DRILLING, COMPLETION & SUBSEA ENGINEERS
Shelby White
Drilling & Completion Engineer
Lafayette, LA
Professional engineer with 40 years of experience as a completion, drilling, and production engineer, primarily for projects in the Gulf of Mexico and South Louisiana. Expert in planning and executing technically demanding completions, workovers, and remedial wellwork. Started Completion Specialists, Inc. (CSI) in 2003 and is majority owner and President, also working as a Senior Engineering Advisor. Project manager and lead engineer for over 120 drilling, completion and remedial wellwork projects since starting CSI. Prior to CSI, worked as a drilling and completion engineer for 11 years with Flores & Rucks / Ocean Energy (1993 to 2003) in Lafayette, LA, and 11 years with Mobil Oil in New Orleans and Denver (1981 to 1992). Also worked as a wellsite supervisor/engineer on Mobil locations in the Mid-Continent, West Coast and Rocky Mountain areas, as well as offshore Alaska, Morocco and Madagascar. Directly planned and supervised over 120 projects while at Ocean Energy. Handled critical “firsts” at Ocean including first horizontal well, first one-trip completion, and first subsea completion in the Gulf of Mexico. Completion engineer for numerous HPHT wells in the Gulf of Mexico and South Louisiana. Served as the Completion Team Lead for Freeport-McMoRan’s “Davy Jones” Ultra HPHT completion design team. BS in Petroleum Engineering from LSU. Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Louisiana since 1990. SME in technically demanding well completions, including HPHT and UHPHT completions.
Mark Knobles
Deepwater Completion Engineer
Laurel, MS
Accomplished engineer with 39 years of domestic and international experience. Worked on global teams for two major operators and cofounder of a service industry tool company. Joined Completion Specialists, Inc. (CSI) in 2019 and is a part owner of the company, serving as the VP of Business Development and as a Senior Engineering Advisor. Well versed in equipment tool design qualification, deepwater completion procedures, interventions and remediation planning. Senior Completion Engineering Advisor on several of the world’s “first of its kind” deepwater projects at BP’s Thunder Horse and Chevron’s Jack / St. Malo Gulf of Mexico fields. Led Chevron’s inhouse efforts to mitigate skin growth by changing frac design in Miocene & Wilcox formations. Senior Advisor for most of Chevron’s major global deepwater capital projects. Coauthored 4 SPE papers which captured best practices and learnings based on factual data from over 70 frac packed deepwater wells. Ethical, trustworthy and ability to manage many different projects at once. Can aid clients in facility start-ups after D&C operations in addition to production ramp-up based on completion hierarchy scorecards. BS in Petroleum Engineering from LSU. SME in deepwater completions, frac pack completion design, and wellbore cleanouts.
Greg Stutes
Completion Engineer
Lafayette, LA
Completion engineer with 33 years of experience working for major oil companies and service companies. Joined Completion Specialists, Inc. (CSI) in 2006 and has been a part owner of the company since 2011, currently working as a Senior Engineering Advisor. Provided planning and oversight of numerous completion and remedial wellwork projects for independent operators along the Gulf Coast. Highly regarded by clients and service companies for detailed procedures, communication skills, and successful execution of projects. Excellent at planning and executing natural, gravel packed, and HPHT completions over water and on land. Began career at Conoco in 1988 as an offshore production operator and advanced to Senior Engineering Technician. Moved to Halliburton as a Senior Completion Engineer in 2000 and worked 5 years for various operators as a contract engineer planning and overseeing execution of completions, workovers, and remedial wellwork. Moved to Chevron as a Completion Engineer in 2005 prior to joining CSI. BS in Industrial Technology from USL (now ULL). SME in conventional natural and gravel packed completions.
Miles
Deepwater Drilling Engineer & Superintendent
Petroleum engineer with 40 years of experience, 33 of which were at ExxonMobil (retired in 2013). Consulting drilling engineer / operations superintendent since 2017. Deepwater Operations Superintendent with Freeport-McMoRan from 2013 to 2016, responsible for all deepwater rig activity in the Gulf of Mexico including 4 DP drillships and the Holstein Spar platform rig. Extensive deepwater experience at ExxonMobil working various locations all over the world. Began career at Esso/Exxon, working as a drilling engineer from 1981 to 1994, primarily on international projects with drillships and semi-submersible rigs. Worked as a Senior Rig Supervisor for 1½ years prior to being promoted to Deepwater Operations Superintendent in 1996. Extensive experience in planning and overseeing the drilling and completion of technically challenging wells including HPHT, extended reach, and deepwater (subsea and dry trees). BS in Petroleum Engineering from LSU. SME in deepwater and HPHT drilling and well-control operations.
Mike
Deepwater Drilling Engineer
Professional engineer with 41 years of experience, 34 of which were at ExxonMobil (retired in 2013). Consulting drilling engineer since 2013. Worked as a consulting deepwater drilling engineer with Freeport-McMoRan and Chevron from 2013 to 2016. Also taught deepwater drilling engineering topics for Halliburton personnel in 2014. Wide variety of experience at ExxonMobil with both supervisory and technical assignments including Joint Interest Drilling Engineering Manager, Acting Field Drilling Manager OBO (North Sea), Professional Development Manager including training and recruitment, Planning Engineer, Audit, Area Engineer (South Louisiana) for Exxon Pipeline Company, and various supervisory positions at the district level. BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas and MBA from the University of Houston. Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. SME in deepwater and HPHT well design and certification.
Ben
Deepwater & HPHT Completion Engineer
Petroleum Engineer with over 30 years of experience primarily as a completion engineer and engineering manager. Began career in 1985 as a Production Engineer at Mobil Oil in South Louisiana. Worked as a completion engineer in New Orleans, Louisiana and Doha, Qatar planning and executing high profile wells in Mobile Bay, Alabama and Qatar’s Offshore North Field. Also worked as a production and facilities engineer for two years in Mobile, Alabama, responsible for Mobil’s offshore HPHT wells and gas plant. Began consulting career in 1999 as a completion engineer at Ocean Energy for their Gulf of Mexico and international projects. Worked as a senior completion engineer consultant for 7 years at ExxonMobil, responsible for their deepwater completions in Angola and extended reach completions in Sakhalin Island, Russia. Began working as Production Engineering Manager at BHP Billiton in Houston in 2008. Served as “acting” Producing Unit Manager and VP Engineering, as well as Joint Interest Unit Manager. Moved to Freeport-McMoRan as Regional Completion Manager in 2013, responsible for all deepwater completions in the Gulf of Mexico. Remained at Freeport-McMoRan until they sold their deepwater assets to Anadarko/Oxy at the end of 2016. Consulting completion engineer for various operators since 2016. BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alabama. SME in deepwater and HPHT completion design, sand-face completion design, and well testing operations.
John R
Deepwater Completion Engineer
Accomplished engineer with 40 years of experience. Recognized as an industry authority in well engineering, completions and production engineering for producing and injection wells and with field-wide project development, delivery, operations, and maintenance. Seeking another senior engineering or management position where significant skills and experience can be effectively implemented in well construction, completions engineering, facilities engineering/project development, lease and asset acquisition, and asset operations (reservoir, production, wells and facilities). Experienced with a wide variety of asset types and operating environments in the US and 11 other countries. Significant and consistent record of innovative problem solving with flawless delivery of several first-of-a-kind solutions. Recipient of multiple innovation awards from multiple employers. BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas. SME in deepwater completion design and waterflood injection smart well completions.
Ron
Completion Engineer
Petroleum engineer with 35 years of experience in offshore Gulf of Mexico and international well completions, recompletions, workovers and project management for high-performing E&P companies. Completion engineer with Cantium from 2018 to 2020. Consulting completion engineer for EOG Resources in Trinidad from 2010 to 2018. Completion engineer (as an employee and consultant) for various major and independent operators, including Mobil Oil, Dominion E&P, BP, Hess and Ankor prior to 2010. Recognized as a leader in horizontal and mechanically difficult well completions. Proven communication and interpersonal skills in leading multi-disciplinary teams as a team player. BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alabama.
Doug
Deepwater Completion Engineer
Mechanical Engineer with over 30 years of experience in deepwater operations. Worked as a completion engineer designing unconventional completions in West Texas for Sable Permian Resources from 2017 to 2020. Worked as a deepwater completion engineer with Freeport-McMoRan from 2013 to 2016. Lead engineer for Holstein Spar recompletions (platform rig with dry trees) and Holstein Deep subsea completions (drillship). Began career in 1987 as a design engineer for Rolls Royce. Started working with subsea wellhead equipment in 1992 with FMC, moving to ABB Vetco Gray and Expro. Worked at Amerada Hess from 1996 to 2011, advancing from Subsea Engineer to Drilling and Completion Manager, responsible for their Stampede project in the Gulf of Mexico. Worked at Apache as a Senior Technical Advisor for 1½ years before joining Freeport-McMoRan. BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of London. British and US citizen.
Tom
Completion Engineer
Petroleum engineer with over 35 years of experience in well completion design, planning, and operations offshore in the Gulf of Mexico (including deepwater) and North Sea (Danish and Norwegian sectors), and onshore in the USA, Russia and Canada. Completion experience includes work in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs. Well versed in fracturing, gravel pack and openhole completion operations as well as HPHT and Ultra HPHT wells. Possesses a special skill set for evaluating troubled wells requiring intervention due to well integrity issues, and also wells in extreme corrosive environments requiring special metallurgy, elastomer, chemical, or fluid considerations. Worked in roles covering the full asset lifecycle from field development planning through the execution of well completion operations, with work ranging from initial well completion design and execution to workover, recompletion, and plug and abandonment activities. Professional interests include well integrity for well lifecycle, and the application of technology for new well deepwater completions, workovers and recompletions. BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering from Mississippi State.
Larry
Frac Engineer
Petroleum Engineer with over 30 years of experience as a completion and frac design engineer. Consulting field supervisor in charge of completions for EDC and Lario O&G in West Texas from 2017 to 2020. Consulting deepwater completion engineer/consultant for 11 years with Freeport-McMoRan, Murphy Oil, and BP (prior to Macondo). Spent 7 years as a frac engineer with NSI Technologies from 1998 to 2005 designing fracture stimulations around the globe. Expert in fracture design using NSI StimPlan. Worked as a completion, production, drilling and reservoir engineer for 9 years with Pennzoil E&P and Equitable Resources (1989 to 1998). BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering from West Virginia University. SME in frac design for both conventional and unconventional wells.
Mitch
Subsea Engineer
Mechanical engineer with over 45 years managing small and large multi-disciplined, and at times, multi-national projects involving engineering, construction, manufacturing, and installations both onshore and offshore. Over 30 years of deepwater experience in design, fabrication, testing, and installation of subsea production systems and associated equipment (e.g., subsea trees, control systems, manifolds, jumpers, flexible pipe, umbilicals, gas lift risers, etc.) Significant deepwater experience with drilling/completion MODU’s, including MUX control systems used in deepwater BOP/workover/production operations. Significant experience working and living internationally. Acknowledged industry leader with ability to manage multi-national and multi-discipline teams in varied environments. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Exceptional written and oral communication skills in the English language. Fair knowledge of Italian and Spanish languages with some familiarity of Portuguese. BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M. SME in subsea tree and production systems.
Peter
Subsea Engineer
Mechanical engineer with 28 years of experience in subsea engineering, design, production and installation. Well versed in subsea engineering matters including subsea tree systems. Experiences include working in the office and wellsite supervision of both horizontal and vertical tree systems at a supplier, EPMS contractor, and operator level. Possesses a large knowledge base in riser systems including well interventions, along with a strong materials knowledge. Very familiar with API and CFR specifications and regulations. Extensive experience from procurement to installation for many of the components and systems that make up a subsea system, with a very good knowledge of drilling and completions operations. Possesses the business acumen to produce reliable equipment that is fit for purpose, while maintaining a good balance between quality and cost. A very down to earth person with good interaction skills. BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Aberdeen. SME in subsea tree and production systems.
Roddy
Subsea Engineer
Mechanical engineer with over 35 years of experience in the design, manufacture and installation of surface and subsea wellheads and trees. Responsibilities include engineering management, project management, risk assessment, budget management, strategic planning, product design and regulatory compliance. Led a team of engineers that developed and installed 25,000 psi and 450°F completion equipment, obtaining regulatory approval in a very challenging environment, all within 2 years. Designed and developed a new line of metal sealing valves for various subsea tree projects. Designed a new style drilling riser tensioner allowing the project to commence early and reduce capital expenditures. While working in the Shah Deniz gas field in Caspian Sea, time was spent with a service company in England and Azerbaijan developing a replacement full bore 15,000 psi wellhead. BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M and MBA from the University of Houston. SME in subsea and HPHT tree design.
Kirk
Cementing SME/Engineer
Accomplished engineer with 39 years of global cementing experience. Worked the first 24 years of career in cementing at Halliburton at numerous locations around the world. Started as a Field Engineer and progressed to Research Engineer and then to Regional Cementing Advisor. Also served as Halliburton’s in-house cementing SME at Esso, Unocal, Oxy, Repsol, Chevron and others. Served the last 6 years with Halliburton as their Deepwater Cementing Advisor at Shell and BP. Worked 10 years at Oxy and Repsol as their Global Cementing Advisor/Specialist. Began consulting for numerous major and independent clients around the world in 2016. Expert in planning and executing technically demanding cementing jobs. Areas of expertise include deepwater, HPHT, and extended reach wells. Experienced with cement design in unconventional resource plays. Expert in cement bond long interpretation, frequently hosting webinars with 300 engineers in attendance. Holder of 6 patents and author of numerous publications. BS in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. SME in cementing and cement bond log interpretation.
Jeff
Drilling & Completion Engineer
Petroleum engineer with over 35 years of experience in the petroleum industry specializing in the management of operations throughout the complete life cycle of a well, from the initial design through abandonment. Well versed in drilling, completion, production, remedial wellwork, and P&As, including HPHT and directional drilling operations. Experienced in both domestic and international, onshore, inland water, and offshore operations including both office based and field supervision. BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University.
Sidney
Completion Engineer
Petroleum engineer specializing in completions with operations experience on three different continents with over 10 years of completion experience and over 20 years of industry experience. Completed OHGP, CHGP, frac packs and SAS water injectors in deepwater and on platforms. Conducted planning throughout the stage gate process up to and including offshore operations in deepwater and on the shelf. Worked on land conducting workovers, changing out rod pumps & submersible pumps, and PA’s for pumping oil fields. Managed abandoned oil field clean ups. Operates independently or within team framework, comfortable working with all levels from contractors to management. Spent majority of career at BP with last assignment as Subsea Wells Technical Specialist. BS in Petroleum Engineering from LSU.
Andre
Drilling Engineer
Drilling engineer with 17 years of progressive engineering and supervisory oil field expertise to enable a successful operation in frontier international environments and domestically in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf Coast. Proven experience working all rig types from land rigs to 6th generation dual activity drillships. BS in Petroleum Engineering from LSU.
Jerred
Drilling & Completion Engineer
Drilling, completion and workover engineer with 11 years of experience, primarily for land-based operations along the Gulf Coast. Experience includes conventional and resource play wells, horizontal/directional drilling, HPHT, multi-stage fracs, workovers, and plug and abandonments. Work areas include South Louisiana (land and inland waters), South and East Texas, Southeast New Mexico, and the Rockies. Experience also includes working at the rig site as a wellsite supervisor. BS in Petroleum Engineering with MBA from LSU.
John S
Deepwater Drilling Engineer
Professional engineer with 8+ years of industry experience working as a deepwater drilling engineer, 7 of which were at LLOG in New Orleans. Responsible for the design and delivery of deepwater exploration and development wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Provided engineering certification required for LLOG’s Gulf of Mexico wells. Proficient with StressCheck and WellCat design software. Prior to LLOG, worked 1 year as a drilling engineer at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in New Orleans. BS in Petroleum Engineering from LSU (3.6 GPA) and ME in Petroleum Engineering from Colorado School of Mines (4.0 GPA). Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Louisiana.
Ziad
Deepwater Completion Engineer
Petroleum engineer with 24 years of experience working for E&P companies on domestic and international projects specializing in deepwater projects. Strong experience in well engineering design, completion engineering, sand control design, and well operations on HPHT wells. Specialty in hydraulic fracturing design and geomechanics with proven ability to manage start-up projects in very complex and challenging environments. Worked on very demanding projects such as ExxonMobil’s Lower Tertiary Wilcox Julia which achieved lowest NPT, below AFE while achieving best producing well in the project. Speaks 4 languages; English, Arabic, Armenian and French. BS in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in May 1997. Other skills include STIMPLAN, WEM, TDAS, WELLCAT, SAPHIR, PEEP, Well View, and AutoCAD. Willing to work an office assignment or rig site rotational assignment. Very operations oriented. Prefer to work an office assignment, however Ziad enjoys working the operational side on the rig site.
Richard H
Deepwater Completion Engineer
International completion and workover engineer with 15 years of experience astute in well design and offshore operational execution. Highly skilled in multilateral completions, open hole gravel packs, subsea intervention, workover and brownfield development. Globally experienced with a very strong planning, technical and team management background. Completed 11 Australian subsea wells in a 3 year period with a mixture of intelligent dual and single zone completions. Wrote completion / workover procedures in the office then executed offshore for Chevron’s Gorgon and Jansz subsea completions. Repeated the same cycle for Tamarind Resources, Cooper Energy, BHP Billiton, Apache and others. Astute in planning SIT’s and FAT’s for major projects with serial #001 designations. Mechanical Engineering from Bedford College & BTG in the UK. Very articulate, profession manner and listens well. Willing to work an office or offshore rotational assignment.
Trent
Drilling Engineer
Petroleum engineer with 15 years of experience as a drilling engineer and engineering manager, with projects primarily in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and the Permian Basin. Drilling Engineering Manager for 4 years at Freeport-McMoRan, responsible for three 6th generation drillships and one Spar platform rig. Also served as Drilling Superintendent over one of the drillships responsible for all drilling and completion operations. Prior to Freeport-McMoran, worked as a Senior Drilling Engineer for global deepwater projects at Hess and Apache. BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M.