Job Market Particularly Strong for Deepwater Pros

An uptick in deepwater activity has contributed to a marked increase in demand for riser, drilling and completion engineers worldwide over the past year, an oil and gas recruitment specialist told Rigzone at last week's Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2013.

"The demand is great," Carolyn Stewart, Houston-based business development manager with NES Global Talent, said at the sidelines of OTC, which was held May 6-9 in Texas' energy hub Houston.

"We've seen quite a bit of drilling and completion," Stewart explained. "There's more specialization coming into play in high-pressure areas, deepwater areas."

As a result of this trend toward deeper developments, wells are becoming more complex and operators are placing wells closer together, Stewart noted.

"The technology for an FPSO [floating production, storage and offloading unit], FSO [floating storage and offloading vessel] – even just a general offshore rig, a TLP [tension-leg platform] or spar – has greatly increased," Stewart continued, adding that how operators configure wells is changing.  

In turn, the skill sets that companies are demanding from engineers, technicians and other specialists needed to drill and complete wells and position infrastructure are becoming more specialized, she said.

Although companies are asking more of deepwater professionals, qualified individuals seeking these highly specialized positions can earn very competitive compensation packages and be selective in terms of work rotations, Stewart said. In addition, she pointed out that demand for such candidates is robust is virtually all offshore oil and gas provinces – ranging from the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea to West Africa and Southeast Asia.

For Stewart's company, the tight demand for drilling engineers, riser engineers and other deepwater experts has been good for business.

"We follow our clients," she said, noting that NES Global Talent now operates 46 locations worldwide and applies a "discipline-specific" recruiting approach that aids in expanding the breadth of its networking capabilities.

"Our focus is in all areas. We've been able to open offices on our clients' growth."

Because the demand for deepwater experts far outstrips the pool of available talent, offshore employers will need to redouble their efforts to encourage seasoned professionals to impart their expertise to their younger peers, Stewart said.

"Companies will have to get creative in how they bring that workforce in, how they train the workforce," she explained.

In some cases, companies have instituted mentoring programs in which senior-level engineers work directly with their less experienced counterparts, she added.

"I think as we go along, we'll see more mentoring programs, more development programs," Stewart concluded.

Matthew V. Veazey has written about the upstream and downstream O&G sectors for more than a decade. Email Matthew at mveazey@downstreamtoday.com. Twitter: @Matthew_Veazey

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Tendeka to Grow Presence in North, South American Market

Tendeka, the provider of completions systems and services to the upstream oil and gas industry, announced Tuesday plans to significantly grow its North and South American market presence by promoting its full portfolio of complementary completions products and services in the region.

By opening an office in Canada to directly supply the Canadian market and widening its South American oil and gas market with an increased presence Tendeka will supplement its swellable packer market with its innovative technologies and services that have already added value to client's wells in other regions around the world.

Since its inception in 2009 Tendeka has gone from strength to strength and is a global employer. With 18 regional bases strategically located in key energy hubs, the company is now set to expand further.

Tendeka is a major player in the North American swellable packers market and has supplied packers for use in conventional and unconventional applications in liquid shales including the Bakken, Eagleford, Utica, Niobrara and Permian developments. Tendeka also supplies monitoring, modelling and control systems and services that manage reservoir performance, enhance production and reduce downtime.

Ken Miller, Tendeka vice president of North and South America, said: "We have achieved over 200% top line growth over the last 24 months in our international markets including North America. Swellable packers remain an important part of our North American service offering, particularly to the fraccing market, but we have established that there is a demand for the full range of Tendeka products and services not just in North America but also in Canada and South America.  Our recent contract wins for Cyclic Steam Stimulation monitoring, AICD in SAGD and software for reservoir interpretation are evidence of our increased market penetration in these regions.

"These systems combine to maximise output and efficiency from the reservoir," explained Miller. "We recently strengthened our position in Calgary; initial indications show that our assessment of the market conditions was correct and there is a strong demand for our wider systems offerings, especially in heavy oil operations. Brazil is also a key focus for us where we have recently established solid routes to market and been awarded seven figure contracts. 

Tendeka's CEO Gary Smart said: "Our full portfolio of completions systems and services now includes: leading electronic gauge, distributed and wireless monitoring technologies, to monitor reservoir performance; modeling software, to provide reservoir interpretation and build scenarios; wireless intelligent completions systems, to control reservoir production; sand and inflow control devices, to control reservoir phase filtering; and swellable and mechanical packers, to provide effective zonal isolation. This suite of completions products and services are all industry proven and has been developed to add value to our clients wells through improved production."

Smart continued: "We are keen to explore the wider market opportunities for the whole range of Tendeka systems and services. Our focus on geographic growth will continue to allow us to bring our existing high value portfolio to clients in new territories as well as providing an established route to market for the new product innovations that are currently under development in our research bases in Europe and North America. The oil and gas industry is a challenging one and Tendeka seeks to positively impact our clients' profitability through the implementation of innovative completions systems and services."

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Crude Oil Futures Settle Higher as U.S. Jobs Market Improves

NEW YORK--Oil futures rose to their highest level all week Friday, as positive U.S. jobs data lifted hopes for higher oil demand.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled 39 cents, or 0.4%, higher at $91.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange recently fell 32 cents, or 0.3%, to $110.82 a barrel.

Futures got a boost after the Labor Department said employers added 236,000 jobs in February, far more than the 160,000 forecast by economists. Unemployment fell 0.2 percentage point to 7.7%, the lowest level since the end of 2008.

The data is closely watched in the oil market because the health of the job market in the U.S.--the world's biggest oil consumer--is closely correlated with crude-oil demand.

"This number is a big step," said Carl Larry, head of the oil-trading advisory firm Oil Outlooks and Opinions. "I don't think anybody expected that."

Futures were lower prior to the 8:30 a.m. EST data, then pared their losses throughout the day to end the session in positive territory. Market observers said a late-session rally in the gasoline market also helped pull crude-oil prices higher.

"Crude markets were definitely following the gasoline move today," said Michael Truscelli, broker at oil options brokerage Paramount Options in New York. "There was a lot of interest at the end of the day."

Front-month April reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, settled 8.02 cents, or 2.6%,, higher at $3.2035 a gallon.

A steadily improving jobs market has buoyed the oil market in recent months, although steadily rising domestic production and uncertain global demand has kept prices in check.

Oil futures failed to keep up with the sharp rally staged by equities, as the payrolls data sent investors snapping up another asset: the U.S. dollar. A stronger dollar typically weighs on oil prices because it makes the dollar-denominated commodity more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, shot to its highest level since early August, recently rising 0.9% to 82.804.

April heating oil settled 0.46 cent, or 0.2%, lower at $2.9749 a gallon.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Schneider Seeks Drivers for Growing San Antonio Market

Schneider National, Inc., a premier provider of transportation, logistics and intermodal services, announced Wednesday it was adding 200 new truck-driving positions in the greater San Antonio area. The company's growth in the area is the result of expansions with customer accounts in the oil and gas industry. Schneider is adding 150 of the driving positions immediately. The remaining 50 positions will be added between April and June.

Drivers on the accounts will deliver equipment and materials to local sites and can earn up to $65,000 per year depending on experience, productivity and safety performance. A complete benefits package and paid orientation are also provided. The new opportunities also provide drivers predictable work schedules and paychecks along with daily time at home.

"We are excited to grow in the San Antonio area," said Mike Hinz, vice president at Schneider National. "We are seeing tremendous growth and demand for our crude and sand-hauling services due to our investment in equipment, long-standing commitment to safety and proven service capabilities."

Drivers interested in applying or learning more about Schneider National can visit the website.

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Oil Prices and Market Signals

From Politico:

"New York Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wants Saudi Arabia to pledge to make up for any missing Iranian supplies, and he wants them to do it now, rather than waiting until summer. 'A public commitment will cause the price of oil to drop right away,' he said Tuesday."

Senator Schumer is correct, oil markets are forward looking and a public commitment to development matters.  But rather than Saudi Arabia, let’s look at what the U.S. is signaling.

Continued reduced production on Federal areas in the Gulf of Mexico.87% of our offshore acreage being placed off-limits.Federal permits lagging in offshore areas.Federal permits lagging in onshore areas.A million barrels a day from ANWR languishing for decades.The U.S. blocking upwards of 800,000 barrels a day from Canada.A plan for increasing taxes on U.S. exploration and development, and when you tax something, what do you get?  Less of it.And three years worth of delays and obstructions of oil and natural gas development in the U.S.

It is great that Senator Schumer wants Saudi Arabia to send a signal to the market, as the chart here shows, signals do matter, but perhaps a better signal to the market would be that the U.S. is going to do everything we can to help ourselves.  We are not powerless, unless we choose to be.

View the original article here

Oil Prices and Market Signals

From Politico:

"New York Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wants Saudi Arabia to pledge to make up for any missing Iranian supplies, and he wants them to do it now, rather than waiting until summer. 'A public commitment will cause the price of oil to drop right away,' he said Tuesday."

Senator Schumer is correct, oil markets are forward looking and a public commitment to development matters.  But rather than Saudi Arabia, let’s look at what the U.S. is signaling.

Continued reduced production on Federal areas in the Gulf of Mexico.87% of our offshore acreage being placed off-limits.Federal permits lagging in offshore areas.Federal permits lagging in onshore areas.A million barrels a day from ANWR languishing for decades.The U.S. blocking upwards of 800,000 barrels a day from Canada.A plan for increasing taxes on U.S. exploration and development, and when you tax something, what do you get?  Less of it.And three years worth of delays and obstructions of oil and natural gas development in the U.S.

It is great that Senator Schumer wants Saudi Arabia to send a signal to the market, as the chart here shows, signals do matter, but perhaps a better signal to the market would be that the U.S. is going to do everything we can to help ourselves.  We are not powerless, unless we choose to be.

View the original article here