Naish Zhang – Product and Service Delivery Manager, Schlumberger
Naish began his journey in the energy industry 14 years ago with a passion to see the world.
He was studying mechatronics and biomedical engineering at UNSW, a world away from oil and gas, “I only started looking into Schlumberger because one of my friends joined as a field engineer and was travelling the world,” Naish said.
“With a promise of travel to far-flung places, Schlumberger lured me away from the orthopedic company where I was working during the last year of my studies. “Travelling to all corners of the world is certainly something unique to oil and gas.”
Naish started as a Measurements While Drilling hand on oil and gas rigs and saw the rapid progression of directional and logging technologies that enabled the optimisation of well paths to target high production reserves.
He enjoys the constant development of new techniques that enable better and faster decision making in real-time
that he sees within Schlumberger.
His favourite location, apart from Perth, would be when he had the opportunity to work in Ravenna in Italy for three years,
"the food, wine and culture were as one would imagine - and more."
His proudest achievement came after an evacuation order he and his crew received while drilling on a platform offshore near Greece due to high levels of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). “In the early morning, the crew was directed to return to the rig in conditions we deemed unsafe, and we rightly stopped the job,” Naish said. “There was considerable pressure to resume operations, which we didn’t give in to. Within days we were commended by the operator on our decision to stop and our courage to stand up for safety.
I was extremely proud in knowing that my crew had the conviction to stop the job with the knowledge we stood by their judgement.”
Naish became a member of the Energy Club WA more than two years ago because it was a great place to network. “It is great to meet people from downstream and outside of oil and gas, now that the club has expanded to energy,” he said.
He said that the knowledge that a task can always be done better and faster is what keeps him motivated. “If you can’t be a good example, you’ll just have to be a horrible warning,” he said.
When not working, Naish enjoys golf, training callisthenics, and cycling, and has completed a Ride to Conquer Cancer. Newly married, Naish is itching to travel once again now that COVID restrictions have eased.