Special Issue

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This Special Issue of the EXPLORER was conceived and developed in honor of those who have dedicated their careers to the search for hydrocarbons over the past century.

Our goal was to provide a flavor of the personalities and events that shaped the heritage of the 21st century explorationists, and of the times in which they endeavored.

Writing and editing this Special Issue has been a fascinating exercise, not unlike exploring your grandparent's attic, with every small item saved having significance at some point in history. The exercise also has had its frustrations, mainly caused by "so many stories, so little space."

Sources for information and photos for this issue were mainly from AAPG, including the BULLETIN and AAPG special publications, with some of the articles re-edited after having previously appeared in the EXPLORER over its 21 years of publication. Major photo sources also included the AAPG publications Oil On Their Shoes and To the Waters and the Wild.

Other sources included the History of Petroleum Geology Committee, chaired by Samuel Pees, and a number of personal sources, including Michel T. Halbouty and Fred A. Dix. Other general sources include the number of publications that focus on the history of specific companies.

Special thanks also goes to the AAPG Foundation Library staff for their valuable assistance. We also would thank the advertisers, whose financial support made possible this report as well as that of the monthly EXPLORER.

A Supplement to the AAPG EXPLORER

• Spindletop ... Patillo Higgins discovery (1900-1916)

• Founding Fathers ... fun, exciting, driven (1917-1945)

• Tectonics ... the theory, the debate, the lecture (1946-1974)

• OPEC ... inspired by a Texas tale (1974-1986)

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