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Oil Patch Insider Hi-ho, hi-ho it’s off to work we go ...; reigning in the Stampede
Most jobs are good jobs in these economic times, except at Devon Energy, where it seems most jobs are great.
The big independent — with 5,500 worldwide employees, the bulk of them in North America — has been gathering accolades from the Great Place to Work Institute in the United States and Canada.
In the institute’s latest rankings of the best places to work, Devon is the only energy company to appear on the lists in both countries.
Along with that it has been included among Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2008 and 2009.
Chris Seasons, president of Devon’s Canadian operations, said the recognition is a tribute to all employees who have “shown leadership and creativity, particularly in these challenging times.”
The ranking was based primarily on employee surveys conducted by GPWI, which showed that “camaraderie, teamwork and a small-company atmosphere” were priorities, along with a feeling of being challenged as professionals, having a strong sense of responsibility and taking ownership of their jobs.
Devon chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Nichols said his company does not believe in counting itself among North America’s premier energy producers “without an engaged and motivated employee base.”
Great Place to Work Institute, founded in the United States in 1991 and Canada in 2005, offers services to enhance workplace environments and promote trust between employees and management.
—Gary Park
Reining in Calgary’s annual whoop-up For 97 years, the Calgary Stampede has been the self-proclaimed Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth — a 10-day event when citizens and corporations break out of their normal confines.
Until now, it has been an easy choice. But suddenly the head-office city of Canada’s oil patch is caught up in a matter of conscience.
Gripped by an economic recession that has cost thousands of industry workers their jobs, Corporate Calgary is divided over whether to party or not.
One of the biggest law firms in Calgary, Burnet Duckworth & Palmer, set the ball rolling by canceling its annual Stampede bash after 13 years and announcing it will instead donate C$150,000 to the Calgary Food Bank’s Stampede-related food and fundraising drive.
“We just felt that having such a huge party in the current economic times might be a little insensitive,” said a spokeswoman.
In a letter to clients, 3,500 of whom got invitations to last year’s “Gold Rush” party, the firm said it felt strongly that an increased contribution to the food bank was “the right thing to do.”
Other companies have decided that money raised at the parties can give a lift to the city’s struggling charities and, for that reason, party time will survive, with a shift from excess to giving.
Investment bank FirstEnergy Capital, which raised C$200,000 for four local organizations last year, will keep its charitable focus while letting clients relax at its FirstRowdy party.
Chief Executive Officer Jim Davidson said “frankly, I think there’s a need to blow a little bit of steam here … there’s a lot of angst and stress by what’s going on.”
“Firewater Friday,” a Stampede tradition hosted by investment dealer Peters & Co., will continue, while showing some sensitivity for tough times.
Chairman Michael Tims said the firm “sees strong benefit in what we are doing by mixing community service and charitable giving in with our social events,” making Hospice Calgary the 2009 charity of choice.
He said charitable, educational and community organizations “need more help than ever in a year like this one. We see benefit in continuing to highlight their importance and trying, in a gentle and fun way, to cause people to recognize our relative good fortune.”
The dilemma facing decision-makers has caused a “real reluctance to spend money right now on a party, even if your company is still doing well,” said Dave Howards, president of The Event Group, a full-service management and marketing company.
He said people are “concerned about how it will play with shareholders. … No one wants to look like another AIG.”
One of the signature events of Stampede, the chuck wagon racing, has mirrored the economic downturn.
Companies spent C$1.69 million this year in a bidding auction for canvases on the chuck wagons, down from last year’s C$2.52 million.
—Gary Park
Ex-Sohio executive Charles Spahr dies Former Sohio executive Charles Eugene Spahr, who oversaw Sohio’s trans-Alaska oil pipeline and sold the company to British Petroleum, has died at age 95.
Spahr’s son, Stephen Spahr, said April 9 that his father died April 7 at his home in Shaker Heights near Cleveland.
Spahr spent 38 years building Standard Oil (Ohio), widely known as Sohio. In 1970, he linked Sohio’s refining and marketing operation with BP’s discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska.
Spahr became president of Sohio in 1957 and chief executive officer two years later. In 1970, he became chairman.
Besides his son, Spahr is survived by his wife, Mary Jane, and four daughters.
A memorial service will be held April 25 at the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland.
—The Associated Press
Gazprom, Conoco continue cooperation talks Alexey Miller, chairman of Gazprom’s management committee, hosted a working meeting at the company’s Moscow headquarters April 14 with Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips.
“The parties discussed the prospects for the execution of joint projects on international energy markets, particularly in the LNG sector,” Gazprom said in a news release.
“Special emphasis was put on the cooperation in the Arctic areas including Alaska.”
The company said science and technology cooperation for field development, hydrocarbon transportation in the “extreme north environment as well as geological exploration offshore Alaska” were discussed.
Last year Gazprom reported a meeting between Mulva and Miller in Moscow in November, where LNG, Alaska and Arctic cooperation were also reported as subjects of discussion.
In October both the Barents Observer and Russian news agency Tass reported that Miller had said in a Russian television interview that Gazprom had been invited to explore for oil and gas in several blocks on the Alaska outer continental shelf, including blocks in the Chukchi Sea.
Miller was part of a Gazprom delegation that visited Alaska the week of Oct. 13, meeting with Mulva, as well as with senior personnel from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and Arctic Slope Regional Corp.
—Petroleum News
Alaska Tanker Co. recognized for safety Alaska Tanker Co. was one of four organizations receiving a Governor’s Safety Award of Excellence this year in recognition of excellence in safety and health systems that protect employees.
The company, owned by BP Oil Shipping Company USA, Keystone Alaska LLC and OSG Ship Management Inc., moves BP’s North Slope crude oil production from Valdez to the West Coast and Hawaii.
ATC was recognized at the Governor’s Safety and Health Conference in March for having “built a performance culture that highlights responsibility, accountability at all levels and sustainability.”
The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said that in more than 4.8 million work hours from 2005 to 2007, ATC experienced only 18 recordable injury and illness cases and only three days-away, restricted or transfer cases.
The total case incident rate was 83 percent below industry averages, the department said.
The company’s one-day-away, restricted or transfer rate was 96 percent below industry averages.
—Petroleum News
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