By: Sharyn Alden
July/August 2009

The gender ratio is changing as more oil and gas companies are welcoming women into their ranks. It should go without saying that the oil and gas industry is made up of many faces. But if you haven’t looked around lately, you might not have noticed that there are many more women colleagues who are handling energy jobs than there were in recent years. More than ever before, it’s possible for women to find positions in the traditionally male-dominated oil and gas industry.

Women are emerging in frontline and engineering roles, as well as scientists, managers, field and rig workers. Throughout the world women are going head-to-head with male counterparts in a wide range of industry professions. They’ve gained jobs as geologists, petrophysicists, land professionals, refinery workers, offshore rig workers, drillers, and project and office managers.

Schlumberger has said they have 100 women on their technical staff including research and tool installation. Offshore, they have hired about 40 women who are on rigs round-the-clock. Cairn Energy has also started hiring women for challenging offshore positions, as well as hiring women to work onsite at one of India’s biggest projects in the last two decades.

Gathering together to make a difference
It’s probably fair to say women don’t take their roles in the energy industry lightly, but when a large group of women in oil and gas descended upon Washington D.C. in June, their goal was to project a different image of America’s oil and gas companies. Their intent was for Congress to see women’s faces — literally — because after all, these are gas and oil workers, too. Women play diverse roles in today’s energy industry, but they don’t typically come together on a national basis to talk shop. That is, unless they feel passionate about issues that affect their industry.

Besides showing up on Capitol Hill and giving government officials a visual perspective of women as rig workers, oil refinery workers and industry leaders, their outreach efforts were also aimed at appeal. The group wanted lawmakers to hear them say that the decisions they make now are crucial to the future of the energy industry. The women also made the point that the oil and gas industry supports six million American jobs, and many of those jobs are held by women.

The group also made the case that in order to stay competitive with other countries, U.S. oil and gas companies need to have access to develop domestic oil and gas sites. When that is a cogent possibility, more jobs for both male and female U.S. workers will likely follow. That, of course, is a boon for the economy.

In addition to political issues, women are keenly interested in topical energy issues. For that reason, they gathered in Dubai, on May 26 for the 5th annual Women’s Global Leadership Conference in Energy and Technology. It was the first time the conference had been hosted outside of Houston. With more women working oil and gas industry jobs, some of the topics at the conference centered on women in leadership and in engineering.

Dr. Muhammad Saggaf, chief petroleum engineer for Saudi Aramco echoed the importance of the conference by noting that the company has 2,000 students around the globe studying subjects like petroleum engineering and geosciences, and a growing number are women. It isn’t just women who are landing jobs in the oil and gas sector, many more are called upon to take the lead in technical and executive roles.

Inspiring and mentoring women
How do you inspire more women to enter the energy industry? Sometimes, it happens when passionate teachers of geology and earth sciences light a fire under their students. Other young professionals are encouraged through strong mentoring programs or by individuals who have taken time to introduce them to technical and non-technical networks. There’s no doubt about it, coaching on every level can and does empower young women to take career paths that might be considered “offbeat.” Many women won’t automatically plunge into the pursuit of work in the energy sector. What they need are role models, hands-on support, in addition to classroom training. They need people who work in the industry to tell their stories. The advancement of women in oil and gas continues to be an exciting environment. Some argue that even more women would enter the various energy fields if there was a strict quota set up for hiring women. Opponents say mentoring, career counseling and advanced education will go further to accepting women throughout the industry.

Cairn Energy actively recruits women on university and technical college campuses. Some of the women are the first in their families to earn a college degree. The company has about 900 employees and 10.8 percent are women, but by the end of 2009, the number of women employees is expected to rise.

At Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), women make up about 5 percent of the company’s 32,000 workforce. Most are working in non-technical areas of the company.

Every industry has optimists and realists, but when it comes to the future of women in oil and gas jobs, many women are highly optimistic. They see the day coming when their numbers will grow extensively. Others are cautiously optimistic as they recognize that while many companies recognize their potential, they are often not hired to become drilling engineers or for offshore operations. The reason? It’s not their skill sets or expertise. Instead, it’s lodging arrangements for men and women. In some areas, lodging has not yet caught up with the need to accommodate women energy professionals.

A few women in the energy industry have said they believe that a few years down the road women will eventually outnumber men in the energy sector. While that may seem far off right now, think back to not long ago when you would never see a woman technocrat working offshore or women on oil rigs or tool installation.

There is much pioneer work to be done before ladies have unlimited options in the oil and gas sector. Still, the energy business is constantly pushing boundaries so the new reality is this: Women employees can make powerful partnerships as the energy sector breaks new barriers.