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The Leading Edge; December 2000; v. 19; no. 12; p. 1306-1310; DOI: 10.1190/1.1438534
© 2000 Society of Exploration Geophysicists
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Life of the geophysicist in the 21st century

An integrated major's perspective

Donald L. Paul

Chevron Corporation, San Francisco, U.S.

Corresponding author: D. Paul, paud@chevron.com

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

This presentation will discuss three components and related questions:

  1. What will the major integrated energy company be in the 21st century? How does it fit and connect into the new economy? And what are the business and technological drivers shaping it?
  2. How does the geophysicist of today fit in this frame of reference?
  3. How will the geophysicist of the 21st century add value to the integrated major? What will be the "menu" of career options?

As we shall see, there will be several areas of opportunity for the geophysicist in this environment, both in expanded traditional exploration and production roles and in emerging roles built on leveraging the unique capabilities of geophysicists into the new-economy elements of the 21st-century integrated major.


   The 21st century integrated major
 
Major business and technological trends are shaping the integrated major of the 21st century (Table 1).


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  		Table 1. Business and technology trends create the 21st-century integrated major

 
On the business side, the powerful trend of investor expectations and competition for investment market share that emerged in the 1990s will continue unabated into the next century. Some would argue that the pressure for increased economic performance will only increase in intensity. The industry consolidation seen in the last two years clearly reflects the efforts by the integrated majors to continue to raise financial performance in terms of returns on capital and increased earnings from volume growth, margins improvement, and cost reduction.

Globalization is already a central strategic theme for the integrated majors, with heightened competition for access to reserves, talent, and technology. Demographics may be the real wild card in the equation for future performance, as the traditional talent pipeline in North America and Europe is stressed to compete for top university graduates who see expanded opportunities in other industries and technical sectors.

The effect of these global business . . . [Full Text of this Article]






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