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| A United Kingdom Perspective |
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| | Xavier Lopez
Reservoir Engineer, North Sea Production Team
Studied Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College London MEng (1997-2001) and PhD (2001-2004)
My first experience with the company illustrated some important aspects of what the oil industry, and ExxonMobil in particular, has to offer. I joined the company after a somewhat extensive period at university studying petroleum engineering which inevitably destined me to work as an engineer. Yet my first assignment was with the commercial arm of the company negotiating contracts with foreign companies and interacting with government regulators. Welcome to the oil industry! I have always been captivated by the breadth of careers that are available in the Oil & Gas industry, and no other company uses this strength to your advantage as ExxonMobil does.
I joined ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing Company late 2004 in the Transportation & Regulatory group: “a real job, from day one”, and they mean it. Most people are surprised how quickly you are given responsibilities in the company and this was no exception. I was given oversight of the company’s gas transportation portfolio in The Netherlands. Although the learning curve was fairly steep in the first few months, it presented me with the opportunities to explore an entirely new side of the business such as commercial negotiations and strategy analysis. I was also heavily involved in the planning cycle of the company which gave me a real insight about how a very large company like ExxonMobil goes about setting its business goals and objectives.
In September 2005, after a great year in Gas & Power Marketing, an opportunity came up for me to move to the Production Company. This really illustrates to me how the company best uses its ability to match opportunities and needs with people wishes. I am now working as a reservoir engineer on our operated assets in the Northern North Sea. The position involves a mixture of short and longer-term technical studies to evaluate how best to produce and operate our fields. Typical examples would to develop multi-million pound proposals to management for drilling additional wells in an area of the field. The combination of technical excellence and business judgement required to progress forward most of our projects makes it one of the best positions to be in the company (according to me!).
So far, there’s no telling what will next for me in the coming years. I have had a glimpse of the enormous opportunities that a company like ExxonMobil can offer its employees in terms of career development. This is further strengthened by the world-class training you receive early on and throughout your career. For instance, every new graduate goes the London Business School as part of the Graduate Programme irrespective of your background. Usually this is on top of specialised training you would receive to ensure you’re best placed to perform well in your current role. I feel I have learned a great deal in the last two years which is key to keeping me happy and eager to move to the next challenge.
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