Energy
The Days of Dynasty Are Over, Now if Only Someone Would Tell the Oil Barons
Fossil Fuel is on its way out. But for some reason the old guards refuse to let go and join the rest of us in the 21st century with clean energy.
I grew up in a Southeast Asian country that has an abundance of natural resources. We have every single mineral, metal and spices under the sun. You name it, my country has it. Whether it be oil and gas, diamonds, gold, timber, palm oil, even uranium. We have it all. The soil on our land is so fertile thanks to the many volcanoes scattered all over our archipelago, if you threw a seed into the ground, without even the tiniest of effort, it will bloom and thrive. Speaking of natural resources, growing up, some of my family members were lucky enough to have worked in the oil and gas sector. This opened up my eyes to a new world that I never knew existed and only watched in the movies. One of the perks of working in oil and gas is obviously the money. There seemed to be an abundance of it, with no end in sight. I remember some family members would remodel their home every three months simply because they were given a budget to do so by the company they worked for and they had to spend it even thought a remodel was never necessary.
For those who are unfamiliar with the oil and gas lifestyle, allow me to enlighten you. Have you ever watched the TV series Dynasty or Dallas? Hugely popular in the 80s and recently rebooted but let’s stick to the original because as well know, the OG is always the best. Everything about it is true. The way the oil barons lived, their families, and their lavishness. My mother loved Dynasty and never missed an episode. She adored Joan Collins, and bought her books as a guide to how a woman should look and be. My mother often quoted passages to me from Joan Collin’s autobiography for as long as I can remember. The Alexis Carrington life was her #lifegoals. The endless silverware, the perfect wardrobe, the protective and mature husband with more money than God, it was the dream life that every woman of her generation wanted. We were lucky enough to have known people in our country who were living the Dynasty life. I was just a little girl back then, around 5 years old, but I do recall the grandeur and opulence of it all until now, several decades later. The massive Persian rug in every room that stretches from corner to corner, the dresses that were worn only despite costing more than an average person’s salary at that time. Marble floors that were so shiny you could see your reflection as you walked across the room like walking on a bed of water. I always thought that this lavishness would last forever , my mother and I were similar to courtiers in the Romanov court, we’re not sure why we were there, but somehow we managed to land an invite just by knowing the right people. Nothing would ruin this piece of heaven. Or so everyone, including myself thought, until our very own revolution came and everything changed over night. People flaunting their wealth wearing Rolex and diamonds all of the sudden claimed they “had no money” and everything became “too expensive” for them. These were the same people who would go on a day trip to Tokyo just to get their chin fixed. By then, the 80s were long gone. The shoulder pads had deflated and the hair dos were less beehive and more Sunsilk sleek.With the fading of the blue eye shadows, so faded the days of the oil barons and their mega mansions.
Having been privileged to witness the excessive life of the oil tycoons, I now see how this particular community was and is a very exclusive club. When I say exclusive I mean these people are not Googlable, they have no paper trail, they just seem to exist on a different plain all together. No outsider can enter their world. And if you wanted to enter that world in an honest way, by way of say getting a job and working there, news flash, opportunities advertised in the oil and gas companies are never really truly vacant. The job you applied for, was already destined for someone’s daughter, son, niece, nephew or son in law. Skills and expertise were never a big requirement. If you spoke some English and somebody can vouch for you , then the job is yours, regardless of your work ethic, morals, contribution and experience. I discovered this first hand when a friend of mine who had no technical engineering skills nor experience in the oil and gas sector landed a comfortable gig in a job that was specifically created for her when her father made one phone call. To be in the oil and gas community is more like being in the mafia than an ecosystem. Everybody is related to somebody, and nobody walks in without the right credentials preceded by the right phone call.
Fast forward three decades later, renewable energy is in, tech titans rule, smart phones are really smart and we’re beginning to realize fossil fuel is the end of the world. The new source of energy is sun, wind, and bio fuel. A woman from the wrong zip code is championing the Green New Deal as a beacon of hope for all of us. Where does this leave these high and mighty oil barons which have built their empires solely on connections and no skills? I’m being harsh I know, but reality is harsh. For far too long, the oil and gas sector has demanded the best and the most elite without ever giving a chance to the striving and the no one except when it came to the blue collared jobs of course. Am I thankful to the universe when the price of Oil was at -40 USD? You bet! because for once, these overpaid, oil executives who wouldn’t give the time of day to us commoners, finally weren’t controlling the world. Sorry Saudi, but like Petreus said, you’re running out of money. And Emiratis, what is up with implementing VATs and making peace with Israel? Trouble in petrol paradise it seems. The days of Blake Carrington and Denver Carrington Oil are long gone. The future is now built by those of us waking up at the crack of dawn, opening our laptops, upgrading our skills, replying our emails, posting on our linkedin and working out with our favorite trainer online, yes I’m talking about Millenials, Gen Z and the fresh wind of change they have brought. Whether it be Amazon, Tesla, Apple, Google, or Alibaba all of these tech titans had one thing in common, none of their fathers picked up the phone and got them a job. They all had to start in basements, garages, being nobodies and no ones. Every inch of ground that they gained, we in turn gain. Everything we have achieved and how the world is shaping with greener fuels, and more life changing technology is due to hard work, perseverance, ingenuity and drive. Traits that none of the oil magnates had or will ever have. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to persevere when your first day on the job you wear a monogrammed YSL bag with dual tone Chanel shoes and look down on those who could only afford “just a safiano Prada bag” (Yes, this is a real quote from a real oil baron’s pampered daughter). And it definitely is very hard to be driven when you merely sashay into the job without even having to apply for one. So if tech titans, engineers and scientists are creating the pathway for the next renewable energy and you’re left in the dust because you can’t keep up, well you signed up for it by closing off the rest of the world except for your kind. I am grateful that today, the days of dads picking up the phone to ensure their offspring get a six figure job just because they know somebody in an international oil and gas company are almost gone. I say almost because honestly, somebody out there is still picking up the phone for their kid. The wind of change is coming, it just needs to come faster. British Petroleum has been purchased in some parts by Sinopec, Total Oil is a shell of what it was, and Saudi Aramco….well you know how that went. The Oil and Gas world was never transparent, it was never about what you know or what your skills are, it was more about who you know….it was Omerta.
Having worked in several startup ventures, I have come to understand that the tech world has always championed the availability of free education and knowledge to the masses. Information is available in abundance, all you have to do is ask, seek and people are more than willing to help, whether it be fixing a line of code, making a chat bot or the basics of HTML. Take for example today’s COVID-19 pandemic, Google has come up with countless resources and courses for anyone to upgrade their skill. Microsoft and linkedin are doing the same. The traditional workforce is facing many challenges due to the pandemic and the tech world is stepping up to the plate and helping people find something better. The tech ecosystem is helping everyone to renew and upgrade their skill to be able to compete in the new world. The oil and gas sector has never done this. There was never any free course or skill sharing to enter into the oil and gas world. There was never a middle ground for the oil and gas sector. It was either you had to go through an official university which not everyone can afford or risk your life daily by working on an offshore rig as a hard laborer. Instead of embracing new blood and new way of thinking, they have always preferred dinosaurs (metaphorically and literally).
Do I miss the golden days of the oil barons where fine dining was in abundance, 12 course meals were laid out on Teak dining tables, and silk Persian rugs were in every room? Sometimes, not for the opulence and sheer magnitude of it all, but because it reminded me of my mother’s prime years and how she was the Belle of the Ball. Today, instead of wishing for the golden days to return like some people, and doing their best to lobby and exploit everything and everyone around them, I just turn on the TV and watch reruns of Dynasty from the 80s. Now more than ever, I realize that the main reason for the oil and gas downfall was not because their energy was not renewable, it was because instead of creating and uplifting the citizens and community where the oil was sourced from, the main purpose of oil and gas executives were to exploit, profit and destruct for the enrichment of a handful of people. The Colbys shouldn’t have owned nearly all of Denver just like the Ewings should never have been monarchs of Texas. The fracking, the constant drilling, and just the sheer mass destruction that is the aftermath of fossil fuel should have been a sign we were literally killing ourselves.
The days of the oil barons, oligarchs, oil tycoons, whatever you want to call them, are numbered. And to be honest, all I can say is “it’s about damn time”.
