Energy industry faces aging work force

Energy industry faces aging work force

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oct 16 (The Associated Press)

The typical oil and gas man isn't getting any younger. In fact, he's reaching an age where industry officials are wondering who's going to fill his soon-to-be retired shoes.

Many local companies have initiated programs in hopes of encouraging young people to consider entering the field. Devon Energy for example, added 54 inters in tis U.S. offices this year alone. Another 28 interns joined 11 departments in Calgary this summer.

Chesapeake Energy hired between 50 and 75 interns this summer and since 2000 has hired roughly 800 employees.

"At Chesapeake, we try not to just see things but we try to make things happen," said Tom Price, senior vice president, investor and government relations. "We have tried for a number of years to do things to attract more people to the industry."

Devon officials said that with the number of petroleum professionals continuing to shrink, they have to not only attract young talent to the company, but also compete with its industry peers for each new crop of recruits.

Eleven percent of Devon's engineering and geological professionals are eligible for retirement. Another 22 percent will be eligible in the next five years.

"We estimate that up to 35 percent of our current E&P work force, such as our geologists, geophysicists and engineers, in Oklahoma City and Houston will be eligible to retire within five years," said Brian Jennings, senior vice president of Corporate Finance and Development and chief financial officer. "That is a tremendous pool of talent and institutional knowledge to replace."

"Jennings said that the bottom line lies within the critical skills area, engineering, geologic and geophysics.

"We in the industry have seen a real aging of that work force driven principally by an absence in interest in the petroleum industry that occurred starting in the mid '80s through the '90s," he said, adding that the last peak years for the business go back to the early '80s.

"That's when you saw significant amounts of interest from students in careers in petroleum engineering."

Anadarko native Barbara Kline, 22, spent the bulk of her childhood going out to rigs with her father who works for EOG Resources. For this reason, she said, she entered the University of Oklahoma as an engineering major. She also is an intern at Devon.

"It seemed like a natural progression for me to go into this, " Kline said. "It's a great field to be in and there are a lot of opportunities right now."

Chesapeake has given $1.5 million in scholarships to universities across the state and has worked to ensure theirs will be the company of choice for these graduates.But officials also are sure to support people in the rural areas of Oklahoma who might want to consider a career in the oil and gas business.

Jon Payne, 27, also a Devon intern who recently graduated with a master's degree in geology from the University of Idaho, said he wanted a career that would allow him the potential to work outdoors as well as be able to use technologically advanced methods to solve scientific problems.

Geology, he said, seemed a direction of study that fit well within his desire to be outdoors and study physical surroundings. But it wasn't until after his academic career that he decided his talents would be best used in the oil and gas industry and preferably at a smaller company.

"Based on my experience here at Devon, there's really no doubt in my mind that I'll be somewhere, whether it's Houston or Oklahoma City or Dallas or Denver or Calgary," Payne said. "I'm pretty much convinced that I'll be in exploration as a geologist with an oil and gas company."

Devon and Chesapeake certainly are not alone in the quest for talent. Mark A. Fisher, founder, president and chief executive officer at Chaparral Energy said he will continue to hire, especially as company operations continue to expand.

"There's no question that it's very much an employee market right now," Fischer said.

"The demand is in excess of the availability of people who are out there and we are expanding the area that we're trying to draw from in getting these people."

Typically, Fischer said he looks to draw employees from Houston and Midland, Texas. However, he recently hired two from Tulsa, as well.

Besides the attrition rate, Fischer credits the shortage to the current high level of activity in the industry.

"This is a worldwide phenomenon based upon supply and demand," Price said. "As people look at these supply and demand trends, there's going to be a greater inclination to say there is an opportunity to have a good future in petroleum engineering, in geology, in geophysics and we won't have the 15-year absence of interest in this industry that we have from 1986 to about 2000.

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