From the way they are designed and built to their approach to safety, much about oil and gas platforms has changed over recent decades. Some aspects faster than others. Despite progress, women still account for a small fraction of roles onboard these platforms – a sign of the opportunity for greater representation of women in this industry.
Their experiences can vary too. At Shell, we are working hard to make sure everybody across our assets feels valued, respected, and a strong sense of belonging – an experience brought alive by two of our current employees featured here. Marking International Women’s Day 2025, these two skilled engineers helping deliver value for Shell in the Gulf of America – together with the first woman to work offshore for Shell in the USA – share their unique perspectives of life at sea, and their advice to women thinking of following in their footsteps.
“I was aware that I was a pioneer”
When Michèle started working on an offshore oil and gas facility in 1976, she was given sleeping quarters set aside for guests. On other occasions, the engineer had a four-bed dorm room for herself. Most rigs around the world did not have designated lodgings for women because they rarely came on board.
Michèle was the first woman to work at an offshore facility for Shell in the USA, and one of the first across the whole of Shell. “I was aware that I was a pioneer,” she says. “I was just 24 and working in a man’s world. Of course, I was conscious that I was the only woman, but that didn’t bother me. There was very little friction with the guys I worked with and there was quite a lot of bonding.”
Today, women work in a wide range of roles in offshore facilities. But, Michèle says, there is much more to do to encourage young women to pursue jobs in the energy sector. “A lot has changed since I was young. But girls still need to be encouraged to pursue jobs in mathematics, engineering, or other technical roles if that’s what interests them. We haven’t got to the point when they don’t need to be told to chase these dreams.
“I rarely encountered any problems [in my career at Shell], but I do remember one guy who did not agree with the idea of women being offshore, and that was tough because he was the rig supervisor,” she says. “He was told by his superintendent that he didn’t have a choice, so we just did our jobs and kept communication to a minimum.”
Michèle was eventually responsible for the drilling programme on Shell’s Cognac platform off the coast of Louisiana in the USA, the first facility to produce oil in waters deeper than 1,000 feet (304 metres).
“Shell played a positive role in that part of my career because they really wanted to get women into the all-men teams [at that time],” she says. “That kind of thinking was very much ahead of the times.
“The pictures from my time at Shell always make me smile,” says Michèle, who is retired and lives in Paris. “I just loved the sea and loved going offshore.”
“It’s definitely a change of pace”
Fresh from a chemical engineering degree in 2022 and all set for an offshore role at Shell, Geena had two thoughts. “I was excited to do something hands on, out in the field, problem-solving and troubleshooting in real time because I feel that’s how we learn best,” she says. As a young woman, though, she also wondered how she might experience being a minority in her new place of work.
In her quest for hands-on learning, Geena quickly achieved her goal. As an offshore support engineer initially on the Ursa platform in the Gulf of America, she helped provide technical input to ensure production at the Shell-operated asset ran smoothly.
She loved being a first line of help. And the feeling “that people were looking to me for answers,” she says. The responsibility for her own and others’ safety was personal. “It’s your home and you want to make sure it’s safe. It’s not a pencil-whipping exercise. We want to continue production, but the most important aspect is safety.”
As for her experience of working in an environment where most of her colleagues are men: “nothing short of great,” she says. “I never felt treated differently. I never felt excluded. I never felt different for being younger, or a woman, and a woman of colour. I never felt like I couldn’t speak up about something. Or that if I did interject, my voice wouldn’t be heard.”
Now a process engineer supporting Shell-operated platforms Perdido and Vito largely from onshore, Geena misses her longer stints at sea. With some way to go to increase the representation of women entering offshore roles, she urges anyone considering the option not to hesitate “just because they’re a woman and that’s the only thing holding them back.” More important, she says, is to be sure the hands-on, all-action work is what you want to do. “It’s definitely a change of pace, for sure.”
“Outliers can be awesome”
“I enjoy the surprised reaction you get from people when they find out you work on an oil platform in the middle of the Gulf,” says Virginia, an Operations and Marine Supervisor on Appomattox, the Shell-operated platform in the Gulf of America that started production in 2019.
After a two-week break, Virginia’s back on Appomattox for another 14-day stint managing a team that’s critical to ensuring safe production on the platform. It’s a routine she’s used to: Virginia started with Shell a decade ago as an intern, becoming an offshore support engineer on Ram Powell, then a Shell-operated platform in the region, not long after that.
Responsibility comes early to engineers offshore: Virginia was soon playing an important part in safely managing any changes to equipment, or to the critical drawings detailing the platform’s intricate networks of pipes – both vital roles far out at sea. Reflecting on her near decade in deep water: “I knew it would be exciting,” she says. “What I didn’t know is how much I’d love it. It’s a really interesting job that not a lot of people around the world can say they do.”
Still today, very few of them are women, belying – at least for Virginia – her experience of working out at sea. “It’s been overwhelmingly positive,” she says, calling out the men who she credits with spotting potential in her before she knew she had it herself. “They may have never seen somebody like me doing the roles that they were trying to help me achieve. I think that’s pretty cool.”
Her advice to young women contemplating a similar path? “Don’t shy away from an industry or a career just because you think you may be one of few. Outliers can be awesome.”
