Starting Out: Oil and Gas in the Age of the Energy Transition

Continuing our series from the IChemE National Early Careers Group profiling early career opportunities in different sectors

THE OIL AND GAS industry is one of the largest and oldest employers of chemical engineers. Despite the global shift away from fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency reported a 5% increase in oil and gas employment in 2024, and many companies are still actively recruiting. However, with so much uncertainty about what impact the energy transition will have, there is increasing concern about whether oil and gas is still a viable career choice.

To learn more about what it’s like starting out in oil and gas today, Orla Douds caught up with three young engineers in the industry.

Could you describe the career path that led to your current role?

MARTIN WARDROPE (MW)
Offshore Operations Engineer, Harbour Energy

At school I was always intrigued by the theory of maths and the practical aspects of chemistry and physics, with a passion for problem-solving. This naturally led me towards engineering, and a work placement at the Kinneil Terminal in Grangemouth, which catalysed my interest in chemical engineering. I then pursued a master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Aberdeen, where I became particularly interested in upstream operations, process safety and the energy industry.

Eager to gain hands-on experience, I completed an internship with Harbour Energy as a process safety engineer, where I focused on developing a data platform for the company’s health, safety environment and security (HSES) performance, and was responsible for analysing safety metrics to understand potential improvement opportunities. This experience furthered my curiosity in the offshore energy sector, leading me to join Harbour Energy’s graduate programme, which then brought me to my current role.

CLEO PARKER (CP)
Graduate Site Engineer, bp

I studied an integrated master’s in chemical engineering at the University of Birmingham but my interest in the energy sector actually stemmed earlier from my Arkwright Engineering scholarship, which was sponsored by the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency. The scholarship allowed me to better understand nuclear operations and got me hooked on the energy industry. After that, I attended a bp Female Discovery week, a Rolls-Royce summer internship on sustainable aviation fuels and a bp process safety summer internship while at university. All of these led me to my current role on the bp Process and Process Safety Engineering Graduate Programme.

PRADEEP RAGHUNATH (PR)
Operations Engineer, Altera Infrastructure

I completed a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the National University of Singapore. While pursuing my degree, I completed engineering internships at BW Offshore and ExxonMobil, which provided my introduction to the oil and gas industry. Subsequently, I decided to join the BW Offshore Graduate Programme.

Could you describe your current role?

Martin Wardrope: I’m currently an offshore operations engineer on the Britannia platform in the central North Sea with Harbour Energy. My role involves providing daily engineering support to ensure safe operations, improve production performance and reduce emissions. I also work on long-term projects to help enhance the asset. My typical day is a blend of desk and plant-based tasks. Being located offshore, I really enjoy being able to directly observe, understand and tackle engineering challenges. My favourite part of my role is the diversity of work I’m involved in – from modelling process upsets on the plant, to leading our team of offshore environmental representatives.

Cleo Parker: I’m currently offshore working as a graduate site engineer. A day offshore is never the same but always starts with a handover from the night shift to the day shift and daily brief. This makes sure everyone is on the same page about the current state of the site and the priorities for the upcoming day. As a graduate site engineer, my responsibilities include triaging excursions (assessing deviations from normal operating parameters), alarm management, dealing with onshore engineering requests and driving some of our improvement processes. This means my daily activities can range from taking pictures of equipment at site and working with technicians to progress continuous improvement scopes, to trending process data to understand alarms and investigating causes of excursions. I also spend a lot of time getting involved with active scopes on the plant to improve my understanding of how work actually happens.

Pradeep Raghunath: I currently work as an operations engineer for Altera Infrastructure. We specialise in the production of oil and gas from floating production assets (called FPSOs). My team and I focus on ensuring operational readiness of a FPSO that my company is building. While this is largely desk-based for now, I travel frequently to the shipyard where the FPSO is being built. Once the FPSO is deployed for production and goes live, my role would involve going offshore frequently to enable and support safe and efficient production of oil and gas from the FPSO.

What do you think of the oil and gas industry and do you think you’ll stay in it?

Martin Wardrope: I think it is particularly dynamic and thoroughly rewarding knowing you’re contributing to the world’s energy supply. The diverse challenges faced by chemical engineers in the industry ensure that each day is unique. As we look towards future energy needs, I’m excited to play my part in shaping the future of energy, both in the UK and globally, and eager to continue supporting this constantly evolving industry.

Cleo Parker: The energy industry will always be of interest to me because it’s such a vital part of everyday life and I enjoy the constant problem-solving of operational roles. With so many opportunities to travel and explore different facets of the industry, I’m excited to see what I’ll learn along the way as it grows and adapts with what the world needs.

Pradeep Raghunath: From a technical perspective, the oil and gas industry is thoroughly fascinating. It operates at a scale that is comparable with few other industries, has a wide-reaching impact and is truly international, thus providing the opportunity to work all over the world. I would like to stay in the industry but not in its current form. Given the need for the energy transition, companies within the oil and gas industry need to transform themselves to avoid becoming irrelevant. As such, the oil and gas industry is currently very dynamic and is undergoing extensive changes, which makes it an exciting time to be part of it.

What’s the most exciting development in your sector that you wish more people knew about?

Martin Wardrope: Today, the industry is at a critical juncture, with an important role to play in ensuring energy security, while driving investment into emerging sectors like offshore wind, and carbon capture and storage, as they develop further. Regardless of the industry you work in, I think energy, in all its forms, offers a wealth of opportunity for engineering professionals. There’s so much potential to build a fulfilling career and I would urge fellow early career engineers to consider the impact they could make in addressing the need for energy security and equitable access to energy, while diversifying our energy mix. It’s a big challenge; but one that is extremely exciting to be a part of.

Cleo Parker: One of the coolest things we have is our digital twin. The twin is a 3D model of our entire offshore platform and allows onshore engineers to get a better perspective of things without actually having to be offshore. It promotes safer practices and a smarter way of working.

Pradeep Raghunath: The most exciting development is the integration of offshore oil and gas infrastructure like platforms and subsea pipelines with renewable energy systems. Companies are exploring projects that combine electrification of platforms using offshore wind, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and even green hydrogen generation using platform-integrated electrolysers powered by wind turbines. This allows for decarbonising operations while setting the stage for multi-energy use of offshore assets, as the offshore oil and gas industry evolves to play a role in the energy transition.