Looking for Heavy-Oil Skills

Mature heavy-oil fields in western Venezuela still hold large volumes of oil. What many of them have lost is the system that produces it: wells, power, steam, surface facilities, data and people. Bringing that system back takes people who have run it before.

That is why OCALEAN is building a project-based network of at least 20 specialists with heavy-oil and thermal-recovery experience. We are preparing an initial technical assessment framework for a heavy-oil field redevelopment case in Venezuela, and we want the right people involved from the start.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for experience in three areas:

• Subsurface: thermal reservoirs and cyclic steam stimulation, geology and petrophysics, drilling and completion of thermal wells, well rehabilitation and sand control, production and artificial lift.
• Surface and energy: flow stations and heavy-oil handling, steam generation and water treatment, power systems and diesel- or crude-fired generation, integrity, maintenance and automation.
• Management and environment: hydrocarbon planning and economics, health, safety and environment, subsidence monitoring, community relations, contracts and procurement, and technical data management.

We value long field experience, and we also welcome younger professionals who are eager to learn. Roles can be full time, part time or advisory, in the field or remote, depending on the role.

How we will work

• Evidence first. Our diagnosis combines field data, the historical archive, published technical literature and satellite images, so we can build the most reliable baseline possible, even where records are incomplete.
• The cheapest barrel first. Reactivating existing wells and removing surface bottlenecks comes before drilling new ones.
• Energy before wells. Where fuel gas is scarce, plans are built around diesel and equipment that can burn the field’s own crude.
• Pilots before scaling. New technologies are tested on a limited area before wider deployment.
• Communities as partners. Local employment and local suppliers are part of the plan from day one.

Our network includes professionals who know these assets from the inside, among them one of the co-authors of a reference development plan prepared in 2002 for a major heavy-oil asset.

How to apply

Send your CV as a PDF through our application form. The form works in Spanish and English.

Apply to the expert network →

Learn about the full approach in Field Assessment & Redevelopment.