Houston or London

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

to global HQ for all types of oil and gas around the world in the case of ExxonMobil with its 10 business Presidents located in Houston.

When the Springwoods Village campus was populating in 2015 (by my understanding, designated as the North American HQ), I heard that the World HQ, at least for the time being, was to remain in Las Colinas at the behest of Tillerson and a few other people. Now that Tillerson has retired (would have been required in a few months, SOS or not), and given the part of your post above, do you know if the global HQ is set to leave Las Colinas for either the Springwoods Village campus, or the additional space that ExxonMobil has at Hughes Landing in The Woodlands?

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

When the Springwoods Village campus was populating in 2015 (by my understanding, designated as the North American HQ), I heard that the World HQ, at least for the time being, was to remain in Las Colinas at the behest of Tillerson and a few other people. Now that Tillerson has retired (would have been required in a few months, SOS or not), and given the part of your post above, do you know if the global HQ is set to leave Las Colinas for either the Springwoods Village campus, or the additional space that ExxonMobil has at Hughes Landing in The Woodlands?

Irving is the global HQ. Following the merger with Mobil, there is no geographic HQ. There are 10 business units in ExxonMobil, (Exploration, Development, Production, Natural Gas, Upstream Research, Chemicals, Refining and Supply, Lubes, Downstream Research). These 10 GLOBAL business units are run by Presidents all located in Houston. You can argue whether Research is a business unit since they have essentially no revenue. I have heard an exception to this is when XTO was acquired a separate business unit was set up HQ in FW where XTO HQ had been, this is a rumor I heard.

My personal view is that the Global HQ will remain in Irving. The 10 presidents in Houston run large businesses and HQ is more long term thinking and being separate lets operational issues be the focus on these 10 Presidents. I have no special insights or knowledge however but would be surprised if they moved.

[pretzel09]

My bad. I should have mentioned that my work is more commercial or trading-related role.

[SugLandDAd]

my work is more commercial or trading-related role.

Important detail.
Houston is more the operations side of the oil business, London is a world financial center.

Go to London, be happy.

Let us know how it works out.

[Shipresa]

Hello Pretzel09


My husband works in oil and gas, has spent some time in London and we have lived in Houston for the last 7 years. Here are my husband's thoughts.


On the financial and trading side of oil and gas, both London and Houston will enhance your career. Houston is the oil and gas capital of the world, London is the world's top financial centre (occasionally overtaken by New York).


You haven't said what part of Houston you are working in. If you are working downtown, then it might be possible to commute by public transport (but see other posts on safety). If you are working in the energy corridor where a lot of O&G companies are based, then public transport is going to be more limited. Energy corridor is alongside Katy Freeway (Interstate 10) from Beltway 8 to Highway 6. Really, to live in this city, you need to drive a car.


Driving on the roads here is much more stressful than many other places. Although Katy Freeway is up to 8 lanes wide each way in places, it can still be stop-go in the rush hour. Colleagues of mine who live in Katy usually leave home at 5:45am to beat the traffic. Traffic jams on I10 eastbound start after 6am. Yes, you can live nearer work but rents/house prices go up accordingly. It's actually easier to live in the Heights to get to the Energy Corridor (driving out of town).


In London, I assume you are working somewhere in the city? I am also assuming that you are early-career and that your salary won't stretch to an apartment in Kensington...


My big advice is to avoid a cross-central London tube journey in your commute. My sister would get the train into Victoria then queue for 20 minutes to get down the escalators to the underground then wait for 4 tube trains to go past before there was one with a seat... You want to stay someplace that gets you a surface train ride to near your place of work. If you look at apartments on, say www.RightMove.co.uk (property website) you'll see that apartment prices are highest within walking distance of a mainline train station or (especially) within one of the outermost tube stations.


Similarly you can check out Houston prices on www.HAR.com


The bottom line is that Houston is a city that is built around the automobile, London is a city that is built around the train and the tube line.


If it was me, I would do some maths, figure out which part of London that gave me a reasonable commute and see if my salary stretched that far. I'd do the same for Houston.
Assuming that your money stretched further in Texas, you can evaluate if the extra income is worth the penalties of:
1. Having to drive (only real way to live in this part of the US);
2. Missing out on a more vibrant London social scene and easy access to continental Europe.


(If you were married with a family, then the fact that you can actually afford to buy a house in Houston compared to London tends to skew things, but as you're single... different considerations).




I hope this helps.

[ethanw]

I hate to be a smart arse. You have a simple question but you want us to do all the hard work on a "a deep, well thought-out answer" Very little about your requirements and your capabilities so how can we give you a well though answer? Is like guessing and making assumptions in your behalf. But I will pitch in anyway.

At some point in my career I had to pick between Paris, London, Hong Kong & Houston. I picked Houston and never looked back. Best decision of my life. And that's that. I can tell you all the reasons I made this decision.

I am not going to try selling you Houston unless I better understand your requirements and capabilities. Security, petite, driving, asian, car, just not enough data to enable us helping you with a decision. Sorry.

Give us more and I think you will get some better and educated opinions

Good luck

Originally Posted by pretzel09

I have a simple question that begs for a deep, well thought-out answer.

Consider if you're in the O&G field and were offered to work in Houston or London, would you go for lively London with friendly commute or Houston with lower taxes?

In terms of security, I can't really point to which city is better. I am a petite Asian girl and my skills with automobile is more than disparaging. On the fact that I would need to rent an auto car to navigate in Houston would mean additional cost? In the work front, I suppose both London and Houston are equally challenging and demand me to keep up to speed. Do you think surviving in Houston would ink a better watermark on my resume for my future ventures?

[Chrisrock]

For those of you suggesting London, have any of you ever actually lived there or are you just saying London because it sounds cooler? I have never lived in London, but I have lived in Paris. I know these global cities sound more chic, but I would pick living here over Paris any day. I can't imagine London being dramatically for day to day life.

Vacation/Visiting is a different story.

Also, if you suck as an petite female Asian driver, you will fit right in.

[Lbjen]

Lived in London in my early career, one other European capital and two major US cities. Since you asked

[pretzel09]

Thanks Shipresa, SugLandDAd and all. I am totally grateful for all your wonderful insights in choosing the next path in my life. I'm still waiting for management replies and hopefully there'll be an update soon!