Ryan O’Shaughnessy didn’t start his career in the E&P sector, instead building his resume first in the investment-banking side of the industry.

A graduate of Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he worked for nearly a decade in energy investment banking, advising clients in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors on billions of dollars worth of transactions.

While in college, he interviewed with and was hired by Deutsche Bank, moving to Houston after graduation. From there, he joined Petrie Parkman & Co. and was involved in the financing of Houston-based Wapiti Energy LLC’s purchase of Conroe Field near Houston from ExxonMobil Corp. in 2006.

When Petrie was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 2007, O’Shaughnessy became a director in its global energy-investment-banking group. But he had stayed in touch with the Agee family, the majority owners of Wapiti, and eventually he made the move to the E&P side.

He is now senior vice president, corporate development, at Wapiti, which is focused on CO2 flooding of Conroe Field to unlock reserves. The field contains an estimated 2 billion barrels of original oil in place.

O’Shaughnessy took a few moments to speak with Oil and Gas Investor about Wapiti’s projects, how market volatility is affecting the energy business, and advice he’s taken to heart from Tom Petrie and Mike Bock of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Investor How fruitful has Wapiti Energy’s focus on Gulf Coast assets been?

O’Shaughnessy The Agee family has been very successful building and selling various companies in the energy space, and Wapiti is their latest iteration. A recent success that I am more familiar with is their development of Conroe Field. Since their purchase of the field, they have doubled production and have greatly enhanced its value.

Investor Does the company plan to expand into new regions? Perhaps offshore?

O’Shaughnessy We are always looking at opportunities where we can deploy our core competencies, which primarily relate to exploiting older oil fields. But we also have a very deep and experienced technical staff, and they have done well in many different basins in the Lower 48, and internationally as well. However, I doubt we will be venturing offshore any time soon.

Investor Has Wapiti had any recent successes or made any promising discoveries?

O’Shaughnessy We have been focused entirely on Conroe Field as of late. Recently, we conducted a seismic survey of the entire field, which encompasses nearly 19,000 net acres. We are very excited about new aspects of the field that we can now understand through seismic.

What they say about giant fields getting bigger over time is definitely true.

Investor How is the current market volatility affecting your company?

O’Shaughnessy We are not immune to the market volatility, but being 98% oil has been helpful over the recent months. In addition, we are well-hedged and manage our assets with a long-term view towards the markets.

Investor What do you like most about your job?

O’Shaughnessy I have really enjoyed the entrepreneurial aspects of my job. While there are many overlaps with my past professional experiences, I understand now why being on the producer side can be so thrilling.

Investor Who have been your professional mentors and what advice did they give you?

O’Shaughnessy Tom Petrie and Mike Bock of Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been my two biggest mentors thus far in my career. Their guidance and advice have been invaluable to me.

Probably the best advice I received was to work hard on what you are doing at the time, and don’t always think about your next move. Also, they taught me to think like an owner, and not to be afraid to think like a contrarian.

Investor Where do you see yourself in five years?

O’Shaughnessy I can’t say that I know, but I am going to try and take Tom and Mike’s advice and focus on the now. I’m hopeful that good things will come. Let’s just hope oil prices don’t go back to $35 per barrel!

Investor How do you spend your free time?

O’Shaughnessy My wife and I had a baby girl last spring, so that takes up all the free time that I have.

Investor Given the cyclical nature of this business, what would be your advice to fellow young industry members or students?

O’Shaughnessy Well, I do believe that as we approach practical peak oil and the governments of the world try to bridge our economies out of the carbon age, there will be many opportunities, and volatility will persist.

If commodity prices are low, that actually may be a great time to enter the business; I sure am glad I was placed in the energy group when oil was in the $20s, and not in the tech group for my first job, or I would have been a certain victim of the dot-com bust.