development and operation (PDO), or a plan for installation and operation (PIO), prior to May 5. For investments covered by this transition rule, the current uplift of 7.5 percent will still apply.

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Canada: The New 'Land of Job Opportunity'

Canada is being proactive in its recruiting efforts by searching the globe to fill much-needed positions in the oil and gas industry. The rapid expansion of oil sands production has made oil critical to the Canadian economy and with more than $100 billion invested in oil sands over the past 10 years, economic and political power has shifted westward to Alberta. It is estimated that production is connected to 75,000 jobs nationwide, and this number is expected to increase over the next 25 years.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates that Canada's current production of 3.2 million barrels of oil a day will reach 6.2 million barrels a day by 2030, with oil sands representing majority of this output. Additionally, it is estimated that $283.4 billion will be spent developing new oil sands projects by 2035, noted the Conference Board of Canada. With an increase in production, the demand for skilled employees will surge.

Essentially, conventional oil and gas producers need additional workforce to produce a barrel of oil or a cubic foot of gas today compared to 10 years ago. Canada's oil and gas industry will need to fill a minimum of 9,500 jobs by 2015, according to a report released by the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada.

Between now and 2015, the country's oil and gas industry is at risk of losing about 3 percent of its overall workforce because of obstinately low natural gas prices, according to the report "Canada's Oil and Gas Labour Market Outlook 2015". Two primary factors, growth in certain operations and age-related attrition across the industry, will offset most job losses and contribute to increased overall hiring needs, the report stated.

"It is a national problem," said Francis McGuire, chief executive officer of Moncton, N.B.-based Major Drilling Group International Inc., to the Globe and Mail. "It is very difficult to attract people. Salaries are very good … but they don't want to be out with the black flies and the snow and the cold and sleeping in camp and being away from home for 21 days at a time."

By 2015, employment in the oil-sands sector is projected to increase by 29 percent over 2011 levels, or about 5,850 jobs. The pipeline sector is estimated to add 530 jobs over the same period. Both sectors will need to amp recruiting efforts for turnover and replacing retiring workers. Looking forward, Canadian oil and gas employment is expected to rise to 145,000 jobs by 2035.

"This is a complex labor story," said Cheryl Knight, executive director and CEO of the Petroleum HR Council, in a released statement. "At a granular level, we're seeing high demand for, and reduced supply of, skilled workers in specific occupations, many of which are unique to the oil and gas industry. And employee turnover is the wild card that could have recruiters working to fill hundreds of additional job openings over the next four years."

In March 2012, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney outlined his vision for a faster, more responsive immigration system that is designed to better meet the country's economic needs.

"Immigration is playing an increasingly important role in our economy and we need a system that does a better job of attracting the people who have the skills that are in demand and getting them here quickly," said Minister Kenney in a released statement. "We have made some great strides towards an immigration system that is fast and flexible, but know that there is more work to do."

In his speech, he highlighted recent changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, where current applicants must have experience in one of 29 occupations in demand, or have a job offer in Canada.

One of the largest supply-chain effects associated with oil-sands investment is in the oilfield services industry. For every billion dollars of inflation-adjusted investment, 745 jobs are supported, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Total employment in the oil and gas sector has risen from 57,000 in 2001 to 96,000 in 2011.

Oil and gas well servicers, which include derrick operators, rotary drill operators, service unit operators, drillers and testers, are the high-demand occupations in Calgary, based on the "Calgary Labour Demand Forecast 2012" report. In 2010, there were an estimated 2,200 oil and gas well servicers in the Calgary labor force, but between that year and 2020, demand for these workers will increase by 40 percent, resulting in the demand for about 3,100 workers in 2020.

Also, according to current recruitment trends, employers will likely face difficulties recruiting qualified workers for both newly-created jobs and existing positions that become vacant.

"Technical personnel are the No. 1 positions I have noticed that are in demand," stated Neil Williams, general manager of Professionalcare Staffing Inc. in Calgary, to Rigzone. "The jobs have to be filled – there's no question about it. We are importing as many people as allowed. We are training and educating and filling vacant positions but the need is so great."

A portion, or if needed, a majority of the vacant positions in Calgary may need to be recruited through labor markets outside of Calgary, including international labor markets, noted the report. The Calgary Economic Development (CED) has identified the best cities and regions for recruiting workers in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The top-recommended cities for recruiting these workers include:

Houston, TexasDallas-Fort Worth, TexasCorpus Christi, TexasLongview-Marshall, TexasOdessa, TexasOklahoma City, Okla.Tulsa, Okla.Bakersfield, Calif.Lafayette, La.Shreveport, La.

Nine of the top 10 recommended U.S. cities for recruitment are located in the states of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Houston offers the largest total labor force with roughly 9,300 workers, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth with 3,000 workers. Furthermore, Longview-Marshall and Odessa, Texas, as well as Oklahoma City offer a younger oil and gas labor force with high out-migration probability index scores, the report noted.

"We can't just recruit from America, we have to look elsewhere considering the shale boom that is currently going on down south," stated Williams. "Americans are busy. We have to look beyond North America but where development is booming – Angola, Brazil and Australia – these candidates are too busy with development, as well. So where do we look? That's the million- dollar question."

In addition, oil and gas well servicers in the top-recommended cities could potentially earn higher incomes by relocating to Calgary. The U.S. average salary for oil and gas well servicers was about $48,000 in 2010, while in Calgary the base pay for these workers averaged at $61,000 per year.

"With the oil sands coming on-stream more and more with every passing year, the draw of people from every sector into oil and gas is going to become stronger and stronger, making it more and more difficult for employers in other parts of the economy to find qualified people," said Richard Truscott, director of provincial affairs in Alberta for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, to the Globe and Mail.

With so many vacant positions in Calgary, more and more Americans are relocating to Canada and dubbing it the "land of opportunity" according to a 2011 report by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In 2010, Canada welcomed the highest number of legal immigrants in 50 years – about 280,636 permanent residents.

And there are programs in the United States that are targeting Americans to relocate to Canada. Grice Energy, recruiting specialists providing workers for the energy industry, launched a Boots to Energy project, to place veterans into the oil and gas industry. Although the program hasn't placed anyone in Canada, yet, "we are working both with the American State Department and the Canadian Consul General's office to try to lower the barriers of entry that now exist," stated Rick Grice, president of Grice Energy, to Rigzone. The American Chamber of Commerce in Calgary is also involved in this effort.

"Our mission is to connect our returning heroes with energy companies who need and respect them," he added. "If the barriers to immigration are relaxed in order to bring in the labor force needed, the effect must naturally be positive."

A condensed version of this article originally appeared March 27, 2013 on Rigzone.

With more than 10 years of journalism experience, Robin Dupre specializes in the offshore sector of the oil and gas industry. Email Robin at rdupre@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Karoon Finds Oil Offshore Brazil, Shares Jump

SYDNEY - Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. has made its second significant oil discovery offshore Brazil, sending its shares soaring as much as 28% Monday and increasing the possibility of finding another partner to share development costs.

The Australian company has now discovered oil in two out of three wells drilled in the Santos Basin, located south of Rio de Janeiro, with joint venture partner Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. Karoon owns 65% of the venture and analysts expect it sell more of its interest if there's enough oil to underpin a multibillion dollar development.

Karoon said the Bilby-1 well discovered oil across a 200-meter gross column, although more work needs to be done to determine the size of the find and whether it can be developed commercially.

The rise in Karoon's stock lifted the company's value to 1.1 billion Australian dollars (US $1.1 billion), although doubts remain about its ability to fund projects that include developing natural gas fields offshore Australia in partnership with ConocoPhillips.

Scott Ashton, a senior energy analyst at BBY in Sydney, said it is too early to be sure the Bilby discovery can be developed commercially. "We do not know the net pay, the quality of the oil, and whether it is capable of flowing," he said in a note.

The well hasn't yet reached its target depth of 4,537 meters and Karoon expects further drilling to encounter a different geological structure, which could also contain oil.

The Bilby-1 discovery follows the success of the Kangaroo-1 well offshore Brazil. However, the drilling program hasn't been a complete success, with the Emu-1 well failing to find commercial quantities of oil.

The fluctuating fortunes of the drilling campaign has intensified volatility in the company's shares. Karoon was worth A$1.6 billion as recently as early March, just before it announced the outcome of the Emu-1 well.

Karoon is planning to test the Kangaroo and Bilby discoveries with appraisal wells.

Citigroup analyst Mark Greenwood said earlier this year that Karoon could eventually reduce its holding in the Brazil venture to 20% to raise funds for drilling and development.

Edward Munks, Karoon's chief operating officer, told The Wall Street Journal in March that the company had several funding options. "Having a discovered resource with high equity levels gives you a lot of flexibility," Mr. Munks said.

Options include a further stake sale, issue of new Karoon shares or an initial public offering of the South American assets. Of these, Mr. Munks said the company isn't likely to revisit an IPO after shelving plans in 2010.

The venture's properties are in much shallower water than giant discoveries made by international energy companies further offshore Brazil, such as the Tupi field.

However, significant commercial discoveries have been made close to the coast. Among the most notable is the Piracuca oil field just five kilometers northeast of Karoon's blocks. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, and partner Repsol SA in 2009 declared Piracuca a commercial discovery estimated to contain 550 million barrels of light oil.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

ENI Finds Gas Onshore Pakistan

Italy's ENI reported Monday that it has made a new gas discovery on the Sukhpur Block, located in the Kirthar Foldbelt onshore Pakistan.

ENI said its Lundali-1 NFW exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 8,727 feet and encountered gas-bearing sands in the Paleocene sequence. During production testing the well produced gas that flowed up to a rate of 33 million cubic feet per day.

ENI added that the new discovery marks "another success" in its near field exploration strategy in the country. The additional production at Lundali will allow the optimization of the existing Eni's infrastructure including the Bhit gas processing facility located some 18 miles to the west of the block. The company also said the result confirms the significant exploration potential of the Sukhpur Block where it plans to drill another exploration well within next twelve months.

ENI's joint venture partners in the Sukhpur Block included PPL, with a 30-percent interest, and KUFPEC, which has a 25-percent stake.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

BP: Addressing the Skills Gap

As upstream oil and gas professionals near retirement, many companies in the sector are facing a major shortfall when it comes to the skilled and experienced people they need as the oil and gas industry continues to expand around the world.

The “Great Crew Change” has focused plenty of minds within the upper echelons of the oil and gas industry.

BP plc is one company that has recognized the need to take a proactive approach to training in order to obviate the skills gap challenges that it might face.

In a recent interview with Rigzone, BP Head of Learning and Development Don Shoultz highlighted that for a long time, BP has had a Challenger Program in place that is designed to equip its employees for their first three years with the company.

"We like it and we think it has good branding for recruiting as well. So we are pretty satisfied with that," he said.

Yet, in recent years, BP realized how quickly an oil and gas professional with a few years of experience gets to the same level of competence as a typical 25-year employee is often an arbitrary process. So, the company decided to take steps to help expedite and better manage this development.

"Over the last four years, we've started a program we call the Excellence Program, which starts right after the Challenger Program. So you literally graduate from Challenger and automatically move right into the Excellence Program," Shoultz said.

When coming up with the Excellence Program there was no "secret sauce or magic, silver bullet", according to Shoultz.

"So, as we thought about this the answer we came up with was rigor," he said, explaining that BP looked at the entire gamut of how people learn and get experienced – from formal learning to informal learning, via networks, technical coaching and mentoring.

"When you graduate from the Challenger Program and you move into the Excellence Program you're placed on a job that is intended to continue the development of our staff," Shoultz said.

"And then while you are in that job, which can be from two to three years, you are getting a prescribed program of formal learning that matches the job experience that you are in. And then the informal learning, we really try to formalize so that the technical coach that you need during those … years is prescribed. The networks that you belong to – if you're a water-flooding expert or if you're a reservoir engineer, whatever you are – those networks become more prescribed instead of arbitrary.

"So now, as an employee it's prescribed. What job you have, what formal learning you get at that point, the informal learning is plugged in as well. It's all lined up … It's very intentional. Each employee in every job category has a road map. They can go to a website, they can look at their roadmap if they are a petroleum engineer or petrophysicist … and see their roadmap and know exactly what they need to take, what their next job experience will be, [and] where it will be. All that kind of stuff is laid out. It's far more intentional.

"So really, we think that adding a lot of discipline and alignment will accelerate how an employee develops."

Indeed, BP's approach to training and development, and keeping its staff interested in the work the firm does, appears to be working, according to Shoultz's colleague, BP's Vice President for Upstream Resourcing Julia Harvie-Liddel.

"Certainly, what we are not seeing in BP is a great loss of talent. We are retaining a lot of our more seasoned and experienced staff, and what [we're] doing is we're supplementing this with much greater graduate hiring than we did in the past," Harvie-Liddel said.

"If you look back at what we did when the oil price took a dip during the 1990s and early 2000s, I think we did create a bit of a skills gap then because [the industry] hired less. But … we've worked quite hard since then to significantly increase the number of graduates that we take into the business to supplement the talent and also we're retaining more senior talent."

A satisfying and interesting career is required to help retain talent, added Harvie-Liddel.

"If you look at the portfolio of work we've got and the fact that we're using leading technologies I think people find that very exciting and they'll work beyond their first retirement eligibility point with some degree of ease."

And technology appears to be a way to sell the oil and gas industry to young people who might be considering a career in the sector.

"I hear most of our leadership defines the energy sector as a technology industry. It is energizing how much we depend on technology, and so the opportunity for us is in recruiting is to go out and make future employees aware [of] how exciting this industry is," Shoultz said.

"When you look at the bottom of the seabed in the Gulf of Mexico or Angola it looks like something out of a science fiction movie. It's unbelievable. And we'll drill a well somewhere and we'll tie it back to a rig 25 miles away, under a mile of water. And so, I think the challenge for us … is to get that message out."

Technology, of course, also plays its part in the learning and development process. According to Shoultz, BP now uses a variety of distance-learning technologies when training its staff.

"So, for example, right now I'm sitting in a learning center in Houston … What our leadership tells me is that it's not about bricks and mortar; it's about technology and getting learning out to all the regions," he said.

Of course, BP does not simply operate on its own when it comes to developing talent in the oil and gas sector, and equipping the industry's workers with the skills they need.

"BP is involved in a lot of joint ventures. BP in so many areas is required to get things done through national oil companies, so we have very, very close relationships with national oil companies and the countries themselves … We have to demonstrate to them that we are very good at not only equipping our own people but that we are very good at equipping your people as well, your country's people," Shoultz said.

The company also has a close relationship with a number of other international oil companies and service providers to the industry. Shoultz is particularly proud of BP's increasingly close relationship with Schlumberger Ltd.

"My team has entered into a partnership with Schlumberger in the area of training," he said.

"So my counterpart [at Schlumberger] and I see each other probably a couple of times a year … And so we have a very good understanding on how they do their learning and they have a very good understanding of how we do our learning, and we're actually moving into situations where we start to share."

Internal training and development explains some of BP's success when it comes to addressing the skills gap, but the firm's recruitment function "will always have a role to play", according to Harvie-Liddel. BP's sheer size, and related economies of scale, helps when roles need to be filled quickly!

"What we tend to do with all vacancies is we always look internally. So, we look at our own talent pools before anything will go to the external market," she said.

Of course, getting the raw material in terms of recent graduates into the industry is also highly important.

"I think as an industry it is incumbent upon us to persuade people that we can offer a compelling career and that's something that we all need to continue to work at because there was sporadic hiring during the 1990s and early 2000s. And I think that certainly, among my networks in the industry, we've all learned from that and we understand that that's not something we can do again."

A condensed version of this article originally appeared April 11, 2013 on Rigzone.

A former engineer, Jon is an award-winning editor who has covered the technology, engineering and energy sectors since the mid-1990s. Email Jon at jmainwaring@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

GE Awarded for New Technology Addressing Deepwater Drilling Challenges

GE Oil & Gas has received Spotlight on New Technology awards from the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) for two new products that address the challenges of deepwater drilling. The awards showcase the latest and most advanced hardware and software technologies that are leading the offshore exploration and drilling industry into the future.

The two GE products honored are:

RamTel Plus System and ROV Subsea Display Panel. Blowout preventers (BOP) are critical components to drilling operation safety and are used on all wells, both on and offshore. GE's RamTel Plus System and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Display provide the industry with real-time, electronic measurements of the BOP's ram position and the pressure required to actuate the blades and/or sealing elements. This proven technology provides new data on the operational performance of the BOP that can be used in trending and prognostics in a way that mechanical systems cannot provide.

Deepwater BOP Blind Shear Ram. GE Oil & Gas has developed next-generation technology for shearing and sealing wellbore tubulars (casings and pipes). The patent-pending 5K Blind Shear Ram is designed for use in GE's ram BOPs for offshore drilling and has demonstrated the capability to shear 6-5/8 inch S-135 drill pipe tool joints while achieving a wellbore seal at 15,000 psi pressure differential. The technology was developed by GE to address an industry need to shear and seal today's large diameter, advanced metallurgy (strength, thickness and ductility) drilling tubulars.

"We are very honored to be recognized by the OTC for our development of these two new products," said Chuck Chauviere, president of Drilling for GE Oil & Gas. "They are among the latest examples of how GE continues to seek and develop innovative solutions for the challenges faced in today's complex drilling programs."

In total, OTC presented 15 Spotlight on New Technology awards to exhibitors at this year's show. GE Oil & Gas was one of only two companies to receive two awards.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Production to Start Soon at Hai Su Trang

HANOI - State-owned Petrovietnam and Talisman Energy Inc. are expected to start commercial oil production from Hai Su Trang field offshore Vietnam next week, Petrovietnam said Monday. 

The field in Block 15-2/01, more than 100 kilometers south of Ba Ria Vung Tau province, is operated by Thang Long Joint Operating Co., in which Talisman holds a 60% stake and Petrovietnam 40%. 

Petrovietnam earlier said Hai Su Trang had an oil flow of 15,000 barrels a day. 

Petrovietnam said in a statement Monday that Talisman seeks to expand its oil and gas operations in Vietnam as well as other countries to meet Vietnam's rising demand for fuels, especially natural gas. 

The statement came after a meeting between Petrovietnam CEO Do Van Hau and Talisman CEO Harold N. Kvisle in Canada over the weekend.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

View the original article here

Norway Plans to Raise Taxes on Oil Companies

OSLO - Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who faces an election in September, on Sunday laid out plans for a modest tax cut for mainland businesses while increasing taxes on oil companies and multinationals, as the small Nordic nation looks to maintain a competitive business climate.

Mr. Stoltenberg's plan, part of the government budget presentation on Tuesday, includes a reduction in the general corporate tax to 27% from 28% starting in 2014.

The move is expected to shave 2.4 billion kroner ($413 million) off the annual tax bill for mainland industry, as well as NOK500 million annually for those who are self-employed, the government said. Lawmakers will vote on the budget, but Mr. Stoltenberg's ruling coalition has enough votes to pass it.

Neighboring Sweden recently cut its corporate-tax rate to 22%, and Denmark plans to reach the same level by 2016. Finland, meanwhile, is aiming to take its tax rate at 20%.

Norway's oil-and-gas industry has helped keep unemployment low, public finances intact and wages rapidly growing. While this has insulated Norway from much of Europe's economic malaise, it has forced many companies outside the energy sector to be noncompetitive.

"Some sectors are performing very well, pushing prices and salaries higher," Mr. Stoltenberg said at a news conference. "At the same time, businesses that can't increase prices because they depend on global markets are squeezed by high costs and lower demand from abroad."

Norway's wage growth is expected to slow to 3.5% in 2013, but is still high enough to erode the competitiveness of companies in the international market.

Oil companies won't benefit from the tax cut, the government said, because it will be offset by an increase in the special petroleum tax to 51% from 50%.

Mr. Stoltenberg criticized oil companies for cost overruns on big projects, and said they would have to pay a bigger share of the investments from now on.

"We think we give a better signal to the oil companies when they must now bear a bigger share of the investments themselves, not the least because we need more cost awareness in that sector," he said.

The 24 oil projects under development offshore Norway have recorded cost overruns of NOK49 billion, government figures show. Mr. Stoltenberg said "90% of this is paid for by the society."

Oil companies would still be able to deduct most of their investment costs, but slightly less than before. By reducing a tax deduction called the "uplift," oil companies' tax bill was expected to increase by NOK70 billion in current value between 2013 and 2050, the government said, or slightly below NOK3 billion annually.

Norway's dominant oil company, Statoil ASA, wasn't available for comment Sunday.

The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association said it worried the changes could undermine Norway's reputation as a stable environment for oil-company investments, and warned that marginally profitable oil and gas projects could be shelved.

Amid a high oil price, some offshore projects "have a pretty high break-even price," association spokesman Erling Kvadsheim told The Wall Street Journal. "I don't think this measure in itself will necessarily affect those, but some of the more expensive projects to increase the oil recovery [on mature fields] may be impacted."

Some of the bill for the tax cuts would go to big corporations. The government said it planned to reduce multinational companies' ability to shift profit into low-tax countries from Norway through internal loans. Lowering interest deductions on such loans would increase tax revenue by NOK3 billion annually, the government said.

In addition, a higher tax rate on people who own more than one home would increase Norway's tax revenue by an additional 500 million kroner annually, the government said.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here