tamuags08 said:

---

"Never caused an introduction" is odd. A&M clothing, the ring, etc has drummed up numerous random encounters in the past. Those have (sometimes) led to an intro of something I was looking for.

I get not just giving someone a job because they're an Aggie, but the intro part was a bit extreme.

---

What are you talking about?

Looks like he meant to reply to a post on the Job Network board:

https://texags.com/forums/18/topics/3413553/replies/66050733

Dirty Mike and the Boys said:

---

I've followed this thread since page 1 when I was a year and a half into my 2nd bachelors in petroleum engineering. It really wasn't until this thread's existence that I realized just how much money (tuition) I had put into a long bet on oil. A PE degree is really tough to market into other engineering fields, and I was honestly pretty ****ty at engineering in general. I thank God every day that I was blessed with a good network of friends that was able to land me a job in the trading side of things, especially since it fit into my skillset so much better than engineering. I feel for all of y'all on the upstream side of things. Having your job hang on the whims of folks who have a golden parachute that make decisions based on quarterly earnings is awful and I can't imagine how jaded I'd be at this point.

---

Same. Except I was an engineer until 2020. Trading has definitely been the right change. The moment I knew was when I had $60MM of company capital in the ground in March 2020 and was forced to be long oil and gas. I tried to convince management that we should drill lower wolfcamp wells in Q2 2020 and got shut down rather unceremoniously. It was really just my first attempt at a trade - I wanted to be long natty with the WAHA diff.

AggiEE said:

---

Dirty Mike and the Boys said:

---

I've followed this thread since page 1 when I was a year and a half into my 2nd bachelors in petroleum engineering. It really wasn't until this thread's existence that I realized just how much money (tuition) I had put into a long bet on oil. A PE degree is really tough to market into other engineering fields, and I was honestly pretty ****ty at engineering in general. I thank God every day that I was blessed with a good network of friends that was able to land me a job in the trading side of things, especially since it fit into my skillset so much better than engineering. I feel for all of y'all on the upstream side of things. Having your job hang on the whims of folks who have a golden parachute that make decisions based on quarterly earnings is awful and I can't imagine how jaded I'd be at this point.

---

Any concern that a career in trading is easily displaced by technology?

---

Honestly no. I don't think technology can remotely replace physical trading anytime soon. And even in the financial space there's been algos for a long time. Financial trading becomes more like an art than a science and is best as a compliment to a physical business anyways.

AggiEE said:

---

Dirty Mike and the Boys said:

---

I've followed this thread since page 1 when I was a year and a half into my 2nd bachelors in petroleum engineering. It really wasn't until this thread's existence that I realized just how much money (tuition) I had put into a long bet on oil. A PE degree is really tough to market into other engineering fields, and I was honestly pretty ****ty at engineering in general. I thank God every day that I was blessed with a good network of friends that was able to land me a job in the trading side of things, especially since it fit into my skillset so much better than engineering. I feel for all of y'all on the upstream side of things. Having your job hang on the whims of folks who have a golden parachute that make decisions based on quarterly earnings is awful and I can't imagine how jaded I'd be at this point.

---

Any concern that a career in trading is easily displaced by technology?

---

I agree with everything Gordo said if the notion of technology is referencing algos. Phys trading has a gamut of players where speculators are really only a small percentage of the field.

I do think scheduling as a profession is on the brink of being automated away, so it's imperative for folks on that end to always be thinking commercially rather than operationally.

I imagine if you'd gotten your way and got truly long in 2020 you'd be retired now. It took me longer than most to get promoted to full time trading as this is my first year in the role. I'm hoping for some fireworks this winter. People seem to have forgotten that Europe's grid issues still exist.

That window was pretty short relatively. Been there, done that, got the battle score

Dirty Mike and the Boys said:

---

AggiEE said:

---

Dirty Mike and the Boys said:

---

I've followed this thread since page 1 when I was a year and a half into my 2nd bachelors in petroleum engineering. It really wasn't until this thread's existence that I realized just how much money (tuition) I had put into a long bet on oil. A PE degree is really tough to market into other engineering fields, and I was honestly pretty ****ty at engineering in general. I thank God every day that I was blessed with a good network of friends that was able to land me a job in the trading side of things, especially since it fit into my skillset so much better than engineering. I feel for all of y'all on the upstream side of things. Having your job hang on the whims of folks who have a golden parachute that make decisions based on quarterly earnings is awful and I can't imagine how jaded I'd be at this point.

---

Any concern that a career in trading is easily displaced by technology?

---

I agree with everything Gordo said if the notion of technology is referencing algos. Phys trading has a gamut of players where speculators are really only a small percentage of the field.

I do think scheduling as a profession is on the brink of being automated away, so it's imperative for folks on that end to always be thinking commercially rather than operationally.

---

Trading/scheduling for a producer, I could see AI/tech taking over. On the true marketing side of the business, there's a long way to go.

I work on a desk, mostly financial but agree. I think you can see a lot of mid office/back office fall to AI. I think some trading and/or scheduling could go that way with reduced headcount but more capable people in business.

From the origination side, that is a long put to get AI to take over. Maybe with pricing help.

I was laid off twice, fired twice, and worked for a small company that went bust, all in midstream construction. I am now on the owner side working for a utility and my stress level is almost zero now. The money isn't quite as good and we don't get bonuses, but the benefits are really good and I don't have to worry about getting laid off if the price of oil or NG tanks and projects get cancelled.

I was let go when my oldest daughter was 2 weeks old, and I got let go again 6 weeks before my youngest was born.

Cyp0111 said:

---

I work on a desk, mostly financial but agree. I think you can see a lot of mid office/back office fall to AI. I think some trading and/or scheduling could go that way with reduced headcount but more capable people in business.

From the origination side, that is a long put to get AI to take over. Maybe with pricing help.

---

I think AI and Blockchain for the back office will be a game changer. Have seen a few offerings out there(below) and I believe those to be a signal of whats to come. Some Mid-office functions may be fundamentally changed but will remain for the medium-term.

https://www.vakt.com/

I do not disagree. I think to an extent I'm in a show me state with blockchain. People were pumping hard but it's still small component.

Fully agree. Its got a while but wil be a game changer. The blockchain bros did not do themselves a favor by over hyping bit-coin and under selling blockchain capabilities.

Also seen some interesting agent based model start ups that could be of interest to marketers.

whats up with nat gas today

Dan Scott said:

---

whats up with nat gas today

---

I lit my gas logs last night. The traders must have gotten word.

$81 oil despite 2 wars. Lots of production or economy really poor

The EIA came out with monthly production data that was high. EIA has big issues w data integrity/accuracy right now.

Cyp0111 said:

---

I work on a desk, mostly financial but agree. I think you can see a lot of mid office/back office fall to AI. I think some trading and/or scheduling could go that way with reduced headcount but more capable people in business.

From the origination side, that is a long put to get AI to take over. Maybe with pricing help.

---

back and mid office for sure. things like settlements. the smart person working in those areas should be digging into AI right now. seeing how they can use it to their advantage to make settlements quicker and more accurate.

as far as scheduling goes, the marketing/trading side of the world makes lots of money in exploiting how pipes move product, supply changes, etc. it's not just i've got 1,000 to move per day. let's schedule that for the month ahead and move on. AI would be good fit for streamlining the basic stuff but its not ready for the all of the minutia.

I think they went from under reporting when you include blended bbls with high monthly adjustment factors upwards to over reporting crude production and adjusting the other way on a weekly basis.

I'm not in the data but that is what people that track daily tell me so take with a grain of salt.

Where is oil going.

some definite softness but a lot of spec/cta washout. Looks like we are a little higher on the supply side right now, shale guys really need to chill.

Should start SPR buying. Admin said they wanted $80

Tbh, at the levels proposed. That doesn't move the needle.

Plant fire in Shepard at Sound Resouces. Hope everyone is safe.

San Jacinto County, Texas plant explosion on FM 1127 | khou.com

News said one hospitalized with burns but in stable condition.

Yep. My mom lives in Lake Livingston and they are under a shelter in place warning due to the smoke from the fire

It is going to burn for a while, too. Nasty stuff burning.