Feast your eyes on a genuine oil baron, but don't be sidetracked by the hat – he's from Scotland, not Texas. Middle East Oil Baron 2005 Frank Rooney tells Shalaka Paradkar about his exploits in the oil industry, which he likens to an Indiana Jones adventure.
Frank Rooney is an unlikely oil baron. For one, he has no designs on owning an English football team. He'd rather play golf or scubadive with his wife.
Nor does he smoke cigars. This Scotsman smokes salmon – in a time-honoured tradition, over a specially-designed hardwood smoker.
And the most relevant anachronism: in an industry that creates reasons for marital relationships to turn as volatile as the stuff it deals in, Rooney's marriage to his wife Miriam, all 31 years of it, has been smooth as oil!
For most of his professional career, spanning more than three decades, Rooney has worked with oilfield services company Halliburton. (Yes, the same Texan company once headed by US Vice-President Dick Cheney.)
He came to the UAE in the early 1980s, when Abu Dhabi airport was just an airstrip with a small reception building. After 30 years with Halliburton he retired this July, only to come out of retirement and become vice-president of Swellfix, a Shell subsidiary.
Rooney was named Middle East Oil Baron 2005 at a glittering Oil Barons Ball, the main social event for the region's energy industry. He won the honour, instituted by Pipeline Magazine, following the most popular poll in its three-year history.
"It was a real surprise. I never thought of myself as a contender for the title until the publisher [of Pipeline Magazine, Eileen Michael] called me up a couple of months before the event and told me I was one of four names that were getting a lot of votes – very flattering," says Rooney.
"Two weeks before the event, they called me to tell me I got 44 votes more than my nearest competitor and was the [reigning] Oil Baron."
The award brought with it a round of media interviews as well as much-deserved recognition and kudos.
"Frank was chosen by his peers for his high standard of leadership and management in the field of health, safety and environment and service quality," says Michael.
"This, coupled with aggressive marketing at industry events … has raised his profile in the community."
Friday catches Rooney in an expansive mood as he gets set to crown his successor. Meet Frank Rooney: outgoing oil baron, loving husband, dedicated father of two and inventor of the Rooneydog.
I think oil's well ...
… when one is recognised by one's peers. The nicest thing about being crowned Oil Baron 2005 was receiving the award. The fact that people actually bothered to write my name down and vote for me meant that I had had some kind of impact on their lives.
One thing I do not want to read about is …
… how the oil industry is raping the earth of its natural resources. That's not the case. Oil companies in general are very responsible. Ten times out of ten an oil company will leave a drilling site in a better condition than [it was beforehand].
The biggest business risk I ever took …
… was when I was working in Indonesia. Halliburton in those days had seven companies there, all operating with independent staff. Manpower at each of the companies was duplicated seven times over and offices were located all over the place. It was my suggestion to bring them all together, despite a lot of internal resistance. Two years later, the unification was achieved. It worked well for several years, but some time after I left Indonesia the company again split into several different locations. Last I heard, they were trying to get the operating units back together in one location once again.
I don't deny myself …
… a nice car. Right now I am driving an S-class Mercedes. I have driven BMWs, Mercedes and Jaguars – I change my car every two years.
One thing I can happily have for the rest of my life …
… is the spaghetti my wife makes for guests [never for me]. It has chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce, and is baked in the oven. Absolutely lovely.
I invented the Rooneydog.
When my children were young, I would stuff a pita pocket with beans and franks. My children love their Rooneydogs to this day.
One thing I would never eat again …
… is durian [a spiky, pungent fruit] it tastes and smells awful, but is considered a delicacy in the Far East.
I don't have any materialistic goals left.
My goals are of gathering new experiences. I have a brand-new house in Florida and another nice house in Edinburgh. I am financially secure: if I want a new car, I buy one. I don't have those constraints. But there are still a few more things I want to do, lots of places I'd like to visit and golf courses I'd like to play on.
Me and my early years:
My parents emigrated to Canada before I was born. When I was 7, we returned to Scotland. I grew up in a fishing town called Arbroath, halfway between Dundee and Aberdeen. I have few memories of Canada, apart from fishing trips with my parents.
Arbroath is famous for its sheer cliffs. As children, we would dive off the cliffs into the sea and the tourists would pay us. That was how we made some extra cash. Very dangerous, but they would get some great pictures. Football was another big part of life and I still have many friends from my playing days.
My father was an engineer and my mother worked as a nurse. I am quite proud of my mother, because she took up nursing studies when she was 44. My family today, aside from my wife and children, comprises my older sister, Gail, who works for Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia as an executive assistant, and my sister, Glenna, who lives on a farm in Spain and grows olives. My brother was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1993.
When I was 20, I joined the Merchant Navy as a petty officer mechanic and worked on Esso tankers for two years. I recognised the oil industry was taking off in the North Sea, so I joined a maritime company and worked on supply boats.
Then I moved into ‘roughnecking' on the rigs, off the coast of Scotland. [Roughneck is slang for a semi-skilled labourer.] It was really hard work. I wanted to use my head a bit more, rather than just muscle. I saw that opportunity in the energy sector. But roughnecking was good experience; it helped me get my foot in the door at Otis.
Me and my early years in Otis/Halliburton:
I joined Otis/Halliburton in Scotland as a wireline and completions trainee. Otis [which in 1993 became Halliburton] manufactured the equipment used in the oil wells. After two years of training in completions and wireline, I was transferred to the London office in 1978, in charge of Europe and Africa markets, where I designed and commercialised completions.
In the early 1970s, most of the people with experience in the oil industry were Americans. When the energy sector started to expand outside America, the primary source of expertise came from the Americas. In Norway and Scotland, there was a massive influx of American technology. Little sleepy fishing towns became hotspots – it was like the Wild West. The air was thick with American accents and cigar smoke. It was a very masculine environment.
There were a lot of job opportunities for the people of Scotland and Norway. Much of the workforce came from working class backgrounds. When oil hit Aberdeen and such places, wages increased four times over for basic jobs. Very quickly people realised there was good money to be made in the oil industry.
It was expensive drilling for oil in the North Sea. In those days, exploration was very difficult, as the rigs were not built for working in those conditions and were quite unstable. It was only after the discovery of North Sea oil that rigs began to be built fit for purpose. But it was quite dangerous in the interim. Health and safety regulations were practically non-existent. They gave you a hard hat, a pair of steel-toed boots and sent you out.
But it was also an exciting time. A North Sea diver stood to make in one week what most people made in a year working onshore. With the oil boom came nightclubs and flashy cars.
What attracted me most was the potential to grow in the oil industry. I also enjoyed the type of work we did: getting on and off helicopters and going to various places. I had never been on a helicopter in my life.
Travel was another big attraction. As I worked for a service company, when anything happened on a rig, I was flown there. If it was in Egypt, I would be put on a plane and flown to Egypt. We would be put up in decent hotels. The lifestyle was almost like being paid to be on holiday.
Me and the Middle East:
We arrived in Abu Dhabi in September 1981. When my wife and I got off the plane, it felt like stepping into a sauna. I was given an enthusiastic welcome because I loved talking technology. UAE nationals and the people in the business were hungry for newer technology from the West.
Those days, I seldom went to the office in the morning. I would drive from the old Bateen area to the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) office on the Corniche. That would be my first stop, where we would sit and chat over cups of Arabic coffee. Everybody was friendly and relaxed.
It was very open and not so regulated. You basically sold equipment and technology by convincing someone that it would deliver what it promised. I was putting my name on it. So if it didn't work, I had to take ownership, it was my fault.
Socially, we entertained in each other's houses. Or we would head down to the Corniche, or drive on to the beach, open the tailgate of the 4WD and set up a barbecue.
The company I worked for bought a 38-foot Arab dhow for Dh70,000 and we refurbished it. Otis I was anchored close to the Intercontinental Hotel, which provided catering for it. On a Friday morning, we would invite customers for brunch on the dhow. Just before setting sail, there was the funny sight of white-gloved waiters with silver trolleys trundling down the wharf to bring the food onboard.
In 1984, we moved to Dubai where we lived on Beach Road and met just about everybody we knew on Friday morning at Spinney's. If a popular grocery item became available at the supermarket, everybody would call each other to let them know.
Me and my time in Indonesia:
In 1988, I relocated to the Far East to take over the management of Otis/Halliburton's Indonesian operations. I moved with my family to Jakarta where we stayed for over seven years. It was an interesting and exciting time. We stayed in Jakarta and I travelled frequently to many other places.
Indonesia was a cultural shock to the system. They have a traditional way of life – the pancasila – a system of dos and don'ts which one should be acquainted with or you can get into serious trouble. Life is a lot easier when it is understood.
Indonesians have a lot of unique customs. For instance, if I can see the soles of your feet when you are seated, that is an insult. Problems are seen differently. People would laugh and tell me their mother passed away. It was bizarre to me, but it is part of the notion of saving face; to make light of the situation no matter how bad it might be.
Superstition is a way of life. Once we were in the mountains, in Puncak [a pass near Jakarta], where we bought a lovely intricately-decorated kris – the national dagger of Indonesia – and brought it home.
As soon as I walked into the house proudly bearing my kris, the maid scuttled away. As did the gardener when I walked into the garden. It turned out that I had bought a knife with bad juju. I called a household meeting and apologised to the staff. I told them I would get rid of the knife and they should quit running whenever they saw me.
The next day we set out in a procession with me at the head, bearing the kris, and five [house staff] bringing up the rear, as we made our way to the river to dispose of it. It gave my neighbours something to talk about for some time.
Me and returning to the UAE:
When a regional opening surfaced in Dubai, we returned in 1995. I was in charge of business development, spending three years here, before moving to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One year into my job, there was a restructuring and I was transferred to Aberdeen as a focus business manager, looking after a product service line for Europe and Africa.
After two years there, I moved back to Dubai as completion products manager for the Middle East region. And then I moved to Abu Dhabi in 2004, where I looked after the UAE market for all of Halliburton.
I retired from the company in July and was immediately approached by several companies. Shell B.V. asked me to represent one of their companies as vice-president – Middle East region. I joined Swellfix in September.
Myself
What was the first epiphany you had about doing business in this region?
My first ‘Aha!' moment happened when I realised not everything from the West could be blindly applied to this market; that I was trying to force a Western type of work ethic into the company.
I was once visiting a customer in Abu Dhabi and talking to some people about this great idea I had [at least, I thought it was a great idea]. If implemented, I would be able to save them at least three days drilling time on every oil well. But they did not want to adopt it. It baffled me, since each day of drilling cost about $10,000 (about Dh 36,800) a day – a lot of money back then. But they wouldn't tell me the reason. And I couldn't understand their refusal to save costs.
Later on, somebody explained to me that my plan would cut drilling days, but would also affect the manpower. Many of the men had relatives and friends working on the rigs and it would hit their families hard. They would not do anything to jeopardise the jobs of the men on the rigs. That's when I realised that not everything that would be a great idea in the West would succeed [elsewhere].
What has been your life's biggest regret?
When I look back, I realise that I had several opportunities to start my own business and I probably should have done so. In hindsight, things were always moving at such a pace that I couldn't seriously think of turning entrepreneur. Something else would always happen to sidetrack my plan: either I would get transferred or we had family commitments. A couple of my friends did get into the business of making equipment for oilfields and they have been successful. Whereas, I let go of several opportunities. It is one of my biggest regrets.
What is your recipe for a long, happy marriage?
My wife hasn't been a passive companion all these years, I have involved her in my career. If anything, she has been a driving force. When I started out, there was a tremendous amount of entertaining to be done. She was always willing and keen to entertain clients at home. She'd often cook for dinner parties. She loved it and supported me 100 per cent.
The secret of staying married [in this industry] is not to alienate your spouse. If she wants to be involved in your work and career, why not? It has worked for me. Miriam totally understands the business, the fact that I cannot always be there, that I have to travel and when I return, I have to catch up on all that I missed. And she helps me wherever possible.
It's also important to have similar interests. When we were looking for things to do, it wasn't about looking for interests for me or her. We looked for activities that we could do together: scuba diving, playing squash and golf.
Without sounding corny: you know when a lobster gets a mate, that's his mate for life. Well, she is my lobster. We have just always gotten along.
Me and Miriam
I met my wife when she was 16 and we started going out when she was 17. She went off to university in Edinborough while I was in the Merchant Navy. It was a long-distance romance and we married when I was 23 and she was 22.
We spent a lot of time apart in the early stages of my career when I was travelling extensively. The first 15 years of my professional life, I was hardly ever home. In a way, we look for things to do together to compensate for those absences. The first time we went scuba diving was in Abu Dhabi in 1982. We were dive buddies. Since then, we have always gone scuba diving on our holidays in the Maldives or the Caribbean. We also play golf together and Miriam is a better player than I am.
We have two children: Nicholas, 27, and Gillian, 24. Nick has a degree in music from Berklee College of Music in Boston. He plays in a rock band in Boston. My daughter is a trainee lawyer. She graduated from Liverpool University and went to the US to do her master's degree in law from Hofstra University, Long Island. She works for a law firm in Dubai. Miriam is now doing a part-time job.
My children grew up in various countries and witnessed a lot of their friends' parents' marriages break up. They are quite amazed at our relationship, the fact that Miriam and I are still together. They model their aspirations for marriage on us. I am not sure if that's a good thing (smiles).
Me and my hair-raising experiences
I have had several scary moments in my career, including two helicopter near-miss crashes.
One was in Egypt in 1978. There was an emergency on one of the rigs at the mouth of the Red Sea. One of the safety valves on the oil well was stuck and a blowout was possible.
I was woken up at midnight and flew out in a little Jet Ranger – which are not meant to be flown at night as they can be quite dangerous. Despite my doubts, I boarded the chopper and made it to the rig. I did about 20 hours of work then we had to fly back. Once again, it was night.
It was only a 30-minute flight and we were in the air for somewhere close to 50 minutes. The pilot then confirmed my fears. We were lost somewhere over Sinai – worrying, because there was a war going on there.
Eventually, we ran out of gas and the pilot said we would have to land somewhere. We were flying quite low when we hit the ground, so hard I thought my spine had shot through my head. The doors were jammed and the helicopter was stuck in the sand. Next morning, we were rescued from the desert by one of the rescue choppers that came looking for us.
The second time, I was returning from a rig in the North Sea. Up in Scotland there is a lot of har – a kind of thick fog that rolls in off the sea. It's so thick you can't see your hand in front of your face. There were 12 of us aboard a big Sikorsky 67 helicopter. When we got to the Shetland islands north-east of mainland Scotland, we couldn't see the islands because of the fog. With visibility down to zero, we kept circling, trying to spot a clearing – until we ran out of gas.
The pilot then had to land the chopper. We spotted a clearing in the fog. What had seemed like flat terrain was actually the side of a steep mountain. But we decided to land there anyway. The pilot told us to jump off as we got close to landing, get rocks and push them under the rear wheels of chopper so it wouldn't slide down the mountain.
Being a nutcase, I was the first one out of the door. I jumped off and slid down the mountainside. A flock of sheep had been grazing there and I was covered in sheep droppings as I went about searching for rocks.
We landed near a village. It was 6 am and the villagers were treated to the sight of a big chopper stuck on a mountainside and a dozen of us in our orange overalls, splattered with sheep poo, walking through the village. We had landed on Lerwick Island and one of the farmers guided us to the nearest phone.
Oil's well that ends well
What is the best thing about being in the oil business?
What unifies us is the sense of adventure. We are a bunch of Indiana Joneses. How many industries allow you to fly around in a helicopter, visit various parts of the world, stay in nice hotels and get paid well to have adventures?
A mundane 9 to 5 job can't compare with being out on the ocean, in the desert, in the mountains or on a rig. That kind of outdoor adventure still survives in this industry.
It's also boom time now. In the Middle East, oil production is phenomenal.
The primary focus is on Saudi Arabia because they have now decided to increase the rig count from 72 to 120 rigs – a staggering increase. Of course, the rigs are a huge investment, but with that come the allied services. And you also have to have the infrastructure to provide the services. So the whole industry is booming, with the epicentre being Saudi Arabia.
Then there are places like Qatar that are also showing increasing activity. The UAE is currently producing approximately 2.5-2.8 million barrels a day – staggering if you consider the cost of a barrel of oil.
