Scott W. Tinker

Last updated

Doctor Scott W. Tinker (born November 15, 1959) is an American geologist, educator, energy expert, and documentary filmmaker. Tinker has contributed to higher education, mostly in the field of energy, while helping governments, industries, and academies to collaborate to tackle major societal challenges involving energy, environment, and economy.

Contents

Early life and education

Tinker was born in Centralia, Illinois, in 1959. His mother was Janice Wheeler Tinker and his father, C. N. "Tom" Tinker, was a geologist. In 1982, he completed a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Business Administration, [1] Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa at the Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He also received a Master of Science in Geological Sciences from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1985, [2] and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder [3] in 1996. [2]

Career

Tinker's career in the oil and gas industry includes Robert M. Sneider Exploration in Houston, Texas (1982–83), Union Pacific Resources in Englewood, Colorado (1985–1988) and Marathon Oil's Petroleum Technology Center (1988–1999). He became the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology in 2000 [4] at the University of Texas at Austin (2000–present). [5] Tinker has served as the state geologist of Texas (2000–present) [5] and he is now a professor, holding the Edwin Allday Endowed Chair of Subsurface Geology in the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin (2002–present).

Tinker is the founder and Chairman of the non-partisan Switch Energy Alliance, a 501(c)(3), whose vision is to inspire an energy-educated future through films. He is the co-producer and on-screen guide for the feature-length documentary, Switch, the critically acclaimed [6] film released in 2012 on global energy. He is also the writer and the on-screen guide for Switch On, released in 2019, about global energy poverty.

Tinker has visited over 65 countries and made over 850 invited and keynote lectures [5] to audiences globally.

Media

Tinker has been interviewed and quoted by publications such as The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , NPR , Forbes , The Hill , Nature , Scientific American , Bloomberg, USA Today , The Dallas Morning News , and Houston Chronicle . Select interviews include:

Switch

The documentary film Switch (2012), subtitled in four languages, attempts a non-partisan, scientifically-based exploration of the global energy transition, the future of global energy production, and global energy demand. Switch won the "Best of Fest" prize at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival [7] and it was selected as the opening night film of the D.C. Environmental Film Festival in Washington [8] As of January 2016, the film has been screened at over 600 universities and it has been seen by millions of people globally. [9]

The film is part of the Switch Energy Project, an energy education, and efficiency venture.

Honors and awards

Tinker was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in 2011, [10] and he is an Honorary Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). [11] He is the youngest recipient of the AAPG's Halbouty Distinguished Leadership Award (2016). [12] Tinker has been nominated president of the American Geosciences Institute (2015–2016), [13] AAPG (2008–2009), [14] Association of American State Geologists (2007–2008), [14] and Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies (2011–2012). [15] Tinker has served as a Distinguished Lecturer for AAPG (1997–1998), the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) (2002), [16] and GSA (Michael T. Halbouty Distinguished Lecturer, 2012). [17] Tinker received the J. C. "Cam" Sproule Memorial Award for Best Paper published in AAPG Bulletin by an author 35 years or younger (1996) [18] and the best paper published in the Journal of Sedimentary Research (1998). [19]

Selected bibliography

Ikonnikova S., Browning J., Gulen G., and Tinker, S.W., 2015, Factors influencing shale gas production forecasting: Empirical studies of Barnett, Fayetteville, Haynesville, and Marcellus Shale plays. Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, V. 4, Issue 1, pp. 19–35.

Gülen, G., Ikonnikova, S., Browning, J., Smye, K., and Tinker, S.W., 2015, Production Scenarios for the Haynesville Shale Play, SPE Economics and Management, V. 7, Issue 4, pp. 138–147.

Ikonnikova, S., Gülen, G., Browning, J., and S. Tinker, 2015, Profitability of Shale Gas Drilling: A Case Study of the Fayetteville Shale Play, Energy, V. 81, 1 March 2015, pp. 382–393. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2014.12.051.

Fu, Q., Horvath, S. C., Potter, E. C., Roberts, F., Tinker, S. W., Ikonnikova, S., Fisher, W. L., and Yan, J., 2014, Log-derived thickness and porosity of the Barnett Shale, Fort Worth Basin, Texas: Implications for assessment of gas shale resource, AAPG Bulletin, V. 99, No. 1, pp. 119–141.

Ikonnikova, S., Browning, J., Horvath, S., Tinker, S.W., 2014, Well Recovery, Drainage Area, and Future Drill-well Inventory: Empirical Study of the Barnett Shale Gas Play. SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, V. 17, Issue 04, pp. 484–496.

Gülen, G., Browning J., Ikonnikova, S., Tinker, S.W., 2013, Well economics across ten tiers in low and high BTU (British thermal unit) areas, Barnett Shale, Texas. Energy, October 2013, V. 60, No. 10, pp. 302–315.

Browning, J., Ikonnikova, S., Gülen, G., Tinker, S.W., 2013, Barnett Shale Production Outlook. SPE Economics & Management (165585), July 2013, pp. 89–104.

Tinker, S.W., Lynch, H., Carpenter, M., and Hoover, M., 2013, Global energy and the role of geosciences: A North American perspective, in Bickford, ME, ed., The Impact of the Geological Sciences on Society. Geological Society of America Special Paper 501, pp. 21–51.

Tinker, S.W., and Potter, E.C., 2009, The unconventional bridge to an alternate energy future, in Carr, T., D'agostino, T., Ambrose, W., Pashin, J., and Rosen, N.C., eds. Unconventional energy resources: making the unconventional conventional. 29th Annual GCSSEPM Foundation Bob F. Perkins Research Conference, December 6–8, Houston, pp. 1–5.

Tinker, S.W., 2006, Making enhanced recovery feasible in natural gas fields. The American Oil & Gas Reporter, V. 49, No. 5, pp. 58–64.

Tinker, S.W., 2006, The "I" in busIness ethIcs: American Institute of Professional Geologists. The Professional Geologist, V. 43, No. 2, pp. 36–42.

Tinker, S.W., 2004, Unconventional resources to play vital supply role as world transitions to gas. The American Oil and Gas Reporter, V. 47, No. 10, pp. 63–71.

Tinker, S.W., Caldwell, D.H., Cox, D.M., Zahm, L.C., Brinton, Lisë, 2004, Integrated reservoir characterization of a carbonate ramp reservoir, South Dagger Draw field, New Mexico: seismic data are only part of the story, in Seismic imaging of carbonate reservoirs and systems. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 81, pp. 91–105.

Tinker, S.W., 1998, Shelf-to-basin facies distribution and sequence stratigraphy of a steep-rimmed carbonate margin: Capitan depositional system, McKittrick Canyon, New Mexico and Texas. Journal of Sedimentary Research, V. 68, No. 6, pp. 1146–1174.

Kerans, C., and Tinker S.W., 1997, Sequence stratigraphy and characterization of carbonate reservoirs. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Short Course No. 40, p. 130.

Tinker, S.W., 1996, Building the 3-D jigsaw puzzle: applications of sequence stratigraphy to 3-D reservoir characterization, Permian Basin. AAPG Bulletin, V. 80, No. 4, pp. 460–485.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugio County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Refugio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,741. Its county seat is Refugio. The county originated as a municipality of Mexico in 1834 and was classified as a county in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carter County, Oklahoma</span> County in Oklahoma, United States

Carter County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,003. Its county seat is Ardmore. The county was named for Captain Ben W. Carter, a Cherokee who lived among the Chickasaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Permian Basin (North America)</span> Large sedimentary basin in the US

The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. It is the highest producing oil field in the United States, producing an average of 4.2 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2019. This sedimentary basin is located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mumbai High Field</span> Oilfield in India

The Mumbai High Field, formerly called the Bombay High Field, is an offshore oilfield 176 km (109 mi) off the west coast of Mumbai, in Gulf of Cambay region of India, in about 75 m (246 ft) of water. The oil operations are run by India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Sea oil</span> Hydrocarbons from the North Sea

North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statfjord oil field</span>

The Statfjord oil field is a large oil and gas field covering 580 km2 in the U.K.-Norwegian boundary of the North Sea at a water depth of 145 m, discovered in 1974 by Mobil and since 1987 operated by Equinor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnett Shale</span> Geological formation in Texas, United States

The Barnett Shale is a geological formation located in the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin. It consists of sedimentary rocks dating from the Mississippian period in Texas. The formation underlies the city of Fort Worth and underlies 5,000 mi2 (13,000 km2) and at least 17 counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirte Basin</span>

The Sirte Basin is a late Mesozoic and Cenozoic triple junction continental rift along northern Africa that was initiated during the late Jurassic Period. It borders a relatively stable Paleozoic craton and cratonic sag basins along its southern margins. The province extends offshore into the Mediterranean Sea, with the northern boundary drawn at the 2,000 meter (m) bathymetric contour. It borders in the north on the Gulf of Sidra and extends south into northern Chad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bend Arch–Fort Worth Basin</span> Major petroleum producing region in Texas and Oklahoma

The Bend Arch–Fort Worth Basin Province is a major petroleum producing geological system which is primarily located in North Central Texas and southwestern Oklahoma. It is officially designated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as Province 045 and classified as the Barnett-Paleozoic Total Petroleum System (TPS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haynesville Shale</span>

The Haynesville Shale is an informal, popular name for a Jurassic Period rock formation that underlies large parts of southwestern Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, and East Texas. It lies at depths of 10,500 to 13,000 feet below the land’s surface. It is part of a large rock formation which is known by geologists as the Haynesville Formation. The Haynesville Shale underlies an area of about 9,000 square miles and averages about 200 to 300 feet thick. The Haynesville Shale is overlain by sandstone of the Cotton Valley Group and underlain by limestone of the Smackover Formation.

Michel Thomas Halbouty was an American geologist, petroleum engineer, and wildcatter. Credited with discovering more than 50 oil and gas fields, he twice declared bankruptcy, but came back each time to regain wealth. He authored hundreds of technical articles on petroleum geology, and two book-length histories of famous oil fields. Halbouty is often described, including in his New York Times obituary, as “legendary.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale gas in the United States</span>

Shale gas in the United States is an available source of unconventional natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of U.S. natural gas. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.

The Beaverhill Lake Group is a geologic unit of Middle Devonian to Late Devonian age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that is present in the southwestern Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia and Alberta. It was named by the geological staff of Imperial Oil in 1950 for Beaverhill Lake, Alberta, based on the core from a well that they had drilled southeast of the lake, near Ryley, Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Ford Group</span> Texas rock formation associated with petroleum deposits

The Eagle Ford Group is a sedimentary rock formation deposited during the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous over much of the modern-day state of Texas. The Eagle Ford is predominantly composed of organic matter-rich fossiliferous marine shales and marls with interbedded thin limestones. It derives its name from outcrops on the banks of the West Fork of the Trinity River near the old community of Eagle Ford, which is now a neighborhood within the city of Dallas. The Eagle Ford outcrop belt trends from the Oklahoma-Texas border southward to San Antonio, westward to the Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park, and the Quitman Mountains of West Texas. It also occurs in the subsurface of East Texas and South Texas, where it is the source rock for oil found in the Woodbine, Austin Chalk, and the Buda Limestone, and is produced unconventionally in South Texas and the "Eaglebine" play of East Texas.

The Mansfield Natural Gas Field is located west of Mansfield, Ohio, within the Appalachian foreland basin. The field is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long by 1.4 miles (2.3 km) wide and is in a general oval shape, stretching northward. This field, although small, is an analog for many of the natural gas fields that occur within the Appalachian Basin. It was first discovered by the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company in the early 1930s. It is part of the Utica – Lower Paleozoic system, which is estimated to make up 15 to 20 percent of the total hydrocarbon abundance of the Appalachian Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Gries</span> American petroleum geologist

Robbie Rice Gries is an American petroleum geologist who was the first female president (2001–02) of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), president of the Geological Society of America (2018–19), and founder of Priority Oil & Gas LLC. Gries is noted to have made some influential progress for women in this field. In 2017, Gries published the book titled Anomalies—Pioneering Women in Petroleum Geology: 1917-2017. Gries is recognized as an unconventional thinker when approaching geological concepts and applications.

Denise Cox is an American petroleum geologist and the former President of Storm Energy Ltd, an oil and gas exploration company based in Panama City, Florida. Cox is also a long-standing executive member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) since joining the organization in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil and gas reserves and resource quantification</span> Industry concept of crude oil and natural gas reserves and resources

Oil and gas reserves denote discovered quantities of crude oil and natural gas that can be profitably produced/recovered from an approved development. Oil and gas reserves tied to approved operational plans filed on the day of reserves reporting are also sensitive to fluctuating global market pricing. The remaining resource estimates are likely sub-commercial and may still be under appraisal with the potential to be technically recoverable once commercially established. Natural gas is frequently associated with oil directly and gas reserves are commonly quoted in barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). Consequently, both oil and gas reserves, as well as resource estimates, follow the same reporting guidelines, and are referred to collectively hereinafter as oil & gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unconventional (oil and gas) reservoir</span> Type of hydrocarbon reservoir

Unconventional reservoirs, or unconventional resources are accumulations where oil and gas phases are tightly bound to the rock fabric by strong capillary forces, requiring specialised measures for evaluation and extraction.

References

  1. "Trinity University - San Antonio, Texas".
  2. 1 2 "Home".
  3. "Admissions". 26 July 2019.
  4. "Home - Bureau of Economic Geology". www.beg.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  5. 1 2 3 "Dr. Scott W. Tinker | Bureau of Economic Geology".
  6. "Switch Energy Alliance".
  7. "Switch Energy Alliance".
  8. "List of Casino Movies & Other DEFF awarded movies". 13 May 2021.
  9. "Switch Energy Alliance".
  10. "Geological Society of America - Fellowship".
  11. "Honorary Member Award".
  12. "Michel T. Halbouty Outstanding Leadership Award".
  13. "AGI Board of Directors". 27 October 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Scott W. Tinker". Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  15. "Past GCAGS Officers and Convention Chairmen". www.gcags.org. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  16. "SPE Distinguished Lecturer Program -- 1961-2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-07.
  17. "Michel T. Halbouty Distinguished Lecturer". Archived from the original on 2016-10-11.
  18. "J. C. "Cam" Sproule Memorial Award".
  19. "SEPM - Best Journal Paper (1978 - 2003)". Archived from the original on 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2016-02-17.