NAPENews Magazine September 2022 Edition

Practical Skillset for Young Professionals to
Advance their Career in an Energy Transiting
21st Century
“Times have changed”, we commonly say; with this requiring equivalent changes to the way a number of things are done in those times.
Over the years, accompanying each passing century are new and/or improved ways of carrying out various activities, to thrive in that space of time. Hence,
it's imperative for young professionals to stay abreast of these new/improved approaches to stay afloat in a very competitive and fast-moving world.
The transition of dominant energy sources from one or more sources to another or others is not immune to this evolution through centuries, although this
happened slowly over time (Figure 1). From Figure 1 below, traditional biomass (i.e. the burning of solid fuels such as crop waste, charcoal or wood) was
the dominant source of energy worldwide until the mid-19th century, which saw the rise of coal as a result of the industrial revolution. This was then followed
by oil, gas and hydropower in the 20th century. The inclusion of nuclear energy in the energy mix happened in the 1960s, while the likes of solar and wind
energy were added in the 1980s.
The 21st century has witnessed a great deal of push to switch the world's energy source from fossil fuels to an energy mix dominated by low-carbon
sources of energy (i.e. renewable technologies and nuclear power). This is driven by environmental concerns (the quest to have cleaner/green energy),
technological advancement, changes in economic and political landscape, and demand for greater convenience.
For Young Professionals to thrive in a uniquely
challenging massive energy transiting world,
which is yet full of opportunities, reskilling will be
required in a number of computer and
mathematical skills, as well as other areas such
as construction, installation, maintenance and
transportation, and to perform site selections and
assessments (Harper & Merten, 2021). In
comparison to training, reskilling requires some
degree of behavioural change.
According to the 2020 EY Report on O&G Digital
Transformation and the Workforce, the oil and
gas sector has a gap between skill importance
and current maturity for some computer/digital
skills that is startling:
Ÿ Digital engineering – 68% importance vs
31% maturity.
Ÿ Data science – 85% importance vs 23%
Ÿ
maturity.
Artificial intelligence – 68% importance
vs 9% maturity.
Ÿ Data analytics – 91% importance vs 32%
maturity (Harper & Merten, 2021).
In as much as the current energy transition is a
and will be an ongoing effort, it's already ramping
Figure 1: Global primary energy consumption by source (Ritchie, Roser, Rosado, 2020); After Smil
(2016) and BP (2021).
up in major ways. According to the International
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), employment in the renewable sector hit 11 million jobs in 2018, compared to the 10.3 million jobs in 2017; with solar
photovoltaic employing the most, followed by liquid biofuel, hydropower, and wind energy.
Transiting to renewable energy sources doesn't imply beginning from scratch as overlap lies in a number of areas. An example lies between offshore oil
and wind: the existing experience and operations of building offshore oil platforms can be leveraged for offshore wind services, such as, construction and
maintenance, having significant synergies with the offshore oil and gas sector. Also, important scientific data (such as geoscience and environmental data)
will be required to select sites for offshore wind projects and to determine feasibility.
The world is indeed evolving, same as the opportunities that lie therein, hence, it's imperative for young professionals to acquire the skills required in a fastchanging
and competitive world to advance their career.
Works Cited
BP. (2021). Statistical Review of World Energy . London: Whitehouse Associates.
EY. (2020, July 05). Oil and Gas Digital Skills Survey . Retrieved April 04, 2022, from EYh:t tps://ey.com/oilandgas/digitalskills
Harper, J., & Merten, S. (2021, June 16) . Engineers and geoscientists need new skills for a r enewable future, Retrived April 04, 2022, from
https://www.elsevier.com/connect/engineers-need-new-digital-skills-for-a-future-in-renewable-energy.
Ritchie, H., Roser, M., & Rosado, P. (2020 ) . Our World in Data. Retrieved April 04, 2022f,rom https://ourworldindata.org/energy
Smil, V. (2016, December 14). Vaclav Smil. Retrived April 04, 2022, from https://vaclavsmil.com/2016/12/14/energy-transitions-global-and-nationalperspectives-second-expanded-and-updated-edtion/
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