Oil and gas production is a truly international industry, offering career opportunities on virtually every continent around the world.
Globally we consume more than twice as much oil and gas as 40 years ago and, with growing demand from emerging markets such as China and India, it is estimated daily global consumption will rise to around 180million barrels by 2030.
Working to meet this rising demand, employing improved science and techniques, increasingly sophisticated technology and, of course, skilled people, the industry has expanded from its established global hubs, such as the North Sea, the Middle East and the United States to drill and explore in more challenging areas.
Recent years have seen significant activity in areas from Sakhalin, in the far east of Russia to the deepwater “Golden Triangle” of the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa. Australia is another market that has grown considerably.
A recent survey asking people working in the industry to list their top 10 world oil and gas cities provided a fascinating snapshot of a skilled, globally-mobile workforce.
From almost 8,000 responses, the results, in order, were: Dubai, Calgary, Denver, Singapore, Jakarta, Perth, Rio De Janeiro, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpar and Cairo.
The findings led those behind the survey to conclude: “The question doesn’t have to be where in the world do I want to live and work? It can now be: how many countries will I get to see during the course of my career?”
Nexen’s own successful expansion from its home market is a good example of how ambitious companies have embraced the challenge of developing international operations over the past 40 years.
In February 2013 Nexen was acquired by CNOOC Limited, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, with operations in Asia, Africa, North and South America, Oceania and Europe.
Calgary, Canada remains Nexen’s international headquarters and the company continues to manage its assets in the UK North Sea, Western Canada, offshore West Africa, the United States and Yemen.
The UK is currently a key area of growth as we move towards first oil production from one of the most significant North Sea discoveries in the last decade, Golden Eagle, and continue to actively explore in the area. As part of this activity we look forward to welcoming a number of recruits joining us through our new three-year graduate programme.
We have also recently launched a Talent Exchange Programme, giving employees selected by their leaders the opportunity to relocate to Beijing, Canada or the UK for either short-term or longer-term work assignments. We hope to expand the programme to other CNOOC Limited branches and Nexen locations in the future.
Our programmes develop technically-skilled, confident, motivated and innovative employees who, as part of our truly diverse 3,200-strong global talent pool, contribute to our continuing success.
Archie Kennedy is the managing director and VP Europe at Nexen Petroleum UK
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