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| Eric |
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| "Shell is passionate about learning, and I have constant opportunities to go on courses and workshops. When Shell hires someone, it’s for the long-term."
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Reservoir Engineer |
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 - Location: Aberdeen
- Studied: Geology & Engineering
- University: Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie, Nancy, France
- Joined Shell: January 2003
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Why did you join Shell? |
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I knew all along that I wanted to work in the oil industry, as it’s a great way to work abroad, and on big, challenging projects with a strategic focus. Let’s face it, selling oil is a whole lot more interesting than selling shoes! The oil business is huge, and there are very many companies you can work for in a whole range of countries. The reason I chose Shell was that it was sure to give me plenty of opportunities to work overseas. Also, I had the impression that I was joining a multicultural company, as opposed to a specifically American, English or Dutch one. I have never felt isolated here, as my team is so diverse – it comprises people from ten different countries, including Australia, Nigeria and even Thailand.
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How would you describe your role at Shell? |
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| As a Reservoir Engineer, my role is to understand how fluids are moving in the reservoir, and find new targets to drill in the reservoir. Every day I receive data about the field, which I read and interpret to see whether there are any problems. I also make future projections, involving a lot of computer simulation to predict reservoir behaviour. For instance, I can judge how much oil we are likely to produce in a year, or in ten years. My work involves a lot of teamwork, which I really enjoy. That’s not just a magic word here; it’s the way we work, and I spend much of my time discussing things with geophysicists and people from the platform.
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What do you like most about the job? |
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On the “soft” side, the thing I enjoy the most is that I feel supported by my manager and my team. Being supported means that people rely on me to do the job right, guide me with their experience and give me opportunities to develop my skills. But my ideas are also welcomed as much as those from a senior college. To give you an idea, after one year in my job I am fully responsible for my three fields: engaging with the other disciplines, meeting the partners, and bringing opportunities to the table. Also, I’ve been sent offshore to another field to be involved in well testing operations on a new gas field. There’s a lot of flexibility in the system overall, that’s something I wasn’t expecting from such a big company. On the technical side, the thing I enjoy the most is that I need to keep a broad view on things rather than jumping into ultra-specialized work. Any technical work has to be put into perspective and I must understand how it will affect the overall production and reservoir management process, and sometimes also the commercial agreements with partners.
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What are your future careers plans? |
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| In the short term I want to grow as a recognised reservoir engineer and develop my skills in the subsurface area. I hope this will also include coordinating challenging oil and gas projects in China or Russia in couple of years. I am very also interested in broader energy issues like renewable, energy supply and demand, and long-term forecast. Since Shell shows a strong push towards sustainable development I am convinced that I can contribute in this area with a position in planning and strategy later in my career.
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