9th INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCERE

YOUNG MEMBERS ACTIVITIES

Student Projects Topic
Technology: Connecting generations in oil industry
The energy demand is rising at faster rate than ever before & Oil sector being major contributor is expanding
exponentially to meet the demand. Now best equipments & technologies are available but there is a missing link
Experienced Professionals!
All the major stake holders i.e. Operators, Contractors & Service Companies are facing the same problem Lack of
experienced Professionals. The Oil industry lost one generation in between; plenty of experienced people are getting
retired. So the problem is severe, need the professional to meet the demand for new business & to fill the gap because
of retirement.
The gap is getting bigger & bigger, the challenge is how to cope up with this? Companies are utilizing their experienced
manpower to get the best, wisely assigning the role, optimizing their use. The industry is looking at young professionals
to fill this gap. Now the second challenge is How to put the young professionals on fast track? The answer is the
Technology, it can speed up the process. Technology is making the task simpler & faster, it can speed up the process of
knowledge transformation - with best training modules, latest simulators, knowledge banks, access to huge past data,
lessons learnt, fast data transfers with latest IT tools, real time decision center, video conferencing with experienced
persons.
The young professionals are comfortable with latest technology. So the technology is the breezing agent between
Young Professionals & experienced people & can fulfill the industry requirement.
EXAMPLE QUESTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED:
1) What are the statistics of energy demand and supply for the past 10 years?
2) What portion do Oil and Natural Gas represent in the world energy mix?
3) What was the contribution of the Middle East in quenching the world energy thirst?
4) Define the different stages of a professional in the industry, e.g. new hire, young professional, midstream professional; experienced professional, company expert, industry expert, etc.
5) The Oil and Gas industry lost at least one generation of professional. Why and how did and will this
impact the industry?
6) For the past 10 years, what can you conclude from analyzing the percentages of professionals within
their last 5 years before retirement when compared to Young Professional with 5 year or less
experience for the following:
Oil and Gas Industry
Upstream
Downstream
Regionally (Middle East, North America, etc.)

9th INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCERE

YOUNG MEMBERS ACTIVITIES
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How fast can the gap between experience professional leaving the industry and new hires be closed
and how can this be achieved?
What are the factors that encouraging industry professionals to retire instead of furthering their
career?
Suggest ways to slow down the retirement of experienced professionals? Examples may include:
Increasing the retirement age in certain countries
Transitional retirement, i.e. work part time before full retirement
Develop special assignments for more experienced professional to help transfer
the knowledge and wisdom in their last 5 years of professional life. Example
assignments include: planning, training, mentoring, improving existing system
etc.
Is there a necessity of more Process Automation? If so what are the advantages? What are the
constrains?
Is there a need to have better political will (International) to mobilize surplus talent pool / workforce
from one area to other?
Why are college Graduates not attracted to Oil and Gas Industry? How can the industry attract more
candidates?
Define Knowledge Transfer and discuss the process for which this can be achieved?
What are the latest technologies for Knowledge Transfer?
How we can Young Professionals be motivated to use the latest technologies to successfully achieve
Knowledge Transfer?
What are the preferred methods to train Young Professionals?
Training module (via internet, variable pace, etc.)
Classroom settings
On the job training
Simulators
Internet based knowledge bank
On the job training while in college, etc.
Suggest ways to initiate systematic interaction between Young and Retired Professionals to create a
forum and platform to enhance Knowledge Transfer.
One way to help in this transfer of knowledge is for the industry to go paperless. What other media tools
can be used to help in this process and why is the industry not fully paperless yet?