Thread regarding Noble Energy Inc. layoffs

Guess it shows Arne was too busy with his video hobby to properly oversee the G&G gang.

"...still hanging on to all those stolen seismic surveys?"

Shhhhh! Don’t talk about that. No one is supposed to know…

Yep, love to see that lawsuit. It would backfire royally on the plaintiff/s, especially when the case went to discovery. Far too many witnesses and extensive evidence lurking in Noble’s computer systems. Many of us know just where to look. The gang of five left a long, long trail. Defamation it is definitely not.

By the by, still hanging on to all those stolen seismic surveys? Curious how often Noble adopted farm-in packages as their own...

Yep, unfortunately anonymous sites like this one bring out rovng lunatics.
He can be sued for defamation, ISPs are trackable.

OK guys we are pushing it a bit too much here. Read the site rules, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is not allowed. Foul language, etc.

There is so much defamation here, I would not be surprised if someone was to sue Layoff.com and get all the money from the owners, shut the site down. I am not sure if they can go after posters as they are anon but I am sure the entire site can go down.

We may want to start looking for website alternatives here.

Anyone think Colombia will pan out? cough

Noble used to be a fairly good company that ten years ago was a rough peer to Anadarko, Hess, and others. Then it fell victim to a combination of poor management and sheer hubris. In exploration, the management decided they wanted to play with the big boys, but were not willing to either spend the money needed or, alternatively, to accept a secondary (non-operated) role. Consequently, they first began chasing underexplored basins where Noble could be a "first mover" and "dominate" the area. Problem with that was that there aren't too many of those around anymore, especially ones without big costs and big above ground risk. As a result, the NV leadership produced very risky, long-shot prospects like the Falklands, Nicaragua, Suriname, and others. Then the emphasis switched to known hydrocarbon plays. However, again, they weren't willing to spend the money, so Noble ended up with mediocre (or worse) prospects in mediocre or worse basins. The situation had begun to deteriorate under SC management and has accelerated under JD and his sycophants. Through a series of management mis-steps, including selling the money-making Gulf of Mexico assets and becoming entranced with unconventionals (to the tune of $ 6 billion), the exploration budget was so constricted that Noble drilled no wells for several years. Meanwhile Murphy drilled four or five. The problems became critical when the JD clique took over exploration. It was about this time that the XX process went off the rails when JD et al. started ignoring any results that they didn’t like. Many of us saw how JD et al. would basically tell the teams that the XX results were wrong (usually too small), which meant that prospects were endlessly XX’d until the approved solution was arrived at. One voiced complaint was that people wished that he would just tell them the answer and save everybody a lot of time. This problem was exacerbated by the JD clique’s combination of arrogance and ignorance. They got rid of key technical experts and then, especially JD, earring boy, and DN in meetings would disparage and dismiss the technical results of the exploration teams, substituting their (frequently outdated) knowledge for that of the people actually working the problems. Their arrogance and lack of respect for the exploration line staff led to the demise of the “safe place” culture that used to prevail in meetings. Disagreements with conventional management wisdom were not smiled on. The upshot was that exploration decision-making was driven largely personality-driven by a small number of people rather than by the technical detail. This arrogance even carried over to getting prospects. Our insistence on operating, and the personal feelings of some management toward certain other companies restricted Noble’s operational flexibility. It even made the front page of one of the Africa industry forums. The Noble exploration people are first rate, but I’m not certain if there is a solution. Which is why I sold all my stock as soon as I could.

I was an underling but knew a person who was deeply involved with the Leviathan project. They are one of the "good ones" and I really hope they go somewhere else where they will be appreciated.

Leviathan came online late last year, just a bit before deadline. They were very proud of themselves for that. The buzz about Leviathan (management driven) was always that the project was the golden cow that would save everything. Uppers claimed (verbally, not in writing of course) that if Leviathan operated at 100% for the year, the company would turn a profit. However, the MOE in Israel capped working capacity at 60% for issues of safety, environmental concerns, and citizen concerns. Not sure how long that went for, or if its still ongoing but it sure isn't 100%.

And then there was major projects, did that company ever get flow of leviathan?

@7rlq,

We do mostly agree on XX, though I can’t say there ever was a time when it was implemented properly. I’ve seen other organizations where the risking process did function well. Noble’s system was never up to that standard. That includes pre 2011. I witnessed several projects during that period that where cooked as well, Given Noble’s limited portfolio, several was a big percentage. So, no, HP wasn’t doing a good job, not even then.

I certainly didn’t see every review, so it’s possible HP did a better job in isolated cases. Perhaps on projects that he found interesting. As you said, he did poorly when he didn’t enjoy doing something. However, lack of uniformity across the organization was/is part of the problem. Standardization is a key element of organizational risk analysis. Noble and HP failed there as well.

Yes, I noted HD was an operator. It occurred in other teams too, though it was generally less overt, except in NV where it was even worse. Funny, JD was VP of NV too. Hmm…

Still, in exploration, exaggeration goes with the territory. That’s why risk teams exist, to be objective, to reign that bias and self-promotion in. That never happened at Noble. Instead the numbers got bigger in XX. I never saw them go down, only up. That shouldn’t happen if the process was working. So, like I said before, there was a reason why the resource and risking process was so bad. It was by design. The process was being manipulated from the top and from the beginning.

SC and JD had their own agenda. They wanted the prospect numbers to be big, to be “world class”. They drove the numbers higher, through private conversations will team managers like HD, with the XX managers like HP and in person for high-profile projects. XX merely provided cover, documentation to call on to justify why they were pursuing the project. Apparent due diligence, but that was a crock.

Personally, I think they did it for a combination of reasons. Incompetence. Arrogance. Greed. They certainly benefited by it. No doubt their bonuses were positively impacted by the big numbers. Based on appearances, they were delivering. Wells were drilled at such a slow pace who could prove them wrong from the statistics? “We don’t have enough data.” So, they got away with it for a long, long time.

Noble was never a great E&P company, just lucky. Lucky they operated in places with no competition. Lucky the geology cooperated in EG and E Med. That luck provided the upward trajectory… for a while. The fact everything else failed systematically, particularly the c-ap out of NV, proves Noble never had the “secrete sauce for success”.

I’m with you that there are still some good people left. However, none of them are in management and so this company is going nowhere.

For @7olm,

You are correct. BG was in fact the originator for Tamar. I was being gracious to Mr. F. First one in the company usually get's the credit, internally anyway. Same can be said for the Alba team with Aseng and Alen. Those too were brought in through another company. Kinda sad, isn't it?

Tamar was "first recognized" by BG Group.

After responsibly deciding to cease activity in Israel for political reasons, BG Group farmed out the prospect. Their thorough analyses put everything on a silver platter for Mr. Ff in Londontown to spin his tale of discovery.

Tamar was not a major G&G/exploration achievement for NBL.

I think we agree about XX, but there was a time when it was done right, until about 2011 or so. CD brought in SC, she brought in the XX process and backed it, HP was on top of his game and lead rigorous technical exploration across the company. My best guess is what changed for him was burnout when he was trying to manage the technology team, which he disliked and was bad at, while still acting as an advisor for SC and trying to control the XX process, but there may have been another trigger I don't know about. Everyone was glad when he finally retired, especially him.

With "confused communication", I was talking about New Ventures, not XX.

I do think you underestimate how much of the XX inflation came from regional managers themselves. HD was well-known for holding pre-XX review meetings to tightly control the message for every GoM prospect, and during the review itself he would frequently take over if his staff weren't saying what he wanted. He wasn't the only one. After HP moved on, the XX team leads that followed never had the political standing to overcome inherent bias like that. I do think that SC and JD recognized this was happening, but instead of improving it by having someone senior enough lead the process, the main review power gradually moved to a committee of the exploration directors, but that was never going to work well.

Noble was once an E&P company on a rapid upward trajectory, but no longer. It's sad. Many have left over the last six years, but there are still a lot of good people there. I hope they come out of this OK.

@6ytg,

You’re correct, the XX process failed.

For those outside the loop, “XX” is Noble’s mechanism for assessing prospect risk and resource potential. Every oil & gas company has a similar process. Ideally, it’s meant to negate regional/personal bias and provide a balanced view of the company’s exploration portfolio. By so doing, the company can focus limited funding on those prospects with the highest chance of success and greatest resource potential. When done properly the process should be validated by drilling statistics. At Noble the process has been corrupted. Grossly.

The problem wasn’t “confused communication”. It was deliberate top down driven inflation. I can’t say I ever witnessed CD or DS get involved, they kept themselves removed from the process. But SC and JD were definitely prime drivers. The guidance was often passed quietly through the lower level managers in private meetings. However, for the high-profile projects, SC and JD often participated in the XX meetings and guided the results through couched means. I never witnessed a prospect get smaller, they only got larger. People get the message when their bosses boss says things like “It has to be bigger”. In the end, SC and JD used the review process as a shield, claiming the result was an independent team consensus, when in fact it was a manipulated outcome.

I can’t agree that HP added any integrity to the process. He was a SC direct report and as such he followed orders. He talked a good game, but never once delivered. Most of the time he came to meetings late, interrupted them with phone calls and tangential issues and then left early before any decisions were made. Everyone I know observed the same. Frankly, most of the geos felt he was a joke.

My undersatanding is Tamar was first recognized by Mr. F in the London office. He saw the potential and forwarded it to Houston for further review. At that point the two Bs took over. They did a fine job evaluating it. As for SC: JD claimed she rejected Tamar 4 times before finally getting onboard. I guess she had a GAP breakthrough. Also, Mari-B was really the first East Med discovery and that predated SC. No credit there.

The unconventionals (oil at least) are a relatively recent development (mainly in the last 6 years). The numbers have been manipulated there too, but with differences. There it’s being driven by DS and KF to justify their decision to prioritizing the shales over the conventionals. They’re pushing the shales for reasons outside the normal prospect ranking issues. Things like greater chance of claiming a “successful” well (it has at least some pay in it), cheaper wells, quicker to cash flow, etc. Never mind the economics of it, that wasn’t a consideration. Chasing the shales allowed them to quickly boost production and “reserves”. In turn, that pleased the stock analysts and helped S and F rationalize their compensation packages.

Bottom line: Oil exploration and development is a challenging business. Doubly so when senior management cooks the process for their own ends.

It is doubtful that the PRB will be more economic that the Permian. There is probably oil there and they may be able to flip Noble's acreage position to someone else once a well is drilled.

Speaking of exploration, I hear a rig still may be headed to the Powder this fall...when was the last time anyone made any profitable funds up there? Answer, a very long time...

Mostly as a reply to @4yuc:

East Med did not come out of London. Tamar was pushed by "The Two Bs", two senior geos who retired several years ago. They took it to SC (and JD and HP), and she got behind it and took it to CD. Noble would not have Tamar and Leviathan without her. London then took over geoscience and took it from early lead derisking to drilling the first appraisal well.

Agree that NV staff were not the problem. When I helped them out, the problem was the confused communication they received from DS and/or JD, with the plan changing from day to day. Much of it seemed down to the conflict between conventional exploration and unconventionals.

That's also partly why the XX process has failed. In my last XX review outside my region, my reservoir probability was half the next lowest person, when the team just hadn't done the work they needed to do, and hadn't talked to the company carbonate specialist. I assume I was blacklisted after that. Exploration management were fighting unconventionals for funding, and believed that the unconventional numbers were inflated, so inflated themselves and played down risks. But most individual geoscience managers also inflated, because they were fighting each other for funding. And after HP moved, none of the subsequent XX leaders had enough respect in the company to maintain the integrity of the process.

Earring Boy is the perfect representative for Noble.

He is ignorant, arrogant, cruel, unethical, vain, boring.

There will be no cleaning house, because this has been the plan all along. Earring Boy and the other JD sycophants were explicitly selected for their lack of empathy and integrity.

"...new ventures probably needs to be re-evaluated..."

Take "probably" out of that statement and you'll have it right.

Noble's international discoveries all came out of other departments. In West Africa, the Alen & Aseng fields were outgrowths of the Alba team and Eastern Med originally came out of London. So what does New Ventures actually do then? The answer is: they burn money. They're very good at that. It's a bottomless pit.

It shouldn't be that way. There is a legitimate need for identifying the next big discovery. But Noble is on the wrong track. It's a people problem and it's been going on for well over ten years. Not the frontline teams mind you. They're doing the best they can. No surprise, it's the leadership that are the problem.

It started with SC. As stated before in this forum, the "Executive VP of Everything" was grossly incompetent. SC chased a lot of garbage projects (the Falklands for example). However, it didn't stop there. She hired JD to head the New Ventures group. He was just as bad an explorationist as his boss. JD back filled likeminded fools into lesser management roles below him. The bunch of them then proceeded to chase c-ap all over the world. Very expensive c-ap too. On the bright side, they got some nice trips out of it, really cranked the frequent flier miles with all those business class trips to exotic locations (the guy with the earring had a fondness for India in particular). And the dry holes kept rolling in. All on Noble's dime.

Now, those NV failure managers have been disbursed throughout the company, spreading the damage far and wide. They remain loud and proud despite their miserable record.

Noble will never be successful until all of JD's boys and girls have all been forced out. The sooner that happens the better. But don't hold your breath. DS is just as bad.

Yes - PwC has been retained again, pre-Covid, which put us a solid 6 months from our last re-org to the next. The constant re-org is a huge problem to project continuity. I’ve had 5 bosses in the last year, one of which understood our jobs. Things are constantly falling off our radar, and the response is a collective “shrug”.

All this said, it’s probably a good time to reorg. TX is toast, CO is hanging on by a thread, new ventures probably needs to be re-evaluated, so on. And who the hell knows what’s going on with NBLX...

Noble employed PwC to make the latest re-org plan...... yes PwC... the company that attempted to aid Noble implement the Oracle Cloud. Since they had never implemented Oracle Cloud you can bet good money that part of the Re-Org plan will include them being even a larger part of the continuation of their Cloud implementation engagement. I work in Inventory and have never seen so many clueless people get paid that kind of money.

BRING THE FURLOUGHED BACK! BRING THE FURLOUGHED BACK!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! DS talked about this in his last townhall. And my own supervisor confirms. More changes and layoffs coming.

Although I wouldn’t argue if you’re saying he doesn’t know how oil companies work.

Nothing here but pure speculation by people who don't know anything about the oilfield.

It’s called rearranging the deck chairs! Like they were doing on the Titanic!

Uh - id–ts - DS refers to in the latest townhall. It’s well known an outside consulting firm was brought in to “right size” the company over the winter.

And you clicked on it...

Nothing here but click-bait.

Was there an internal communication? I’m on furlough and have not been told a thing since April 6.

Instead of constantly re-orging, maybe they should concentrate on learning to org first.