Interviewer: Jason Theriot

Affiliation: University of Houston

Depp Cheramie went to work for Texaco in his native Louisiana in 1971, when he was 19 years old. After a decade with the firm, Cheramie moved on to Shell Oil in 1982, working as a senior operator on an offshore platform located in Eugene Island. After focusing on training in electronics, Cheramie was tapped to work on the landmark Auger tension-leg platform (TLP) project in 1992. In 1999, he was transferred to work on Shell’s Ursa TLP, sometimes known as “Auger’s big sister.” By 2005, Cheramie moved to work with Shell’s gas pipeline business, and stayed with it after Enbridge acquired the group from Shell. There, his portfolio included overseeing the commissioning of the 120-mile offshore Nautilus pipeline.