How Do Energy Firms Bridge the Gap in the 'Great Compression'?

The oil and gas industry has been on the cusp of transformational change for a number of years, with the COVID-19 pandemic becoming a significant catalyst to accelerate a pivot and implement new ways of working.

Mukul Bhatia, executive professor and director of the Berg-Hughes Center for Petroleum & Sedimentary Systems at Texas &M University, and Travis Parigi, CEO of privately held mobile field operations management solutions company LiquidFrameworks, agree that shifting the minds of management will be among the key drivers to bridge the gap between traditional and innovative companies as a result of the “great compression.”

“Management needs to have a vision of totality across the organization but be nimble and agile about taking bite-size chunks to effect change – take the highest return on investment items and divide them up and down into the service line and geography level – for the highest probability of success,” Parigi said.

“The environment needs to be one where management and employees can work together in a way that they both feel they are doing the right thing for society, investors, and the employees,” Bhatia said.

Other mindset shifts they cite include:

• institutionalize knowledge
• willingness and excitement to change
• uniformity of purpose
• true messaging
• credit to employees
• trust
• collaboration
• allowing the younger workforce to perform their own analysis to develop and evolve new processes as applicable.

“The pandemic was really the accelerator of the oil and gas downturn at the end of the day,” Parigi said. “It’s been a motivator, kind of a wakeup-call if you will.”

Monique Jozwiakowski is the president and CEO of Houston-based MOJOZ Consulting, LLC. Read more about working in oil and gas after the “great compression” in What Lasting Oil and Gas Workforce Changes are Underway?