It’s all about safety and risk management. In this role I conducted assessments of the Safety Management Systems of companies that do business with BP. I inspected marine terminals to determine their suitability for BP business. When accidents happen, I’m a trained incident investigator with a focus on human factors and a member of the BP Shipping Incident Management Team. I also served as BP Shipping’s liaison to government and industry associations, such as the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology, and numerous West Coast Harbor Safety Committees.

At its core, this job was about making sure our gas stations in Northern California always had gas available. I had to balance product from multiple refinery sources with available storage space in multiple third-party terminals. Simple enough, until you factor in unexpected ship delays, seasonal specification changes, limited pipeline space, and demand fluctuations that can destroy even the most robust plans. Feast or famine… too much gas and the whole system grinds to a halt due to lack of storage space. Not enough gas and you’re scrambling to find alternative sources.

“Stay between the lines, the lines are your friends.” That was our motto. It’s not easy balancing a refinery’s gasoline, jet, and diesel production with market demand. We had good tools to help with the job – including inventory plots that had our friendly lines indicating the minimum and maximum tank volumes – but the unexpected always happened. A blended tank would fail to meet specifications and need to be corrected. A process unit might upset and need to have its product sent to a tank you needed for something else. A trader might decide that they can make more money selling a different grade of gasoline than you had built your plan around. It’s not a 9 to 5 job, you’re on call 24/7 to respond to problems. I’m very proud of the fact that I was the first non-chemical engineer to be selected for this job in the 40 year history of the refinery.

This is where I got to put my MBA to use, preparing monthly financial reports for submission to BP’s corporate offices in London. Tight deadlines and painstaking attention to detail were key in this role. Analyzing large amounts of data and drawing conclusions, and presenting those conclusions to senior managers. It was here that I earned my Microsoft Excel power user status.