helmerich&payne_blog

Everyone experiences stress and anxiety, whether it stems from workload, work environment, family challenges, or financial struggles. Sometimes, it results from a traumatic incident or the loss of a loved one. Whatever the cause, we all encounter it at some point. Understanding how to address mental health challenges and knowing the available resources can make a world of difference. As a combat medic in the U.S. Army, I learned to recognize the signs of anxiety and depression and helped guide my teammates through difficult situations. Personally, I have found prayer to be the most effective way to navigate hardships. Psalm 147:3 states, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Developing a deeper understanding of spirituality allows for meaningful reflection on the source of pain—and, ultimately, the ability to let it go. Another method I rely on is spending time alone in the wilderness. The challenges of solo hunting build character, and the solitude fosters spir...

Lane McCarty didn’t plan to end up in Australia. “I never thought I’d be in Australia. Not once did I see it in my plan for the future,” he says. But from the moment he arrived, one thing was clear: if the Beetaloo Basin was going to make history, it wouldn’t happen by accident. “We brought what we do in U.S. Land Unconventionals to Australia because that’s what the operator wanted to see,” says McCarty, now H&P’s Senior Manager of Operations for the Western Hemisphere. “Every year we’re shaving days off wells and they’re having better results. It will be huge for the Northern Territory economy and Australia as a whole.” The Beetaloo is still in exploration mode, but the pace of learning is anything but tentative. “From the two wells we drilled this year, there was a 40% reduction in time. It was a 3000-meter lateral, the longest lateral and deepest well in the basin at that time” Culture Transfer, Not Culture Clash Rolling out U.S. Land processes in international settings ...

Corey Lawyer has spent almost 25 years at H&P. He started out as a roughneck, worked offshore and on land, built rigs, and now leads operations across two major U.S. regions. But the story that sticks with him most isn’t about a rig or a well - it’s about a decision made on an ordinary Friday night. “I used to have a really fast Mustang,” he says. “For the car guys out there - it had been to Hennessey and had about 850 horsepower.” That night, he was just going to pick up one of his kids from a friend’s house. “I came around a corner and got a little bit too aggressive with the gas and lost control of my car.” The tree impacted the driver’s side door, right where Corey was sitting. “It folded the door up and shoved me over against the center console and pinned me in the car.” He was the only one in the vehicle. Emergency responders arrived quickly, cutting both doors and the roof off the car to extract him. “They starte...