Tracing the Industry

ON THE MOVE...

Target Data Services Canada Ltd. is pleased to announce that Todd O’Brien and Wayne Gerlitz have joined the Target team. Todd O’Brien is pleased to have joined the company as the Vice President. Todd brings over 22 years of industry experience to Target and looks forward to working with the rest of the team. Wayne Gerlitz also brings numerous years of industry experience to Target and joins the company in the position of Geophysical Broker. Both Todd and Wayne look forward to being a part of the Target team and invite all of their friends and colleagues to contact them at (403) 294-0868, extension 225 for Todd and extension 224 for Wayne, or by email at todd@targetdataservices.com and wayne@targetdataservices.com.

Amer Haque is pleased to announce that after 8 years with NAL Resources, he has joined Berkana Energy. Amer can be reached at ahaque@berkanaenergy.com.

Kelman Technologies Inc. is pleased to announce that Joseph Jinder Chow has joined our processing team as a senior processor in our Calgary office. He has over 24 years of experience in seismic processing, interpretation and research. Joseph has authored over 28 papers in topics ranging from petroleum geology to ground penetrating radar. He holds a Ph.D degree in geosciences from Texas A&M University. For the last 15 years Joseph has been a professor of geophysics at the Institute of Applied Geophysics, National Taiwan Ocean University. Joseph can be reached at 403-294-7556 or by email at josephc@kelman.com.

HOW I GOT INVOLVED IN THE SEISMIC INDUSTRY...

Bill Goodwin – Terra-Sine Resources

I was a little apprehensive, when I was approached to describe the events that led me to enter the geophysical field. But after pondering that thought, I realized the life path which led me to where I am today, is perhaps a little unusual, and could possibly even be interesting to some, so I decided to share it.

I was born and grew up on the eastern seaboard of the US where the primary industry was shipbuilding and pulpwood. Neither of these two options satisfied my need to explore the world around me. Unlike some I had grown up with, I had no desire to punch a shipyard time clock for thirty years, receive a gold watch and sit back in my rocker until the grim reaper decided to call. My destiny was to be found in the words of Mark Twain who said, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines! Sail from the safe harbor! Catch the Trade Winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Soon after high school graduation, I decided to accept Uncle Sam’s generous invitation to join the US Navy for 4-1/2 years. After completing military service I was not ready to give up my love of the sea and decided to sail the world for a while as a merchant seaman. As luck, or providence would have it, the “Doodlebug” bit me when the old freighter I was on berthed next to a Western Geophysical seismic exploration vessel. They had equipment, the likes of which, I had never seen before. A huge reel that held 1-1/2 miles of cable that they towed behind them, birds that kept the cable at depth, and guns you could shoot under water! And I really liked the idea of being part of “scientific crew”, as opposed to the “boat crew”.

Shortly after that, I signed on with the Gulf Seal Fleet as a junior observer, eventually promoted to Observer collecting data along the Atlantic Shelf, and in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.

After 3 or 4 years of marine seismic, I accepted, an opportunity to join a land seismic crew, as an Observer. In those days the transistor and micro-chip were front end technology. Recording 120 channels was pretty much the limit of channel capability without incorporating slave recording systems. The roll-along switch was just being introduced, though we were still using the manual patch panel to move our spread. VibroSeis® was still in the research and development stage, but we did have a surface source known as “Dinoseis”. Archaic compared to today’s technology and a little risky because the unit itself was little more than a Euclid Earth Mover with the bucket removed and replaced by a sealed chamber. The brakes worked sometime, but if they didn’t you could always “drag your pan” to stop the machine. Each unit carried 6 cylinders of oxygen and 6 bottles of liquid propane, which had to be mixed within the sealed chamber, and detonated simultaneously with the other 3 units to create the energy. But for the most part it worked well and, I’m sure there is probably still some Dinoseis data still in circulation today.

I continued to work US domestic, for a period of 8 or 9 years, working in a broad range of environments in nearly every state of the contiguous US.

As a result, I discovered the cultural patchwork of the country was just as diverse and colorful as the terrain and working environments.

Southern folk in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Coalminers in the Appalachians, The Navajo-Hopi-Apache native peoples in the Canyon Lands of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, The Cajuns of Louisiana, The Cattle Ranchers of Texas, Montana and Wyoming, The Old Hippies and Ski Bums who seemed to congregate in the Colorado Foothills. The list goes on and on, but by now I am sure you have a feel for what I am trying to say.

Then came an opportunity to be part of the first VibroSeis® crew to work in West Pakistan. I immediately seized the opportunity, but have to admit when I exited the airport terminal in Karachi and had to maneuver my way around the camels, water buffalo, and goats to get to a taxi, a mist of doubt began to cloud my thoughts.

The ex-patriot component of the crew, a pretty diverse bunch on their own, were from Canada, the US, Australia and England.

Looking back, it was a huge personal and professional challenge to all concerned, and an experience none of us will ever forget.

Eventually, this led me to Texas where I joined a borehole velocity survey company as an Observer, eventually promoted to Manager the Western Division. And not unlike seismic, our equipment was somewhat dated at this point in time. Our down hole tools and recording systems were still analog, though we eventually moved to digital. Electronic down hole tool locks were non existent, until we decided to fabricate our own, which worked well unless you stayed locked in on open hole too long. We didn’t have our own wire-line, so we used the wire-line of the contractor who was on site for the electrical logs. But, none the less, it provided the data required to determine down-hole velocities on wells we logged as deep as 30,000 feet, where hydrostatic pressures can crush stainless steel and melt high temperature solder.

By now, the breadth of my field seismic experience prompted an offer from a major US oil company to offer me a position, which I accepted, as the Data Acquisition Supervisor, Western Region covering the western third of the US.

This was where my geophysics education really began, taking me beyond the field mechanics of seismic exploration, because I had the privilege of working and integrating with some of the brightest, most knowledgeable geophysicists and geologists in the country who constantly encouraged my efforts to expand my knowledge base.

I have heard it said, everyone should have a mentor. And I was fortunate enough to have two, the first of which I found here.

His name was James Story, and he carried the title of “Exploration Manager/Western Region”. A man who refused to use curse words, beyond “Cornbread” or “Horse Biscuits”, because it would imply one did not have adequate command of the English language to express frustration. It was not enough for Jim that you know how to complete the task, he insisted you know why the task is required, and have a thorough understanding of the theory and mechanics behind it.

He believed strongly that “An individual will not grow professionally, unless they are challenged to the limit of their knowledge and experience”.

He was quite the guy and I will always be grateful for his guidance and encouragement.

Alas, good things do not last forever, and eventually as a result of an unfriendly takeover of the company I accepted a similar position with another major US oil company in Colorado, that had offices in Calgary.

This was where I received my first introduction to this great country. It was on a camp job far north of Peace River, where the remote, raw, rugged beauty of it all left me in awe. To a “Southern Boy”, the challenges one faced to complete the task in this Canadian wilderness astounded me.

Eventually, after working several years with the Calgary office, I decided to move to, and work in Calgary in 1983. A few years later, providence once again interceded and I began consulting on the seismic field level for many prominent Calgary producers and contractors. To all of whom I would thank for the opportunity and privilege of working with them.

During this time, I found my second mentor, a Canadian, who will go un-named as his humility would not allow it. But suffice to say –“Thanks John”.

So here we are today, and I find myself still enjoying the business as much today as I did when I first began. Still exploring, dreaming and discovering.

Now, I am the president of Terra-Sine Resources Ltd., A Geophysical Land and Field Services Company we established in June 2002.

I like to think who I am, and where I am today are a direct result of the seismic experience, and the people I have met along the way. Because a wise man once said, “You are but a composite of every human encounter you have, no matter how brief, during the course of your lifetime”.

It has been an interesting road, which I would willingly travel again.

The Scots have a saying:

“Come share pot luck with me, my hearth is warm and my friendship is free”.

So I will conclude with a list of stories that were all a part of my “Seismic Experience”.

Stories I might tell over a warm hearth, sharing a glass of Port, with a friend.

If you would like to know more about any one of them, give me call or drop me an email.

You may not believe the story, but the least that will happen is we both end up with another friend.

*Hurricane At Sea *Roach Racing At Its Best *That Roach Don’t Eat Too Much

*Catch That Bomb *The Ammo Dump Brawl *The Gun Boats of Yugolsavia

*How Not To Visit Istanbul *The Vanishing Streamer Cable

*Those Are Tanks Are On The Cable! *Idiot’s Guide to Camp Camouflage

*The Exploding Train *How to Enjoy Bomb Watching *Desperate Exodus

*The Exploding Train *The Himalayan Escape *Refuge in Tehran

*Mountain Pete and The Russian Circus Riot

*Moose Jaw Willie and the Labor Strike *A Night at the Tonga Races

*Encounter with the Boggy Creek Monster *Survival – Lost In the Big Thicket

*The Upside Down Recording Truck *Bird Dogs Can Get Lost Too

*Never Use a House to Winch Yourself Out *Floating Roads of Louisiana

*Gators-Snakes-Mosquitoes-Chiggers *The Stone Head Water Buffalo

*The Death Wish Dog *The Bicycle and the Dead Horse

*All Cattle Rustlers Will Be Kilt *Never Put a Roadrunner In Your Truck

*Swarming Tarantulas *They Won’t Bite Under the Water!

*The Miracle Camel *Never Drink Where the Camels Do

*The Pakistani Jail Tour *How Not to Detonate a Seismic Shot Hole

*Lightning On the Catwalk *The Chopper Pilot with No Compass

*Surface Explosives and the Missing Husband

*The Runaway Dino *Burn Baby, Burn *Say Hello To My Little Friend the AK47

*The Judge and the 357 Magnum *The Shamrock Sherriff

*Explosives On Biscuit Hill *The Camel Fight Holiday *House of the Rising Sun

*The 100 Year Old Cobra *Ya Gotta Sleep In Carlsbad

*Get The Equipment and Keep Your Head Down! *The Missing Surveyor

*How To Drown On an ATV *That Grizzly Ain’t Hungry, Just Curious

*Search For The Mormon Gold *Creature In The Thermos

*The Mississippi Bird Spider

GIVING BACK...

Many people in our geophysical community give unselfishly of their time and resources in volunteer work outside the geophysical community. The RECORDER committee would like to give our members an opportunity to share their experiences and details of the charity that they support. CS

Light Up the World Charity Event – Laurie Ross, Divestco, Chair

Make sure you drop by the Light Up the World Charity Event on the exhibit floor during the Convention, May 14th and 15th. There will be silent auction items out on display on both days with the wrap up of the silent auction during the Beer & Bull on Tuesday, May 15th, 4-6 pm. To view the items go to www.geoconvention.com. At the Light Up the World booth you can put your name into a draw for the tax receipt for the amount that we will be donating to LUTW.

Light Up the World is the first humanitarian organization to utilize renewable energy and solid-state lighting technologies to bring affordable, safe, healthy, efficient, and environmentally responsible illumination to people who do not have access to power for adequate lighting. LUTW remains the world’s leader in this endeavour: globally active and setting standards in the field. LUTW has lit up more than 14,000 homes in 42 different countries throughout the developing world from Afghanistan to Zambia.