Phill worked offshore Gulf of Mexico domestic and international during the college summer breaks. He graduated from Sam Houston State University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration (BBA). He began his oilfield career as a Buyer for offshore international drilling contractor for jack-up, drillship and semi drilling rigs. He was promoted to Materials manager for a jack up rig in the North Sea managing $900,000 inventory; maintained proper inventory, prepared requisitions and weekly usage reports, performed annual inventory of warehouse.

Between 1988 and 2013 he worked with Charles Taylor Adjusting as an Adjuster/Appraiser, specializing in domestic and international energy claims involving physical damage of drilling rigs, production sites, offshore platforms.  Other claims included well control, liability and pollution incidents, also surveyed numerous drilling rigs and offshore platforms for insurance purposes.  Promoted to Senior Vice President in 2001, and manager of the onshore physical damage department, and his work portfolio includes the following:

• Rig physical damage claims – fire, flooding, blowouts in the United States, Mexico, South America, Bangladesh, Russia, and Africa.
• Production facilities – fire, flooding, and explosions.
• Offshore platform physical damage – fire, hurricane, allusions in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, and South Atlantic Ocean.
• Pipeline – explosions, parting, onshore/offshore in the United States, Gulf of Mexico.
• Pollution Remediation – United States, Gulf of Mexico.
• Fracking Equipment – Fire, explosion in the United States, Colombia, and Mexico.
• Well Control in the United Sates, Gulf of Mexico.