What are the responsibilities and job description for the Production Engineer position at Western Natural Resources?
Production Engineer
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Reports to: Manager, Production
Employment Type: Salary, Exempt Full-Time
About Us
Western Natural Resources (WNR) is a privately held, Oklahoma City–based oil and gas company focused on acquiring, developing, and operating high-quality upstream energy assets. Founded through a strategic partnership between Centalion and experienced energy leaders, WNR combines deep industry expertise, disciplined execution, and a long-term approach to building a premier energy company.
WNR is a rapidly growing organization with an entrepreneurial culture where collaboration, integrity, safety, and accountability are central to how we operate. As the company expands its asset base and team, employees have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact, work closely with experienced industry leaders, and help build the infrastructure and culture of a growing energy company.
Position Summary
WNR is seeking a Production Engineer with 3–5 years of experience to join our team supporting the development of our Haynesville Shale asset in North Louisiana and East Texas. Working alongside senior engineers and field operations staff, this role supports flowback and early-life well management, production optimization, workovers, and lease operating expense performance on high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) horizontal gas wells. The ideal candidate has a solid foundation in production engineering fundamentals, is eager to build expertise in HPHT unconventional gas, and is comfortable splitting time between analyzing well performance in the office and supporting operations in the field. This is an opportunity to take on increasing ownership of wells and projects and grow alongside a rapidly expanding company.
Key Responsibilities
- Support flowback, choke management, and early-life production on new HPHT Haynesville wells under the guidance of senior engineers
- Perform daily surveillance of well and field performance; identify underperforming wells and recommend corrective actions
- Write workover, recompletion, and well intervention procedures and provide engineering support in the field during execution
- Assist with specifying and sourcing HPHT-rated production equipment and materials
- Monitor tubing, casing, and wellhead integrity, tracking pressure, corrosion, and failure data
- Prepare AFEs and cost estimates; track job costs against budget
- Coordinate with chemical and service providers to monitor treatment programs and service quality
- Support lease operating expense reduction efforts through failure tracking and run life analysis
- Maintain production data, decline curves, and forecasts to support reserves and development planning
- Promote a strong HSE culture and regulatory compliance, including assisting with state regulatory filings and reporting
- Collaborate with geology, reservoir, completions, drilling, and facilities teams
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum, Mechanical, Chemical, or a related engineering discipline
- 3–5 years of production or operations engineering experience in unconventional oil and gas
- Exposure to flowback and early-life production on multi-stage fractured horizontal wells
- Field experience supporting workovers, well interventions, or production operations
- Working understanding of choke and drawdown management and production allocation fundamentals
- Basic knowledge of tubular integrity, corrosion, and wellhead and pressure control equipment
- Strong analytical skills and proficiency with Excel and data analysis tools; interest in applying big data and machine learning to production performance
- Strong communication skills, eagerness to learn, and the ability to take ownership of assigned wells and projects in a small-team environment
- Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel to field locations as needed
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with HPHT or deep gas wells (Haynesville strongly preferred)
- Exposure to SCADA-based surveillance, automation, and production optimization tools
- Familiarity with offset frac-hit mitigation and parent-child well interaction
- Experience with software such as Aries/PHDWin, WellView, Spotfire, Python, or similar
- Familiarity with Louisiana and Texas regulatory requirements
What We Offer
- Competitive base salary performance-based incentives
- Hands-on experience and mentorship from senior engineers on a core Haynesville asset
- Clear path to increasing responsibility and well ownership as the company grows
- Flat, collaborative team structure with fast decision-making
Physical Requirements
Ability to perform the essential functions of the position, including sitting, standing, walking, communicating, and using standard office or job-related equipment. May require lifting, travel, working outdoors, or use of personal protective equipment.