Grant Munro

Our Time is Running Out....

Production Services  - check.      Pressure Control - check.                   Alliance Engineering - check.      ODL -

So as you can see above that is three down and one to go with my various placements for the Wood Group. I have spent the last two weeks with Alliance Engineering. As you may have found out from my previous blog there were some concerns that I was going to become a major caffeine junkie for my time spent with the VP of business development (onshore) over there with Alliance; well people, I can proudly say that I only consumed two cups of coffee my entire two weeks, proud? I am...

Last November, seems a long time ago now, when I was filling out the Saltire Foundations cryptic application form (took me an age to get it 'right') I was asked something along the lines of: Why are you interested in applying for the programme and what would you like to achieve from it? To which I replied in ones most eloquent English: "I would like to gain knowledge of how multi-national companies operate and how networking is an important process in developing contacts for the future." - future applicants can plagiarise for a nominal fee- anyway, back to the point! Working with Alliance I felt as though I got a deep insight about how companies go about there business, and in the oil industry any business is highly competitive. Working with the VP of BD(onshore) at AE I was fortunate enough to be taken into meetings with the P, ExecVP, VP's about future business developments for AE and how they plan to expand, I learned about resource management, I got to sit in on meetings with PM'S and their teams to see how people work under pressure and within budget.

Essentially I got to see how business is conducted at an executive level.....

Job application goal - check

For those of you back in the UK you may not know about a very important day that has come over the horizon, some people call it a cheeky day off work, some people call it an excuse to drink on a Sunday night, I call it a Labor Day Weekend Trip to New Orleans, thats right folks we have next Monday off work. David, Hugh (an intern from RGU who is here for a year) and I are embarking on a 6 hour drive for two nights in the city then coming back to spend our labor day off by the pool.

Well that is the Plan....

One Hurricane had previously stopped Shane and I from heading out to an oil platform for a day, there is another one heading into the Gulf that plans on putting an end to our Labor Weekend plans, Gustav he is calling himself. You may have seen the news reports from when he hit Haiti. All we can hope for is that he dissipates out in the Gulf of Mexico!

Another blog to follow soon....

Confirmation

.......good times?......confirmation to follow! (see previous blog entry)

I am very happy to confirm that 'good times' were had all round in Austin. We arrived early afternoon and did the whole tourist thing: Walking around pointing at the tall buildings and saying 'wow look how tall that is, you just don't see that in Scotland'; went to see the Capital Building, that is the Texas Capital building not to be confused with the larger Capitol Building in DC, although having seen both they are very, very similar; took the customary group photograph at every given opportunity; we then seeked out some home comfort and shelter from the blistering heat by grabbing some lunch and a cheeky pint in an Irish Pub. This was quickly followed by an afternoon nap in preparation of what was to follow. 6th street in Austin is quite simply amazing, it has the quantity of nightlife as Sauchiehall St but with the atmosphere of Ashton Lane... oooooh i hear you say. The highlight of the night must have been Pete's Dueling Piano Bar see www.petesduelingpianobar.com , I don't really have words that can describe what a good time we had in there so I am going to formulate an equation I call 'Grants Theory of Funativity'

[(5S + A) + (2p + 4m)]^nV = W^ow

S = Scottish Person   A = Australian Person   p = grand piano   m = musician   nV = no. of 50p vodkas from the Cheers bar across the road

Wow = Supercallifragilisticexpialidociouslly good fun

Internship, the reason that I am here in Houston!

I have come to the end of my first week with Alliance Engineering, www.alliance-engineering.com for more info on what they do. My first day I was taken under the wing of Dan Dutherage who is the VP of Business Development for the onshore division of Alliance. He told me about Alliance; introduced me to lots of people here, too many to remember all their names; then I finished my day by sitting around a conference table at a meeting with the President, Exec.VP and all the various VP's here at Alliance discussing the various projects and proposals that are in the pipeline, that was such a great experience to have, to see how the top level directors of a corporation conduct business. To say Dan is full of energy would be the understatement of the century, next week I am spending my entire week with him going to various business appointments, meeting clients and potential clients. When people here at work find out that this is what I am going to be doing the first thing they say to me; 'do you drink coffee, because your going to need as much energy and caffeine as you can get'. As Dan puts it, it is going to be intense! I cant wait.

Dan left on a business trip on Wednesday so I have spent the rest of my week (take out Thursday, small case of bad Chinese food saw me in bed for the day) here with other interns, looking at what they have been working on for the summer and helping them with the tail ends of some of their projects. Paul is a mechanical engineer and Spencer a Petroleum Engineer, their internships end today as 'School" or Uni as we call it starts back here at the end of August.

We are planning on having a quiet weekend here in Houston, getting some shopping done (ideas for family gifts would be most welcome) then heading to see the mighty Astros in action at Minute Maid Park tomorrow evening vs Arizona. Ill let you know if they win and if they can take my love for the New York Mets from me.....

Half Way Point

So I guess I should start off with some exciting news: I SURVIVED TROPICAL STORM EDOUARD. My first tropical storm experience however did not live up to the hype and expectation that preceded it in the media. I was hoping for flying cows and twigs through trees; what I got was the west coast of Scotland on a typical February day. I should note that this was only a tropical storm and did not reach hurricane status, despite this to ensure our safety we were given the Tuesday off work, this was some welcome news to me as I have been suffering from the cold for the last week and some extra time in bed was certainly not missed.

On the back of this Shane and I headed to Wal-Mart to get some groceries (food and juice), and what a mistake that turned out to be. I only wanted to get some dinner for the next few nights, possibly some bottled water and certainly some Gatorade (love the stuff), this simple task turned out to be some what of an ordeal. What we encountered upon our arrival to the superstore was a scene of mass hysteria, panic and pandemonium...... all taking place at 1mph. People were loading up on all the essential supplies: water, milk, bread, 2 gallon tubs of ice-cream, skittles and marshmallow spread, and they were doing this as if the World was coming to an end. To be honest with you I would not blame them for doing so, the way the media reported this glorified thunderstorm any one would have thought Texas was going to be blown off the face of the earth. Something you will notice about the news in the States is that the coverage is just not as good as it is back home. What you get are egotistical news anchors with their perfect hair, perfect teeth and their own, sometimes ignorant opinions (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy anyone?), bbc.co.uk is a lifesaver.

So that is me half way through my internship with the Wood Group, time has flown past and I honestly cant believe in one month and one day's time I will be back in Scotland to get ready for a petroleum geology field trip. That aside my time here at Pressure Control has been somewhat mixed, as I said before it is a very mechanical based division and we really did not have enough time to get used to the programs and systems that they use here to do any real project work. Simon, an Aussie over here for training has been here for 4 months and is still learning the ropes! We have been given some things to do here and there; I have made up some power points that show metal hardenability for the well heads that are designed here, Shane and I headed to the test center a couple of times where they are testing faulty valve systems on which we wrote a report. Over the last couple of days Jason has been giving us some system updates that need to get done on SyteLine, a program that contains a massive list of the various components that make up the valves and well heads. Although we have not really been challenged here there are always positives to be taken from any experience, this has been my first 'office job' and as a budding geologist, whose main office is in the field, it has been quite a change in scenery. Last time I was out doing my dissertation project work I was out trekking the hills of Skye and enduring the best and worst of the Scottish climate, that last two weeks I have been sitting in a cubicle in a pleasantly air conditioned office at a nice corner desk.

Before coming away on this internship I knew I wanted to work in the oil industry, hence my application to the Wood Group, but where I wanted to be I was not sure of: should I apply for an office type job when I graduate or should I stick with my degree and apply for a job that combines field work with the office. What I am starting to take from this experience is that I enjoy being in the field, gathering information, recording data, facing the inclement weather and running from the occasional crazed sheep;  then processing and interpreting that info. from the comfort of a climate controlled office (university lab) safe from the extremes of mother nature (and said sheep). So thanks to this internship am starting to get an idea of what career choices I will be taking as a graduate next summer; and hopefully my time spent with Alliance Engineering and ODL (Offshore Design Limited) over the coming four weeks will further clarify what direction I want my career to follow.

Anyway, to celebrate the mid-point of our internship programs we have decided to take a trip up to the capital of the Lone Star State, Austin, a university city home to the University of Texas. We have been told that it is a great city with a fantastic atmosphere by almost every one we have met here. So the four of us, joined by Aussie Simon are heading up there tomorrow morning with our tourist hats on ...... good times? ...... confirmation to follow! 

Back in Houston, Back to Work - WGPC

First off I would like to begin by taking a page out of Rory's book, and I mean that in the literal sense. If I could direct you to the chapter 'When Will I, Will I Be Famous'. I shall now take part in some shameless self promotion; click the link below and it should, given my IT skills are up to scratch, take you to the University of Glasgow homepage where there is an article on the 6 of us from Glasgow that have been fortunate enough to be given this opportunity through the SaltireFoundation and with our respective host corporations to gain experience in an international work and business environment.

www.gla.ac.uk

Pressure Control here in Houston is part of the Well Support division of the Wood Group, and the main focus here at WGPC is the mechanical design of well head and flow equipment. These are essentially the parts of an oil flow system that stick out of the ground and stop the oil from randomly flowing wherever it wants, not only a vast waste of a finite resource but I think Green Peace may have something to say about that.

Day one we were taken to the test centre where we saw the various models of wellhead equipment that the Wood Group offers to its clients and also the valve systems in place within the equipment. As this is a very technical, and mechanical based division of the group there is little we can do in the way of helping the engineers with the designing that they are doing, as the programs they use take a fair amount of time to get to grips with (although advanced graphics at school does help with them).

The next couple of days I spend making up some power points for one of the managers and then did some online training and development programs through the WGPC portal that are used to give new starts a understanding of the various types of equipment designed here and the reasons behind their designs. Just as-well I took a look aver those as yesterday we were asked to go along with Ben and Glen to the test centre once again to help with the testing of some valves that had been causing some problems in the field. What I took most out of the testing was that every component in a system is important, and every feature on every component is just as important. We were told by Ben that the allowable tolerance in a valve system in to the 1000's of an inch (imperial system, urgh). Today myself and Shane wrote up a brief report on what we observed and recorded yesterday at the test centre; then we went out with some of the guys for some Tex Mex lunch, nice.

This is going to be my first full weekend here in Houston even though im over a third of my way through my internship. We have got some plans in place to ensure it is a good weekend; a British pup with some of the guys from pressure control tonight then we are planning to go to a 'block party' in the Houston Heights where there is going to be a 'White Linen Night in the Heights' I have no linen clothes and few white articles of clothing, but I think it is more for names sake than mandatory attire; as far as I am aware it is an art and music festival that last year attracted over 20,0000 Houstonians so hopefully that should be something different and cultural.

Ya'll have a good weekend now....

Oh, Oh what a night

Work and play, a delicate balance, too much of one will inevitably impact on the other and after a busy two weeks of work in Houma it was time to balance the scales back out.

As I mentioned in my last post we were about to get on the play side of the scales in New Orleans which was supposed to be a crazy and interesting experience; and was it as crazy and interesting as everyone had been telling us? Yes... yes it was!!!

Bourbon street was quite amazing, lit up with lots of bars, clubs, other 'clubs' and restaurants, I suppose to imagine it you should, in your head, create a hybrid street. Combine Ashton lane and Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, throw in some Rose Street in Edinburgh, and, although I have never been there, mix in a slice of Amsterdam and it would probably be something like that, only better.

The French Quarter, aka the Historical District was fortunate enough to miss the flooding and devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina and remained on the whole unscathed from the disaster. From what we saw that was very lucky because some of the buildings and architecture are irreplaceable.

Although people had warned us to be careful when out in New Orleans - due to the change in atmosphere after the hurricane - everyone that we met were very friendly and as I like to say back home ' sound as the proverbial pound '; oh, and when you are out here in the States the Scottish accent, as Shane said, is the perfect ice breaker and conversation starter. So after sampling some of the nations finest brewers produce we thought it was time to try the world famous, nae universally famous Pat O'Brians Hurricane cocktail and then a Bourbon Street Special the Hand Grenade; although both delicious neither lived up to their names, first time round...

Was New Orleans what I expected, yes * 100, and a return trip is already in the pipeline, us 4 Wood Groupers from Houston are combining with Elaine and Euan up in Indiana to take in some more Southern culture, jazz music, hurricanes and hand grenades.

Houma - New Orleans - Houston

Week two finished here in Louisiana and heading back to Houston tomorrow afternoon; that is however after and evening of fun and festivities in New Orleans which promises to be (insert quote)

      - crazy

      - really crazy

      - so crazy, ya'll gonna love it

So by all accounts its going to be an interesting and 'crazy' evening.......cant wait.

Work wise we spent the week helping Lorell on the eletrical panels that help to control the measurement equipment that ensure there are no discontinuities between the amount of oil actually getting extracted and the amount recored as being extracted; important as the 'black gold' (new fav. TV programme on discovery) is worth over $120 a barrel.

Towards the end of the week gone by we were meant to be going off-shore to visit one of the oil platforms out in the Gulf, unfortunately there was a slight issue with a hurricane named 'Dolly' that stood in our way. Never mind though I have an entire lifetime and career infront of me to get out on a platfrom - and according to Shane the novelty of the helicopter ride rapidly wears off when you step off it into 12 hour shifts, and back home, the North Sea weather that I am sure can give Dolly a run for her money.

Well New Orleans is waiting outside the hotel door so I'm off to listen to some blues, take a trip down Bourbon Street and have an all round 'crazy' time; then head back for a relaxing weekend before starting work with the Pressure Control division of the Wood Group.

Ill keep you posted on New Orleans and what it had in-store for us.......

      

Houma LA, population 100,000 + 2 Scottish Interns

We have spent the last 5 days working at the Wood Group Production Services (WGPS) offices and work-shop in Houma, about an hour away from New Orleans. WGPS in Houma deals with the measurement of oil and gas, and with today's proces it is a very important part of the industry. The measurement facility combines mechanics, electronics, programming and some complex looking pipe and valve systems all packed full of very expensive equipment, lots of small eletrical boxes worth over $10,000.

The Production Services devision in the Wood Group is contracted by various companies in the oil and gas sector to produce the measurement equipment, it is then calibrated, tested and altered to meet the criteria set down by the contracting company. Once everything has been passed off by an inspector it is then put into use on platforms, at refineries and at pumping stations throughout the Americas.

We started of by helping Lourell on the eletrical side of things by preparing the back panels that hold some of the previously mentioned 'small eletrical boxes' which go on to be mounted that control and monitor the measurement instruments.

Yesterday we had a half day at work followed by an 'educational field trip'. the Gulf of mexico has over 4000 oil and gas platforms and yesterday I saw a handfull of these from the beach, it was pretty spectacular; from about 2 miles out to sea all the way beyond the horizon there were hundreds of platforms, for someone who wants to work in the oil industry it was some sight, and of course I forgot to take my camera to document the trip, so unfortunatly there are no pictures for me to upload, but I'll try and make it back down to get some.

After taking in the view and recording some mental photographs, Shane and I headed into the boiling Gulf Coast ( I regularly have colder bath's) to do some soft shell crab fishing. What I learned most from this field trip was that by combining some string, some turkey necks and a couple of nets you can catch in excess of 200 crab; ontop of this valuble lesson in survival we also learned how to make a 1.5 hour journey turn into a 4.5 hour trip, we did this by combining wrong turns, poor navigation and a complete and utter lack of local knowledge, this second lesson was frustratingly easy to master.

As I write this blog there is an afternoon thunderstorm in full swing out side  so this is going to delay our trip to New Orleans to take in the sights and sounds and heading down Bourbon Street, probably best known for its Mardi Gras festivities. Well thats enough of the travel writing and hopefully this trip wont turn out to be anothe rmammouth journey into the wilderness of South Louisiana.

Welcome to Houston

      So after a long days traveling with the mandatory delays and missed connections on Friday we are here and settled into our apartments, which are fantastic. We spent this morning down by one of the two swimming pools at the complex; and I think I should be taking advantage of the 24hr gym facilities on offer here before a weekend trip to Galveston beach at some point.

      Houston itself is huge, we took a trip to one of the many shopping malls yesterday from where we stay in the west; a 20 min. drive only got us half way to down town, apparently the city is 600 sq miles in size (thank you Wikipedia), compared to Glasgow’s 67.76 sq miles.

      Day 1 of work starts tomorrow, but we have been told the good news by Maribel (who is helping to coordinate our intern programs) that we have a half day induction and then have the afternoon off, a gentle start to what will be a hard summers work I think. Tuesday morning Shane and I are headed to Houma in Louisiana for our first two weeks before coming back here to Houston for the rest of the summer.

      I would like to thank everyone at the Saltire Foundation who have made this great opportunity possible for myself and all the other interns scattered around the Globe this summer; also thanks to the Wood Group for taking on us 4 Scottish lads this summer, I look forward to getting started.

      Well I better get ready to go out, I hear a gargantuan steak calling out to get eaten…