The University of Tulsa's Petroleum Engineering Department

Bill Arnold is President of Dubai Petroleum Company for ConocoPhillips. Bill began his career with Phillips Petroleum Company in 1986 in Lafayette, Louisiana, and worked assets located offshore Gulf of Mexico. He next worked various engineering assignments in Odessa, TX. In 1993, Bill transferred to Houston where he worked in Acquisition and Sales, then transferred to a role where he managed Phillips’ production offshore California and on the North Slope of Alaska. Bill led a technical evaluation team that successfully acquired Arco’s Alaska North Slope assets in 1999. In 2000, he transferred to London, England as an Asset Manager for Phillips’ Central North Sea area. In 2002, following the merger, he transferred to Aberdeen, Scotland and served as Manager of the Southern North Sea Operating Unit. He assumed his current position as President of Dubai Petroleum Company in April 2006.

Bill served on the University of Tulsa's Petroleum Engineering Advisory board and was also an on-campus recruiter. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas. Bill is a 25-year member of the SPE and has held various chair positions throughout his tenure. He served as Finance Chairman on the board of the International School of Aberdeen. Bill has also authored multiple SPE papers and has secured a US patent on a specialized well stimulation technique.

A native of Oklahoma, Bill was born in 1962. He grew up in Sperry, OK, and graduated in 1985 from the University of Tulsa with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. Bill and his wife, Kimberly, have three boys.

Bill in his own words:

Why did you choose TU?

I knew I wanted to go into the oil business and Tulsa University offered one of the best Petroleum departments in the US.

Did TU prepare you well?

Yes, I found that Tulsa provided me a well rounded education in Petroleum Engineering. By that I mean I had a good balance of Production, Reservoir, Process and Drilling engineering. This proved very valuable when I first started with ConocoPhillips because I was able to put this basic to training in each of these disciplines. I actually noticed that I was able to contribute early in each of these engineering roles due to the education provided by the University of Tulsa.

Any fond memories?

I'll never forget the first year that we moved from the North Campus to the new Keplinger Hall. We were mesmerized by the new ambiance and it provided a great new learning environment.