WINTER 2011
ISSUE 7
Wes Bell

Vice President, Operations,

Applied Drilling Technology International, a Transocean company

Houston

Wes’ experience, along with his leadership, work ethic, and desire to find the facts are what earned him the FIRST Excellence award. Last year, he was recommended to participate in the Macondo Investigation Team. As a dedicated and vital member of the team, Wes continually provided his technical expertise to reach the root cause analysis of the investigation. 

His strong leadership is demonstrated in his mentoring of the junior drilling engineers that report to him. However, Wes feels winning the award was somewhat of a team effort. “I relied on a lot of young engineers to help me. In receiving this award, I felt like it was more theirs than mine,” he said.

“His integrity and willingness to listen and offer support to any group are unsurpassed,” said Chad Crain, Assistant Driller, GSF Constellation I, and a member of the Macondo Investigation Team. “He cares for the safety of our crew going forward and believes that his work, along with the entire team, will help advance our understanding of well procedures and make our rigs and personnel safer and better equipped to handle the challenges to come in our industry.”

Wes has accomplished a lot in the years he has been with Transocean. For him, his biggest personal accomplishment is gaining the respect of the many Operation Supervisors that he works with. “They are very much seasoned, type-A personalities. To get respect from them—I am very proud of that,” Wes said.

“His technical background, ability to analyze problems and his attention to detail has gained him a great deal of respect from operations staff and engineering personnel,” said J.B. Wycough, ADTI. “Likewise, his ability to utilize common sense, communicate, and treat everyone with respect has also made his working relationship with the field Operation Supervisors extremely positive.”

Wes said the best thing about working for Transocean is the people. “I like what I do. Actually, I cannot think of anything else I would rather do.”

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