Grace Upton

My journey to where I am now has been anything but straightforward. After finishing school, I wasn’t sure who or what I wanted to be, but I knew I wanted a job where every day was different, full of problem-solving, and involved my passion for numbers. Encouraged to pursue engineering, I graduated with a bachelor’s in chemical engineering and began my career in the resources sector as a Graduate Operations Engineer with Shell QGC.

I worked a fly-in fly-out roster in Chinchilla for three years, a role that perfectly combined the technical aspects of engineering with the fast-paced nature of operations. While I loved my job, I felt the need to explore something new and swapped my orange PPE and steel-capped boots for office clothes to become a Duty Trader. Although initially daunting, I believe in growth through trying new things and stepping outside the traditional idea of sticking to one job or industry. This role has allowed me to blend my previous experience with a fresh perspective on problem-solving.

My role as a natural gas duty trader working for Shell QGC is a natural gas production company which produces gas from the Surat Basin and transports this gas either to Gladstone to be liquified and shipped internationally or sold on the domestic market to be used in your homes, in heavy industry or for generating electricity.

My role involves overseeing the physical scheduling and dispatch of the QGC gas portfolio to market, ensuring that it is done safely and in compliance with regulatory and contractual requirements. My team identifies, develops, and executes trading opportunities to optimise the QGC portfolio and ensure gas supply to customers across east coast of Australia and internationally. No two days are the same in my job because my tasks change based on what’s happening with our operations, the east coast gas market, and even global political events. This makes my role exciting and challenging every day.