Oil and gas media writers: four secrets for success

Writing for the oil and gas industry is different than typical marketing or business writing for the following reasons:

• It’s a niche industry—big dollars, small number of players.
• It’s a complex industry—from exploration to production, refineries and downstream, oil and gas industry writers have to have detailed industry knowledge to write convincingly
• It’s fast-paced—for example, in the last twelve months, volatility in barrel pricing has squeezed many stable relationships, and made many new opportunities. Being able to trace fast-developing trends is something only an established oil and gas writer can do—it takes too much time for outsiders to ramp up

Successful oil and gas writers know the business

For that reason, successful oil and gas writers like the team at Write2Market—a writing firm relied on by firms as diverse as Mansfield Oil, BioBlend Renewable Resources, and Mycelx oil removal systems—continually build their industry knowledge and use it from client to client. That means no one client has to train a green team.

Oil and gas writers share insider secrets

As we’ve continued to write in the oil and gas industry over time, we’ve developed a few best practices to share with other oil and gas writers.

Oil and gas writing:  Four secrets for success

• Develop strong relationships. This is true of any business writing endeavor, but in the oil and gas writing niche field, it’s more important than usual to be able to run your ideas by a consultant or an analyst in the industry—before you try your work in the market.
• Respect confidentiality. In this industry, often a major oil company can be both a customer and a supplier, or an analyst is speaking independently one day, and working for the competition the next. None of this would be possible without the deepest commitment to integrity and confidentiality. No one knows where all the bodies are buried, so smart oil and gas writersknow how to keep their own counsel when doing interviews and gathering research. At Write2Market, we take this a step further by legalizing our relationship with clients with a copywriting release and a nondisclosure agreement.
• Never stop learning. Once you’ve written in the oil and gas industry for months or years, you may begin to feel you’ve got a handle on it—and probably you do, to a point. The best oil and gas writers are in love with the industry and see it as a constantly evolving organism. Fall in love with it, and never stop learning. This will pay off in fresh approaches to old topics.
• Write from the reader’s point of view. Oil and gas writers have an especially difficult time sorting out the proper point of view for their work in this industry. Because so many firms have target markets in different niches, it can be difficult to have “one target reader.”

Do the research

Even retailers and convenience stores have different profiles based on whether they are independent, run by major oil companies, or owned by corporate conglomerates. A marketing brochure that plays well to an independent c-store owner may be offensive to a major oil executive. Find out which specific reader your client needs you to write to—and go after the angles that appeal to them.

We hope these four secrets for oil and gas writers help you tame the chaos, and we’d welcome your feedback.

Contact us today to find out how we can help your petrochemical or oil and gas industry firm get more results from business writing.

Oil and gas writing samples

Please also feel free to review our  many samples of writing for oil and gas industry clients below.

Samples from W2M’s Atlanta public relations and copywriting team:

• Oil and Gas Public Relations Success: Platts Global Energy
• The Energy Report Features Mansfield Oil
• Oil Industry Marketing Writing Brochure Targets Changing Audience
• Brochure copy features sustainablility, drives bio-lubricant network
• CNBC interviews Mansfield on Wall Street

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• Public Relations for the Petroleum Industry: Oil and Gas Writers & Experts
• Houston Technical Documentation by Write2Market