re: Where do you see o&g headed in the future?

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These are the things I'm looking to hear..But the slow paced, lengthy deepwater projects are very different than the rapid fire unconventional game. Have any of you worked in both environments?

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I have. Go with deep water. It will open more doors for you. The unconventional plays are usually not very challenging and land work is less stable.

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Very actively being developed by anadarko and noble. The leasing rush came and went. Basically old news at this point.

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It has barely been touched in the western parts of the formation. I live in the area and follow it.

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Monterey shale...guess what several companies have been drilling. The problem is thermal immaturity - it doesn't work

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I worked there 6 months last year. There is almost no drilling going on and California is flat out refusing to allow fracking. They also just put in some ridiculous permit procedures.

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Doesn't work. Prices would have to go through the roof and even then...either shell or XOM gave up on trying to figure out how to extract and the other is still trying. Maybe tech gets there in nxt 20.

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Yes prices would need to go up much higher. I said that in my post. Exxon pulled out in the 80"s but they were only ex-situ. Shell was leading the in-situ charge but shut down after drilling a second project last year. Chevron has plans to try their in-situ process.

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I have. Go with deep water. It will open more doors for you. The unconventional plays are usually not very challenging and land work is less stable.

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That's what I'm leaning toward.

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A) Position with small mid size operator in Oklahoma City. Unconventional reservoirs. Good offer.

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Is this Sandridge? If so I vote for Houston by default.

You can always get an unconventional job later, but a rotation through various disciplines will give you some great fundamentals and training to start off.

Yes, PETE.

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Is this Sandridge

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Not sandridge, fortunately (?)

I'll tell you this because I saw it happen when I graduated in PETE. Don't take a job based on initial offers out of college, they will all be normalized within a few years and it won't matter at all what you made coming out of school. We had kids graduate and go work for some small independents to make an extra $5k/year starting out and ended up getting let go due to a small downturn 2 yrs out of school. Take a job where you can get the most experience and training as quickly as possible right out of school. You can leverage this into much better offers after getting a few years experience. I would recommend some exposure to different areas and see what you really like. I've done a little of each and found i get the most satisfaction out of drilling, the others were just boring as shite to me. Everybody thinks differently though. Also don't rule out going to work for a major, they probably won't match an independents pay out of school but will send you to any training you want to take and after working for a major you can be guaranteed that independents will want to hire you.

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So its unconventional vs. deepwater, and OKC vs. Houston. Gotta decide this week!

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Houston for so many reasons. Without getting into DW v shale, Houston is the heart of the industry with 500+ Operators, all the investment banking and PE firms, etc. if you don't like the co you start with walk down the street and get another job. In OKC your opportunities are limited. You'll eventually end up in htown. And who the frick wants to live in OKC?

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I guess WPX didn't get your message then. They are drilling very successful wells approximately 20 miles from my house.

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Then that is counter to your earlier comment that the Niobrara hasn't gotten going. It is blowing and going...perhaps there has been an extension of the play to the West, but that still doesn't change the inaccuracy of your prior post.

ETA: Looked it up. So WPX is drilling these wells on its Piceance acreage which is HBP and very west of the Niobrara shale play which is centered in the Wattenberg Fld N of Denver.

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It is county specific. I have a friend who is responsible for getting permits for a small oil company in San Luis Obispo. He explained the recent rule changes to me over a round of golf recently. They've made it insanely difficult and outrageously time consuming to get drilling permits.

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You posted that CA would not permit fracking. That was an inaccurate comment. It is permitted, it may be more stringent in some counties but companies have been fracking in the Monterey, albeit unsuccessfully.

In my opinion, you need to look at the company (history, reputation, etc), training program, boss/mentor and long term goals. Onshore/Offshoe/Location shouldn't matter unless you have ties to one of the cities. Houston may have more opportunity, but there is more than enough in OKC.

Training- This is the most important consideration you need to look at. Will you have a mentor? Is there a structured development plan? Is it rotational between disciplines? At the end of the day you're only worth what you can do, not how much you can BS.

Boss- Don't take a job working for an a-hole. It will decrease job satisfaction significantly. Try to make sure you report to someone that has some technical capabilities and isn't a douche...

Company- Consider the office culture when you took the site visits. Do you want to spend most your waking hours with those people? How do they treat their employees? What are the benefits, scheudle (9/80), 401K, etc. That will tell you plenty. Where is the company involved and how active is it? Look at the last quarterly report.

Security- I wouldn't worry about being with a major. If you're with an independent with a good balance sheet and worth your salt, your job will be safe.

I started offshore and moved on land. I learned more on land than I did while I was offshore. That was mainly due to the responsibility level and the level of activity. You will be working with a team offshore for small projects. You will be working with a team on large projects on land... You learn it better when you do it yourself versus watching people.

You need to consider what you want out of your career. You may not know. Are you a corporate person or do you want to work for a small shop or do your own thing. I can tell you, it takes more money to do offshore than it does on land... Most start ups are on land. I think offshore is overrated. I don't agree that it is more stable. Compare land rig activity versus offshore activity.

Houston doesn't have state income tax...