Nick McDaniel

About Nick McDaniel

Expert in data collection and analysis with 6+ years of experience delivering reservoir characterizations, seismic analysis, drilling prospects, and operations management in International Offshore, Permian, and Gulf Coast Onshore Basins. Applied project management and communication skills, technical geophysical knowledge, and in-field geological operations experience to steward the acquisition of seismic data, devise drilling prospects in mature and undeveloped formations, optimize marine seismic acquisition technical guidelines, and manage high-profile ultra-deepwater drilling campaigns.2D/3D Seismic Interpretation + Reservoir Characterization + Rock Physics + Wedge Modeling + Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP)+ Seismic Acquisition + Seismic Data Processing + Synthetic Seismograms + Subsurface Mapping + Enhanced Oil Recovery + Data Conditioning + Permian Basin + Eagle Ford + Carbonates + Sandstones + I.H.S. Kingdom + Petrel + RokDoc + Hampson-Russell + Python

Experience

1. Opportunity Evaluation & Analysis Advisor

   ExxonMobil

   Dec 2025 — Present · Spring, TX, US

   Serve as a commercial and strategic advisor responsible for evaluating upstream development opportunities across ExxonMobil’s global portfolio. Integrate subsurface, operations, financial, regulatory, and market inputs to guide high-NPV, high-PVR investment decisions and ensure disciplined, transparent, and value-focused capital allocation.Key Responsibilities & Impact: • Lead economic evaluations (NPV, PVR, IRR) for a wide range of upstream opportunities, incorporating subsurface risk, cost structures, sequencing, commercial constraints, and market dynamics to recommend optimized capital deployment. • Advance portfolio optimization by comparing competing development pathways, ranking opportunities, and identifying projects that maximize value, capital efficiency, and long-term strategic fit. • Drive decision quality by framing choices, clarifying uncertainties, structuring trade-offs, and ensuring alignment across geoscience, reservoir engineering, drilling, operations, land, projects, and finance. • Support development planning and scenario design, evaluating spacing, zone selection, surface constraints, and infrastructure readiness to enable optimal sequencing and timing of capital activity across diverse assets. • Partner with asset leadership and cross-functional teams to shape development strategies within complex operational, regulatory, and stakeholder environments, ensuring compliance while protecting and enhancing portfolio value. • Champion digital and analytical tools that improve economic evaluation, scenario modeling, visualization, and workflow efficiency, enabling faster and more transparent decision-making. • Deliver clear, actionable commercial insights through structured analyses, scenario comparisons, value drivers, and strategic recommendations presented to leadership and decision makers.

Education

• University of Houston

  Master of Science (M.Sc.), Geophysics

  2016 — 2020

• Texas A&M University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Geophysics and Seismology

  2013 — 2015

• UT Austin

  General Studies

  2011 — 2013

• Texas A&M University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Geophysics and Seismology

Skills

• Earth Science
• Mathematica
• Photoshop
• Physics
• Public Speaking
• Tutoring
• Sedimentology
• Leadership
• Data Analysis
• Microsoft Word
• Customer Service
• Geological Mapping
• Research
• Geophysical Data Processing
• Computational Geophysics
• Microsoft Excel
• Powerpoint
• Geophysical Data Acquisition
• Fundraising
• Python
• Microsoft Office