Major oil and gas companies are making record profits.
For the first quarter of this year, Shell made $9.1 billion in profit, almost three times what it made in the same period last year, while ExxonMobil earned $8.8 billion.
Whether it was ConocoPhillips, Marathon, Equinor, Chevron, Devon, etc., after many years of lackluster earnings, they all at least doubled their year-over-year profitability. Second quarter numbers haven’t arrived at press time, but the consensus is that the earnings shall remain strong for the second quarter and beyond.
What a weird and wild time to be alive. These energy companies are making their record profits under an administration that is hostile to their interests, and under an ESG umbrella choking off investment. Why? Simple supply and demand. Demand is surging as the world gets out of the COVID-19 lockdown; supply is choked back due to a lack of capital, the restraints of OPEC and Russia’s war in Ukraine. In the past, increased profits would be churned back into more drilling and production. Today, because of the ESG and regulatory outlook, many majors are opting to return earnings to shareholders via share buybacks and dividends, but they are also certainly making expenditures and adjustments with an eye on the future.
BIC Alliance, unlike the majors and like most of the service and equipment suppliers to the oil and gas industry, is not experiencing record profits this year, but we are rebounding from the COVID-19 mess and also making expenditures and adjustments with an eye on the future. The world demands energy. There is always going to be an oil and gas business. We intend to be part of it, and we are planning and acting accordingly.
BIC recently invested in new enterprise-level software that has improved our database management and email reputation, which significantly increased the open rate by our digital subscribers. We have reinvested in new digital channels as well, developing more narrowly targeted newsletters, webinars and content marketing to educate our readers on best practices and industry news.
We are also investing in new major projects to connect people in business and industry. The inaugural PRIME Expo, to be held on Oct. 6, continues the 10-year tradition of the former Plant Maintenance, Inspection and Engineering Society (PMIES) Expo by bringing together leaders in the downstream and midstream sectors to network and explore solutions that improve operations and maintenance. Attendees will include plant managers and maintenance, inspection, construction, safety and engineering professionals from refinery, petrochemical, chemical, and other energy facilities and plants. A portion of the event’s profits will go toward funding scholarships that promote participation in the skilled trades. Check it out on the Events page of BICMagazine.com or page 53 of this issue.
However, like many of your companies, by far our most valuable asset at BIC is our people. We have proudly invested in our people across the board. Our pay scale and our headcount is up since pre-COVID-19. We are committed to do what it takes to get the job done right. As I write this article, we have five different writers in the field covering several conferences and events this week. Our goal is more and better content over multiple channels aimed at your interests.
We are also investing in more training for our people. I’m proud that over the past 12 months, we’ve increased our training spend, sending more of our team to targeted, niche training to learn best practices from other industry experts.I am super proud of our team. By investing in people and preparing for the future, we have been able to avoid some major pitfalls. Like many of you, we have had our own supply chain issues. Earlier this year, our printer informed us they had no paper to print our magazine any longer; we had contingency plans in place and implemented them within days to continue operations, smoothly and undetectably to most.
Another pitfall post-COVID-19 has been the “Great Resignation.” It has affected every company with whom I have spoken, both large and small. There are millions more job openings than there are jobseekers in the United States, and people are leaving their jobs in record numbers, for any variety of reasons. Some are leaving for more compensation, yes, but others leave to pursue an entirely new career or even to not work at all. Some are leaving for fully remote work opportunities, some for family reasons and some are the subject of good old-fashioned poaching. This has been a real boon to our recruiting division, but our company has had to endure some of the same challenges.
Challenge and opportunity are opposite sides of the same coin. These challenging times have created opportunities for professional career-minded individuals to step up. Congratulations to Toni Rosario on being promoted to recruiting manager. Toni was originally hired on with BIC Recruiting in April 2018 and knows our processes and procedures well. I’m very excited to move her into this role and look forward to her leadership in continuing the growth of our recruiting business. Also, congratulations to Jana Stafford for being promoted to content director of BIC Magazine and BICMagazine.com. This is a newly created position at our company. Jana was a content specialist on our digital team; her new position is designed to seamlessly integrate all of our content — both print and digital — over the many channels now available to our readers. Congratulations are also in order for Laurie Tangedahl on her promotion to senior account executive. A key member of our sales team, Laurie started at BIC in the role of member services representative, then earned the position of account executive. This latest promotion is an affirmation of her years of effort, experience and the exceptional relationships she builds with her clients.
BIC President Jeremy Osterberger and I have also reached out to former employees and renewed previously successful relationships to meet new challenges. When I first joined BIC in 1999, Brent Gaspard was the production manager; we have recently brought him back to BIC as our creative director, now with his 23 additional years of marketing, design and creative expertise. Like Jana, he has the experience, mindset and ability to propel us into a bright future through the integration of our channels and by providing more relevant and interesting content to you, our reader. Similarly, Melissa Wolkenhauer has been rehired by BIC as our client strategy manager. Originally an account executive at BIC, Melissa has since acquired invaluable management and digital marketing experience and will be an excellent resource for our marketing partners and content team.
We, as a team, hope the content in this issue will be an excellent resource to help you prepare for the future, and make wise adjustments and investments of your time and resources. In this issue of BIC, we feature insight from CITGO Lake Charles Refinery Vice President and General Manger Sterling Neblett, INVISTA Houston Plant Manager Larry House, ABGi USA CEO Craig Riebe, Aspen Aerogels Senior Vice President of Technology Keith Schilling, and BMWC Gulf Coast Operations Manager Dave Pasyk. We also cover important topics for your business, including hurricane preparedness resources for plants and refineries, how ExxonMobil is using VR to change the way employees train and work, and new opportunities the decarbonization push may offer you and your company.
