Well engineering consultant with a passion for renewable energy
What is well engineering? Well Engineers are responsible for designing, planning, and executing drilling operations for oil and gas wells.
Meet Basi Ledee Prince a highly experienced Well Engineering Consultant in the oil and gas industry. We ask what is it like to work on well engineering projects and study for a masters in renewable and new energy systems at the same time? As well as to have a passion for having an energy mix to meet the growing demand for energy?
Basi is based in Nigeria and works for Telos Energy Services Ltd.
Life working as a Well engineering consultant
Background
Did your interest in how things worked start young?
Yes, how oil and gas can come to the surface and then how we use it interested me.
Have you always liked fixing things, and do you fix things even when you are not at work?
Yes, I do around the home. I always love making sure that my home and kitchen are free from spills of any kind that could cause a trip or a fall. Health and safety are always on my mind.
There was a certain time my wife thanked me for making her avoid a slip from water she had accidentally spilled on the floor while working in the kitchen. I had used one of our rags to clean the spilled water immediately. She came and saw the water on the floor had been cleared and then immediately called me by the name she always likes calling me:
“MR SAFETY.”
I smiled and replied to her that safety is everyone’s business.
Who suggested engineering to you?
I had always had that passion of being an engineer and bringing solutions to problem. My mom was my major motivator in this.
Why did you decide to study petroleum engineering rather than another type of engineering?
My community had oil and gas in abundance. Plus, I have always wished for a better way to bring oil and gas to the surface with a minimal effect to the environment. Especially considering how crude oil polluted my hometown due to oil theft and illegal refining of crude oil.
Career in Well Engineering
You have worked in different roles within the oil industry. Which skills did you take from each of these roles (hard and soft)?
I have worked as a production technologist and doubled as a well intervention supervisor where I get an opportunity to execute operations I plan.
The experience I gained from the field has helped me in better planning of all well intervention operations to reduce Non-Productive Time (NPT) and improve productivity at minimal cost.
I have also worked as a workover and completions field engineer where I have an opportunity to plan work over and abandonment operations from start to finish.
All of these roles have made me a highly experienced Well Engineering Consultant in the oil and gas industry with proven track record of delivering safe, efficient, and cost-effective well engineering solutions to clients worldwide. I am skilled in well design, drilling operations, completion, workover, decommissioning and abandonment planning, and project management. In addition, I am proficient in industry-standard software and proficient in leading cross-functional teams.
Field working in Well Engineering
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting field working?
Field operations is never a bed of roses or easy but it’s the best place to see operations in real time and you become better at what you have learnt both formally and informally. It makes you a better petroleum engineer and a much better project planner.
How do you maintain a work life balance when working on site/in the field?
Planning and being proactive is the key to having a better work life balance and that’s the approach I use.
How do you personally cope with the lack of privacy and space?
Since the operations is just for a while I simply go with the flow and enjoy the moment. It’s a period to learn from multiple people with different ideas, so I focus on that.
What is your advice for keeping time for, and keeping in touch with family and friends?
Never deal with family issues during working hours as it can distract you and potentially lead to accidents.
For me I have a time after each daily operation when I contact my family.
Working in Well Engineering in different companies and with other cultures
You have worked in different companies and with people from different countries. What have you learnt from this?
It’s a great medium for me to learn and improve in the way I do things to be better.
An example is where you are working on well intervention operation supervision. In this kind of operation, you have to work with different services companies: from the company that does slickline operations, to E-line (using an electric cable) operation, coiled tubing operations, and well testing operations. You bring them together as a team and plan which operations will start first and what will follow till the main aim of the job is achieved.
Let’s take for instance a rigless well intervention operation for wellbore cleanout and logging operations. Here you need the slickline company to run drift on the well to get the wireline history. (A drift run is the use of a drift tool to check for blockages in drill pipe joints, measure pipe bore sizes, and verify the clearance of a wellbore.) After that, the coiled tubing crew will commence wellbore cleanout operations. Then the E-line crew carry out the final logging operations.
So it’s all about good information transfer and team work to achieve a goal.
What are the key skills (soft) for an engineer who wants to work with different nationalities?
Always learn a bit of their language and of their culture.
Studying again
You returned to studying and completed a master’s in renewable and new energy systems engineering. How did you successfully manage working and studying?
Working and studying and also having time for my family was never easy but I had great support from my wife, my boss at work and my lecturers. Some of our classes were online which went a long way to helping me combine work and studying. It was a wonderful experience that can reshape you and make you a better person even in decision making.
I chose renewable energy as it’s a medium to have a great energy mix and remain competitive in this ever-changing energy world.
I also chose renewable energy as part of my retirement plan after my years of active service in the oil and gas industry.
How has the masters helped you in your current role?
It has helped me to have a great commitment to creating a better way to reduce oil and gas spillages that can affect humanity and the environment.
For example, take gas flaring that has been practiced in Nigeria. These gases can be used to power car engines rather than being discharged in the atmosphere.
I also learnt how to have an energy mix (having an alternative source of energy) as human wants for energy keep increasing. Having an alternative source especially for those living in rural areas would be a great achievement.
Was it easier to study this time as you had a lot of work experience?
No, it was not easy, but it made me stronger as a person.
About Basi Ledee Prince and his work in Well Engineering
Basi Ledee Prince is a highly experienced Well Engineering Consultant in the oil and gas industry with proven track record of delivering safe, efficient, and cost-effective well engineering solutions to clients worldwide. He is skilled in well design, drilling operations, completion, workover, decommissioning and abandonment planning, and project management. In addition, he is proficient in industry-standard software and proficient in leading cross-functional teams.
Basi has a degree in petroleum engineering and a masters in renewable and new energy systems.
Further reading about energy production
Bosch Field Service Engineer working in steam energy for boilers
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