Vacation student work opportunities in Australia

Applications for 2011/2012 engineering vacation employment have closed.

ExxonMobil offers a 12-week paid Summer Vacation Work Program to Australian engineering students in their penultimate year of study.

The program is designed to provide:

• A real engineering project that is current and important to the business
• An opportunity to apply your University skills to a practical real world engineering problem
• A competitive salary with additional scholarships on offer to support high performing vacation students through their final year of University
• Useful skills for future employment
• First hand experience of an engineering work environment
• Opportunities to experience what it’s like to work for ExxonMobil, a dynamic, global organisation that maintains its leadership position through its highly talented workforce and superior technology

As part of the Summer Vacation Work Program, each student is assigned a recent graduate engineer mentor and encouraged to participate in various induction, orientation and training activities. Students are given real work projects of current business importance and have the opportunity to report back on these projects to the management team. They work closely with our recent graduate engineers as well as our senior technical engineering experts. They are also given the chance to experience what it's like to work for ExxonMobil, a dynamic, global organisation that maintains its leadership position through its highly talented workforce and superior technology.

Interaction and visits to processing sites is an integral part of successfully completing vacation employment objectives. Projects support our various operations: Offshore Bass Strait, Longford Crude Oil Stabilisation and Gas Processing Plant, Long Island Point Fractionation Plant, Altona Refinery, marketing and distribution.

Vacation students will receive a competitive salary with additional scholarships on offer to support high performing students through their final year of University.

Students may be offered graduate employment positions at the end of their 12 week placement to take up on completion of their studies depending on their performance and available opportunities.

Read more about some of our young engineers

Examples of recent projects undertaken as part of the vacation program: 

1. Technical Analysis of an Offshore Oil and Gas Field
Reservoir Surveillance Group, Southbank
A small oil and gas field, located in Bass Strait, was discovered in 1983 however has not been considered of sufficient size to develop. Recently additional seismic (geological imaging) data has been obtained which has allowed ExxonMobil geoscientists to re-examine the field. Using state of the art industry tools and a new geological interpretation, perform an initial investigation into development options. Predict oil and gas rates under different scenarios and recommend a forward plan for more detailed analysis.

2. Platform Underwater Inspection
Kipper Tuna Turrum Project, Southbank
Marlin A, one of the first generation platforms in Bass Strait, was built in 1968. ExxonMobil is seeking to extend the life of the platform as it builds a new platform Marlin B, adjacent to Marlin A, to develop the oil and gas resources from the Turrum field. Underwater close visual inspection (CVI) is carried out every five years to inspect areas susceptible to structural stresses (based on engineering evaluation) and to confirm the ongoing integrity of the structure. Examine the effectiveness of current underwater inspection methods. Review the fatigue analysis, push-over report and anomaly database to gain an understanding of platform underwater inspection processes. Develop an underwater CVI scope for planned future inspections.

3. Update the Refinery Steam Balance
Process Engineering Group, Altona
Managing steam production and use is critically important to optimising the overall energy efficiency of the Altona Refinery. The Refinery uses high, medium and low pressure steam in various processes on site. Steam is used in a variety of ways e.g. stripping steam in towers or powering turbines or heating tanks. The steam is generated from the three  boilers on site as well as being produced from different processing units. The largest producers and consumers include the Reformers, Fluidised Catalytic Cracker (FCC) and Alkylation Units. Update the steam balance model by conducting plant surveys and analysing operating conditions of the boilers and turbines. Investigate steam requirements for the tank farms and develop a plan for predicting steam requirements for new equipment.

4. Optimise Longford Gas Liquid Recovery During Peak Gas Sales
Onshore Facilities Surveillance Group, Longford
During recent winter seasons, record gas sales were made from the Longford Plants. On some days, due to capacity constraints, a proportion of gas may be routed to bypass sections of the plants and flow directly into the sales gas pipeline. Operating the plant in such a manner can impact liquids recovery from the gas. Develop a model to evaluate liquids recovery impacts to plant operations through different bypass strategies (rich gas bypass vs. cold gas bypass) and calibrate models against observed data. Develop a recommendation on how to optimise plant operations on an ongoing basis during periods of high gas demand.

5. Improve and Expand Compression Surveillance System
Maintenance and Reliability Group, Southbank
The gas compression system is critical to maintaining production in Bass Strait. As part of the management of the compressors, routine surveillance and monitoring activities are carried out by the Maintenance and Reliability Group to ensure the units are performing optimally. Real-time and historical data is available for engineers to analyse at their desktop. Examine the effectiveness of the current system and identify opportunities to upgrade the software and improve functionality. Develop the system to address gaps in data coverage, verify data maintained on the system and improve the overall surveillance capability.

6. Gas Lift Optimisation
Subsurface Engineering Group, Southbank
Most of ExxonMobil’s oil wells in Bass Strait are gas lifted. Gas lift involves injection of hydrocarbon gas downhole to lighten the fluid column in the well and enhance oil flow. The gas lift designs are completed prior to well installation and can be reconfigured later in well life. Construct hydraulic models of the individual wells and the entire gas lift system, evaluate the effectiveness of the current system and indentify potential to optimise oil production rates by changing gas injection rates.