Houston expert analyzes women's role, challenges in the energy industry

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By understanding the barriers they encounter, leaders, managers, and recruiters can implement targeted strategies to create more inclusive and diverse work environments. Photo via Getty Images

The Women in Energy Global Study is an annual guide that delivers insights on how to retain female talent in a challenging world. It’s a critical roadmap for business leaders, managers, recruiters, and diversity and inclusion professionals to what women want, need, and can offer in the global energy workplace.

The report dives into the data to reveal the nature and aspirations of the female energy workforce. It explores the kids of jobs women are doing and the level of seniority that they are reaching, the career issues they face, what motivates them to contribute their skills to the energy transition and what they need to truly thrive.

The energy transition was a strong thread running through this year’s global survey with a commitment to Net Zero being the stand-out factor that attracts women to a company. Respondents came from an even greater variety of sectors and roles both within and outside the energy industry, reflecting the growing richness and complexity of energy today and the exciting new opportunities it offers.

This year's results showed that oil and gas is the largest employer of women, followed by renewables, and most respondents have reached middle-management level in their career. However, there are still more women than men at the bottom and more men at the top. Women are more likely to be in project management, while men are more likely to be in engineering, and only 6 percent of field services roles are held by women.

Work-life interface and flexibility

Employers appear to be rolling back some of the flexible working policies introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic yet offering options for where and when work is an important value proposition for any company wanting to attract and retain talent.

The good news is that most men and women feel they now have a good work life balance, a positive shift from last year when most said they didn't. Women said that better flexible working would make the most difference to work-life balance.

Attracting and developing diverse talent and helping women thrive

Companies’ commitment to DEI appears to be declining, a reversal in trend from previous years. If this is more than just lack of visibility of what has become "business as usual," then organizations need to remember that better DEI leads to better business performance and it is critical to communicate efforts in this area.

Key things women want from their employer are better professional development, sponsorship and mentoring, flexible working and the opportunity for job-share or part-time working, but there appears to be delivery gap between availability of policies and their uptake.

The demand for good paternity leave is huge among men – more than half said they wanted to see it introduced or improved – and this could be a gamechanger for both sexes. Additionally, a strong commitment to net zero still makes a company more attractive to both women and men. Other key factors for women when choosing their employer are an inclusive workplace culture, benefits and a commitment to DEI.

Time to pave the way

When we amplify the voices of women in the global energy market, we not only bring attention to the challenges they face but also highlight the vast potential they hold. By understanding the barriers they encounter, leaders, managers, and recruiters can implement targeted strategies to create more inclusive and diverse work environments. This not only benefits women in the industry but also fosters innovation and drives growth in our ever-evolving energy sector. As we pave the way for more opportunities and empowerment for women in energy, we are shaping a brighter and more sustainable future for all.

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Jayne Stewart is vice president of oil, gas and chemicals across the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. for NES Fircroft. She is based in Houston.

The future of the oil and gas workforce isn't looking too bright when it comes to recruiting, the Wall Street Journal reports. Photo via Getty Images

Report: College enrollment in petroleum programs — including in Texas — sees historic drop

looking forward

Student enrollment in petroleum engineering programs at universities — including Texas schools — has dropped significantly, according to a recent report.

This prospective energy workforce is concerned about job security as the industry moves forward in the energy transition, reports the Wall Street Journal. The number of students enrolled in petroleum engineering programs has decreased to its lowest point in a decade, the WSJ found, breaking the typical cycle, which "ebbed and flowed" alongside the price of oil.

This decline is estimated as a 75 percent drop in enrollment since 2014, Lloyd Heinze, a Texas Tech University professor, tells the WSJ. The article specifies that the University of Texas at Austin has seen a 42 percent decline since its peak enrollment in 2015, and Texas A&M University has dropped 63.3 percent. Both schools' petroleum engineering programs are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, by U.S. News and World Report. Texas Tech, which ties with the University of Houston at No. 9 on the U.S. News report, has seen a 88.1 percent decline since its peak in 2015. UH data wasn't included in the article.

The article highlights declines at Colorado School of Mines (87.7 percent), Louisiana State University (89 percent), and University of Oklahoma (90 percent) since their peak enrollment in 2015.

A decline in future workforce for the energy industry would directly affect Houston's economy. According to the 2023 Houston Facts report from the Greater Houston Partnership, Houston held 23.8 percent of the nation’s jobs in oil and gas extraction (33,400 of 140,200) 17.0 percent of jobs in oil field services (33,600 of 198,100), and 9.6 percent of jobs in manufacturing of agricultural, construction and mining equipment (20,400 of 212,000), based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Barbara Burger tells the WSJ that new climatetech-focused startups have emerged and become more attractive to both college graduates and current oil and gas workforce. “There’s competition in a way that probably wasn’t there 15 years ago,” she shares.

The lack of college student pipeline paired with the diminishing workforce from emerging companies poses a challenge to incubant energy corporations, many of which have invested in programs at schools to better attract college graduates. The WSJ article points to BP's $4 million fellowship program with U.S. universities announced in February.

Just this week, Baker Hughes granted $100,000 to the University of Houston's Energy Transition Institute, which was founded last year with backing from Shell. In a recent interview with EnergyCapital, Joseph Powell, founding director of UH Energy Transition Institute, explains how the institute was founded to better engage with college students and bring them into the transitioning industry.

"It takes a lot of energy to process chemicals, plastics, and materials in a circular manner," he says. "Developing that workforce of the future means we need the students who want to engage in these efforts and making sure that those opportunities are available across the board to people of all different economic backgrounds in terms of participating in what is going to be just a tremendous growth engine for the future in terms of jobs and opportunities."

Clean energy jobs are already in Texas, and are ripe for the taking, according to a recent SmartAsset report that found that 2.23 percent of workers in the Houston area hold down jobs classified as “green.” While oil and gas positions are still paying top dollar, these clean energy jobs reportedly pay an average of 21 percent more than other jobs.

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3 Houston sustainability startups score prizes at Rice University pitch competition

seeing green

A group of Rice University student-founded companies shared $100,000 of cash prizes at an annual startup competition — and three of those winning companies are focused on sustainable solutions.

Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge, hosted by Rice earlier this month, named its winners for 2024. HEXASpec, a company that's created a new material to improve heat management for the semiconductor industry, won the top prize and $50,000 cash.

Founded by Rice Ph.D. candidates Tianshu Zhai and Chen-Yang Lin, who are a part of Lilie’s 2024 Innovation Fellows program, HEXASpec is improving efficiency and sustainability within the semiconductor industry, which usually consumes millions of gallons of water used to cool data centers. According to Rice's news release, HEXASpec's "next-generation chip packaging offer 20 times higher thermal conductivity and improved protection performance, cooling the chips faster and reducing the operational surface temperature."

A few other sustainability-focused startups won prizes, too. CoFlux Purification, a company that has a technology that breaks down PFAS using a novel absorbent for chemical-free water, won second place and $25,000, as well as the Audience Choice Award, which came with an additional $2,000.

Solidec, a company that's working on a platform to produce chemicals from captured carbon, and HEXASpec won Outstanding Achievement in Climate Solutions Prizes, which came with $1,000.

The NRLC, open to Rice students, is Lilie's hallmark event. Last year's winner was fashion tech startup, Goldie.

“We are the home of everything entrepreneurship, innovation and research commercialization for the entire Rice student, faculty and alumni communities,” Kyle Judah, executive director at Lilie, says in a news release. “We’re a place for you to immerse yourself in a problem you care about, to experiment, to try and fail and keep trying and trying and trying again amongst a community of fellow rebels, coloring outside the lines of convention."

This year, the competition started with 100 student venture teams before being whittled down to the final five at the championship. The program is supported by Lilie’s mentor team, Frank Liu and the Liu Family Foundation, Rice Business, Rice’s Office of Innovation, and other donors

“The heart and soul of what we’re doing to really take it to the next level with entrepreneurship here at Rice is this fantastic team,” Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice Business, adds. “And they’re doing an outstanding job every year, reaching further, bringing in more students. My understanding is we had more than 100 teams submit applications. It’s an extraordinarily high number. It tells you a lot about what we have at Rice and what this team has been cooking and making happen here at Rice for a long, long time.”

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

ExxonMobil's $60B acquisition gets FTC clearance — with one condition

M&A moves

ExxonMobil's $60 billion deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources on Thursday received clearance from the Federal Trade Commission, but the former CEO of Pioneer was barred from joining the new company's board of directors.

The FTC said Thursday that Scott Sheffield, who founded Pioneer in 1997, colluded with OPEC and OPEC+ to potentially raise crude oil prices. Sheffield retired from the company in 2016, but he returned as president and CEO in 2019, served as CEO from 2021 to 2023, and continues to serve on the board. Since Jan. 1, he has served as special adviser to the company’s chief executive.

“Through public statements, text messages, in-person meetings, WhatsApp conversations and other communications while at Pioneer, Sheffield sought to align oil production across the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico with OPEC+,” according to the FTC. It proposed a consent order that Exxon won't appoint any Pioneer employee, with a few exceptions, to its board.

Dallas-based Pioneer said in a statement it disagreed with the allegations but would not impede closing of the merger, which was announced in October 2023.

“Sheffield and Pioneer believe that the FTC’s complaint reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. and global oil markets and misreads the nature and intent of Mr. Sheffield’s actions,” the company said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was “disappointing that FTC is making the same mistake they made 25 years ago when I warned about the Exxon and Mobil merger in 1999.”

Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators had urged the FTC to investigate the deal and a separate merger between Chevron and Hess, saying they could lead to higher prices, hurt competition and force families to pay more at the pump.

The deal with Pioneer vastly expands Exxon’s presence in the Permian Basin, a huge oilfield that straddles the border between Texas and New Mexico. Pioneer’s more than 850,000 net acres in the Midland Basin will be combined with Exxon’s 570,000 net acres in the Delaware and Midland Basin, nearly contiguous fields that will allow the combined company to trim costs.

Texas initiatives snag solar funding, CTV makes battery investment, and more top energy transition news

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Editor'snote: From a new Texas hydrogen R&D lab opening to the newest cleantech investment from Chevron, these are the top headlines that resonated with EnergyCapital readers on social media and daily newsletter this week.

Two Texas coalitions part of $7B solar power federal grant program

Texas Solar For All Coalition and Clean Energy Fund of Texas were two of the 60 recipients of the Solar for All grant competition. Photo via Getty Images

The Biden administration delivered an Earth Day gift with the news that 60 grantees will receive $7 billion in grant awards.

Texas Solar For All Coalition and Clean Energy Fund of Texas were two of the 60 recipients of the Solar for All grant competition. The awardees will provide solar energy to 900,000 low-income households in all 50 states. This is expected to generate an estimated 200,000 jobs as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which includes $405,820,000 in Texas.

“President Biden’s clean energy plan is creating good-paying jobs, reducing emissions, and saving Americans money on their utility bills,” Climate Power Interim States Managing Director André Crombie says. Continue reading.

Texas lands in top 10 states expected to be most financially affected by weather events

Texas is expensive when it comes to weather events, a new report finds. Photo via Getty Images

Texas — home to everything from tornadoes to hurricanes — cracks the top 10 of a new report ranking states based on impact from weather-related events.

SmartAsset's new report factored in a myriad of data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to identify which states face the most financial risk due to various weather events. In the report, the states were ranked by the total expected annual financial losses per person. Texas ranked at No. 10.

"With a variety of environmental events affecting the wide stretch of the United States, each state is subject to its own risks," reads the report. Continue reading.

Eyeing demand growth, ERCOT calls for energy investments across Texas

ERCOT now estimates an extra 40,000 megawatts of growth in demand for electricity by 2030 compared with last year’s outlook. Photo via Getty Images

With the Electric Reliability Council of Texas forecasting a big spike in demand for electricity over the next five to seven years, the operator of Texas’ massive power grid is embracing changes that it says will yield a “tremendous opportunity” for energy investments across the state.

The council, known as ERCOT, now estimates an extra 40,000 megawatts of growth in demand for electricity by 2030 compared with last year’s outlook. According to ERCOT data, 40,000 megawatts of electricity would power roughly 8 million Texas homes during peak demand. Continue reading.

Texas hydrogen research hub opens to support statewide, DOE-backed initiative

A Texas school has cut the ribbon on a new hydrogen-focused research facility that will play a role in a statewide, Department of Energy-funded energy transition initiative.

The Center for Electromechanics at The University of Texas, Frontier Energy, Inc., and GTI Energy celebrated the grand opening of a hydrogen research and demonstration facility in Austin as part of the “Demonstration and Framework for H2@Scale in Texas and Beyond” project, which is supported by the DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office. Continue reading.

Chevron, TotalEnergies back energy storage startup's $15.8M series A

LiNova will use the funds to advance its polymer cathode battery technology. Photo via Getty Images

A California startup that's revolutionizing polymer cathode battery technology has announced its series A round of funding with support from Houston-based energy transition leaders.

LiNova Energy Inc. closed a $15.8 million series A round led by Catalus Capital. Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, which has its US HQ in Houston, and Houston-based Chevron Technology Ventures, also participated in the round with a coalition of other investors. Continue reading.

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