Common Questions and Answers on Oil and Gas

1. What are the various aspects of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria?
The oil industry is made up of three 'sub-industries' – Upstream, midstream and downstream industries. Most times, both the midstream and downstream are jointly
referred to as downstream. For simplicity sake, I will stick to the 2 major groupings – upstream and downstream. The upstream industry deals with exploration, production and sale of hydrocarbon (oil, natural gas, and condensate). Downstream industry
deals with the processing (refining and purification) of hydrocarbon into final refined products; and the distribution, marketing and sales of these final products to end consumers. Traditionally, people prefer to work in the upstream industry as it is more financially rewarding. The upstream industry is roughly divided into the oil producing companies and the oil servicing companies. The oil producing firms in Nigeria include but are not
limited to Shell, Total, ExxonMobil, Agip, Chevron and recently Addax, Sahara Energy
Field Limited, First Hydrocarbon and Seven Energy. Oil servicing firms
provide technical services to oil producing firms.
Several oil servicing companies, both foreign and Indigenous, offer variety of services to the producing firms, depending on the availability of technical resources, capabilities, required expertise and
complexity involved. Some reputable ones include but are not limited to Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Ariosh, Rockson Engineering and DeltaAfrik.
Many firms have stakes in the downstream sector in Nigeria. However, NNPC is the only major firm that deals with refining of crude oil in Nigeria, and owns 4 refineries. There are numerous lube blending plants in
Nigeria owned by Oando, Total, Mobil, Eterna, MRS, Ibeto, Lubcon and a host of others. Companies like MRS, NNPC, Oando, Mobil, Total, Conoil, etc are involved in the marketing and sales of finished petroleum products (cooking gas, petrol, diesel, engine
oil, etc.). Recently, Chevron commissioned a gas-to- liquid (GTL) plant in Nigeria which is designed to convert gas into liquid petroleum products such as diesel, kerosene, naphtha and LPG
2. Do all oil companies pay well?
Oil companies generally provide attractive
remunerations and other incentives but not all oil firms pay as much as expected. It depends on the nature of the company. It may also depend on each individual’s perception of what a good income is. Many indigenous oil servicing companies pay comparatively lower than other players in the industry but offer hands-on
experience. Most reputable indigenous oil producing companies pay relatively well but generally not as well as international oil firms. Employees of multinational oil servicing firms generally earn well. Pay may also vary depending one’s experience, expertise and the risk associated with the particular job (e.g. offshore workers earn offshore allowances in addition to their
regular pay due to the greater risk involved working over waters. Same with divers and access rope technicians who earn on work -time basis).
3. How important are certifications in the oil and gas industry? The significance of certification varies widely depending on the type of job, level of experience required and/or organization. There is no one-size-fits- all answer to that question. But I will limit my answer to entry level positions. Generally, certifications are not very important for entry level graduate technical roles.
A good degree (and possibly but not compulsorily, a Masters degree) is more important than certifications. For middle level manpower and specialized skills such
as NDT and rope access work, certifications are necessary.
Certifications become more important for non-technical roles such as accounting, HR, security, IT, safety, etc. Even then, it is not compulsory. However, the oil industry worldwide generally places more emphasis on experience than certifications, especially in core technical roles. Nevertheless, I
always advise oil and gas professionals to enroll for trainings and short term courses as they build their careers in order to further enhance their skills and competencies, and make them globally competitive
4. Why don’t oil companies in Nigeria recruit so often as compared to banks?
It is funny but I am asked this question a lot of time. Oil companies recruit on as-need basis. They are in for business and do not recruit only for PR considerations.
Many oil firms, especially the indigenous ones are not even patient enough to recruit fresh graduates. This is because it is quite costly and time consuming to train people. They prefer experienced professionals who will hit the ground running.
Many multinational oil firms have structured graduate recruitment programmes but there is currently a lull in
the Nigerian oil and gas industry as most international oil companies (IOC) and their associated oil servicing firms are putting planned investments on hold due to the uncertainty surrounding the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the state of insecurity in the N/Delta. Oil companies spend a lot of money ensuring the security
of personnel and their assets, money that could be spent in investment. Lesser investment means fewer job creation.
In addition, there is low labour turnover in most oil and gas companies as their employees hardly quit their jobs until they retire. Most of them spend their entire career working for a particular company. This invariably means that there are fewer vacancies.
5. What course or certification can I acquire that will guarantee me an oil job?
Answer is simple. There are no guarantees. However, there are some courses and certifications that place you at a better advantage than others. I will discuss that later.
6. I have often heard that oil firms, especially the IOC’s do not pay pensions. Instead, they pay off their retiring employees. How true?
This is far from the truth. That’s one of the ‘myths’ associated with IOC’s which I heard long time ago. Reputable oil and gas firms in Nigeria have a well- structured, comprehensive and robust pension system
in line with Nigeria Pension Reform Act 2004 (now 2014).
7. What are the most sought after disciplines in the oil industry?
The oil and gas industry is a very vast and requires a wide range of disciplines. Almost all the major disciplines are required in the sector. Disciplines related to humanities, medicine and occupational health, social sciences, sciences, safety, IT, engineering, biological sciences and arts are required in
various ways. But the industry is largely technology driven. Thus STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses tend to be higher demand,
specifically engineering, and to a significant extent, geosciences. Mid level workers such as operators, technicians, roustabouts, crane operators, etc. are also required. Major engineering fields such as petroleum,
electrical, mechanical and chemical can easily fit into almost all the engineering positions in the industry.
Other fairly demanded disciplines include safety, social sciences and IT (Read my article on Top 10 Most Demanded Jobs in the Oil and Gas Industry on enochgist.com).
8. What are my chances with a 2.2?
Jobs in the industry are generally very competitive. Even those with very good grades still find it hard to break in. There are really no guarantees and it always
takes an element of 'luck' to break into the industry. With a 2.2, the chances are much lower, especially with reputable and established oil producing/servicing Firms. The most practicable way to go around this is to aim for smaller oil firms and/or get some relevant specialized certifications. Getting additional degree may help as one acquires some experience in the sector. Networking can also be very helpful in securing a job.