Lead - Project Planning & Control

To lead and manage the end-to-end planning, coordination, execution monitoring, and performance management of an onshore oil & gas drilling campaign involving multiple drilling rigs. The role is responsible for ensuring that drilling operations are executed safely, efficiently, within approved schedules and budgets, while maintaining optimum utilization of rigs, services, materials, manpower, and infrastructure.

Role & responsibilities

1. Planning and Scheduling :

• Develop and maintain the integrated project plan covering multiple rigs, well locations, drilling sequences, mobilization schedules, completion activities, and rig release.
• Prepare detailed project schedules, milestones, critical path analysis, and resource-loading plans.
• Coordinate operations to optimize rig utilization, minimize rig waiting time, and ensure continuity of operations.
• Monitor planned versus actual progress and identify schedule risks, delays, and opportunities for acceleration.

2. Operations Coordination

• Coordinate simultaneous operations across multiple drilling rigs and locations.
• Monitor rig status, operational progress, non-productive time (NPT), downtime, and overall rig efficiency.
• Ensure timely movement of rigs, crews, materials, and support equipment between locations.
• Optimize allocation and utilization of critical resources including drilling rigs, directional drilling tools, mud systems, casing, tubulars, cementing units, completion equipment, and logistics.

3. Budgeting and Cost Control

• Support preparation of annual budgets, campaign cost estimates, and Authorization for Expenditure (AFE), as applicable.
• Track actual expenditure against approved budgets and forecasts.
• Monitor well costs, cost per meter, rig day costs, service costs, and other key cost drivers.
• Identify cost overruns, investigate deviations, and recommend corrective actions.
• Drive cost optimization initiatives and prepare periodic cost forecasts and estimate-at-completion for the drilling campaign.

4. Resource and Supply Chain Planning

• Develop material requirement plans and ensure timely availability of critical long-lead and operational items.
• Coordinate with procurement, contracts, warehouse, logistics, and vendors for timely mobilization of equipment and services.
• Monitor inventory levels of critical drilling consumables, casing, tubing, wellheads, chemicals, and spare parts.
• Identify potential supply chain risks and develop mitigation and contingency plans.

5. Performance Monitoring and Reporting

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators for rigs, wells, contractors, and service providers.
• Track drilling performance against approved targets.
• Prepare daily, weekly, and monthly campaign performance reports and management dashboards.
• Conduct variance analysis between planned and actual performance.
• Identify project, operational, technical, commercial, and schedule-related risks.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to resolve operational bottlenecks and project constraints.
• Escalate critical issues to management with clear recommendations and recovery plans.

Preferred candidate profile

• Preferably Masters Degree in Management with Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Preferably 7+ years of experience in oil and gas drilling and project operations.
• Demonstrated experience in planning and managing multi-rig onshore drilling campaigns.
• Experience in project scheduling and planning tools such as Primavera P6, MS Project, or equivalent systems is preferred.
• Experience in unconventional resource development, horizontal drilling, or high-volume drilling campaigns would be an added advantage.