"…traveling and experiencing different cultures was in my mind very early."

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Philippe Montaggioni

Arles (France), 1956
Graduated from Ecole Nationale de Chimie High School

Paris, 1975

Master’s Degree in Geology (DEA)

Paris XI University, 1980

Post graduate Diploma in Computer Sciences

ISEP Paris, 1984

Areas of interest outside work

Geology, photography, outdoor sports/activities (surf, scuba diving, hiking, windsurfing, sailing, mountain biking) and history/prehistory of civilisations.

I always had an interest in Geology. When I was a child I used to collect fossils in the limestone hills near my native town, Arles located in Provence (South of France). Discoveringforeign countries has also always attracted me and traveling and experiencing different cultures was in my mind very early. When I was a teenager I would use part of my vacation earnings to travel as far as I could go, first exploring the countries of the Mediterranean area and then Africa and Americas.

Before starting my career as a geologist with Schlumberger, I spent two years doing my military duties (the civil equivalent to military service) as a geologist in the Venezuelan Institute of Petroleum in Caracas. I worked on a project of correlation of the Paleozoic basement from open-hole logs, core and cuttings and had the chance to be sent into the jungle in search of fossils. During my free time I enjoyed traveling a great deal in this marvelous country, from the Andes to the Orinoco River.

After this first work experience as a geologist in South America, I prepared a postgraduate diploma in computer Sciences in Paris. At the end of this formation I sent my CV to Schlumberger but as there was no opening for me at that time, I found a job as Computer engineer. I was sending my CV regularly in the hope that one day there will be a position for me in the company. Eventually, three years later my patience paid off and I got the job I was dreaming about!

I started my career with Schlumberger in 1987, with a three-year assignment in Montrouge at the Paris computing center. Although this first assignment was in my country of origin, I often traveled in the countries of the Mediterranean basin and central Africa. I then moved to Luanda, the capital of Angola. Life was not easy there, but this period was an invaluable experience. I had the chance to explore this country devastated by almost twenty years of civil war. Two years later I moved to Aberdeen, Scotland where I discovered magnificent landscapes, history and the beer culture, although I must admit that I never got used to the local weather! Three years later I was transferred to Indonesia, first to Balikpapan (Borneo island) for one year and then to Jakarta where I stayed for almost 3 years.

A lot of my time off was spent exploring the beauty of this fascinating and very diverse country, climbing active volcanoes, scuba-diving in world class reefs or exploring Stone age tribes of the island of Irian Jaya at the Eastern Extreme of Indonesia. This assignment also enabled me to visit a few other fascinating countries of the Far East, like Thailand, China and Australia.

In October 1999 I was transferred to Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia, the ‘Magic Kingdom". I must admit that this place was a cultural shock when I first arrived, but now after a few months in this part of the world, I am enjoying a new experience of work and life that again shows me how diverse cultures and traditions are across the world.

Today, I have been almost thirteen years with Schlumberger and have enjoyed a lot a job that often proves to be challenging and stressful at times. It allows me to fulfill my professional expectations and my attraction for foreign countries and cultures, as well as feed nicely my interest for photography.