Face to Face with Etienne Roux of ALS Surface Logging
Etienne Roux, Managing Director, ALS Surface Logging
There may be few people in the oil and gas industry who have literally dug so deep in the field as Etienne Roux, whose first training was 12,777 feet underground in the gold mines of South Africa.
A tinkerer all his life — his family didn’t own a television until he was 12 — Roux knew he wanted to study engineering. In South Africa, that means you start in the gold mines.
“The South African industry has been there since the ’60s, and there is massive infrastructure under the earth. It’s an extremely tough working environment,” he said. “I figured out it was probably not where I wanted to work for the rest of my life, in 110 degree heat in massive humidity.”
Still, as part of his scholarship for college, Roux spent two years learning the mining business before Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) hired him. Today, Roux runs the shop in Houston as managing director of ALS Surface Logging, which analyzes the geography of potential hydrocarbon properties for oil and gas exploration and production companies.
How did your upbringing in South Africa shape your approach to life and work?
It taught me from early age to have a goal in mind, to do something specific and then set out how to achieve it. From sporting matches to building — it just taught a lot of responsibility early on to (use a) set and systematic fashion. It’s one of the things I like about engineering. I’m not the type of person to wake up in the morning and wing it.
It was a good way to grow up. You were left to your own devices to achieve what you wanted, which is what engineering is about, especially in the oil and gas industry. It allowed me to look at challenges and not get too intimidated. Too often, people see a big challenge and the scope puts people off right from the beginning. Rather than get to a solution, they just keep spinning around. You have to break it down into smaller problems and move forward.
What have been the highlights along the way?
From a professional point of view, it’s been to grow in the companies where I’ve spent time working professionally. The biggest highlight is to be with the reservoir group and able to execute that strategy. It’s proved that I’m achieving what I set out to achieve professionally. Personally, it’s such an achievement to come home and see (my children) chase me down at the door.
What’s something that most people don’t know about you?
I’m a big commercial aviation junkie. I don’t fly, but I’ve logged the miles from every flight. It’s 2.4 million miles now. It started out as just an Excel spreadsheet.
My first flight was from Cape Town to Johannesburg for a scholarship (interview). I was a hero in my final (school) year when I returned. Everyone wanted to know about the flight, and I told them the jet lag was terrible. The flight was all of one hour.
Coming from a vastly different culture, what’s your take on Houston?
It’s such a family-friendly place. We’ve been in Houston since I took this job in 2011, but I had a previous assignment in Houston in 2008 with Schlumberger. All roads lead to Houston. On my first trip to Houston, I went to Sugar Land from Alaska, and I arrived wearing a North Face jacket in June. I told the driver, ‘I will never live in this city, ever.’ He laughed and said, ‘If you’re in oil and gas, my friend, you will be here for a long time.’
What’s your best advice?
Don’t sweat the small stuff — look at the big picture. It frustrates me when people look at something so complicated and then sit there for two days. Look, move on and always remember the decisions we make dictate the lives we live. That’s true in business, too.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Not paying attention to details. If you put a proposal out to a client who wants to pay you $2 million, you owe it to them to cross all the Ts, dot the Is, and make sure everything is a reflection of your business. That attention to detail, for me, is so important.
Hidden talents?
I think I’m a hard-driving businessperson, but I always have time for people. It’s probably not that obvious on a daily basis, but I will always close the laptop or switch off the phone and listen.
HOMETOWN: Cape Town, South Africa
EDUCATION: Stellenbosch University
FAMILY: Wife, two children, ages 2 and 5
LAST BOOK YOU READ: “The Prize,” by Daniel Yergin
WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A MOVIE? Bruce Willis. I think he’s as focused as I am.