Gas plant accounting can be complex, but also quite interesting. When I first started my accounting journey, the oil & gas industry was not anywhere on my radar – and I never considered the accounting related to it. However, after moving to Oklahoma I found myself in the inventory accounting department for an oil & gas company. For the most part, this was fairly straightforward – especially compared to what I would learn in the years to come.
Things are always changing in the oil & gas industry. Companies are bought, sold, and relocated – which leads to changes in work for some people, including myself. After working in inventory accounting, I had the opportunity to work on a contract administration project. I became familiar with various forms of gas processing, purchasing, and gathering contracts. This was intriguing, but not something I loved.
The company’s next phase of the project was on the accounting side, and I was asked to assist with the setup desk on a larger plant. I was responsible for setting up new meters and contracts, making contract changes as needed, updating allocations, and working with producers.
After becoming more familiar with plant processing, I started working on a plant from start to finish. I still did the setup, but I got to see a bigger picture – from wellhead to tailgate; I worked with the commercial team, plant staff, and other accountants over time; and I enjoyed learning how things work together.
I was fortunate to have good mentors early in my oil & gas journey. An accounting manager and a commercial manager both took time to answer questions and help me understand the accounting process, and how what we do impacts things. I think this is part of why I love the work I do. I firmly believe that understanding what you are doing and how it impacts others plays a big part in our work – both our results and how much we are willing to put into what we do.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to share what I have learned with others. I have experienced some really good training and mentoring, and some not-so-great. (Some people are not meant to train others.) Recalling the frustration after poor training, I try to create a positive experience when I train others. I try to pass along what I have learned through all of my personal experiences, so they have a good understanding of what is involved, while also stressing how what we do matters. I want others to be able to be an asset to plant accounting, and other departments that depend on what we do.
Over time, I was able to work on different gas plants and see the differences between them, and how to handle those differences in the accounting realm. This has been an advantage in working with various clients at PetroLedger. Some clients have smaller plants while others are quite large. They vary in number of meters, contracts, sales points, producers, and more. Some clients have a very basic allocation-based settlement, and others have a complicated setup from the allocation to the settlement. The scalability of PetroLedger’s work allows me to easily tackle all of these variations our clients have in their work. I like to work with our clients and understand their systems so that we can ensure that the settlement process reflects their process.
I have come to thoroughly enjoy plant accounting and working in the oil & gas industry. It can be complex, but understanding the flow of the gas for each plant is essential for producing accurate and efficient results. I also enjoy working with our clients to ensure that the results match their expectations. No client is quite like the last and it keeps my day-to-day interesting and I look forward to each new challenge.
Are you in need of assistance with your gas plant accounting? Contact us today and learn how we can help you get on the right track! If you want to read more insights from PetroLedger, check out our blog!
Melissa's career started when she graduated from Marquette University and started working as a general ledger accountant for a marketing company. She and her husband moved to Oklahoma in 1999, where she started doing payroll accounting for an airline. 9/11 caused a significant downturn for the airlines, so she found a position doing inventory accounting for an oil & gas company until they moved headquarters to Houston. From there, she worked for a midstream company doing gas plant settlement accounting, and found that she really enjoyed it!
When that company moved out of state, she worked for a few different companies doing revenue and inventory accounting, but she was not excited about what I was doing. An opportunity to do gas plant settlement accounting came along, so she decided to see where it led— she started working for The Resource Company, which was later merged with Eddye Dreyer to create PetroLedger, in 1999. She has really enjoyed working with different clients and creating the different setups they need.
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