CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
IADC has focused a lot in recent years
on engaging with the next-generation
workforce through our Student Chap-
ter program, including a chapter at
Perth’s Curtin University, and our Young
Professionals Committee. What would
you like to see the industry do in Aus-
tralia to develop tomorrow’s talent?
I think the Student Chapter program
is a fantastic program, and it’s certainly
important to engage with people early in
their careers. With this younger genera-
tion, we need to communicate that there
are exciting career opportunities available
in the oil and gas sector.

The key challenge is that we don’t have
this understanding of the long-term role
of oil and gas in the energy mix, and par-
ticularly the importance of our sector in
the net-zero transformation. It’s going to
be important to communicate that young
people can do a huge amount of good
working in this industry. It’s not just about
energy security and the economic contri-
bution that the industry brings, but also
supporting that transformation.

Additionally, these are highly skilled,
well-paying jobs, and in many cases they
are opportunities for having a global career.

It’s important that we really communicate
that opportunity for young people to build
an exciting career.

You’ve said previously that the indus-
try’s role in the community is misun-
derstood and that it’s important the
industry doesn’t just “talk among our-
selves” about the value of oil and gas.

What can the industry do to better
educate the public about what it
does? How can we “win them over,” so
to speak?
It’s certainly a challenge, but we have
an excellent story to tell as an indus-
try. Here in Australia, we’ve committed
to net zero, and we see ourselves as being
key enablers of that net-zero pathway, but
many people don’t appreciate the current
role of gas today. People associate it with
their home heating, but it powers about
40% of our manufacturing sector and plays
a broader role with the electricity we gen-
erate. Communicating those benefits to the
broader community is a great benefit.

34 Also, within our industry, we’re focused
on working with other industries to sup-
port not just energy security and the eco-
nomic benefits of our industry but also
decarbonization efforts. We’re working
with the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organization to look at
how we can support regional decarboniza-
tion, support opportunities for CCS, low-
carbon hydrogen, renewables and natural
gas. This is a way that our industry can be
working with other sectors on the decar-
bonization pathway.

A 2022 report – jointly commissioned
by the Australian Energy Producers,
the National Offshore Petroleum Safety
and Environmental
Management Authority, and the Offshore Alliance –
focused on the mental health of off-
shore workers in Australia. Have the
findings led to any initiatives to
address those challenges?
This was a survey of workers that we
undertook in 2021, well in the thick of
the COVID-related impacts. We wanted
to understand the general wellbeing and
mental health of the workforce. We think
this has been a really important initiative
because it’s supporting a baseline for us
to do future surveys and reports. We’ve
been able to take the learnings from that
survey and share them with the industry
in workshops and events hosted by us and
by the regulator.

We need to ensure that our workers are
supported, that they feel like they are a
part of a community, and that they have
access to the services that they need to
ensure that their wellbeing is looked after
in the workplace.

Australia is one of the world’s largest
LNG exporters, yet the country has only
seen one LNG project reach FID in the
last decade – Woodside’s Scarbor-
ough project. What role do you see
LNG playing in the country’s energy
mix moving forward, and how will that
affect drilling contractor s?
Australia is a huge exporter of LNG.

Our LNG exports in 2022 were around
$92 billion, so it’s really important to our
economy. LNG is also playing that role
in our region for energy security and
emissions reduction, so there’s a grow-
ing need.

When we look at countries like The
Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and
potentially even New Zealand import-
ing LNG, there’s a huge market and a
huge opportunity. But again, Australia has
had some challenges in terms of being
able to attract that investment. There’s
still investment occurring, of course, for
ensuring that we can keep the existing
LNG trains operating in full so we can
continue to meet that demand in the
region. From an Australian perspective, we’d
like to see another investment wave in
LNG. The demand is there in our region.

We’re close to these demand centers, and
as countries shift away from coal, that
reliance on LNG will increase. Australia is
well positioned to play an important role.

It’s inescapable that we have a strong
demand for gas. Domestically, that requires
new investment, and that means new
drilling. Also, in our region there’s a huge
demand growth. It’s a real pathway for
drillers to see substantial demand, more
investment and more activity. DC
» Click to
watch DC’s video
interview with
Samantha McCulloch.

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