Scott O'Beirne

I grew up in Alcoa, Tennessee, and always envisioned living in the area for the rest of my life. It is hard not to love the Great Smokey Mountains. I have always enjoyed all things about the area. The sheer beauty of the mountains, the camping and hiking possibilities. The wildlife, plants, lakes, and streams all come together in one of the most beautiful ecosystems on this earth.

However, once I received my degree I struck out for Texas and the “oil patch”. I have spent the past 40 years working in the oil and gas industry. While I am an engineer, my career has primarily involved the acquisition and interpretation of downhole geologic data. I would classify myself as a geologic engineer even if some people would view that description as an oxymoron. I have spent my professional life correlating wireline logging data with core and cuttings data. Calculating hydrocarbon saturations in the subsurface geologic stratum. Projects were in the areas of geomechanics, core analysis, formation imaging, petrophysics, geomechanics and pore pressure modeling. It has been richly rewarding and always interesting.

I have had the pleasure of working with some of the finest people in this industry. From the geoscientists, engineers, data scientists and entrepreneurs there is no finer industry. The oil industry has fallen out of favor recently and it is often viewed as a non-tech industry, but I can assure you nothing is farther from the truth. When you look at the complexity of the process of planning, drilling, and completing an oil well you see that it involves complex technology from a wide variety of disciplines. The petroleum industry may have fallen out of favor recently, but it is safe to say that any future or alternative energy sources will involve Earth & Planetary Sciences.

I have had the opportunity to work in some of the major basins in the United States. From the Appalachian Basin, Mid-Continent Basin, Permian Basin, South Texas, the Williston Basin, the Gulf of Mexico on the shelf and in deep water. And the geologies have ranged the gambit from the conventional sandstones, limestones, and dolomites to the unconventional of coalbed and shales.

I am a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Society of Professional Well Log Analysts, American Petroleum Institute, the American Association of Drilling Engineers, and a past board member of the Houston Energy Council.

In my spare time I like to hunt, fish, hike, bike and almost anything outdoors. I am an active member at Grand Parkway Baptist Church and have held numerous roles there over the years. I currently serve on the board of directors for Attack Poverty’s Friends of India, a non-profit charity supporting a Christian Ministry in country.

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Contact

Email: scott.obeirne@gmail.com

Professional Website: linkedin.com/in/scott-o-beirne-b7112351/

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Research Interests

Engineering, Formation Evaluation, Petrophysics