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Energy Workforce & Technology Council 90th Anniversary
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High-Performer Spotlight: Wesley Wheeler, NOV

Wesley Wheeler, Executive Sales Manager, NOV, is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program. He recently shared his insights on the energy services and technology sector.

Wesley Wheeler

ENERGY WORKFORCE: What is your role with the company? What does a typical day look like?

Wesley Wheeler: I’m the Executive Sales Manager based out of Houston, working with an account management team that handles all our global accounts. My team currently consist of five folks that range from customer support to account managers. A typical day is visiting with customers on their projects or needs and helping them make it happen.

EW: Why did you join the energy industry? Was there an individual who influenced your decision? Was there an event or piece of technology that got you excited?

WW: This is an interesting question for me. I was working at Lockheed Martin manufacturing missiles prior to joining the energy industry. I’m asked all the time why I left that job, and although I did enjoy it, I needed to move down to Houston to start my family. So, I thought “Houston has lots of oil and gas which sounds like fun, and they get paid great.” So here I came! Started with the NOV Mission group and haven’t looked back.

EW: What was your impression of the industry beforehand and how has it evolved?

WW: Before joining the industry, I didn’t know much about it at all. My thoughts stopped at drilling rigs and how much was the price of gasoline today. I had some extended family and friends who were roughnecks and drillers for different land contractors in North America, so what I knew was surface-level at best.

When I first got involved in the industry, my thoughts were about the same. I was focused on learning the products that I was selling and still wondering why gasoline cost so much. After about a year of getting more involved in our industry, it started making more sense to me. I was able to understand how everything is tied together, and it was more than just the oil and fuel for my truck. It was a global industry that touched everyone’s life — whether they realized it or not — in all the products we use each day.

EW: What has surprised you most about the industry?

WW: All of the things that our industry touches from big too small. Many items would not exist without our industry.

EW: Where do you hope to see the industry develop over the next five years?

WW: I would like to see in the next five years (or hopefully sooner), the understanding of the energy mix balance and how the bigger picture of things works. Having Energy Workforce and others push for a better public understanding of this is huge.

EW: What’s a technology or innovation you’ve seen in the sector that impressed you?

WW: It’s not all thanks to one individual product or innovation but the combined efforts of many. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is how quickly, efficiently and safely we can now drill wells. That has come ten-fold in a short period of time. I am also really impressed by drill ships – it’s a mobile floating drilling city!

EW: What do you wish other people knew about oil and gas?

WW: How much it affects and impacts their daily lives, whether they work in the industry or not. The list goes on and on with all the different products we use and purchase. We wouldn’t have the many comforts and luxuries we do now without energy.

EW: What do you do for fun?

WW: I’m a small-town country boy at heart, so being in the woods, hunting, fishing, off-roading, back packing and going on adventures is what I really enjoy and call fun. Now having two young kids, I get to enjoy sharing that with them.

EW: What’s a fun fact that people would never guess about you?

WW: Although I don’t have a pilot’s license, I have flown a plane!


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