Sourcing new oil and gas fields

Within the Oil and Gas industry exploration is one of the fastest growing areas. As oil runs out, new reserves have to be found. Also newer methods of obtaining the oil need to be researched and developed. As the more accessible oil fields are used up new oil fields are found that are simply unobtainable through existing drilling methods. The exploration sector of the Oil and Gas Industry covers jobs such as geologists, drilling engineers, reservoir engineers and production engineers.

Commonly if there are cut backs in the ‘upstream’ jobs then there are cuts across the whole of the sector; similarly the adverse is also true. With an increase in jobs in the ‘upstream’ sector more jobs become available in the ‘midstream’ and ‘downstream’ sectors. Midstream jobs are concerned with the transportation and refining whereas downstream jobs are wholesalers and retailers. Of course there is a period of delay whilst upstream jobs increase in order to find new reserves, or easier ways of drilling existing reserves, but once more oil is made available for production and sale then the demand for midstream and downstream jobs grows proportionately.

Simply put, as oil prices soar, more oil is needed to bring the cost down and as jobs increase more oil is needed to work with. New oil reserves are found on a regular basis. Last year, for example, Brazil found a huge new oil reserve off of its coast. The new reserve, believed to contain between 5 and 8 billion barrels of attainable oil, is set to make Brazil one of the world’s largest oil producing nations. What’s more it is set to guarantee job growth in the sector into the near future.