Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Exploration and production are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Exploration, by earth scientists, and petroleum engineering are the oil and gas industry's two main subsurface disciplines, which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology and geophysics focus on provision of a static description of the hydrocarbon reservoir rock, while petroleum engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water and gas within porous rock at very high pressure.
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with about 17,000 members across 129 countries. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as it relates to petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids, and mineral resources; to promote the technology of exploring for, finding, and producing these materials in an economically and environmentally sound manner; and to advance the professional well-being of its members." The AAPG was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma; currently almost one-third of its members live outside the United States.
Expand Energy Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City. It was previously known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
Eugene McDermott was an American engineer and geophysicist who co-founded Geophysical Service Incorporated (GSI) in 1930 and later its parent company Texas Instruments in 1951. One of his most widely acclaimed early patented inventions enabled oil exploration equipment that used reflection seismographs to map underground rock strata using sound wave technology, a method still widely used today in oil exploration. Other inventions ranged from geochemical applications to antisubmarine warfare, often focusing on the use of sonar.
Devon Energy Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States. It is organized in Delaware with operational headquarters in the 50-story Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its primary operations are in the Barnett Shale STACK formation in Oklahoma, Delaware Basin, Eagle Ford Group, and the Rocky Mountains.
EOG Resources, Inc. is an American energy company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It is organized in Delaware and headquartered in the Heritage Plaza building in Houston, Texas.
A Landman or "Petroleum Landman"—in the United States and Canada—is an individual who performs various services for oil and gas exploration companies. According to the website of the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), these services include but are not limited to: negotiating for the acquisition or divestiture of mineral rights; negotiating business agreements that provide for the exploration and/or development of minerals; determining ownership in minerals through the research of public and private records; reviewing the status of title, curing title defects and otherwise reducing title risk associated with ownership in minerals; managing rights and/or obligations derived from ownership of interests in minerals; and unitizing or pooling of interests in minerals.
XTO Energy Inc. is an American energy company and subsidiary of ExxonMobil principally operating in North America. Acquired by ExxonMobil in 2010 and based out of Spring, Texas, it is involved with the production, processing, transportation, and development of oil and natural gas resources. The company specializes in developing shale gas via unconventional means like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.
The Meinders School of Business is the business school of Oklahoma City University, a private university in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It offers courses for undergraduate, graduate, professional development, and continuing education students and undergraduate and graduate degrees in most business majors of study. The Meinders School of Business achieved initial accreditation from Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International in 2014. The Meinders School of Business' Energy Programs were the first graduate programs accredited by the American Association of Professional Landmen in 2013.
The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. Funded voluntarily by Oklahoma's oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners, the OERB conducts environmental restoration of orphaned and abandoned well sites, encourages the wise and efficient use of energy, and promotes energy education.
Westmoore High School is an American four-year public high school located in south Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The school was founded in 1988 and serves the ninth through the twelfth grades as part of the Moore Public School District. Westmoore was the second high school in the district after Moore High School. Southmoore High School, which opened in the 2008–2009 academic year, is the third.
John Clarence Karcher was an American geophysicist and businessman. He invented and eventually commercialized the reflection seismograph, applying for patents in 1919. By the patenting, and development of reflection seismography, he created the means by which most of the world's oil reserves have been discovered. In 1930 he, Eugene McDermott, and Everette Lee DeGolyer founded Geophysical Service Incorporated, a pioneering provider of seismic exploration services to the petroleum industry that focused on reflection seismology.
Energy Management (EM) is a business-specific degree, with a broad curriculum focusing on multiple facets of the energy industry: business, geology, petroleum engineering, and law. The American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) provides curriculum guidance and program support for approved petroleum land management programs. Currently, the AAPL has 10 accredited universities in the United States and Canada.
The IFP School is a graduate engineering school located in Rueil-Malmaison, France. Founded in 1954, IFP School is part of the IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), a French public-sector research and training center. The school graduates approximately 600 students per year in 20 graduate programs, employing 40 regular professors and 350 instructors from industry.
Joseph P. DeWoody is a US-based businessman, the CEO of Valor Mineral Management, and formerly president of Clear Fork Royalty, an oil and gas mineral rights and royalty acquisition company.
The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, formerly Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, is an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to the scholarly and practical study of all aspects of natural resources and energy law.
June Brooks (1924–2010) was an Oklahoma businesswoman, speaker and promoter of the oil and gas industry. She advocated for energy independence and spoke throughout the world on responsible energy development. She won numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service from both the Oklahoma Petroleum Council and the American Association of Professional Landmen, as well as being honored as an Outstanding Woman of Energy from the Association of Women in Energy and one of the inaugural inductees into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.
Suzanne Takken was a petroleum geologist for the Magnolia Oil Company. She retired in 1970 but continued to work as a consultant in several areas of geology including construction, geothermal, petroleum, and uranium. She was a Charter Member of the Oklahoma City Geological Foundation, a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and of the Association of Women in Geoscience (AWG), as well as a past president of both the Oklahoma section of American Institute of Professional Geologists and the Oklahoma City Geological Society. Later in her career the Suzanne Takken Encourage Award (1990) and the Suzanne Takken Memorial Fund (1998) were established in her honour.
Landman is an American drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, based on the podcast Boomtown hosted by Wallace. It stars Billy Bob Thornton in the lead role as a landman at an oil company. The show premiered November 17, 2024 on Paramount+.
James Calhoun Tanner was a journalist who covered the oil and gas industry for The Wall Street Journal for many years. He was part of the team that won the 1961 Gerald Loeb Award for Newspapers.
