Huffington In Memory
Geologist Roy Huffington, 90, Dies
Because of who you are and what you do, no doubt you’ve been asked about oil prices and the current energy situation.
Roy M. Huffington, an AAPG Foundation Trustee Associate who played a major role in developing Indonesia’s oil and natural gas sector and later served as a U.S. ambassador to Austria, died July 11 while traveling abroad from his home in Houston. He was 90.
A member of AAPG since 1947, he held a bachelor’s degree in geology from Southern Methodist University and a master’s and doctorate in geology from Harvard University.
Huffington served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and upon his return became a field geologist for Humble Oil Co. He later established his own gas and oil firm, Huffco.
He worked in Texas and Louisiana until 1968 when he struck a groundbreaking production-sharing contract with the government of Indonesia.
Discoveries in East Kalimantan led to the development of a multi-billion dollar LNG export project between Indonesia and Japan, which became a major source of revenue for the country.
Huffington sold his company after President George H.W. Bush appointed him as U.S. ambassador to Austria, where he served from 1990 to 1993.
The AAPG Foundation’s Roy M. Huffington Fund underwrites an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer international tour and was established by his daughter Terry Huffington, an AAPG member, in honor of her father.
He received the Michel T. Halbouty Memorial Human Needs Award in 1991.