Five Questions: Mark Eck

Eck, formerly the engineering manager for Springfield Underground, started working in Tulsa for Denver-based St. Mary, an oil and gas drilling and production company, in April. He commutes from his home in Springfield, spending half a week in Tulsa and half in Springfield. Eck also has real estate experience; he developed Granite Springs Community under the Denali Development banner.

Q: What is your new job, and what drew you to the position?

A: My new job as commercial manager requires me to support the company’s strategic initiatives, including vendor/supplier management and college recruiting. My experience base is 21 years in the oil and gas industry, and then I worked for six years in Springfield with (Springfield Underground.) Then I got a call from some old friends, wanting me to get back in the oil and gas industry, and I took the opportunity. It builds on my experience base, and it’s the industry I enjoy.

Q: Why did you decide to take a job with such a long commute?

A: There isn’t an oil and gas business in Springfield, so this job lets me still maintain residence in Springfield. I have a large family in Springfield, it’s where I grew up, and it’s a nice place to raise my family and live. It lets me live where I want to live but still work in the industry I prefer to work in.

Q: What is toughest about working so far from home?

A: It’s a learning process – I’ve had other positions before where I worked this schedule or a week-on, week-off schedule. There are a lot of people who work and travel a lot. It’s what you make of it; you just have to do the best you can. The biggest challenge is just being away from the family those three nights a week, but the longer weekends sure make up for it.

Q: What’s the biggest issue facing the oil and gas industry?

A: The biggest issue is keeping up with rising demand. It’s a global market for oil and the demand continues to rise, due primarily to industrial expansion in China and Korea. Maintaining production and finding new oil and gas sources is a big challenge, and it’s what makes it fun. We’re going back into old fields that 15 years ago we bypassed because they weren’t economic. Now we can justify spending the capital to develop and produce those. It’s an interesting, capital-intensive business.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?

A: My wife, Mary, is a physics teacher at Springfield Catholic High School, and I have four boys. When I’m home, I spend a lot of time with them, playing baseball or working on projects around the house. We also like to go to the lake in the summertime – we spend a lot of time down there. We go wakeboarding and tubing on Table Rock Lake often. We have a good time.