PETROLEUM ENGINEERS FIND SUCCESS ABROAD
The partitioned zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia is approximately 7,100 miles from Butte, Montana, yet multiple Orediggers have found a home working in the rich oilfields for Chevron Corporation. Chevron is a 50% partner in the Partitioned Zone with Kuwait Gulf Oil Company.
Don Stelling
Don Stelling (B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1988) says key reasons he’s devoted 36 years to the company
include incredible opportunities to advance, tackle new challenges, live abroad, and explore the world, as well as strong global demand for petroleum.
He currently serves as Senior Vice President of Operations for Saudi Arabia Chevron.
“It’s kind of amazing that Montana Tech is a small school, yet you end up running into Orediggers over
here, so far away,” Stelling said.
Stelling, a native of Missoula, spent four years after graduation working in Bakersfield, California, for Texaco, Inc. before transferring to Oklahoma for a year. By that time, the Middle East had transformed into a literal tinderbox in the throes of the Persian Gulf War, with more than 700 oil wells ignited in Kuwait. What may have deterred other workers sounded like an opportunity for Stelling, and he took his first overseas assignment.
“I volunteered, and I was picked,” Stelling said.
Since then, he’s continued to climb the ladder, working in the U.S. and abroad. Texaco merged with Chevron in 2001. Over the years, Stelling has lived and worked in the following countries: Kuwait (twice), Indonesia (twice), Venezuela (twice), England, and Kazakhstan.
“Once you get experience doing expat roles, it helps you be suc cessful in other roles,” Stelling said. “The technical part of the job is the easier par t of it. Montana Tech gives you a great technical education in petroleum engineering.”
The more complicated part is dealing with the numerous competing interests on the business side.
“We have to deal with foreign oil companies, partners, governments, and regulators,” Stelling said. “Sometimes their values around safety and economics are not the same as ours. For example, the Kuwaitis don’t have taxes on their produ ction, whereas Chevron has a high tax rate. Our margin is small, so we are like McDona ld’s. We have to produce a lot of barrels to create value, so getting along with partner s and getting government approval are some of the biggest challenges.”
The heat is another significant hardship, with temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in July and August.
“You also have regional security issues in the Middle East,” St elling said. “Everyday living in Kuwait is very safe overall, but historically there have bee n a variety of conflicts in the region.”
Chevron is also very committed to lowering carbon emissions.
“One of the newest challenges is dealing with the energy transi tion to lower carbonintense petroleum extraction techniques” Stelling said. “Carbon intensity of our operations is a key focus area around the world. Chevron is alw ays searching for ways to produce energy using the least carbon intensity possible.”
Stelling said future petroleum engineers need to have skills in project management, teamwork, and good communication.
While an energy transition to other sources of power has begun, Stelling sees a continued future for petroleum engineers.
“Petroleum will be around for a long, long time,” Stelling said. “Since the energy transition started 10 years ago, oil production has continued to increase every year, and it’s still on an increasing trend. Petroleum energy companies are working to be part of the global energy transition. Right now we provide safe, affordable, and reliable energy for the world. Wind and solar are a part of the future, but it will take more than that .”
Stelling points out that plastics and clothing are just a few items made with petroleum products.
“Petroleum touches so much in your everyday life beyond the oil or gas in your car,” Stelling said. “It will take a while for global economies to move away from that, and it’s Chevron’s intent to be part of the energy transition going forward. We’ve been around for more than 140 years and we intend to be around for a long time in the future.”
He predicts jobs will remain available in the U.S., and abroad.
“Some people like the adventure of living in challenging places with unknowns,” Stelling said. “It’s been a good fit for me and my family.”
Peter Spangelo
Peter Spangelo also works for Chevron, as a petroleum engineering consultant in Kuwait. He originally hails from Havre.
“I’m a Montana boy from the Hi-Line,” Spangelo said. “I went to Montana Tech because it was the best value. I worked on rigs in summers to help pay for college, and Career Services did a great job of helping me get internships, especially for someone who didn’t have prior connections in the industry. As far as value, Montana Tech was the greatest investment I ever made. I paid off all student loans with a signing bonus. It was a great way to put myself in a good financial position for the future.”
Spangelo (B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 2007) spent several years working in the Bakersfield, California area, and the Permian Basin of Texas. Just before the pandemic began, Spangelo applied to work in Kuwait. The pandemic slowed the move to Kuwait, but Spangelo hit the ground running.
“My job in our technology center is to help bring in innovative technology,” Spangelo said. “We are looking for new
technologies that can help us find ways to make production more cost efficient, that also help grow the workforce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Spangelo said the education he received at Montana Tech helped him become a problem-solver.
“The oil and gas industry is not just about oil and gas,” Spangelo said. “There’s a digital component, there’s a math component, and a science component.”
Montana Tech’s courses prepare graduates to be career-ready.
“Montana Tech is a small university, but it has global reach, and you can start out in Havre, Montana and with the help of Career Services end up overseas,” Spangelo said. “It’s a globally recognized university for petroleum engineering.”
It’s also an exciting time to be in the field.
“We are in an energy transition,” Spangelo said. “We are never going to fully rely on new sources of energy, and it will be a very long process to where most of our energy comes from other sources. During this time, to keep the world developing and to power our lives, people need petroleum, and smart petroleum engineers to make that possible with a lower carbon footprint.”
David Egedahl
David Egedahl (B.S. Petroleum Engineering, 1990) is a Butte, Montana native who attended Montana Tech directly out of high school while starting his family.
He worked full-time to support his family while attending the University. One of those jobs was an internship with North American Resources Co (NARCo) in Butte, Montana during his last couple of years of college. He recalled how the internship afforded him valuable insight into the various career paths within an oil and gas operator from production engineering, drilling and workovers, to property valuation.
Upon graduation he took a position with Teleco in Lafayette, Louisiana, which was his first move out of Butte. “I’ve been moving around ever since,” Egedahl said.
He began working in the service industry in Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling operations as a field engineer. “I progressed from there,” Egedahl said. He graduated into positions of planning and coordinating directional drilling operations, and then eventually working for the oil and gas operator, primarily in drilling operations.
Egedahl’s career has allowed him to live and work in numerous areas from Louisiana and Texas (Gulf of Mexico) to the Rocky Mountain region, the Mid-Continent, the Permian Basin, the Northeastern U.S. (Appalachia), Canada, Alaska (Cook Inlet to the North Slope), and most recently the Middle East (see map to the right). He also spent some time working as a consultant for ConocoPhillips Alaska, which allowed him to move back to Butte
for several years.
“In 2011 I joined Chevron and moved to Pennsylvania to assist with the development of the unconventional (shale) resources,” Egedahl said. “The industry has been fantastic. It has provided me the opportunity to work in various positions and live in a number of great places around the world. It’s been very
interesting. ”
Once his children flew the nest, he started taking international assignments. Egedahl is currently working in the
Midde East and living in Kuwait, which couldn’t be more different from where he grew up.
“Everything here is so different,” Egedahl said. “The geography, the climate, and the culture. I now live on the beach in the Middle East, whereas I grew up in a small town in the Rocky Mountains."
Egedahl tries to get back to the U.S. and Butte a couple of times per year, but he also enjoys short trips to other countries in the region.
“It’s provided an opportunity to see so much of the world
because of the close proximity to Africa, Europe, and Asia,” Egedahl said.
He says opportunity is out there, if students work hard, leverage their education, and are open to new possibilities.
“I know petroleum engineers who have made a living in sales,” Egedahl said. “These are folks that make a living building relationships. Other individuals may spend their careers in a lab, doing technical design work, or working in operations. I would advise everyone to be open to opportunities that you didn’t see in your plan. Be receptive to cross-functional assignments where you can expand your knowledge and experience.”
Egedahl has had assignments varying from working on the rig with drilling operations, to engineering design and operations, leading teams of engineers and supervisors, to developing digital solutions. He has spent an average of 2.5 years on each different assignment, each of which has presented unique challenges and learning experiences.
“When I was studying Petroleum Engineering, I never thought I would be involved in developing digital solutions or global technical standards, but these have been great assignments,” Egedahl said. “The energy industry is, and always will be, necessary to provide the energy the world demands. But the industry is constantly evolving to deliver energy as efficiently as possible and with minimal impact to the environment. This will require engineers to solve these increasingly difficult challenges.Montana Tech is a reputable school that is well positioned to
provide an education that will enable you to tackle these issues while pursuing any number of opportunities. Once you get your degree, you just have to be open to opportunities.”