EMELINE CHONG, HEAD OF SUBSURFACE

From a young age Emeline Chong showed an aptitude and enthusiasm for engineering. Emeline, based in Kuala Lumpur, tells us where her passion started.

I have always been curious about how things work. I love the outdoors too – when I was younger, I was part of the Scouts Movement which was an important experience for me. It didn’t matter if you were a boy or girl, you learned about teamwork, planning, leadership and building things from scratch such as tree houses. These are the things we did before mobile phones and YouTube!

My background is in petroleum engineering. That is what I majored in for my master’s degree. Early on in my career, when I told people what I did, I would get confused looks and people would say things like “why?” or “you don’t look like an engineer” because I didn’t fit the stereotype of a man in a hard hat with oil-stained overalls. I wouldn’t say that I was ever discouraged, but I sometimes didn’t feel comfortable about my passion. That’s why we need to embrace diversity, so that engineering can be seen as a suitable vocation for women and encourage more to pursue it. Different ideas and perspectives will mean that the industry will transform and continue to improve over time.

I joined Petrofac over 10 years ago as a Reservoir Engineer. I am currently the Head of Subsurface and manage a team of geoscientists, reservoir engineers and petroleum engineers. We work together to develop the hydrocarbon potential of our PM-304 block (located offshore in Peninsular Malaysia). We look for appraisal and development opportunities and conduct day-to-day production surveillance in our producing fields to make sure that we produce hydrocarbons to surface safely and efficiently. We also manage production forecasting, estimating how much oil, gas and water we will produce and how much gas/water injection is required to improve oil recovery in our fields and estimate what is left in our reserves. Our team also look at any production enhancement opportunities, such as adding perforations to existing wells or reviving idle wells that are not currently producing.

I have found my passion and really enjoy what I do. I get to be creative and innovative – it’s the full package for me. One thing I have held onto since my time in the Scouts is the importance of teamwork and interacting with people from all walks of life. At subsurface, we work with many disciplines, including health, safety and environment (HSE), drilling, asset operations, process, supply chain, and even economists when we’re justifying a new project. I enjoy meeting new people and working closely with all these teams.

My biggest advice is to not be afraid of voicing your aspirations. The truth is if people don’t know what you want, they can’t help you. Similarly, it’s important to be around people that advocate for you, validate your strengths and push you to go further. At Petrofac, I have been given the opportunity to be involved in different projects, and when I say I’m ready for a bigger role, I have always found that my managers have been very supportive. That support is important because as employees we need to prove ourselves but we also have to be given the chance to do it.

Cendor field – Emeline uses seismic imaging to map formations beneath the Earth’s surface

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