The technology behind horizontal drilling is a multi-step process that involves many people. There are three main types of horizontal wells: short-radius, medium-radius, and long-radius.

Short-radius wells have to make the sharpest turn. These are ideal for wells that have previously been devoloped and for increasing the recovery of natural gas or oil from them.

Medium-radius wells are ideal when the desired resource is a long distance away from the drill site or where reservoirs are spaced apart underground.

Long-radius wells can extend a great distance horizontally. These wells are typically used to reach deposits offshore.

Horizontal drilling allows for an increase in the recoverable petroleum in a given formation, allows for more economical drilling, and has a smaller impact on environmentally sensitive areas. For more information about horizontal drilling, see NaturalGas.org. For more information about staffing in this industry, check out Preferred Personnel’s Facebook page!

At Preferred Personal, we see both good and bad resumes. When writing or updating your resume, remember some of these tips:

• Take your time. Errors in grammar, punctuation, or sentence structure can make a strong resume weak. Read and proofread multiple times before you hand it in.
• Highlight your skills in a concise manner. Recruiters will quickly glance over your resume to pick out the most important details. Don’t clutter up a resume with useless information that won’t help you. Instead, use results!
• Stay professional. There’s no need to have in your resume what your personal life consists of. Save that room for more important things like how your skills will improve the open position.
• Make it easy to read. The format of your resume should be clean and easy to follow. This will help you better highlight your skills in a quick manner.
• Have a “skills summary” section at the beginning of your resume. This is the first thing most recruiters will read which makes it the ultimate first impression tool. Use words that will really grab their attention and make yourself stand out.

For more advice on how to make the most of your resume, contact our staffing professionals and see how they can help you. For resumes that are already perfected, submit it to us now, or check out some of the positions we are currently trying to fill.

Texas.
Texas has a rich history in oil ever since they drilled in Beaumont in 1901. The well reportedly produced 100,000 barrels per day for nine days. Over time, production peaked and declined, but in 2004, leveled out and became a stable source of oil again . The oil industry is currently focused on increasing Texas oil development from the Eagle Ford Shale, the northern part of the Barnett Shale, and the Permian Basin.

Alaska.
Alaska began as a small resource of oil until discovery of oil in the North Slope in the 1970s. The Prudhoe Bay field began being drilled and producing in 1977 and at one point comprised 25% of all U.S. oil production.

California.
California was a major source of oil in the 1800s beginning with operators building tunnels to get at the oil. The first oil well was drilled in 1860 and has been producing ever since.

North Dakota.
North Dakota is the fastest growing state to produce crude oil. Between the years 2005 and 2011, 348,367 barrels per day were reported because of the development of the Bakken formation in the Williston Basin. There over 170 rigs drilling in North Dakota with 95% of these rigs targeting the Bakken and Three Forks formation.

New Mexico.
New Mexico is new in the game of crude oil, the first successful drill producing oil in 1924, but has grown to be a top producing state.

Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s boom in 1897 is due to the Nellie Johnstone No. 1 well. Oklahoma was where Jean Paul Getty got his start in the oil business in the early 1900s, who later went on to run the Getty Oil Company and became one of the first billionaires in the United States.

Exploration geologist: Exploration geologists are trying to find new oil. They are exploring new areas  or “new” formations to find new oil. A lot of explorationists are working on shale plays at the moment such as the Bakken Shale, the Marcellus Shale, the Barnett Shale, the Niobrara Shale, the Fayetteville Shale, etc.

Operations geologist: Operations geologists are the ones who are out in the field. A lot of them are doing geosteering for the horizontal wells—this is a relatively new technology in the world of oil and gas exploration. They spend a majority of their time on rigs making sure they are being drilled properly.

Development geologist: A developmental geologist’s main goal is to exploit/expand existing fields and develop the fields. They are trying to use the newly developed technology to get the “hard to reach” oil that previously was too expensive to get. They drill step-out wells and infill wells. They are also known as exploitation geologists. All fields get developed.

Jillian

*Here is my caveat: I am not a geologist, nor do I claim to be one, this is a Layman’s rundown of these positions.

Habitat for Humanity

PPI is active in the local Midland/Odessa and Permian Basin communities, and not just because we’re reaching out to companies and candidates. We’re an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau, we sponsor a local golf tournament, and we are also active with the American Cancer Society and Habitat for Humanity. We also support businesses and organizations such as: Midland Rape Crisis Center, Safe Place of Permian Basin , Susan G Komen Foundation, and Business and Professional Women. For example: the above photo is from the Habitat for Humanity Women’s Build last May. We also like to sew seeds with our candidates: during holidays we bring cookies or cupcakes to all of our temp candidates at their jobs!

We’ve been in business for 25 years, so we know our community work pays off! We strongly recommend this philosophy to both our client companies and candidates. You don’t necessarily have to start volunteering at a charity; just start with little things at work. Help someone out with their work when they’re overwhelmed or offer to grab someone a coffee when you run out.

This kind of community involvement is even more important for businesses. Whether you’re a small, local business sponsoring a family fun run for charity or a global conglomerate with your own charity arm and scholarship funds, sewing the seeds of goodwill will pay for itself in the long run because people will always want to work with you.

Thank you to our candidates and clients for Preferred Personnel’s 25 years of professional staffing, recruiting, and consulting. We hope to continue serving you for another 25 (at least)!

Here is the basic rundown from my perspective:

Reservoir engineers

Predict performance and reserves for well proposals.

Analyze the risk assessments and economics of major development programs.

Estimate forecasting and reserves for property evaluations and development planning.

Carry out reservoir simulation studies to optimize the recoveries.

Drilling engineers

Well design in support of a field development.

Supervise completion, workover and drilling operations.

Estimate risk and costs.

Production engineers

Asset management planning, evaluation and production monitoring

Production equipment design, budgeting and cost estimating

Interface with regulatory agencies, service companies and working interest partners

Operations engineers

Perform procedures in snubbing, coiled tubing, workover, drilling and operations.

Determine appropriate equipment for construction and facilities operations.

Implement environmentally sound and safe practices in maintenance and field operations.

Completion engineers

Design multilateral and horizontal wells.

Determine remedial and primary cementing procedures along with the installation and design of subsurface control, packers, tubulars and surveillance equipment.

Prepare risk and cost estimates in terms of potential remedies and probability.

Optimize workover and completion designs and operations.

Facility engineers

Help develop plans and budgets and assist operations personnel in reviewing existing facilities to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Manage construction projects, such as the installation of water, gas and oil production, injection and separation facilities (upstream) or refinery and petrochemical facilities (downstream).

Work with compressors, vessels, tanks, power distribution, piping pumps, and computer controls, including adding new features or functionality, installing new equipment and making repairs.

Interview Etiquette During the Interview
1. Make a positive and professional first impression by being assertive and giving a firm handshake to each interviewer and addressing each interviewer by name as he or she is introduced.
2. Reinforce your professionalism and your ability to communicate effectively by speaking clearly and avoiding “uhs”, “you knows”, and slang.
3. Use appropriate working terms. You won’t receive extra points for each word that has more than 10 letters. Use technical terms only when appropriate to the question.

Interview Etiquette After the Interview
1. Shake each interviewer’s hand and thank each interviewer by name. Be sure and ask for a business card.
2. Send a thank you note/email as soon after the interview as possible.
3. Call your recruiter to give them feedback.
• Do you want to continue the interviewing process for this position?
• Why do you feel you want this position?
• Why do you feel you can do this job?
• What red flags came up as a result of your interview?
• What questions do you still need answered?

Here are some common interview questions and how to deal with them:

• Tell me about yourself. (Whenever asked it is usually just to hear the candidate talk, see what their personality is like, and just get to know them a little more. Keep it short, 1 to 2 minutes. Don’t divulge any personal information that could be used to exclude you.)

• What are your strengths? Why should we hire you? (This is an opportunity for you to mention a strength that may not be reflected on your resume. Be sure to give examples.)

• What are your weaknesses? (A good approach is to find a weakness you have and show how you’ve taken steps to try to overcome it)

• Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are your long term goals? What is important to you in your next position? (This question is usually designed to figure out two things: 1) have you given much thought to your career and how this job fits in that plan; 2) does that career match the needs of the company.)

• Why are you willing to look at other opportunities? What do you dislike about your current position? Why are you unemployed? (Avoid negative comments about past employers or managers.)

• Tell me about the position you enjoyed the most? (The interviewer is trying to see if the position is a good fit for you.)

• What interests you about this job? (With this question the interviewee wants to understand your motivations more. This also helps them understand how much you understand about the job.)

• What are your salary expectations? (“That I don’t know, I’ve been focusing on learning more about the position and whether it’s a good fit for the both of us.”)

• Do you have any questions for me? (Now is a time to ask what the next step is in the process and more pointed questions about the culture of the company, what it is like to work there and what the interviewer likes about the company)

Ok So here’s your situation. You’ve been with the same company for years. You are growing tired of it so you start looking at different opportunities. Time for the interview. Panic sets in. You haven’t interviewed with anyone in YEARS! What do you need to do to prepare?

Here are a few interview tips:
Interview Tip 1: Plan ahead – Do a little homework! Research the company and the position if possible, as well, the people you will meet with at the interview. Review your work experiences. Be ready to support past career accomplishments with specific information targeted toward the company’s needs. Have your facts ready!
Interview Tip 2: Role Play – Once you have finished studying, begin role playing (rehearsing). Use the general questions provided below in the Interview Preparation Area. Write down answers if it helps to make your presentation more concise. Try to keep your answers to the information your new employer will want to know.
Interview Tip 3: Eye Contact – Maintain eye contact with your interviewer. Show you want the job with your interest.
Interview Tip 4: Be Positive – In particular, avoid negative comments about past employers.
Interview Tip 5: Adapt – Listen and adapt. Be sensitive to the style of the interviewer. Pay attention to those details of dress, office furniture, and general decor which will afford helpful clues to assist you in tailoring your presentation.
Interview Tip 6: Relate – Try to relate your answers to the interviewer and his or her company. Focus on achievements relevant to the position.
Interview Tip 7: Encourage – Encourage the interviewer to share information about his or her company. Demonstrate your interest by having 3-5 prepared questions regarding the company, manager and/or position.
Interview Tip 8: Don’t give personal examples (remember it is a job interview) always refer to professional examples unless the interviewer states otherwise!

Stay tuned. Next time I will go over several COMMON interview questions.