Kirsten A. Gustafson - Senior Reservoir Engineer at ConocoPhillips
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EDUCATION:
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My favorite college memory was our Petroleum Geology class, where we got to map an exploration prospect on seismic (by hand!), estimate recoverable reserves, and put in a "bid" on a Gulf of Mexico exploration block. The class exercise was based on an area of the Gulf that contained a real discovered field, which was now operated by a major oil company. Our team worked hard all semester, and we thought that we had found a really great prospect! However, when our bid was reviewed and our exploration well was "drilled," it turned out there was no oil and gas there - it was dry! Although I now work as a reservoir engineer, this hands-on experience improved my understanding the methods used by geologists and geophysicists to map exploration prospects, and it has been extremely helpful to me when working with multi-disciplinary teams. I've spent my career so far as a reservoir engineer, in various roles in Houston, Aberdeen, and Stavanger. I began working for ConocoPhillips full-time in 2010 in Houston, Texas. In my first assignment, I worked in our Subsurface Technology department. During this time, I undertook many projects for different types of fields - shale gas condensate, coal bed methane, and others - and solved problems through the use of reservoir simulation. I then moved to the Aberdeen office in Scotland to work as a reservoir and production engineer for fields in the Greater Britannia Area and for the MacCulloch Field. Getting to go offshore, sit in the control room with the operators, and assist with the start-up of wells was a great highlight. In 2014, I relocated to Stavanger, Norway, where I worked in the Exploration Department, searching for the next great oil and gas discoveries in the North Sea, Mid-Norway, the Barents Sea, and Greenland. I am currently still living and working in Norway. I now work on the Ekofisk Field, which was the first oil field discovered in Norway in 1969 and still produces over 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Throughout college, I had the opportunity to serve as Vice President, Webmaster, and Freshman Representative for the UT-Austin SPE Student Chapter. The financial support from the SPE scholarship allowed me to focus on school work, rather than taking part-time job. This also allowed time outside of school to engage in activities on campus. However, the greatest benefit of all, for me, was having a summer internship. I worked for Chevron in Houston during the summer before college in their Heavy Oil Technology Team. Seeing what it was actually like to work as a petroleum engineer and understanding the types of problems you need to solve on the job gave great context for what I learned in university. I wasn't just studying to pass the next exam; I was studying so that I could be a better problem solver in the "real world." And most importantly - during the internship, I learned how much I enjoyed the work as a petroleum engineer, which motivated me to keep studying even times were tough! My advice to current students is that the oil and gas industry is one of the most interesting places you can choose to work. It is global and political; it is fast-paced, constantly evolving, and incorporates interesting technology; it is full of great people; and it impacts nearly every person on the planet. If you are looking for a challenging career that will never bore you, you are in the right place. Contact me at kirsten.anne.gustafson@gmail.com.