ABSTRACT

A MANAGEMENT LOOK AT THE GEOLOGIST

Rapid evolution of the art of oil finding into a complex science, which has brought the petroleum geologist acceptance as a respected professional, carries with it hazard as well as standing in the industry.

One such hazard is that as his requirement to concentrate on some special phase of the science increases, there is a tendency for him to lose sight of the larger problem in economics he is working on.

Four or five decades ago when surface geology was our principal method, a few hours of college work in general and historical geology, rocks and rock minerals, structural geology and paleontology, and a short course in surveying sufficed to qualify a man as an oil finder.

He now must walk familiarly in the areas of magnetometry, gravimetry, seismology, electrical resistivity and self-potential, radioactivity, petrology, petrography, microscopy, ecology, photogrammetry, geochemistry, geodesy, geometry, and a growing host of other "ologies."

Scientific tools have added greatly to his body of knowledge, but they have not resolved the dilemma of the ponderables and the imponderables. An oil field still exists first in the mind of the man who sees with his mind's eye. The area of fact that can be established and evaluated has multiplied and widened the horizon of ponderable circumstance; but the imponderables still exist to excite, to baffle and to challenge the imaginative dreamer. The finest fruits still fall to the perceptive individual who, in a flash of intuitive insight, can bridge the gap between peaks of evidence to achieve the goal of a solid and defensible conclusion.

Thus the master oil finder is still like the master musician who plays not only with impeccable technique, but with heart and soul, or the flyer who, despite his instruments, devices and electronic crutches, extracts an extra ounce of perfection from the feel at the seat of his pants.

For the geologist who would advance into broader areas of responsibility, the ability to apply balanced judgment assumes preponderant importance.

Someone must make the final decision, choosing among the prospects enthusiastically touted by the oil hunters. Someone must consider the balance of a program after examination of all elements. Someone must apply to the laws of probability a subconscious mathematical formula -- and get the right answer more often than the wrong one.

Particularly in an integrated oil company must those decisions be made with full consideration of their impact on a long-range, rounded program. Every activity within the company supports its financial demands with impressive evidence of predicted profit, payout period and ultimate yield and there is rarely enough money to satisfy them all.

Management must determine -- and the geologist who aspires to a management role must learn the techniques -- its allocations in the light of broad economic thinking.

In so doing, it must keep always before it the broad objectives of business itself: To increase service to the public; to raise the standard of living of Americans and of other peoples; to help assure national security by being a strong arm of national defense; to provide jobs; and to make money for investors.

These are the objectives toward which, in our business, we begin to move by exploring for oil. The geologist is the anchor man of the team.

End_of_Record - Last_Page 1---------