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Job
overview
With solid positions in the North Sea, Africa,
the Middle East, Asia and the Americas,
the Group's Exploration & Production
sector sustains the growth of production
and reserves at a rate that makes Total
an outstanding achiever in the industry.
Geologists along with Geophysicists play
a particularly important role in exploration,
where success is a first requisite for future
production and reserve replacement.
Geologists conduct studies of prospective
areas. Their evaluation and the proposals
they make have major importance in decisions
to take out exploration permits.
They take part in wellsite operations where
they participate in monitoring well geology,
reservoir identification and interpretation
of the subsurface.
The focus of their work may also be to determine
reservoir geometry and to calculate reserves
for fields under development by the Group.
Geologists specialized in sedimentology,
geochemistry, stratigraphy and other fields
may carry out laboratory work, to analyze
cuttings, for example, to establish geologic
models or to carry out studies on the quality
of the reservoir rock.
Total also involves Geologists in research
projects and technological development.
First steps
Junior Geologists often start out in Subsurface
Geology at Total, acquiring experience first
at Head Office and then at the wellsite.
At Head Office, in a "regional"
or "reservoir" team, they work
on solutions to particular problems submitted
by the Group's subsidiaries or on studies
in the context of contracts involving technical
assistance. At subsidiaries, they have assignments
that include well supervision, description
of the facies encountered, log interpretation,
detection of oil and gas shows, reservoir
geology, and reservoir evaluation.
Junior Geologists may also start at the
Pau Research Center in France, where they
take part in different studies and in research
projects conducted with outside laboratories.
Career options
Geologists may choose to develop their career
at Head Office, in a subsidiary or in the
laboratory and add management responsibilities
to their technical expertise to become Project
Managers or Experts. They may also opt for
career paths in areas such as reservoir
geology, geotechniques or the environment.
Our recruitment
criteria
University or equivalent training covering
the different geosciences (Ecoles des Mines,
ENSG, IGAL). A specialization in ENSPM,
Imperial College, College Station is a plus.
Adaptability, mobility, initiative, sense
of teamwork, interpersonal and communication
skills.
English, fluent French. Other languages
are a plus.
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Testimonial
Isabelle B. - Age : 27
Geologist (Exploration & Production)
Degrees in Geology (DEUG B) and Earth Sciences
(DEA),
post-graduate studies at IFP (Institut Français
du Pétrole),
specialization in Geology at ENSPM (Ecole
Nationale Supérieure des Pétroles
et des Moteurs).
Joined the Group in October 1999 after a
first working experience at BP Amoco, Houston
(Texas).
What does a Geologist
do ?
A geologist helps to evaluate subsurface
structures, to build and refine geological
models and determine the quantity of oil
or gas trapped in the rock. Sometimes that
means working on projects at the office,
in what we call "multi-disciplinary"
teams, and sometimes that takes you right
to the heart of operations out on the field.
In my case, after getting first experience
in evaluating mining permits, I went back
into operations and "rock crunching"
- I spent one year on site in Yemen, in
the Hadramaout valley.
What did that involve
?
I kept track of drilling operations and
collected data to check whether the formations
we were traversing matched our predictions
- they rarely match 100%! A mud logging
team was there to continuously collect and
analyze samples of the rock while drilling
was going on. I studied the samples and
sent my interpretations to the office in
Sana'a every day. Coring and logging are
often necessary to evaluate a well - both
operations are long and expensive, and for
pertinent results, they have to be supervised
very carefully. It's always a thrill to
see a core come up from nearly 3 kilometers
below the surface - especially when it's
full of oil !
What's a typical
day on site ?
I'm not sure " typical " applies
to this zig-zag rhythm: you spend four weeks
on site and then have three weeks off. On
site, the day starts very early, the first
thing is to prepare a detailed activity
report on geological operations in the past
24 hours, and to send that off to the office
in the city. During critical operations,
you sometimes keep going 40 or 50 hours
with little or no sleep. It's an exciting
job, but you have to know how to pace yourself
and relax from time to time to be in shape
for these periodic sprints.
What are the upsides
of this profession - what do you like about
it ?
I particularly like working on site, because
that helps me understand the geological
facts of the structure, you're right in
the action, and you instantly see the implications
of the decisions you take. Geologists have
enormous responsibility on site, because
they guide the drilling operations and are
supposed to know the best solutions for
the formations encountered. When you know
what financial stakes are involved in an
oil well, you think carefully before making
your decision !
What are the downsides
- what don't you like about it ?
Being a female in the pretty macho world
on site isn't always very easy. But it can
have its advantages, too: people are quite
protective, so you often get spoiled a bit.
Apart from that, the work rhythm or rather
non-rhythm can throw you off at first, but
it suits me fine. The hardest thing to deal
with is little sleep, and sometimes the
climate. But in this work, it's essential
to be able to stand the pressure during
tricky operations, and to keep cool.
What qualities do you need for this job
?
It isn't always easy to spend four weeks
in a world apart, with people you've never
met before: you really need to know how
to work in a team, how to communicate, how
to perk people up, and stay peppy yourself.
You definitely can't be someone who likes
to pick on little details ! And you have
to know how to assert yourself, without
losing you temper - although sometimes a
little temper tantrum here and there can
be very useful…
How do you see
your career developing in the future?
I've just joined the Well Interpretation
department in Paris, and I think my field
experience will be valuable for a new look
at data that my colleagues have collected
in Bolivia. After that, I'd like to get
more experience in reservoir geology so
that I can work at a level covering the
full scope of an oil field. Ideally, I'd
like to work in a foreign subsidiary very
soon, where you're in touch with all the
many facets of this profession.
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Testimonial
Arnaud L. - Age
: 27
Geologist (Exploration & Production)
Post-graduate degrees in Geology from IFP
(Institut Français du Pétrole)
and ENSPM
Joined Total in July 2000, after a 2-year
work-and-study program at Elf.
What does a Geologist
do ?
It's a profession with many facets at Total.
I work in what we call the Petrophysics,
Operations & Wells Department, a must
to understand oil basics and to get to know
all the aspects of wellsite geology. My
job is to make sure that the exploration
teams get answers to their questions about
the wells being drilled, and especially
that data acquisition and transmission is
working efficiently - and that costs stay
down for all those operations!
In actual practice, what does that involve
?
I'm just finishing 6 months of training
covering all aspects of geology for operations.
For that, I spent a lot of time in other
countries getting training from various
contractors that I'll be working with in
the future. After this training, my time
will be divided about equally between assignments
abroad and work at the Group's Head Office
in Paris.
What's a typical
day in your job ?
At the office, part of my time is generally
spent on synthesis and interpretation of
data collected during drilling operations,
and the other part is preparing future assignments
- life has a fairly regular rhythm. But
out on the field, we work in rotation -
one month on site, one month off - and there
are no fixed hours. There's action 24 hours
a day, especially during special operations
like logging and coring. Soon I'll be off
to southern Gabon, for one month of exploratory
drilling in a remote onshore location. After
that my first settled position is waiting
for me in Abu Dhabi, where I'll be monitoring
the advancement of offshore wells over a
period of several months.
What are the upsides
of this profession - what do you like about
it ?
Above all the diversity - the diversity
of the places and the people we get to work
with, and also the diversity of the technical
aspects during operations. But I also enjoy
the technical challenges and the thrill
of taking samples and getting information
on what's lying there 4,000 meters below
the surface. The study of subsurface geology
is the gateway to many different professions
in an oil company like Total.
What are the downsides
- what don't you like about it ?
Not ever really settling down can be tiring:
it's not a conventional job, and it's not
a conventional pace of life. And on site,
while meeting technical objectives as best
you can, you also have to know how to manage
various constraints that may be financial,
environmental, or related to the stability
and safety of the installations. Some situations
can lead to conflict, and then it's important
to stay objective, keep up the dialogue,
and know when it's time to compromise.
What qualities
do you need for this job ?
For the reasons I mentioned, you have to
be a good communicator. You also have to
be inquisitive, to be interested in people,
in techniques and technologies, and you
mustn't be reluctant to think along new
lines. You obviously have to be mobile and
know how to adapt to different countries
and cultures. But probably the most important
thing is not to shrink away from responsibility.
Pressure from some, expectations from others
and all the various constraints - you mustn't
let that get in the way when you have to
make a decision.
How do you see
your career developing in the future ?
From the Petrophysics, Operations &
Wells Department, a geologist can move into
reservoir optimization, which is work that
follows drilling and where the aim is to
model the behavior of a particular oil or
gas reservoir. Another possibility would
be to work at a stage that comes before
drilling, which is to look for and select
new acreage for new projects. This is really
where exploration all happens. So there
are many possibilities and they keep developing
- a geologist's job today is very different
from what it was 30 years ago. What's important
is to stay alert to these developments and
open to professions that may at first sight
not seem to have much to do with your original
training.
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Testimonial
Sabrina VAN DE BEUQUE
French citizen
Exploration & Production Branch, Dubai,
United Arab Emirates. Geologist.
Earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology
and a Master’s Degree in Geophysics
in Paris, then took a DEA (post-graduate)
course and wrote a thesis on Marine Geosciences
at Brest University then in Noumea, New
Caledonia.
Joined the Group three years ago and has
since explored a variety of disciplines
in her field, Geosciences.
My university background and studies would
have led me towards research work, but I
found the corporate world appealing. I volunteered
for two non-compulsory internships at an
Elf lab in Pau. That was how I first got
in touch with the Group.
I went to Noumea to write my thesis, on
a grant from New Caledonia’s Territorial
Authorities. I was studying an area between
Australia and New Caledonia, and how it
had evolved over the past 130 million years!
It involved a number of oceanographic campaigns,
plus a section dealing with the zone’s
resources (polymetallic nodules and, possibly,
a gas-hydrate field, which confirmed incipient
inklings).
Research to operational
work.
Then I did a post-doctoral year in Australia,
with an organisation working directly with
that country’s oil companies. Back
in France, I applied for a job at Total,
following up on contacts I had made at the
Ecole Polytechnique forum. The Group was
interested in my profile, but was taking
a while to reply. So I took a job doing
research and teaching at Lille University.
Total only got back in touch with a job
offer several months later.
When I joined, they sent me on a seven-month
training course in Paris, preparing me to
work as a probe geologist. Then I spent
two months doing real-life work alongside
senior geologists in the field (including
a month in Yemen). Then it all started happening.
A job in Dubai working on Iranian projects,
starting straight away, came up. That was
my first job. I did probe and operational
work.
Oil from a woman’s
perspective.
The issue of expatriation of course came
up during my job interviews. I had talked
about it with my husband, and he was happy
to come with me. I’m lucky to live
with somebody who has a taste for adventure
and enjoys a challenge. He works with computers,
and got a local contract in Dubai.
There are a fair number of women in Total’s
Geosciences department, even though I’m
the only woman here (that’s the way
it is in Gulf countries). But that doesn’t
bother me. I had already got used to working
in male environments back at university,
where women were generally made to feel
welcome.
Different disciplines,
eclectic outlooks.
Expatriation is a rich experience. The teams
are small, so you have to multitask more
and take on more responsibility. I’m
using this experience to learn about the
various disciplines and about how each function
(Drilling, Slurries, Completion, etc.) fits
into the whole. The Group’s spirit
encourages that eclectic outlook.
The first years have been exhilarating.
I’m an Operations and Reservoir Geologist
now. Then, I’ll be heading back to
Headquarters in France for a refresher course
and to build a network within the Group.
And soon I’ll be ready for expatriation
again. Those are the opportunities I talk
about with my career manager or business-line
manager about once a year. I chose geosciences
because I enjoy travelling and because I
wanted to discover new cultures.
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Testimonial
Gautier BAUDOT
French citizen
Exploration & Production Division, Nigeria.
Geologist, Geosciences Operations.
Earned a Master’s Degree in Basic
and Applied Geochemicals and Geophysics
at Paris XI University and a degree from
Nancy School of Geology before majoring
in Oil Exploration at ENSPM (Ecole Nationale
Supérieure du Pétrole et des
Moteurs).
Was hired in January 2002 after a 24-month
learning contract and 16 months of National
Service with the Group.
I graduated in Nancy and approached Total
because I wanted to specialise in oil exploration.
Total found my project interesting and offered
me a two-year learning contract involving
practical experience interspersed with theoretical
training at ENSPM.
After those two years, I still had to do
my National Service. As it turned out, I
spent 16 months in Jakarta working for Total
Indonesia as an interpretation geophysicist
on exploration projects in the China Sea
and Eastern Indonesia. So I quite naturally
applied for a permanent job with Total when
I finished. I went through a new string
of interviews and signed at the end of 2002.
Theory to practice.
My first job was as an operations geologist.
That’s a very operational job: it’s
pure exploration, applied to drilling. However
before getting to the field and working
on the rigs, I went through an intensive
six-month course at Total and with contractors
and partner firms in Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
Pau and Paris. After that I spent a month
working with a senior geologist on a platform
in Indonesia.
Then came the big leap: I spent a year on
the world’s biggest gas field, South
Pars, in Iran. Outside work, it was also
an opportunity to explore an amazing country
and discover its culture and history. Then
I left for a mission in Nigeria, after which
the Group offered to send me there as an
expatriate, to monitor deep-offshore operations
180 km off the Niger Delta coast (a key
project for the Group).
Now I work on land, running operations (logistics,
contracts, and sometimes negotiations with
contractors). The path I followed to get
here was more on the research side. And
I can tell you that operational work is
a non-stop learning experience.
Open, modest and
determined.
Nothing makes me prouder than delivering
the goods on time and to budget in tough
circumstances. You have to be available
pretty much all the time to do that: platforms
have to be operational 24/7. So you can’t
help feeling proud when you can say ‘I
did it!’. The sense of achievement
makes me think of what gold diggers probably
felt.
To wrap up, if I had to give candidates
some advice, I’d tell them to be very
open, very modest and very determined. It’s
an exhilarating world. But it’s also
a very complex one, and school doesn’t
always teach you everything you need to
know. It has to be a daily learning experience.
Every day brings new experiences and new
exchanges. But it brings its share of new
problems, too.
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