If you’re looking for a new job in the oil and gas industry, you must ensure that you have the right application letter that opens a window of opportunity. A role in the oil and gas sector is highly specialized, so a regular application letter will not catch the attention of the recruiter. To grab eyeballs, your letter should have all the right ingredients to get you the interview call from the company you have been eyeing. If you are unsure about how to go about it, then here is a detailed guideline:
What is the purpose of the application letter?
An application letter is your first introduction to the company. It must answer the following questions and provide clarity on the same:
In the application letter, do not restate what you’ve covered in the resume. Although, you can give a sneak-peak into your resume by emphasizing your key skills.
How to begin?
Before you begin, remember: Be original. Do not copy and paste the template. Carefully list down the job requirements and note down your achievements and qualifications that match the expectations.
Components/format of a job application
Here is a list of components that you must include in your job application to the oil and gas sector.
The above components will give you a clear idea about the information that you will require to make your application stand out.
Detailed guideline to compose the letter for oil and gas industry
Use a technical CV format
In the oil and gas industry, technical expertise is in high demand. Exploration and production profiles in energy companies require electrical, chemical, mechanical engineering. Now with automation and digitization, IT skills are also in demand. The technical CV format is easily available online and it highlights the relevant technical expertise right at the beginning of the letter format. However, if you don’t find a ready-made format, always include your technical expertise in your cover letter, preferably in the first paragraph itself to highlight your credibility.
Highlight your willingness to travel
Numerous job roles in the oil and gas industry are available in remote locations. The head office is usually in a major city of the developed nation. However, the working centers are in developing nations. Oil and gas recruiters prefer candidates who are willing to work at remote locations and are flexible with traveling. So, highlight relevant experience where you have worked in remote locations. However, if you are a fresher, you may highlight evidence that proves your willingness to travel. You should mention it clearly, that you are internationally mobile and can relocate to any place based on the need.
Commitment to industry and relevant expertise
Oil and gas jobs need a highly qualified, skilled and dedicated workforce. Highlight your work experience that shows your dedication to the industry. Also, highlight your intention to work in this industry in future and your plans to upgrade your skills to stay relevant. Mention any training and development programs that you have been a part of.
Focus and optimize your application
The Oil and gas sector generally has openings in the roles of scientists, engineers, business people/managers, mathematicians, and analysts. Define clearly what job role you are targeting at and what relevant skills you have. Learn about the popular keywords pertaining to your job role and ensure the right usage of keywords in the application.
Show you are future-ready
The oil and gas industry is witnessing many changes due to digitization, automation, social media boost, millennial-workforce entry, big data management, virtual and augmented reality. These changes will impact future job responsibilities and roles. So, highlight your skills that show you are future-ready. Include all new-age skills, relevant experience, certification, training programs that you have undertaken that will boost your chances of selection.
Do not forget to follow-up
Following up after you have mailed your application letter is a must. Be aggressive in your follow-up by stating in your application that you will be following up within a week. However, if the employer has mentioned a process or a timeline for announcement of the shortlisted candidate, then mention ‘you look forward to their response.’ Please make sure you specify clearly how to reach you.
The oil and gas industry has numerous job opportunities if you have the right skills, attitude and talent to work and thrive in this dynamic industry. Just work on your application, customize it based on the specific need and you are good to go. If you are looking for any relevant job openings in the oil and gas sector, do check out the NrgEdge platform.
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Two acquisitions in the energy sector were announced in the last week that illustrate the growing divergence in approaching the future of oil and gas between Europe and the USA. In France, Total announced that it had bought Fonroche Biogaz, the market leader in the production of renewable gas in France. In North America, ConocoPhillips completed its acquisition of Concho Resources, deepening the upstream major’s foothold into the lucrative Permian Basin and its shale riches. One is heading towards renewables, and the other is doubling down on conventional oil and gas.
What does this say about the direction of the energy industry?
Total’s move is unsurprising. Like almost all of its European peers operating in the oil and gas sector, Total has announced ambitious targets to become carbon-neutral by 2050. It is an ambition supported by the European population and pushed for by European governments, so in that sense, Total is following the wishes of its investors and stakeholders – just like BP, Shell, Repsol, Eni and others are doing. Fonroche Biogaz is therefore a canny acquisition. The company designs, builds and operates anaerobic digestion units that convert organic waste such as farming manure into biomethane to serve a gas feedstock for power generation. Fonroche Biogaz already has close to 500 GWh of installed capacity through seven power generation units with four in the pipeline. This feeds into Total’s recent moves to expand its renewable power generation capacity, with the stated intention of increasing the group’s biomethane capacity to 1.5 terawatts per hour (TWh) by 2025. Through this, Total vaults into a leading position within the renewable gas market in Europe, which is already active through affiliates such as Méthanergy, PitPoint and Clean Energy.
In parallel to this move, Total also announced that it has decided not to renew its membership in the American Petroleum Institute for 2021. Citing that it is only ‘partially aligned’ with the API on climate change issues in the past, Total has now decided that those positions have now ‘diverged’ particularly on rolling back methane emission regulations, carbon pricing and decarbonising transport. The French supermajor is not alone in its stance. BP, which has ditched the supermajor moniker in favour of turning itself into a clean energy giant, has also expressed reservations over the API’s stance over climate issues, and may very well choose to resign from the trade group as well. Other European upstream players might follow suit.
However, the core of the API will remain American energy firms. And the stance among these companies remains pro-oil and gas, despite shareholder pressure to bring climate issues and clean energy to the forefront. While the likes of ExxonMobil and Chevron have balanced significant investments into prolific shale patches in North America with public overtures to embrace renewables, no major US firm has made a public commitment to a carbon-neutral future as their European counterparts have. And so ConocoPhillips acquisition of Concho Resources, which boosts its value to some US$60 billion is not an outlier, but a preview of the ongoing consolidation happening in US shale as the free-for-all days give way to big boy acquisitions following the price-upheaval there since 2019.
That could change. In fact, it will change. The incoming Biden administration marks a significant break from the Trump administration’s embrace of oil and gas. Instead of opening of protected federal lands to exploration, especially in Alaska and sensitive coastal areas and loosening environmental regulations, the US will now pivot to putting climate change at the top of the agenda. Although political realities may water it down, the progressive faction of the Democrats are pushing for a Green New Deal embracing sustainability as the future for the US. Biden has already hinted that he may cancel the controversial and long-running Keystone XL pipeline via executive order on his first day in the office. His nominees for key positions including the Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency and Council on Environmental Quality suggest that there will be a major push on low-carbon and renewable initiatives, at least for the next 4 years. A pledge to reach net zero fossil fuel emissions from the power sector by 2035 has been mooted. More will come.
The landscape is changing. But the two approaches still apply, the aggressive acceleration adopted by European majors, and the slower movement favoured by US firms. Political changes in the USA might hasten the change, but it is unlikely that convergence will happen anytime soon. There is room in the world for both approaches for now, but the future seems inevitable. It just depends on how energy companies want to get there.
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In its January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects global demand for petroleum liquids will be greater than global supply in 2021, especially during the first quarter, leading to inventory draws. As a result, EIA expects the price of Brent crude oil to increase from its December 2020 average of $50 per barrel (b) to an average of $56/b in the first quarter of 2021. The Brent price is then expected to average between $51/b and $54/b on a quarterly basis through 2022.
EIA expects that growth in crude oil production from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and partner countries (OPEC+) will be limited because of a multilateral agreement to limit production. Saudi Arabia announced that it would voluntarily cut production by an additional 1.0 million b/d during February and March. Even with this cut, EIA expects OPEC to produce more oil than it did last year, forecasting that crude oil production from OPEC will average 27.2 million b/d in 2021, up from an estimated 25.6 million b/d in 2020.
EIA forecasts that U.S. crude oil production in the Lower 48 states—excluding the Gulf of Mexico—will decline in the first quarter of 2021 before increasing through the end of 2022. In 2021, EIA expects crude oil production in this region will average 8.9 million b/d and total U.S. crude oil production will average 11.1 million b/d, which is less than 2020 production.
EIA expects that responses to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases will continue to limit global oil demand in the first half of 2021. Based on global macroeconomic forecasts from Oxford Economics, however, EIA forecasts that global gross domestic product will grow by 5.4% in 2021 and by 4.3% in 2022, leading to energy consumption growth. EIA forecasts that global consumption of liquid fuels will average 97.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2021 and 101.1 million b/d in 2022, only slightly less than the 2019 average of 101.2 million b/d.
EIA expects global inventory draws will contribute to forecast rising crude oil prices in the first quarter of 2021. Despite rising forecast crude oil prices in early 2021, EIA expects upward price pressure will be limited through the forecast period because of high global oil inventory, surplus crude oil production capacity, and stock draws decreasing after the first quarter of 2021. EIA forecasts Brent crude oil prices will average $53/b in both 2021 and 2022.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO)
You can find more information on EIA’s expectations for changes in global petroleum liquids production, consumption, and crude oil prices in EIA’s latest This Week in Petroleum article and its January STEO.
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