The Michel T. Halbouty lecture series – funded by the AAPG Foundation – is an ongoing special event at the
AAPG Annual Convention & Exhibition. Lecture topics are designed to focus either on wildcat exploration in
any part of the world where major discoveries might contribute significantly to petroleum reserves, or space
exploration where astrogeological knowledge would further mankind’s ability to develop resources on Earth and
in the Solar System.
This year’s Michel T. Halbouty Lecture speaker is
Jeff Ventura, President and CEO, Range Resources,
Fort Worth, Texas discussing Range’s Path to
Discovery and Commercialization of the Marcellus
Shale — the Largest Producing Gas Field in the U.S.
Range’s Marcellus story started in 2003 with a corporate strategy
shift from traditional, higher risk exploration to looking for large
scale and repeatable resource plays. The Barnett Shale was then
recognized as the first successful modern day shale play and
industry was searching for the next shale play. The Marcellus
opportunity presented itself in 2004, which through a combination
of long term vision, opportunistic thinking, creativity, and the ability
to break conventional wisdom, provided Range with a path to
success, starting with the first vertical completion in 2004. This was
followed in 2007 with horizontal success and then rapid expansion
of the Marcellus play bringing it to world-wide prominence. The
opportunities, challenges, obstacles and breakthroughs were many
and often the answer was to break away from old mindsets into new.
The Marcellus Shale now is producing more than 8 BCF per day,
making it the largest producing gas field in the U.S.
Jeff Ventura, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, joined
Range in 2003 as Chief Operating Officer and became a director in
2005. He was named Chief Executive Officer effective 1 January,
2012. Previously, Mr. Ventura served as President and Chief Operating
Officer of Matador Petroleum Corporation which he joined in 1997.
Prior to his service at Matador, Jeff spent eight years at Maxus Energy
Corporation where he managed various engineering, exploration
and development operations and was responsible for coordination
of engineering technology. Previously, he was with Tenneco Oil
Exploration and Production, where he held various engineering and
operating positions. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum and
Natural Gas Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.