The best geologists want to be in Tullow’s team

Tullow Oil is the Manchester United of the energy world — at least when it comes to recruiting the finest talent.
The oil industry has long complained of the difficulty of recruiting enough highly-qualified staff, but as Europe’s largest independent oil explorer by market value, Tullow says it is a magnet for all those geologists ambitious to add discovering a new field to their CVs.
“If you are successful, you will always attract… like everyone wants to play for Manchester United,” Aidan Heavey, chief executive of Tullow Oil, told the Reuters Global Energy Summit.
Many oil companies, he said, have ceased exploring, partly because of a difficult financial climate, partly because of a lack of opportunities.
Tullow’s exploration successes include major finds in Uganda and offshore Ghana.
Apart from snapping up the finest geologists, Tullow has also been busy grabbing credit. Heavey said banks had made available $2 billion in credit in March this year.
“It’s a huge achievement in the current market,” Heavey said. “It’s probably soaked up most of the credit available for small oil companies.”