Vitalii Boichuk has worked in the oil industry for almost 30 years. He started out as a process engineer and today works as an Operations Manager, responsible for production and well operations. 

His story is about his early years in the field, the development of automation and the ideas that come to him while working around his home.  

On his first practical experience 

“I joined the company in 1996 as a process engineer in the oil and gas production shop. We carried out well pumping operations. The work continued in the run-up to winter, in difficult weather conditions. That was when I began gaining my first practical experience.”

On working in the mountains 

“I remember the time when I worked as a supervisor. All the facilities were high in the mountains, more than 1,000 metres above sea level, and there was no mobile phone coverage at the time. So decisions had to be made independently and carefully, because afterwards you had to take responsibility for every one of them.”

On the changes he has seen over the years

“In the past, you could only see a well’s operating parameters by going to the site itself. Today, I can monitor its operation from a computer and adjust its operating mode. We could only dream of such capabilities back then.”

On what makes a strong team

“Collective decision-making is important in our work. A team is like a mechanism: if one component fails, it no longer works as it should. We have an operator, then a supervisor, followed by the management of the shop. Only then does everything work properly.”

On ideas that come to him at home

“There is always something to do around your own house. And it is precisely when you are working with your hands that the best ideas about work tend to come to you. The next day, I discuss them with my colleagues — and quite often there is something worthwhile in them.”