Meet the Member
Peter Burri
Peter Burri is a Swiss national who finished his studies at Basel University with a PhD in Carbonate Sedimentology.
Switzerland is an excellent outdoor laboratory for educating geologists but – lacking an oil or mining industry has only limited job options for this profession.
Many of the Swiss geology graduates are therefore exported to the entire world – as Peter says “like the watches and the chocolate.” Thus, he also took the jump into the international E&P world where he spent most of his professional life: First in a long exploration and E&P career with Shell in a dozen countries mainly in Asia, finishing off as Managing Director for Shell in China and eventually as Exploration Advisor Far East, Pacific and South America in Shell’s headquarters in the Hague.
He then followed a call to Germany to become Senior Vice President New Business of Wintershall, the energy arm of the chemical giant BASF, helping to build BASF’s world wide E&P presence.
In the past two years he has worked as an independent advisor to the international oil industry and to an ambitious geothermal project in his hometown Basel (3 wells of 5000m in the Rhinegraben).
Peter has been a member of AAPG since 1986 and is now the president of the Swiss Association of Petroleum Geologists and Engineers (ASP), an affiliated association of AAPG and the “home” for over 280 Swiss and international professionals.
The association organizes annual conventions with scientific lectures and a two-day excursion in Switzerland or in neighbouring countries. These events are highly popular with many European E&P geologists and engineers as they provide an excellent opportunity to see some of the spectacular Alpine geology and also give a chance to see a bit beyond the strict oil and gas world (recently a convention was dedicated to the construction of the world’s long est railway tunnel cutting over some 57 km right through the core of the Alps).
As for 2007 the ASP will be organizing AAPG distinguished lecture tours for Switzerland in Geneva. The present board is also working hard on turning the association into a platform where experts from the Industry and Academia can meet for an informal exchange of ideas and networking.
Peter is married with three adult children (unfortunately no geologists) and has a passion for books, 20th century art, alpine hiking and hobby farming on his land in southern Switzerland.