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Engineering
degree translates into success in Canadian oil fields
| From
25 below zero to 6,000 barrels a day |
| by
Jean Arthur · Communications Services |
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| On
the Canadian prairie, where oil derricks are as
common as grain elevators, Reg Greenslade,
'89 Engr, found that one locked car door opened
many other doors. |
| "Before
I went to MSU, I worked as a general laborer in
the oil industry," recalls Greenslade, president,
CEO and director of Enterra Energy Corp. |
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| "My father,
an oil man, hired the company I worked for. I was to start a
dead engine on an oil pumping unit. At the time, my father was
trying to convince me that I should get an education. It was
minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit and windy at the site. We could
not get the engine going, and my father would not let me get
into his car to warm up. I was readily convinced that I did
not want to do general labor for the rest of my life." |
| So Greenslade
enrolled at MSU, the closest university to his Shaunavon, Saskatchewan
home. |
| "There
is no question that an MSU engineering degree was paramount
to my success in the oil industry," says Greenslade, now head
of the 12th fastest growing company above the 49th parallel,
as ranked by PROFIT Magazine. |
| After graduation,
Greenslade joined a start-up Canadian oil company that produced
a mere 22 barrels of oil a day. |
| "I was
the only employee," he chuckles. "But it was a publicly listed
company. I built it up to about 1,000 barrels a day, then put
it together with another company in a reverse takeover in 2001." |
| Ultimately,
Greenslade reorganized companies into Enterra Energy Corp.,
currently Canada's fastest growing domestic oil and gas company.
Two years ago, Enterra's stocks were valued in the $2 to $4
range. Currently, it's in the $18 to $19 range, pumps 6,000
barrels a day and shows annual revenue over $70 million Canadian
($50 million U.S.). |
| "You get
a degree, and it's a ticket into the show," said Greenslade
from his Calgary office. "You can be as successful as you want
to be, but that ticket, that MSU engineering degree, gets you
in the door." |
| Photo Credit:
Reg Greenslade |
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