What Employees Say

On the Job:
A conversation with Oxy employees

Robbie Abraham Land Negotiator Oxy Permian	Christine Hamilton Facilities Engineer Oxy Permian	Emre Diniz Geologist Oxy Mid-Continent	Carla Valerio Geophysicist Oxy Libya Redevelopment	Alison Frey Process Engineer OxyChem

What attracted you to Oxy?

Emre Diniz: Oxy is one of the few oil companies that provide opportunity for international assignments. Even early in one’s career, it is possible to see very exotic places in the world, while improving technical skills and working with people across many disciplines and backgrounds.

Carla Valerio: As an Oxy new hire, I have had the opportunity to participate in the '15/5' Early Career Geoscience Development Program. The 15/5 initiative, as the name implies, attempts to provide 15 years of experience within a five-year period. In my career, I’ve already had the chance to work on a Libyan seismic acquisition crew; attend field trips and classes in South Carolina, Utah, San Antonio and Houston; and contribute to diverse exploration and development projects on several continents.

Christine Hamilton: The rotational program for young professionals is especially attractive. Working in three different positions (most likely facilities, production and reservoir engineering) over the next few years will allow me to gain a better understanding of petroleum engineering and find my best fit.

Alison Frey: THUMS Long Beach Company's oil islands in Long Beach, California, are not far from the university where I got my degree. It is unique among oil fields in that the platforms are disguised as islands. When I found out what the islands actually were, and that the company was looking for interns, I applied for a job.

What do you enjoy most about your current position?

Emre Diniz: As a geoscientist and part of a multidisciplinary team, my role at Oxy is to generate prospects. Within my role, I am encouraged to get involved in both technical and business aspects of the projects. I’ve proposed three wells in the past seven months and it is very exciting to see how my work is contributing to Oxy’s success directly. With all the opportunities given to me, I feel I am making a difference at Oxy.

Christine Hamilton: I am currently working as a facilities engineer (the equipment above the ground for oil production) for Permian, living in Houston and traveling to West Texas to visit the oil fields. The schedule is very flexible; I decide when and how long to make a trip, and the work is significant. I am currently responsible for facilities that produce over 60,000 barrels of oil per day, and am working high-dollar projects with some of the industry leaders operating CO₂ floods (a method of enhanced oil recovery). My tasks vary from determining project economies or daily troubleshooting to the design and implementation of a separation system.

Alison Frey: In my position as a process engineer, I get a lot of interesting and challenging assignments, as well as the chance to work in a process environment.

What makes Oxy a great place to work?

Carla Valerio: I have always felt that I am an important contributor on the team here at Oxy, although I am often the most junior member on a project. I’ve had the chance to present my work to upper management, and have had the opportunity to share my work with the Argentina-based team in Buenos Aires. The people, the responsibility and the opportunities make Oxy a great place to work.

Robbie Abraham: Since joining Oxy straight out of college, I have worked on practically every type of domestic exploration asset development project one can imagine. I’ve had the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the most brilliant land negotiators, engineers and geoscientists in our business. What makes work satisfying to me is working with those people.

Christine Hamilton: The people I work with, from engineers to operations, are the best part of the job. They always make time to answer a question or sit down to brainstorm. After a year filled with many changes and challenges, I see this phase of my career as a great start into an industry with some incredible opportunities.

Alison Frey: During my employment with Oxy, I have been an intern, an engineer with Oil and Gas, and a process engineer with Oxy Chem. There are opportunities to work in a number of different disciplines and locations.