Well Planning Geophysicist

Senior Well Planning Geophysicist

The role exists to ensure all wells are drilled safely, compliant with all regulations, and efficiently to meet defined well objectives in accordance with the Statement of Requirements (SOR) while meeting the expectations of the New Wells Common Process. This delivery requires collaboration and effective communication across Subsurface and Wells teams.

Well Planning:

• Support and/or lead efforts to develop feasible well concepts from the reservoir target hopper.
• Support and/or lead well planning activities and construction of relevant documents consistent with company's New Wells Common Process and in compliance with Company standards for Safety and Operational Risks.
• Liaise with Renewal and/or Asset Geoscientists to ensure the well planning activities and documents continue to meet the target objectives and desired outcomes articulated for the well.
• Assume primary responsibility for seismic description of the overburden. Generate depth prognoses (with uncertainty ranges) for appropriate surfaces and faults. Work with directional engineer to design well paths that meet subsurface well objectives while avoiding or mitigating drilling/completion risks.
• Assist in the creation of pre-drill risk registers and ensure mitigation and contingency plans are created for all geological risks.
• Support and/or lead the construction of the SOR document ensuring the well objectives, data acquisition, and all relevant overburden characterization elements are contained.
• Ensure integration of well planning and operational activity through strong collaboration with key stakeholders, including Subsurface and Wells leadership.
• Assist in the construction of the (Geological Operations Plan (GOP), ensuring all relevant information is contained in this document.

Geological Operations:

• Participate in daily subsurface operations meeting.
• Participate as required and contribute relevant subsurface interpretations at the morning Wells rig call.
• Participate in and/or lead subsurface hole section previews.
• Participate in LWOP, CWOP exercises.
• Provide support to the Operations Geologist: daily and as needed.
• Help interpret and select formation tops, casing, and core points per SOR and appropriate decision trees.
• Ensure efficient delivery of the data acquisition program and data quality per agreed terms and the security of all sensitive subsurface data and well results.

Post Well:

• Support successful End-of-Well Report completion, ensuring the report meets the expectations of the New Wells Common Process.
• Ensure all data is finalised and electronically captured in the corporate regional data store and hard data copy is distributed accordingly to stakeholders.
• Capture and document all post well key learnings in the corporate database and share in appropriate technical venues.
• Support root cause analysis for any NPT event related to subsurface operations and ensure these learnings are distributed through the appropriate venues and stakeholders.

Required Qualifications:

• University Degree in geophysics, geology, or related subject.
• 20 years or more of relevant industry experience, much of which should have been gained in a geoscience well planning environment. General knowledge of Operations Geology would be an asset but not required.
• Essential industry experience in the areas of well operations, well planning, seismic interpretation and seismic depth uncertainty characterization.
• Geological, seismic and petrophysical log interpretation and workstation skills are essential; experience with Petrel is highly desirable.
• Experience with deep water Gulf of Mexico exploration and development wells is highly desirable.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• The individual needs to have a collaborative team-first mentality, be self-motivated, with a strong ability to integrate across disciplines.

Our role in supporting diversity and inclusion
As an international workforce business, we are committed to sourcing personnel that reflects the diversity and values of our client base but also that of Orion Group. We welcome the wide range of experiences and viewpoints that potential workers bring to our business and our clients, including those based on nationality, gender, culture, educational and professional backgrounds, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, and age differences, job classification and religion. In our inclusive workplace, regardless of your employment status as staff or contract, everyone is assured the right of equitable, fair and respectful treatment.