VP Reservoir Management Erik Lorange tells about his long career at our company.
AGR is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. But the success of our company would not have been possible without the great talent we have and the loyal employees who deliver projects to our clients. Meet Erik who is located at our Oslo office telling the story of his career in AGR and the oil and gas industry.
What are your daily tasks like?
I work for AGR’s Reservoir Management team in Norway. Luckily for me, my role entails a great degree of variety and international interactions. For instance, I’m responsible for projects in Mexico, advisory for our Blue Nile project in Sudan, as well as the management of our exploration department along with a variety of smaller projects.
How has your career developed over the years at AGR?
I was managing the Reservoir Management business in a company which AGR acquired in 2005. After joining the global AGR group of companies, I remained in the Manager position until 2012, after which I became Exploration Manager within the Reservoir group.
With this new role, I’ve had more time for project work and direct interactions with highly technical team members on a more regular basis. I’ve also found this experience to be highly fruitful and rewarding, as I’ve been able to further develop my own skills, both as a manager specialising in exploration and in asset evaluation for fields under development and fields in production.
How have AGR facilitated career progression to have kept you at the company for such a long time?
The feeling of empowerment is certainly a vital factor which has kept me at AGR this long. I have been working with smaller companies for the better part of my career, which I find more satisfying in comparison to working with the larger companies. I find the less bureaucratic, more efficient decision making process fascinating, which generally leads to situations wherein one has to make decisions on ones own. Of course, this means one is more directly responsible for project outcomes – both positive and negative.
AGR are one of these companies where one is exposed to the ever-changing market and is compelled to make decisions to the best of ones abilities on a regular basis. It is particularly gratifying to see such positive results for Reservoir Management now, based on the decisions and strategies we implemented just after the downturn began.
At a dynamic company like ours, we have a good working environment because management and owners trust us as professionals to get on with our jobs. In essence, I believe this has led to a feeling of empowerment and a feeling of being part of our shared successes.
What did you do before joining AGR?
My career spans three decades and counting. I started in 1984 and have worked at various companies throughout the industry, holding several positions including: Principal Geophysicist, Crude Oil Broker, Senior Geologist, Project Manager, Marketing Manager and Manager Exploration, before joining AGR. These were all rewarding roles, but overall I’ve stayed at AGR the longest.
How do AGR enable work-life balance?
Work-life balance is highly important to me. I enjoy the great Norwegian outdoors and spending as much of my spare time as possible, with my wife and family in contact with nature. I consider this essential to having a good life. Most importantly, I feel this is part of the culture at AGR and something we all share in common to a great degree. In my experience, as long as we plan our work well, AGR facilitate work-life balance, which I believe has led to a highly motivated, stable, qualified staff over the years.