Wanted: A few more good people!

Oct. 2, 2000
We should all be happy, right? The rig count is over 1,000. Natural gas is over $5/MMcf. Oil is trading for $35/bbl.

We should all be happy, right? The rig count is over 1,000. Natural gas is over $5/MMcf. Oil is trading for $35/bbl. The oil and gas companies are reporting record profits. The oil and gas service companies are working at 150% capacity. So what's missing in all of this? People. The simple fact is that there are more people leaving this industry every day than there are coming in. From roustabouts to petroleum engineers to exploration geologists and geophysicists this industry is hurting from 25 years of boom-to-bust cyclical uncertainty. What college sophomore or junior is going to change his or her major to petroleum engineering in hopes that this boom will last? Can this industry guarantee them that the roller coaster ride that most of us have been on for the past 2 decades is not over?

I don't have the answers to these questions but I do know that the domestic oil and gas industry cannot survive without highly qualified and well-trained individuals to carry out the work. These are the same individuals who will be asked to find, drill for, and produce oil from water depths approaching 10,000 ft. They will be asked to design and install floating production systems that weren't even conceived of 10 years ago. And they will be asked to do all of this safer, smarter, and cleaner than it was done 20 years ago. In light of all that, $2/gal gasoline is a bargain.

The world in general and this country in particular are running out of oil. While we search for alternative sources to fossil fuels, the US government should strive to help this industry rather than scold it for making a profit. The government should open up more acreage to domestic drilling and approve the use of floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO) in the Gulf of Mexico as soon as possible. The government should encourage a stable domestic oil and gas industry to attract the thousands of qualified workers that the industry needs to find the oil this world so desperately wants. Instead of the US government blaming OPEC for high gasoline prices, why not help out oil and gas producers at home. You might be surprised at the results.

While we search for alternative sources to fossil fuels, the US government should strive to help this industry rather than scold it for making a profit. The government should open up more acreage to domestic drilling and approve the use of floating production storage and offloading units (FPSO) in the Gulf of Mexico as soon as possible.

The government should encourage a stable domestic oil and gas industry to attract the thousands of qualified workers that the industry needs to find the oil this world so desperately wants. Instead of the US government blaming OPEC for high gasoline prices, why not help out oil and gas producers at home. You might be surprised at the results.

Jeffrey R. Hughes
President
HTK Consultants Inc.
Houston