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Oil & Gas - A Slap in the Face

creepycougcreepycoug Member Posts: 22,697
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edited May 2022 in Tug Tavern
Chintresting article about diminishing employment opportunities in O&G.

@HoustonHusky and our other O&G OGs: too early to give up on a career looking for black gold, or not enough runway left to start a career now?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/business/oil-industry-careers.html
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Comments

  • HoustonHuskyHoustonHusky Member Posts: 5,951
    First Anniversary First Comment Photogenic 5 Awesomes
    I'm not in O&G although I might as well be the last few years...

    Right now it is brutal on graduates...my nephew's fiance just graduated and got hired on at one of the big oil firms after college but almost all the folks hired on with her were delayed and then un-hired. At UT the Petroleum Engineers always had a bit more status than the Chemical Engineers but that has now switched...a bunch aren't going to get hired for what they were trained for. Add to that a bunch of the smaller oil guys are doing "mergers of equals" which is basically cost/people reductions and its not good out there for those folks.

    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.
  • PurpleThrobberPurpleThrobber Member Posts: 41,654
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    Don't really miss O&G - it was fun when I was in it. Pretty interesting stuff. Lots of crazy deal structures. But, goddamned...what a fucking rollercoaster.

    Too old for that shit now.

  • creepycougcreepycoug Member Posts: 22,697
    First Anniversary 5 Up Votes 5 Awesomes Photogenic

    I'm not in O&G although I might as well be the last few years...

    Right now it is brutal on graduates...my nephew's fiance just graduated and got hired on at one of the big oil firms after college but almost all the folks hired on with her were delayed and then un-hired. At UT the Petroleum Engineers always had a bit more status than the Chemical Engineers but that has now switched...a bunch aren't going to get hired for what they were trained for. Add to that a bunch of the smaller oil guys are doing "mergers of equals" which is basically cost/people reductions and its not good out there for those folks.

    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.

    I guess the real question is, did the article get it right by suggesting (albeit through anecdotal opinions) oil has a limited future in the long run? I mean, the reference to solar was stupid as far as my understanding of the subject goes; that particular technology doesn't run efficiently or powerfully enough to displace fossil.
  • RaceBannonRaceBannon Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 100,696
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    Swaye's Wigwam
    Watch Dallas the TV show

    Boom or bust is the story of oil
  • RaceBannonRaceBannon Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 100,696
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Awesomes 5 Up Votes
    Swaye's Wigwam
    In the very early 80's when I had moved to Seattle to take over flooring bidness one of my first buildings was built for ENI which was one of the many tax shelter oil and gas entities set up. About a 4 story Bellevue building. The head man had a shower in his office which to a small town kid in the early 80s seemed pretty impressive.

    Tax code changes, oil goes bust taking Savings and Loans with them and McCain and the rest get the taint of scandal.

    The next main tenant for the building was Asymetirix where I met the Paull Allen mob

    Tech of course had its own boom and bust but Allen was a winner

    Lot of VC went into edifices of nothingness

    And Dallas is the best show ever
  • PurpleThrobberPurpleThrobber Member Posts: 41,654
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Awesomes 5 Up Votes

    In the very early 80's when I had moved to Seattle to take over flooring bidness one of my first buildings was built for ENI which was one of the many tax shelter oil and gas entities set up. About a 4 story Bellevue building. The head man had a shower in his office which to a small town kid in the early 80s seemed pretty impressive.

    Tax code changes, oil goes bust taking Savings and Loans with them and McCain and the rest get the taint of scandal.

    The next main tenant for the building was Asymetirix where I met the Paull Allen mob

    Tech of course had its own boom and bust but Allen was a winner

    Lot of VC went into edifices of nothingness

    And Dallas is the best show ever

    Victoria Principal's nudes still hold up to the test of time.

  • HoustonHuskyHoustonHusky Member Posts: 5,951
    First Anniversary First Comment Photogenic 5 Awesomes

    In the very early 80's when I had moved to Seattle to take over flooring bidness one of my first buildings was built for ENI which was one of the many tax shelter oil and gas entities set up. About a 4 story Bellevue building. The head man had a shower in his office which to a small town kid in the early 80s seemed pretty impressive.

    Tax code changes, oil goes bust taking Savings and Loans with them and McCain and the rest get the taint of scandal.

    The next main tenant for the building was Asymetirix where I met the Paull Allen mob

    Tech of course had its own boom and bust but Allen was a winner

    Lot of VC went into edifices of nothingness

    And Dallas is the best show ever

    Victoria Principal's nudes still hold up to the test of time.

    Wigwam or you are lying...
  • HoustonHuskyHoustonHusky Member Posts: 5,951
    First Anniversary First Comment Photogenic 5 Awesomes

    I'm not in O&G although I might as well be the last few years...

    Right now it is brutal on graduates...my nephew's fiance just graduated and got hired on at one of the big oil firms after college but almost all the folks hired on with her were delayed and then un-hired. At UT the Petroleum Engineers always had a bit more status than the Chemical Engineers but that has now switched...a bunch aren't going to get hired for what they were trained for. Add to that a bunch of the smaller oil guys are doing "mergers of equals" which is basically cost/people reductions and its not good out there for those folks.

    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.

    I guess the real question is, did the article get it right by suggesting (albeit through anecdotal opinions) oil has a limited future in the long run? I mean, the reference to solar was stupid as far as my understanding of the subject goes; that particular technology doesn't run efficiently or powerfully enough to displace fossil.
    Depends on who you talk to. Long term sure...but everyone has been saying that for a long while now. Too many cars and airplanes in the near-term to make a dent in oil demand, unless of course you decide to lock everyone up in their houses and tell them they can't fly.

    Also realize Oil and NG are very different...as EV cars push more into the mainstream that will dampen oil demand, but the electrical grid is a entirely different beast powered off of NG. With the variability of solar/wind until you have electrical storage in huge quantities to can't push much past 30-40% of your electrical generation to be based on those without making they system unstable (see California...).

    And if the dollar craters both are going higher and you will see a new Dallas series popping up on Netflix...
  • Pitchfork51Pitchfork51 Member Posts: 26,538
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Up Votes Combo Breaker

    I'm not in O&G although I might as well be the last few years...

    Right now it is brutal on graduates...my nephew's fiance just graduated and got hired on at one of the big oil firms after college but almost all the folks hired on with her were delayed and then un-hired. At UT the Petroleum Engineers always had a bit more status than the Chemical Engineers but that has now switched...a bunch aren't going to get hired for what they were trained for. Add to that a bunch of the smaller oil guys are doing "mergers of equals" which is basically cost/people reductions and its not good out there for those folks.

    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.

    I guess the real question is, did the article get it right by suggesting (albeit through anecdotal opinions) oil has a limited future in the long run? I mean, the reference to solar was stupid as far as my understanding of the subject goes; that particular technology doesn't run efficiently or powerfully enough to displace fossil.
    Depends on who you talk to. Long term sure...but everyone has been saying that for a long while now. Too many cars and airplanes in the near-term to make a dent in oil demand, unless of course you decide to lock everyone up in their houses and tell them they can't fly.

    Also realize Oil and NG are very different...as EV cars push more into the mainstream that will dampen oil demand, but the electrical grid is a entirely different beast powered off of NG. With the variability of solar/wind until you have electrical storage in huge quantities to can't push much past 30-40% of your electrical generation to be based on those without making they system unstable (see California...).

    And if the dollar craters both are going higher and you will see a new Dallas series popping up on Netflix...

  • creepycougcreepycoug Member Posts: 22,697
    First Anniversary 5 Up Votes 5 Awesomes Photogenic

    I'm not in O&G although I might as well be the last few years...

    Right now it is brutal on graduates...my nephew's fiance just graduated and got hired on at one of the big oil firms after college but almost all the folks hired on with her were delayed and then un-hired. At UT the Petroleum Engineers always had a bit more status than the Chemical Engineers but that has now switched...a bunch aren't going to get hired for what they were trained for. Add to that a bunch of the smaller oil guys are doing "mergers of equals" which is basically cost/people reductions and its not good out there for those folks.

    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.

    I guess the real question is, did the article get it right by suggesting (albeit through anecdotal opinions) oil has a limited future in the long run? I mean, the reference to solar was stupid as far as my understanding of the subject goes; that particular technology doesn't run efficiently or powerfully enough to displace fossil.
    Depends on who you talk to. Long term sure...but everyone has been saying that for a long while now. Too many cars and airplanes in the near-term to make a dent in oil demand, unless of course you decide to lock everyone up in their houses and tell them they can't fly.

    Also realize Oil and NG are very different...as EV cars push more into the mainstream that will dampen oil demand, but the electrical grid is a entirely different beast powered off of NG. With the variability of solar/wind until you have electrical storage in huge quantities to can't push much past 30-40% of your electrical generation to be based on those without making they system unstable (see California...).

    And if the dollar craters both are going higher and you will see a new Dallas series popping up on Netflix...

    Hey hey. Keep this filth in the Tug.

    Just kidding. Filth is good.
  • PurpleThrobberPurpleThrobber Member Posts: 41,654
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Awesomes 5 Up Votes

    In the very early 80's when I had moved to Seattle to take over flooring bidness one of my first buildings was built for ENI which was one of the many tax shelter oil and gas entities set up. About a 4 story Bellevue building. The head man had a shower in his office which to a small town kid in the early 80s seemed pretty impressive.

    Tax code changes, oil goes bust taking Savings and Loans with them and McCain and the rest get the taint of scandal.

    The next main tenant for the building was Asymetirix where I met the Paull Allen mob

    Tech of course had its own boom and bust but Allen was a winner

    Lot of VC went into edifices of nothingness

    And Dallas is the best show ever

    Victoria Principal's nudes still hold up to the test of time.

    Wigwam or you are lying...
    Been busy today, bruh....doing bidness and shit.

  • HFNYHFNY Member Posts: 4,514
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    Standard Supporter
    Oil and especially gas aren't going anywhere for the next 10 years. It's coal that has been taking it up the discipline hole.

    I also don't see oil going above $60-$65 in 2021 because too many producers (shale and OPEC+ cheats) will turn on the taps, thus keeping demand up rather than hurting it with higher prices.

    Full Disclosure: I owned some XOM for a decade, sold last year to harvest the tax loss, and then rolled the cash plus some savings into CVX and TOT at their most recent bottoms. So I'm up nicely on the latter two but need more room to run to get into the black.
  • Mad_SonMad_Son Member Posts: 10,074
    First Anniversary 5 Up Votes 5 Awesomes First Comment


    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.

    I think this piece is key. Operators have gotten really efficient which allows US onshore to keep going. I think that will be played out in the next 5ish years at which point we will see $80+ again.

    Also I would not recommend to a friend to start a career in oil now. Even with the chinevitable booms, overall the industry will continue to slim. The O&G workforce is saturated today and there will be very few careers in oil for kids born today.

  • creepycougcreepycoug Member Posts: 22,697
    First Anniversary 5 Up Votes 5 Awesomes Photogenic
    Mad_Son said:


    But with oil it is always give it a year or two...all the banks are saying oil is going even higher this year, but the same analysts are also saying nobody will fund oil guys. Which is true right now if you talk to the banks, but if WTI goes over $60 and maybe even $55 you will see a flood of money go into the oil patch because interest rates are nothing.

    I think this piece is key. Operators have gotten really efficient which allows US onshore to keep going. I think that will be played out in the next 5ish years at which point we will see $80+ again.

    Also I would not recommend to a friend to start a career in oil now. Even with the chinevitable booms, overall the industry will continue to slim. The O&G workforce is saturated today and there will be very few careers in oil for kids born today.


    That's what I got from the article. In some ways I think it will be a sad decline in that industry helps define culture, and O&G is its own culture and contributes to American culture. It's been an influencer.
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