“SOMEONE EVEN CALLED ME TO ASK HOW I WAS”
“People who have always worked offshore in the North Sea really don’t know how good they have it,” told a well service engineer to me when we got chatting at a birthday party the other day. He worked in other oil hotspots for 18 years, and one of the reasons why he moved to the UK is that he wanted to see his children grow up. “I was always away on jobs,” he said, “because there is no consideration for having time off in many parts of the world. You’re being sent from one job to the other, and if you refuse, there are others lined up to take your place. I do have time off now, and even receive calls from my employer to ask how I’m doing when I’ve done my back in. Unbelievable!”
A DISCOVERY THANKS TO A TILTED CONTACT
On my way home to Aberdeen, I sometimes bump into old acquaintances at the airport. And sometimes that results in hearing something interesting. In this case, I learned that the Halfdan field in Denmark only turned out a discovery – quite a big one actually – because of a tilted oil-water contact. If this would not have been the case, and the contact would have been flat as it is in most cases, the oil accumulation would not have existed. Just another example of how things can work in the subsurface.
MOVING BACK TO OIL
I see people moving back into oil who were previously fierce supporters of the energy transition and all its opportunities. It paints a clear picture; ultimately, people need a job, and if these jobs cannot be found in the energy transition, oil is still a place to go to. Even those who shout about geothermal the hardest may actually still earn pennies in oil. Let’s sometimes step back a bit and acknowledge that oil still makes the world move, whether we want it or not.
BRAZIL MAKES A DIFFERENCE
On two unrelated occasions, I got to talk with someone about Brazil’s policy to spend 1 % of their petroleum money on research and development. And it made me more aware of the difference this makes. Petrobras recently organised a workshop on geothermal and hydrogen, where they invited a whole group of experts from around the world to share their knowledge. All expenses paid. At the same time, research is being done on all sorts of energy-related matters, also on aspects that may be regarded as more academic, such as determining the exact age of the pre-salt reservoirs. It is fascinating to see how money can be spent wisely, with a simple rule in place.
