Our industry is graying. The mentors in many of the major companies are gone, the in-house training programs in many major companies are gone, and the research centers in many major companies are gone. Comparing the E&P landscape just 15 years ago, many of the major companies themselves are gone, and have been replaced with very different looking organizations. And in 10 years, many of the people now working in the business will be gone.

The industry has been thinking hard about the “big crew change”. And because it takes 10 years to educate and train entry level university students in the geoscience and engineering disciplines so they can effectively contribute to their companies with minimum supervision, there is no time to lose. A further challenge is how to build and maintain skills once professionals have entered the industry.

This talk reviews why relatively few graduates in engineering and the geosciences have been considering entering the Oil and Gas industry, and how the upstream business can make itself more attractive to young undergraduates. It will consider the education they can be given in universities so they are most effective upon graduation, and at how to develop and retain them through their careers.