From the President - March 2015
 Presidential PonderingsIt’s a wet and cold day in January as I ponder what to expect from oil by the time you read this in March. As I look at the different web sites I see that the WTI price is $45.60 for February delivery and natural gas is $2.88 and gasoline by my house is $1.85 to $1.89. From last month, that’s down $30.00 for oil, about $0.84, and $0.84 respectively, from my ponderings last month. Goldman Sachs is calling for oil to fall to $40.00 and Bloomberg TV says that oil will make a significant recovery in two to three years. Forbes doesn’t know where the floor is but doesn’t expect oil to go above $60 through 2016. I have heard of early retirement packages, quiet layoffs, global layoffs, rig demobilizations, and budget cutbacks. Where will all of this take us? |
It’s a wet and cold day in January as I ponder what to expect from oil by the time you read this in March. As I look at the different web sites I see that the WTI price is $45.60 for February delivery and natural gas is $2.88 and gasoline by my house is $1.85 to $1.89. From last month, that’s down $30.00 for oil, about $0.84, and $0.84 respectively, from my ponderings last month. Goldman Sachs is calling for oil to fall to $40.00 and Bloomberg TV says that oil will make a significant recovery in two to three years. Forbes doesn’t know where the floor is but doesn’t expect oil to go above $60 through 2016. I have heard of early retirement packages, quiet layoffs, global layoffs, rig demobilizations, and budget cutbacks. Where will all of this take us?
Well, it should cause us to take another look at our professional development and career paths. Although these oil price crunch times bring anxiety, they also can bring opportunity. Now is a good time to look forward and plan on attending a HGS talk or taking advantage of AAPG or HGS seminars. As exploration slows down, this can create a window of opportunity for developing new skills or doing a special study.
The term networking is overused. We all say we need to do it, but do we really work at it? Social media provides new methods of networking, but how many of us truly use them? Normally, I feel so busy that I seldom access them. When I am out of the office I don’t make the time to check on those connections or friends. Now is probably a good time for me to “refresh” those connections, provide some endorsements, and make “friends” with new people. HGS can be a great source for new connections and there is no better way to make them than to attend one of our meetings. Check out the Events Calendar for March and April and sign up for a meeting.
An excellent opportunity to network and improve communications with contacts and friends would be to head up an HGS committee. If you have a talent for organization, want to improve your leadership skills, or just have a good time (Tennis and Shrimp Peel committees need leaders), the HGS needs you!
Elections are fast approaching. Chairman Barry Katz, as Head of the Nominating Committee, provided the slate of candidates in January. In February, the candidates were presented at the General Dinner meeting and nominations from the floor were entertained. Their bios should be in the April Bulletin and elections will take place in April and May. Be sure to vote!
HGS is a society run by volunteers and supported by a variety of individuals and companies. The society tries to honor deserving individuals and recognize sponsorship each year. Recognition can sometimes make the difference between someone’s continued participation and their walking away from being a part of the organization. The Board will be finalizing awards for the 2014-2015 term at its April meeting. I encourage you to go to the HGS website, review the award criteria in the June 2014 Bulletin and make nominations for the awards if you know of a deserving individual or company.
By the time this is published, the society will have honored the foundations’ scholarship awardees at Legends Night, had its 2015 Mudrocks Conference, returned to the General Lunch meeting at the Petroleum Club, and participated (I hope) in the Engineering and Science Fair. The Executive Committee will be meeting with the committee chairpersons this month to get and give status reports on the year’s activities.
I still haven’t gotten back to those Looks Back in Time in the history of HGS. However, I did see that the tennis plaques are in the office by Jill’s desk. I need to count the number of times Steve Allen has his name on them. I’m thinking that it is more than four. Steve won his championships with a different partner each time. Shows you what good partners can do! Why don’t you make HGS your partner in career development?