When did you join Team DeltaTek?

October 1^st 2019

Prior to joining DeltaTek, tell us a little about what you’ve been up to?

I started my oil & gas services career in Houston with Baker Hughes after graduating from Texas A&M University (whoop!) in 2008. I initially worked as a design engineer focused on polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bits. I gained experience in design, manufacturing and laboratory testing as well as exposure to global drilling applications by working on bit designs projects for customers in Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific. Toward the end of my tenure, I was assigned to a special projects group, often working with the product development and research departments.

In 2011, I accepted an applications engineering position based in Aberdeen, Scotland where I became customer-facing and gained a lot of drilling operations experience. While there, I achieved Baker Hughes’ OASIS Drilling Optimization Certification and was awarded best in class performance during my OASIS Process & Tools training. It was during this period that I met Tristam while he was a drilling engineer at BP.

In 2013, I accepted an exciting new challenge when Workstrings International approached me to join their Europe business development team with the goal of starting a new branch of the company in Norway. I was the first employee based in Stavanger. I started from the ground up, having no prior experience with a drilling rental tools business or contacts in Norway, but I’m very proud to say that we were successful in establishing a healthy business within 18 months. It took a lot of hard work and more than a bit of luck, but I got a taste for entrepreneurship which has coloured my career path up until today.

In early 2016, I relocated to Singapore and assumed a Southeast Asia business development role with Workstrings, which progressively led to the Asia Pacific region manager role in December 2016. In early 2018, I moved with my family to Perth, Western Australia to focus on the deepwater market there. I travelled extensively across the Asia Pacific region during this period, from India to Japan to New Zealand. It’s a very dynamic part of the world to work in, and I really learned a lot about managing a multinational business directly in this role.

After a difficult 2017 which involved corporate restructuring and cost-cutting initiatives, I’m very proud to say that our team was successful in exceeding regional targets for revenue and earnings in 2018 and 2019. During my last year in the role, we were awarded multiple long-term contracts by clients around the region, and we passed our 2019 targets in May before I resigned to join DeltaTek in August.

I enjoyed my time with Workstrings and will miss working with many of my former colleagues. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but ultimately, I couldn’t pass up the incredible opportunity to begin a new chapter in Houston with DeltaTek.

As International Business Development Manager for the Americas, what does your job entail?

I’m the face of DeltaTek in Houston and am primarily responsible for introducing the company and our products & services to potential clients. It’s also important for me to understand the market and the best opportunities to meaningfully grow our business in the Americas.

At the same time, it’s been my privilege to ensure that DeltaTek is properly established from a business administration perspective, providing Tristam and the Board of Directors with information and recommendations to enable growth in the Americas for years to come.

What are you most excited about bringing to the Americas markets?

Saving Rig Time. I’m really excited to introduce such innovative, cost-saving technologies like SeaCure, QuikCure and ArticuLock. Each technology brings a message that I think our client base is ready to hear, and our track record of successful delivery, rig time savings and zero NPT for the Cure services is impressive.

Have there been any highlights so far? What do you enjoy about working here?

I really enjoy the team. They’re all lovely people. Everyone has a positive attitude and unique skill set which contributes equally to our success. It feels like the beginning of something big!

Is there anything that you’ve learned about the tools or technology that has surprised you?

I was initially surprised at how everything in DeltaTek’s technology portfolio is relatively simple and fully mechanical.

An engineering credo is that the simplest solution is usually the best, and many of our clients have an organisational preference for simplifying their operations.

I have been impressed that DeltaTek’s core technologies are easy to understand yet demonstrate innovative ways of solving common industry problems.

What tool do you think will bring the most value to the Americas region and why?

I’m excited about SeaCure® being a disruptive technology in the Americas deepwater market.

For any of our clients who are utilising “poor boy” inner string cementing systems, SeaCure® is a logical step forward. For those clients who need to plan a dedicated clean-out trip prior to drilling out of their conductors and surface casings, SeaCure® is a no-brainer.

From early client feedback, applications for SeaCure® on liner jobs could also present some distinct advantages compared with conventional techniques.

The additive QuikCure® service could also be interesting for some of our clients who have experienced long wait on cement times and shallow hazard risks when cementing.