Engineer Manager

Walter Rodriguez, M.Sc.

** ******** *****

Mango Hill, QLD 4509. AUSTRALIA

Mobile: +61-413-***-***

Email: ***********@*****.***

SENIOR MECHANICAL / DRILLING ENGINEER

International experienced Mechanical Engineer in the Oil and Gas Industry. Solutions focused and highly knowledgeable drilling engineering professional and manager with over 24 years of experience in onshore drilling operations. Combine advanced expertise in drilling mechanics with strong technical and practical experience in all facets of drilling operations. Resourceful, analytical and detail-driven with capabilities in completing multiple projects with competing deadline. Proven record of successes identifying process, training and technology improvements and optimizations, which delivered measurable results in cost control, efficient team work, risk mitigation and resources management.

Strong team member, able to motivate others to achieve optimal results while maintaining safety methods and practices. Reliable follow-through skills. Clear communicator, both oral and written. Strong interpersonal skills; interface effectively with coworkers, management, internal and external stakeholders. Excel in unpredictable and hectic environments.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

FEED & Process Delivery System for Wells.

Drilling Project Management. Technical support and leadership to office and field operations.

Excellent communicator, both oral and written.

Solid understanding of HSE, drilling safety practices and field operations. Dispensations and MOC.

Firm advocate of cost efficiency solutions.

Exceptional multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team player.

Development and management of drilling standards, operational manuals, technical requirements and procedures.

Peer reviews, peer assists, risk assessments, DWOP’s, CWOP’s, P&AWOP’s processes leader and contributor.

EOWR. Lessons learnt and best practices consolidation, implementation and validation.

Innovative, critical thinker and detail oriented.

Technically sound in unconventional drilling methods (HPHT, UBD, MPD, ERD, CTD, Pad Drilling).

Unconventional plays (Coal Seam Gas, Underground Coal Gasification, Salt Domes).

Mentoring and coaching junior and medium senior staff. Knowledge transfer facilitator. Team Management.

Authority in drilling engineering software.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering

Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela. 1990. GPA 16.65 / 20.00.

Thesis: Performance capacity test procedures for Gas Turbo-compressors in Lake Maracaibo.

Master of Science, Drilling Engineering

Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela. 2000. GPA 18.85 / 20.00.

Thesis: Casing design optimisation for Ceuta and Sur de Lago fields in Lake Maracaibo.

Master of Science, Petroleum Engineering

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, U.S.A. 2002. GPA 4.0 / 4.00.

Thesis: Simulation of Collapse Loads on Cemented Casing Using Finite Element Analysis. SPE Paper 84566.

CAREER HISTORY

Repsol Oil & Gas Australia Ltd. / Talisman Energy Australasia Ltd. – Brisbane, QLD. Australia.

Senior Drilling Engineer, Papua New Guinea Operations. Oct 2014 – Apr 2017.

Leader and contributor to conceptualize, plan and deliver extremely remote complex wells in Papua New Guinea. The process involved the development of a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) and following the Talisman’s Project Delivery System for Wells (PDSW). Managed key processes for the delivery system such as concepts and delineation, cost estimation, all stakeholders’ liaisons from upper management, subsurface, reservoir, supply chain, drilling, completions and government agencies; Hazops, Risk Assessments, Peer Reviews, DWOP’s, Tenders, Procurements, Operational Procedures and Regulatory Approvals, Logistics, Icebreakers, EOWR’s. Monitored drilling operations and provided technical input to operational deviations with MOC when required. Captured opportunities for improvement and lessons learnt, and coordinated the project closure process.

Also, responsible for designing and delivering a P&A scope for a remote well identified with pressure integrity issues with a cost-effective approach, leading a small junior engineering team to assess, analyse, budget and deliver a feasible approach under peer reviews, risk assessments and technological evaluations with minimum operational impact, executing the same in time and on budget with the utilisation of a Coiled Tubing Unit representing 50% savings in comparison with a rig supported option.

Key Achievement: Managed a complex remote US$ 190m two-well drilling project in PNG, in time and on budget. Western Province, PNG. Executed a remote rigless P&A job with an revised budget of 50% reduction compared to conventional approach.

Linc Gulf Coast Operations Inc. – Houston, TX. U.S.A.

Senior Drilling Engineer, South East Texas, Louisiana and Galveston Bay Ops. Mar 2012 – Sep 2014.

Responsible for planning and delivering a multi-well drilling campaign in highly complex compartmentalized mature reservoirs located underneath salt dome formations in South East Texas. FEED for low-cost high-efficiency wells concept in coordination with geology goals and production targets. Well designs required precise directional drilling approach to target several small reservoir pockets along the salt domes edges with the utilisation of formation stabilisation drill-in fluids and mud motor/RSS techniques. Also responsible for multi-reservoir intersection horizontal wells in the Bay of Galveston with the utilisation of barge drilling rigs. Managed the whole process from AFE, equipment and contractor selection, permitting, drilling procedures, operations and projects close-out. Special attention was made to opportunities for improvement and technological innovations to enhance drilling processes. Close liaisons with suppliers and peers to identify improvement actions and deviation corrections.

Key Achievements: Planned and executed a US$ 45m wells drilling campaign. Reduced waste in planning process by 30%. Automated daily operational reporting system.

Linc Energy Ltd. – Brisbane, QLD. Australia.

Senior Drilling Engineer, Underground Coal Gasification (UCG). Nov 2010 – Mar 2012.

Member of the engineering team in the role of co-leader and technical contributor to visualize, conceptualize, design and deliver a unique-approach system of wells to perform as an Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) chamber/generator. My duties were focused in the integrity design for the four-well system to operate in an extreme high temperature environment once the system is fully functional: casing design, cementing design and practices, wellhead selection, systematic step-back coal burning staging approach, Syngas cooling process to allow safe operations inside the thermal well design envelop. Also served as drilling operation support officer. Additionally, contributed to the development of a strategic plan for a drilling campaign of four conventional mid-depth exploration wells.

Key Achievement: Conceptualised, designed and executed an underground coal gasifier wells system for thermal design up to 850 C.

Santos Ltd. – Adelaide, QLD. Australia.

Senior Drilling Engineer, Cooper Basin Ops. May 2007 – Sep 2009.

In charge of planning and executing conventional mid-depth oil and gas wells in the company’s Cooper Basin acreage. Liaised with upstream teams to delineate well’s configurations and positioning. Liaised with drilling contractors, service providers and third-party engineering teams to provide technically tailored solution to improve field operations processes. Project manage drilling operations. Contributed with improvements for well cementing operations, non-productive time reduction, rig move efficiency, and rig compliance inspections. FIFO for field drilling engineering duties.

Key Achievements: Planned and executed a US$ 50m+ wells drilling campaign in Cooper Basin. Improved process to minimize defective cementing jobs on intermediate casings. Optimize rig moving process to yield 30% in time reduction.

PDVSA Intevep – Caracas/Los Teques, Venezuela.

R&D Drilling Engineer / Well Construction Manager. May 1993 – Nov 2006.

Leader, contributor and peer professional for technical support projects all across PDVSA to detect technical necessities, look for best technological solutions, apply innovative and new techniques, provide specialized support, and optimised operational procedures in well construction and maintenance. My duties and responsibilities were the following, but not limited to them:

Identified, visualised, planned and executed well design improvements and optimisation opportunities during FEED and execution phases;

Planned, supervised and followed-up activities for well and field operations: criteria application, equipment selection, mechanical calculations, time scheduling, and budgeting;

Constant update of the drilling technology state-of-the-art and continuous monitoring of field operations to determine project opportunities. Planning and execution of key technological projects.

Technical and commercial authority for the selection, customisation, roll out and training of a corporate computerised drilling system (Landmark and DIMS for Windows – later updated to OpenWells)

Feasibility studies participant for emerging technologies such as Under-Balance Drilling (UBD), Casing Drilling, Expandable Tubulars, Foam Drilling, Horizontal Drilling, deep well’s High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT), Multilateral wells. Project Manager for the optimization and standardization of the company-wide casing and tubing inventory. Author and custodian of the PDVSA’s Casing Design Manual and Procedures. Filled the position of CEPRO Manager (Intevep’s Experimental Production Centre in West Venezuela) for a period of two years, and as Well Construction Manager until Nov 2006. Actively contributor to technical studies, researches, operational trials, and publications.

Key Achievements: Managed technical assistance projects to introduce, trial and customise technological solutions to drilling planning with time and cost reduction of up to 40% in critical processes. Optimised and standardised a country-wide casing design methodology to maximised tubular inventory with savings of US$ 40m.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). Professional Member. Participation in several Conferences and Workshops. Author and co-author of technical publications and served as technical speaker.

SPE Membership No. 1985908. 1994 to present.

LANGUAGES

English, Professional proficiency

Spanish, Native proficiency

PROFESSIONAL MEDIA PROFILE

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-rodriguez

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