Private: Publications

PESGB January 2006

Sun 01 January 2006

Category: Magazines

President’s Page- Chris Flavell

And so the mantle falls to me for the next twelve months to generate some witty prose to fill Page 3. Whilst I promise not to mention Quins ever again, don ‘t be surprised to see the occasional
reference to the exploits of the English cricket and rugby teams, or even to Beckham’s boys as we enter World Cup year.
Firstly, I would like to send an enormous vote of thanks to Jim, from whom I now take the reins, and whose leadership of the Council over the past year has been conducted with his characteristic enthusiasm. I’m very pleased that Jim will be around in the position of Past President to assist. I’m also delighted that Gail is back in place to lead the tremendous efforts of the PEGSB office team at Berkeley Street. Gail’s presence will be a huge help to me in the coming year. Finally, another great vote of thanks to the outgoing committee members and a big welcome to the incoming team
It is going to be a very busy year for the PESGB; following on from the usual success of December’s Prospect Fair, the PESGB will be a co-organiser of the DEVEX 2006 conference in Aberdeen in May, with the year culminating with PETEX 2006 at Olympia next November, closely followed by the 2006 Prospect Fair. Already, planning for PETEX is well underway, with the organising and technical committees taking good shape.
So what are the challenges for the PESGB Council this year? Certainly, to continue to maintain the momentum that the 2005 Counci l has put into a wide range of initiatives. In addition to the above-mentioned conferences, the 2005 Council organised numerous other events, including the New Business Practice and the Carbonate Conferences. We must ensure that a varied programme is maintained.
In several of his editorials in 2005, Jim gave reference to the buoyant state of exploration brought about by the current (and hopefully long-lived) commodity prices, both with respect to the shortage of drilling rigs and also the ability to staff-up to meet the demands of the desired activity levels. Certainly, these are genuine concerns going forward, although our early indications show that rig availability is potentially achievable (at a price), either by making longer term commitments or by negotiating available slots in other operators’ programmes.
From the staffing perspective it has been great to see in recent months the commitment of many companies to be looking to recruit at the more junior end of the market. Most companies have sufficient experienced people to ensure that the less experienced are well mentored, and the longer term benefit to the company and industry is obvious. I’ll comment further on both these press ing issues as the year progresses.
At the time of going to press ahead of the festive season, our cricketers have come back down to earth in Pakistan. Nevertheless, and at the hope of not offending too many of our Aussie
members, all I would like to say in conclusion is, “What a summer!! !”