Download - American Association of Petroleum Geologists

AAPG
EXPLORER
Edith Allison, director of AAPG’s Geoscience and Energy Office in Washington, D.C.,
can be contacted at eallison@aapg.org; or by telephone at 1-202-643-6533.
POLICYWATCH
56 MAY 2013 WWW.AAPG.ORG
Energy industry impacts
NAS Report Tracks
Workforce Issues
By EDITH ALLISON, GEO-DC Director
The National Academy of Science
recently released its report
“Emerging Workforce Trends in the
U.S. Energy and Mining Industries: A
Call to Action,” which determines that the
demand for energy and mining workers is
higher than the current supply – despite
offers of high salaries.
The report also
concludes the
demand for energy
and mining workers
will continue for
many years, and the
factors that drive the
workforce shortage
will grow unless
corrective actions are
taken.
ALLISON
This report is
timely because major provisions of
the America COMPETES (Creating
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote
Excellence in Technology, Education,
and Science) Reauthorization Act of
2010 are set to expire in 2013. The
Act provides, among other things,
funding authorizations for federal
physical sciences and engineering
research programs, as well as STEM
(science, technology, engineering and
mathematics) education programs.
The connection between quality of
life and energy and mining workers is
simple: The nation and the world depend
on energy and mineral resources to keep
their people and economies thriving, and
a skilled workforce is essential to meet
the nation’s and the world’s energy and
mineral needs.
The National Academies report looks
at energy sectors, including solar, wind,
nuclear, and carbon capture, use and
sequestration. This article will focus
primarily on the oil and gas extraction
industry.
First Priority
Accurate data and projections on
the energy workforce are necessary
to define the scope of labor shortages
and requirements for new workers, but
consistent and detailed data are lacking.
A sample of the data evaluated in the
National Academy report shows the
inconsistencies and lack of granularity to
assess specific oil and gas occupations:
u PriceWaterhouseCoopers (2009)
estimated the total operational oil and
gas direct workforce as 2,123,291.
u The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS,
2010) estimated the U.S. workforce
in oil and gas extraction, well drilling
and support activities for oil and gas
operations at about 494,200. This
number excludes self-employed workers.
u A subset of that population – the
oil and gas extraction workforce, which
includes self-employed workers – was
estimated at 158,900 in 2010 (BLS).
u The BLS projects future employment
in the oil and gas extraction workforce
will increase by 23,200 between 2010
and 2020.
u The Energy Information
Administration (EIA) estimates total
employment in oil and gas extraction was
452,891 in 2010 and it is expected to rise
to 459,032 in 2020, and then decline to
404,866 in 2030 and 383,205 in 2035,
as U.S. oil production starts to decline
in 2030 and gas production starts to
decline in 2035.
There are too few
younger workers to
replace those who
are retiring.
Workforce Issues
The report finds the most important
factor impacting all U.S. industries is that
the large cohort of baby boomers are
expected to retire in the next decade,
and there are too few younger workers in
the pipeline to replace those retiring.
Because petroleum-industry hiring
was very low from the mid-1980s
through about 2000, there also is an
extreme shortage of geoscientists and
petroleum engineers with 15 to 25 years
of experience. This means a significant
shortage of knowledgeable and
experienced managers and mentors for
younger workers.
Finding ways to retain the knowledge
and experience of the retiring workers is
an important concern.
The report also finds the current
pipeline of students with strong STEM
backgrounds is insufficient to meet
industry needs, and efforts to grow this
population are insufficient to meet future
industry needs. Although the majority of
energy and mining jobs do not require
a four-year degree, many do require
some education beyond high school;
for example, there is a large demand for
geological and engineering technicians
with a two-year degree or certificate.
One bright spot is that community
colleges have rapidly moved to provide
two-year industry-focused programs and
help funnel students into four-year STEM
curricula.
Other workforce issues face the oil
and gas industry:
u The U.S. petroleum industry faces
growing international competition for
workers as oil and gas production
grows around the world. The problem is
amplified because many foreign students
in U.S. colleges and universities do
not stay in the United States due to the
difficulty in getting work visas.
u There is a shortage of faculty in
geoscience and petroleum engineering.
Although the faculty decline has slightly
reversed in petroleum in recent years,
it is expected to grow as older faculty
members retire.
u Federal and state governments
See Workforce, page 58