IADC Annual General Meeting: ExxonMobil manager defines what makes an industry champion
The Annual General Meeting of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) opened its first, full day of conference proceedings on Thursday with a lively opening session, the keynote breakfast. This session saw IADC hand out its Exemplary Service Award, as well as feature a stimulating presentation on what constitutes an “industry champion.”
Exemplary service. This year, the IADC Exemplary Service Award was given to not one but two deserving recipients. The association recognized Ron Lee, V.P. for Marketing & Contracts, Eastern Hemisphere, at Noble Drilling Corporation, and Chris Menefee, President of Unit Drilling Company. They were cited for their multi-year work in helping to establish IADC student chapters at a number of universities. Indeed, it was announced at the breakfast session that $250,000 is now included in IADC’s budget to help service and run these chapters.
The IADC Exemplary Service Award recognizes an individual notable for outstanding contributions to the drilling industry and to IADC. Recipients have, during their careers, repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to improving the drilling industry and advancing its safety, training or technology.
Defining an industry champion. After the award section of the breakfast session, a fun, stirring description of what constitutes an “industry champion” was delivered in the keynote address by ExxonMobil’s Operations Manager for Unconventional Wells, Jason Gahr. He said that there are three basic things that industry champions do, to fulfill such a role:
- Improve people by investing time and effort in their success
- Inspire and support innovation and technology to make the industry better
- Explain how energy makes people’s lives better.
On item number one, Gahr noted that the industry, has had over time, “a relative decline in people.” Some of that, he acknowledged, is due to unavoidable effects of the pandemic, which spurred a big drop of activity and resulting layoffs. And even after that, he added, “we have a lot of headwinds in our industry, especially in the workforce.” He stressed that the industry has to find better ways to retain its professionals, and this is where industry champions can be very effective. “People don’t quit jobs, they quit people, “observed Gahr. This editor could not agree more with that statement, having seen many instances of the years.
Regarding item number two on innovation and technology, Gahr noted how industry champions are those people in companies and organizations that advocate for innovative items and new technologies, even when others may not readily see the advantages or recognize the breakthrough potential. “After all, it took 22 years for top drives to be fully adopted by the E&P industry,” explained Gahr. “They were first introduced in 1982, but it wasn’t until about 2004 that they were widespread in operation.” Another current example he cited was person-less rig floors. “They were first designed in 1995, but it looks like it’ll take 30+ years for them to become
widespread, even a longer timeframe than top drives.” Gahr said it’s his hope that a number of industry champions will step forward to push forward the new technology and shorten the adoption time.
And in reference to item three, Gahr reminded the crowd of an indisputable fact: Energy is essential to improving the quality of life. “In the industry, we know that all energy types are vital to a prosperous, lower-emissions future,” he said. “And it’s also a fact that we burn twice as much fossil fuel, in terms of mass, as the amount of water that we drink.” Gahr said this is where industry champions can be helpful in spreading and explaining these facts to the general public.
Gahr’s experience covers 25 years, from when he joined Mobil in 1998 after earning a petroleum engineering degree from Texas A&M University. After the merger with Exxon in 2000, Gahr has worked in various roles for ExxonMobil across the drilling and completions spectrum. He has worked in operational leadership roles in Qatar, Russia, the U.S. and Canada, encompassing extended-reach drilling, HPHT drilling, completion and workover operations, land, offshore and floating drilling operations, and arctic environments. Thus, he certainly has the background to assess what constitutes industry champions. ``
