The video offers a deep dive into the oil and gas industry, explaining the intricacies of its production process. It elaborates on the three main sectors of the industry: upstream, midstream, and downstream, emphasizing the efforts required to bring oil from beneath the earth to the market. The speaker also discusses the responsibilities of production engineers in ensuring safe and efficient well production, including troubleshooting and disaster mitigation.

This presentation provides insights into the daily challenges faced by those working in the oil and gas fields. It highlights the unpredictable nature of the job, including dealing with well blowouts, equipment failures, and security threats like theft and sabotage. Anecdotes from the speaker's 13 years of experience vividly illustrate the commitment needed to maintain safety and production, especially in remote and hazardous conditions.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. subsectors [ˈsʌbˌsɛktərz] - (noun) - Divisions within an industry that specialize in distinct areas of production or services. - Synonyms: (divisions, sections, segments)

Oil and gas industry is divided into three subsectors, namely upstream midstream and downstream upstream sectors.

2. mitigate [ˈmɪtɪˌgeɪt] - (verb) - To make something less severe, serious, or painful. - Synonyms: (alleviate, reduce, diminish)

This includes troubleshooting of various kinds of issues and mitigate any chances of catastrophic disasters which may occur during this process.

3. treater [ˈtriːtər] - (noun) - An apparatus used to treat or process materials, especially in separating substances. - Synonyms: (processor, handler, manipulator)

It's a vessel which is known as emulsion treater.

4. pilferage [ˈpɪlfərɪdʒ] - (noun) - The act of stealing small amounts or quantities of goods. - Synonyms: (theft, larceny, stealing)

Sometimes we get the information that miscreants have tampered the wellhead for pilferage of oils and all.

5. tampering [ˈtæmpərɪŋ] - (verb) - The action of interfering with something to cause damage or make unauthorized alterations. - Synonyms: (meddling, altering, obstructing)

In our pipelines that are laid across the length and breadth of our field, there are always innovative methods of tampering the lines.

6. catastrophic [ˌkætəˈstrɒfɪk] - (adjective) - Involving or resulting in sudden great damage or suffering. - Synonyms: (disastrous, tragic, ruinous)

This includes troubleshooting of various kinds of issues and mitigate any chances of catastrophic disasters which may occur during this process.

7. symbiotic [ˌsɪm.baɪˈɒt.ɪk] - (adjective) - Involving interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association. - Synonyms: (mutualistic, cooperative, interdependent)

And this kind of hassle free environment results in creating a symbiotic world.

8. bypass [ˈbaɪˌpæs] - (verb) - To go around or avoid a place or obstacle. - Synonyms: (circumvent, evade, sidestep)

So once we ordered for sand cleaning, the vessel has been bypassed and the whole vessel has been put on standby for sand cleaning operation.

9. anomaly [əˈnɒməli] - (noun) - Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. - Synonyms: (abnormality, irregularity, inconsistency)

You talk to your operators for any kind of anomaly situations so that if something goes wrong, you can immediately take care of the facts.

10. caliber [ˈkælɪbər] - (noun) - The quality of someone's character or the level of someone's ability. - Synonyms: (competence, capability, quality)

To have this kind of team to build up, build up a team of this caliber, we as a production engineer, I think has to be, has ensured more responsibilities on our strike.

Tales of an engineer in the oil & gas industry - Anwesh Kumar Das - TEDxIISERTVM

We all need energy. Energy is an integral part of our daily life. In fact, we all know that oil and gas industry produces bulk of the energy required by today's world. But have you ever wondered what it takes to produce oil and gas? Okay, let me take you to the real world of production of oil and gas. Oil and gas industry is divided into three subsectors, namely upstream midstream and downstream upstream sectors. Companies are those who search for commercial oil and gas reservoirs and drills and producers from them. After processing of this crude midstream, companies transfers it via pipeline to downstream companies like petrochemicals, refineries, power sectors, which again makes various products out of it like petrol, diesel, polyethylene power, and markets and distributes it. This process is essential for life and living, for civilization and for generations to come. But oil and gas doesn't come out of ground just like that. In fact, potential is waiting every day down there for our work to bring it into life.

This is done by drilling and producing a well. As a production engineer, my basic responsibility is to put the well into production once drilling is done, this includes troubleshooting of various kinds of issues and mitigate any chances of catastrophic disasters which may occur during this process. So this job is anything but ordinary. Our schedule is forget like nine to five jobs. We have to reach our installations plants by 07:00 a.m. in the morning, collect reports of all that had happened overnight, compile and report it to concerned authorities, and set the priorities for the day. Then we start with our field inspection jobs or troubleshoot the kind of issues that we had got already. The field inspection jobs. We start with the inspection of this. This is a Christmas tree, not the kind of Christmas tree that we are familiar with. This is a kind of set of valves set atop of the well for directing and controlling the well fluid to our respective plants for processing of the crude. So remember I said that this is anything but ordinary.

So our days are full of surprises. Sometimes we get information that there may be some leakage from the wells that we need to immediately fix. Sometimes we get the information that miscreants have tampered the wellhead for pilferage of oils and all. And this sometimes may catch fire which may result in a catastrophic disaster. And in worst cases, a well blowout may be declared a books definition of wells blowout is like uncontrolled flow of well fluid that you can see from here, from the well. But take it from me, it's much more than that. By the time you will be done with your well controlled operations, you will be down with curses and queries from all the ends. It's like everybody will be blaming you for the faults, none of yours. So what may happen, I have seen like young executives or young personal lives ended in a moment. In fact, I have seen retired executives long after hanging up their boot, running from pillar to post in courtrooms for long, battling their cases.

So it may happen that well blowout may go out of control. Luckily, in our cases, in our operational areas, we have successfully fought with all those things till today. One such case, I remember that it was on the 17 October 2021 day before my birthday. I specifically remembered the date just because of that. And what happened that at our afternoon, the security personnel called me to inform that all the valves of the Christmas tree has been stolen by miscreants and the well had started displacing on its own. And by that, immediately I reported it to all concerned officials. Take it from me that in my 13 years of experience, I have realized that you need to act really swift. You can't wait for disasters to dissipate on their own. They never will.

So by the time we reached there, the well has started blowing like a fountain. So if you have remembered the date, it's like during the peak Covid situation, all the movements have been restricted and we have limited resources to fight with this well. We control the well at around 01:30 a.m. of the 18 October. If you have remembered that I have said it was on my birthday. So friends and families have organized for a surprise birthday bash on that day. But going by the events, they were the one most surprised by those events. So poor fellas can't even call me on phone at the emergency well site.

It's not that miscreants finds their way to our wells, only even they find their easy target. In our pipelines that are laid across the length and breadth of our field, there are always innovative methods of tampering the lines. Sometimes it may cause. Sometime it may be due to the hexo cut of the line, sometime it may be tapping of the line. And this may cause spillage of this kind. Sometimes fire, which we have to repair by clamping, welding, etcetera, of this kind of job. And in this kind of situation, we need to multitask. We cannot wait for all the things to happen. We need to layers with all the teams, particularly with the fire, civil and line maintenance welder, etcetera, to take us through this job.

Then you have to ensure that all the you have to ensure that all the things are in place so that by the time the welder goes into this operation, you have to clear the site so that they are well before below the explosive limits. So that whensoever the welder goes for the operation, you have to ensure that all the people comes out safely without causing any kind of fire incident. You can see over here how difficult for him to work with. It's not that we are dealing with corrective maintenance only since we are having midlife assets. So we practice our predictive and preventive maintenance on also as a practice, I have always maintained to work around my plant at least once in a day so that I can have a better idea of my plant. It has got two benefits. I will tell that once you work around your plant like 10,000 steps a day as they say, and another, you know your plant like the back of your hand, so that you note down the parameters. You talk to your operators for any kind of anomaly situations so that if something goes wrong, you can immediately take care of the facts.

I will mention a specific case over here. It's a vessel which is known as emulsion treater. It separates the oil and water emulsion in it. There are some fire tubes inside it. So the oil is in the vessel side and fire is inside the tube. It seems like the immersion rod that we use in our homes for hot water buckets. So instead of rod, we have got tubes inside which there are fire. So it happens that the vessel is of the capacity of nine lakh liter per day of oil. So one day, during one such inspection, I happened to discuss with the operator that the water valve over here is not working. That blue color valve, it's not working.

So what happened after that? We decided to replace those valves. Then again, the new valve has got the same dirt issues. So we decided to go for the sand cleaning operation. So once we ordered for sand cleaning, the vessel has been bypassed and the whole vessel has been put on standby for sand cleaning operation. But what happened after that? We were never ready for that. Due to heat and chemical inside, the sand has accumulated into rock like structure and this has damaged the fire tube inside.

You can see the fire tube inside. So immediately it has been decided to replace the fire tube. Once the fire tube has been replaced, then we realized that we are a few days away from a severe to fatal accident. Because if you can see over here, the surfaces of both the pipes, the bottom pipe, the top surface was about. The bottom surface was about to touch the top surface and any moment sparks would have generated and this would have caught fire. When I was at school, I was like very much into reading detective stories. In moments like this I was of the opinion like elementary, my dear Watson. The water valve didn't work from the water valve. It all started and it ended up like from. Into the replacement of this fire tube, which would have else caused into an explosion in a deep, densely populous area.

So it's all like that. We always work in a very hazardous kind of situation. So we have to resolve all our issues and ensure production day in and day out, incident and injury free. To ensure this kind of operation, we need to have a strong, dedicated team working along with us. To have this kind of team to build up, build up a team of this caliber, we as a production engineer, I think has to be, has ensured more responsibilities on our strike.

We, like previously we production engineers used to be so authoritative, like was kind of one. But with passage of time, we realized that we need to get along them and ensure that there is an environment of constant, continuous exchange of thoughts, opinions, so that the person or the crews feels like they are being heard of. And there is always some kind of continuous learning, as we say, from which everyone can benefit. We encourage this, we encourage this kind of collaboration, we foster the kind of communication, celebrate smaller victories. I always believe in these processes, so that, because this gives me an idea about how to work with people who are like with me. Sorry. So that whensoever they are into some jobs, I can have an idea that what they are going through and when they come to me for any kind of issue with any kind of issues, no matter how triple it is, I always makes it to listen to them carefully. And this kind of hassle free environment results in creating a symbiotic world. And this, you will be surprised to realize that how much you can gain from this kind of nurturing environment. And I feel like coming to work every day. Thank you.

Energy, Engineering, Hazardous Conditions, Global, Technology, Leadership, Tedx Talks