As someone with over 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, can you explain what makes our industry so special?
Such a good question, and one that I find very easy to answer. Where else can you work with some of the brightest minds in the world, live in many, many different countries, experience diverse cultures, tackle some very intractable technical challenges with smart technology, and make a visible tangible contribution to the economic development of the communities in which you operate? The world is going to continue to need oil and gas for decades to come. Our industry will supply it, but we are innovating and adapting processes to do so as cleanly as possible as we play our very significant part in achieving the Paris Agreement goals, driving emissions down, and inventing and deploying technologies to better manage the carbon cycle inherent in our operations.
What can the IOGP Membership expect from IOGP with you as the new Executive Director?
First of all, I’d like to express my appreciation to the Chairman and the Management Committee; I’m honoured to have been selected for the role, especially at such a pivotal time for our industry. Huge thanks also to Team IOGP and to our Members for the very warm welcome that I’ve received. A special thank you to Gordon for a very good handover and for leaving me with a well organised ship steering a good course.
I am full of ideas but I want them to be properly informed by what I see and hear in my first few weeks on seat, so I am in listening mode but I have a lot of energy and commitment to bring to this role. Front and center of my mind is that IOGP exists in service of its Membership. That means nimbly recognizing the shifting strategies and needs of our members and tailoring our technical and advocacy offerings to ensure that we’re focusing on the highest value deliverables. The strategic review, with its broad mandate, has kicked off at exactly the right time. The team led by Ed Walsingham have done a tremendous job of crafting a series of questionnaires and held many interviews, which I have also sat in on, to gather as much input from every corner of our Membership as possible. I don’t think anyone can dispute that our industry is facing an unprecedented public acceptance issue, despite all the sustainable development activities that our Members undertake globally in support of their license to operate. So, I see an important role for IOGP in being much more vocal and clear on behalf of our industry. I firmly believe that IOGP can and will play an even bigger role in supporting our Members, by extending our reach, strengthening existing alliances, creating new ones, and looking at areas such as the competency and skills frameworks required to best position our workforce for our future. Digitalization has huge potential for IOGP and our Members, both in the traditional E&P space as well as their energy transitions.
I can’t wait to work on all of this with the team and Members, as well as implementing the recommendations from the strategic review.
At the virtual EGM, you described yourself as passionate about the industry. What else are you passionate about?
It won’t come as a surprise to you if I say I’m passionate about my family. I worked very hard to instill the values of respect, truthfulness, kindness, and authenticity as a basis for my lovely five children to live their life by. They do me proud every single day. They also challenge me about our industry and what we’re doing in the area of climate in particular, so we have some very lively Sunday lunches!
Exercise is another passion of mine, so I do spinning classes and work out with my 17 and 20 year old sons who keep me on my toes and with their constant ‘come on Ma, one more rep!’. I would love to have a bit more time for reading which I enjoy a lot, and same is true for exploring my more creative side, I design jewellery in my head and would love to try my hand at actually making some.
As a final point I would like to say that I am so excited by the challenges of the road ahead and I am fully committed to making a difference that can be seen by our members. I’m tremendously fortunate to be supported by such a capable and knowledgeable team.
As Christmas and the New Year approach, I wish each of you and your families a happy time and a safe new year full of health and a little less excitement than 2020!
