FAMILY AFFAIR: Father-Son Duo Heads Up Upstream Consulting Company
It was always Bruce Ganer’s dream of starting his own company. Drawing from his experience at Pennzoil, in which he headed up the company’s worldwide technical services, Bruce felt he could do the same on a smaller scale – put together technical teams and travel the world advising and consulting oil companies.
In 1997, he formed Sierra Pine Resources International, an upstream consulting company based in Houston, Texas.
“I wanted to lead technical people my way,” he told Rigzone. “Sometimes, there’s a disconnect between management and technical teams. I wanted to engineer a closer connection between technical and management in which the technical aspect is really understood and appreciated and upon which recommendations are based.”
Value of Advanced Degrees
For Bruce, who holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering, there was no question as to the importance of higher education.
Even when his bosses would question why he’d “go through the extra trouble” of getting advanced degrees when “he was doing just fine and getting work done,” Bruce knew it would pay off.
“When the layoffs came, I survived. I literally survived more than 30 layoffs,” Bruce said.
It was unclear to Bruce why he and others were still around while some of the “favored sons” were let go until one ‘a-ha’ moment.
“In the aftermath of one round of layoffs, a group of us went to lunch … we all looked at each other and said, ‘I can’t believe so-and-so got let go.’ We all wondered why we were kept,” said Bruce. “Then it dawned on us as we looked at each other – PhD, PhD, M.S., M.S. – there wasn’t a single non-advanced degree that was a survivor.”
Bruce loved school, but he also loved working.
“So many people seem to think education is a silver bullet … all it does is give you an opportunity to do work and do better work than somebody else,” he said. “My education has been solidified by the experiences I have. My education has allowed me to stay employed to compound on my experiences where other people haven’t.”
The significance Bruce placed on education translates to his children as well. His son Jason also put his degrees into action while advancing his career.
Jason serves as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sierra Pine Resources International and works alongside his dad.
Jason, who has a bachelor’s degree in biology with minors in business, computer science and chemistry, was doing genetics research in the lab when he discovered pretty quickly it wasn’t the right career path for him.
“Being in the lab and not having much interaction with other people was not for me,” Jason told Rigzone.
123
View Full Article
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Gunvor CEO Sees Russian Refining Capacity Taking Hit from Drone Strikes
- Sinopec Engineering Posts Higher Annual Petrochemicals Revenue
- Subsea7 Secures Contract to Service Woodside's Trion
- These Factors Helped Brent Oil Price Break Above $85
- Imperial Pipeline in Winnipeg Goes Offline for Three Months
- Adnoc Inks Supply Deal for Ruwais LNG Project with Germany's SEFE
- Gaz System to Acquire Gas Storage Poland
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension