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Data-driven aspirations

ConocoPhillips partners with four universities to develop tomorrow’s data-savvy workforce

ABOVE: ConocoPhillips Chief Information Officer Mike Pfister visits with University of Texas students. ConocoPhillips’ $300,000 contribution to the university will fund a research educator position and student fellowships for an energy analytics undergraduate research group. The university will also dedicate a portion of its existing investors program to allow undergraduate students to work on innovation and other topics with guidance from ConocoPhillips.

In today’s dynamic exploration and production industry, bits and bytes are the new black gold.

Across ConocoPhillips’ business units and functions, data flows like oil. There’s subsurface data, production data, facilities data, wells data, financial data and commercial data.

And while all E&P companies have data, what separates them is how they use it. At ConocoPhillips, employees have taken things to a new level, using data analytics universally to deliver efficiency gains across the company, from Alaska to the Eagle Ford to the corporate back office. Data analytics is spreading to every part of the company, resulting in better and faster decisions.

group of 8 people standing outside Oklahoma State University
 Oklahoma State University will use ConocoPhillips’ contribution to create a cross-disciplinary minor in data analytics, which will also allow students to work collaboratively with ConocoPhillips employees to address real-world oil and gas data analytics challenges. ConocoPhillips representatives recently visited the university to make the contribution. BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Chris Delk, VP & General Tax Counsel, OSU Executive Sponsor; Greg Leveille, Chief Technology Officer; Dr. Rick Wilson, MIS Department Head (OSU); and Zane Gardner, supervisor, Analytics Operations & Service. FRONT ROW: Darbi Alstrom, lead, Engineering University Recruiting; Megan Gosnell, Williston Implementation & Planning Supervisor/Engineering College Partner; Angela Lorson, Director, JV Audit/Business College Partner; and Dr. Sunderesh Heragu, Regents Professor (OSU). 
Transformative tools

At every level of the organization, ConocoPhillips employees are gaining insights from this digital information, using data analytics to improve business practices, lower cost of supply and outpace the competition. Nearly half of the ConocoPhillips workforce has been trained to use Spotfire, a data visualization tool for getting value out of data. But ConocoPhillips is just getting warmed up; it’s looking to build on its progress.

Success stories involving data analytics abound, and the transformative power of analytics has become clear cut. For instance, machine learning is the hot tool that’s already proven its worth in several areas. In the Bakken, engineers use it to optimize completions. In Alaska, geoscientists use it to increase the accuracy of 4D seismic interpretations. And in the Eagle Ford in South Texas, operators use it for gas lift optimization.

ConocoPhillips’ drive to use data analytics everywhere and include everyone at every level speaks to its value as a tool.

“The oil and natural gas industry is evolving in ways that increasingly require employees to utilize leading-edge data analytics skills,” said Greg Leveille, ConocoPhillips’ Chief Technology Officer.

Group of seven people with laptops sitting around conference table
The University of Houston will use its contribution from ConocoPhillips to fund new faculty positions in the computer science and mathematics departments, along with fellowships for graduate students with strong data science skills. Jaspal Subhlok, chairman of the University of Houston Department of Computer Science, center, is involved with the Data Science Collaboration Program. “We want to give our students a pathway to become experts in data science,” Subhlok said.
Investing in its future

While ConocoPhillips is advancing the data analytics skills of its workforce, it’s simultaneously working to develop a pipeline of fresh talent. The company is seeking college graduates whose data analytics skills are tailored to the oil and gas industry, new hires equipped with the latest data analytics skills who can immediately step in and use the tools that ConocoPhillips employs today. But finding graduates who fit this criteria has been difficult. 

To remedy this, ConocoPhillips is partnering with four universities from which it recruits: Oklahoma State University, the University of Houston, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. ConocoPhillips is donating nearly $3 million over four years to these universities to support their data science programs, providing funds to hire faculty, working with them to shape curriculums that align with ConocoPhillips’ workforce needs, and helping them further data science education in general.

“We’ve been able to discover better ways to do our work by leveraging data science, so it’s important that the next generation have these skills to help solve tomorrow’s challenges.”

—Mike Pfister, ConocoPhillips Chief Information Officer

“We’ve been able to discover better ways to do our work by leveraging data science, so it’s important that the next generation have these skills to help solve tomorrow’s challenges,” said ConocoPhillips Chief Information Officer Mike Pfister. “These universities continue to provide ConocoPhillips with top graduates. We’re proud that our investment will help equip students with in-demand data analytics skills.” 

Fit-for-purpose curricula

As part of this collaboration, ConocoPhillips subject matter experts will work with the universities to influence and shape their data science curricula so graduates have the data analytics skills needed in the oil and gas industry.

And while this collaboration will produce a new generation of graduates with data analytic capabilities from which ConocoPhillips can recruit, the benefits run deeper. For example, ConocoPhillips will work with these universities to develop data analytic solutions that target the latest business challenges. And in some instances, ConocoPhillips will have access to university teaching resources to train existing employees.

University of Oklahoma building in background with people walking outside, girl on bicycle in foreground
The University of Oklahoma will use ConocoPhillips’ contribution to support coordination, oversight and development of a data science certificate program across the university’s Gallogly College of Engineering, the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy and the Price College of Business. The contribution will fund strategic academic areas within these colleges and support graduate student work.

Alice Barnett, manager, Analytics Innovation, said ConocoPhillips wants these universities to produce data-savvy graduates with core petro-technical skills.

“As new people come in, we want them to at least have the basic skills,” Barnett said, “And then we’ll be training them in the more sophisticated capabilities.”

Investing in these universities will help deliver such graduates, Barnett said, providing ConocoPhillips with new hires who can hit the ground running and further advance the company’s data-driven approach.

Andy Flowers, program manager, Analytics, said ConocoPhillips’ collaboration with these schools aligns with the company’s values and business strategies. 

“Partnering with colleges in this way is very much investing in our future hiring of graduates already trained in creating data sets and solutions to solve real business problems,” he said. “It’s also a great way to get the ConocoPhillips name out there as a leader in the practical implementation of statistical modelling and machine learning techniques in energy.”

Tanya Smith, director, University Relations, said ConocoPhillips is committed to investing in the development of a new generation of graduates who are skilled in data analytics.

“Our success depends upon our employees,” she said, “and we are proud to work with these universities to develop a new generation of graduates with data analytics capabilities from which we can recruit. We’re looking for graduates who can take us to a new level of excellence and help us fulfill our data-driven aspirations.”

The multi-year contributions will help shape the universities’ data science curriculum across various disciplines, with a focus on applications in the oil and gas industry.

  • Oklahoma State University will use a $670,000 contribution to expand existing data science and analytics offerings to create a campus-wide, cross-disciplinary initiative in data analytics. This effort will also enable students to work collaboratively with ConocoPhillips employees to address real-world oil and gas data analytics challenges.
  • The University of Houston will use a $1 million contribution to fund new faculty positions in the computer science and mathematics departments, along with fellowships for graduate students with strong data science skills who will mentor undergraduates.
  • The University of Oklahoma will use a $1 million contribution in support of its Data Science and Analytics Institute. The university will also develop certificate programs that will be available to students in the Gallogly College of Engineering, Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy and Price College of Business in early 2020.
  • The University of Texas will utilize a $300,000 contribution to fund a research educator position and student fellowships for an energy analytics undergraduate research group. The university will also dedicate a portion of its existing investors program to allow undergraduate students to work on innovation and other topics with guidance from ConocoPhillips.

In addition to these data science contributions, ConocoPhillips provides ongoing annual support to these universities to fund scholarships, programs, faculty and facilities.