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PJVA PEOPLE
The New "JI Guy?"
Steve Roberts - Director, Newsletter and Website
During the PJVA Board strategy session in the fall (see Strategy article), a fair amount of time was spent discussing just who it is that PJVA represents. This led to discussion on what the various roles were within the scope of Joint Interest teams and what it took to achieve success (for both the individual and the company) in these roles. Perhaps most importantly for the Board Strategy session, we discussed the role of PJVA in providing direction and support on these important issues.
While we had some information on the makeup of the membership, it was clear to us that in the twenty-two years since PJVA was formed, the make-up has evolved. On the Board itself, we have engineers, administrators, a lawyer, a kinesiologist and a former bureaucrat to name a few. It was unclear to us however, whether or not the role of the Joint Interest profession within the industry was evolving into a more administrative function. Is the traditional technical role being retained? Are we there to "dot the i's and cross the t's", or are we providing valuable technical and strategic advice to the business development teams we support?
A typical job posting for a Joint Interest Representative position would likely include the requirement to hold an engineering or other technical degree and have ten years industry experience. Yet is this reflective of our current hiring practices for this role? In this labour market environment (where technical skills are at a premium), can we expect to have all Joint Interest Representative positions filled by people with these qualifications? Are such specific qualifications necessary, or are there other combinations of education and experience that would lead to a successful career as a Joint Interest Representative? Can we compete for this technical expertise, or should we be casting our net more broadly?
Based on a survey of companies, there appears to be a large degree of similarity in the Joint Interest Representative's responsibilities. The representative generally reports to a manager or supervisor of Joint Interests (who are often Joint Interest Representatives themselves). They are full members of the business or property team. Common activities include:
- central point of communication/coordination on joint venture issues internally and externally
- heavily involved in seeking 3rd party production into company operated facilities
- responsible to ensure accuracy of joint venture business terms in corporate accounting systems
- involved (to varying degrees) in the negotiation, drafting and execution of joint venture agreements
- monitors or manages the mail ballot and AFE administration for joint properties
- performs (to varying degrees) a property review function that includes a profitability review and optimization recommendations
At EnCana, three individuals (myself being one of them) have recently been hired into Joint Interest roles. None of us are engineers (although we can all do a good impression), but we all have a background in the oil and gas business in one form or another.
Steve Pretula came to the team in the summer of 2006 as a Joint Interest Analyst. His educational background consists of a Chemical Engineering Technology Diploma from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). In 2001, at the age of 19 he was hired on immediately with EnCana as a Field Operator in a small oil field east of Stettler. After a year and half stint in the field, he moved into the Parkland Control Room located in Ponoka, where he spent the next three and half years. Steve says that getting used to the business-orientated surroundings in the corporate side has been a challenge. But with his experience and exposure to the field surroundings (he can "talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk") he brings a unique perspective to the Joint Interest Team. He is able to draw on his understanding of field operations and apply his knowledge to various Joint Interest activities and is a valuable resource to the rest of the team. He is frequently consulted by all members of the team for his expertise in field operations.
Shane Moss joined us as a Joint Interest Representative in the fall of 2006, migrating back to his homeland of Alberta after spending ten years working for a Shell joint venture oil and gas transport company in Bolivia. With the government's recent decision to re-nationalize their oil and gas assets (which included the publishing of salaries of the foreign workers), he had a desire for his family to get to know Canada and felt it was time to return to Calgary. In Bolivia, Shane managed the Planning, Budget and Tariff department which was also responsible for governing the company's investment in the Bolivia to Brazil pipeline.
Prior to moving to South America, he worked for over five years in NOVA Gas International in the area of Business Development, reviewing and evaluating gas infrastructure investment opportunities in Central Europe and Latin America. While attending the University of Calgary, where Shane received his Bachelor of Commerce degree, he spent a number of summers employed as a student at NOVA working at various compressor facilities and walking many miles to perform leak detection and helping with the installation of numerous pipeline facilities. Learning the upstream side of the business is a challenge that Shane is looking forward to mastering.
As for myself, I joined the EnCana Joint Interest Team in the summer of 2005 after spending two years leading the Surface Land team for EnCana's Northern Alberta and BC operations. For twelve years prior to that, I was employed with the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines in positions ranging from summer student to Assistant Deputy Minister (I am the former bureaucrat mentioned above). My educational background consists of Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Economics. I have not had formal technical training in the Oil and Gas business; however, over fifteen years I have learned (and continue to learn) the technical side of the business by osmosis. I must have absorbed something over the years, as I have often been mistaken for an engineer (although I'm not sure to take this as a compliment or otherwise). I am thoroughly enjoying the Joint Interest world and feel that despite my lack of formal technical training, the combination of my experiences is supporting my success.
To help answer the question at hand, it is clear to me that success in the Joint Interest world is not so dependent upon the letters after one's name on his or her card as it is upon the experience, training, attitude, and aptitude of the individual. The support network surrounding us seems to be of equal importance. For larger companies, much of this support is available in-house, but as PJVA members we all have the collective wisdom and support of our peers to draw upon (hence the importance of networking at events like the PJVA Golf Tournament on May 30!).
To be sure, having the technical know-how is a huge advantage - probably a necessity. How that knowledge is acquired is perhaps less important to success than the ability to combine it with some "softer" skills to create business solutions. The JI guys or gals of the future may not look like the JI folks of the past. They will need a combination of technical knowledge and many other abilities. These may come from a combination of formal and informal sources. The ten-year engineer will surely be a part of the mix, but so may the ten-year accountant or plant operator. Successful hiring practices will require that we adhere to high standards while recognizing that those standards can be achieved in a variety of ways.
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