PESGB December 2018
Plus much more inside
The Last Word
It seems only moments ago that I was in trepidation of the journey ahead. Now I am sad that it is at an end. This is the time of the year where one President hands a great honour on to the next lucky recipient.
For 2018, the mission was to continue the stabilisation of the PESGB led by past President Nick Terrell in 2017, steadying the ship after a prolonged storm. With Maria Iredale and her team, we have made a number of changes to assure the future of the society, not least the clear organisational and financial separation of the PESGB charity from our events business. Our long-term strategy remains focussed on being the principal society in the UK and beyond for petroleum-focussed geoscientists, increasing our membership in line with a changing global community, and achieving our charitable objectives. Above all, we must recognise the increasingly diverse community at our heart, which requires participation and tolerance from all members.
One of the more challenging tasks of being President is writing these monthly opinion editorials for the magazine. Luckily, I had quite a lot on my mind when I started this role. Back in January, and through successive contributions, I have asked for feedback on subjects as diverse as gender balance in the oil and gas industry, to the role of artificial intelligence. Feedback is a gift and has come in many different forms and from as far afield as Norway and Australia.
Several of my contributions this year focussed on the changing environment in which our industry operates and in which our members play a role in shaping popular opinion. Although I thought I had trod a fine line through the anthropogenic climate change debate, I received a range of emails questioning the science used to drive policy and public opinion, along with my personal commitment to a long-standing industry. I continue to believe that we, as geoscientists, have a strong communication role to play in the sustainability of our energy systems. I would rather be part of a rational debate than trying to ignore it, which the October panel discussion on public perception organised by the Young Professionals at the House of Commons in London deftly illustrated.
At the end of 2018, I am proud of what the society continues to achieve. The Asia Pacific E&P Conference run in collaboration with SEAPEX earlier in the year was very successful and looks set to be repeated in London, on alternate years to the Africa E&P Conference with the Houston Geological Society. The GEOLiteracy lectures delivered by Professor Joanna Morgan on the coring of the Chicxulub impact crater were well received by a diverse audience in May. By the time you read this, we will have wrapped up PETEX 2018 and we will know how well that important event will have performed in its new home of Olympia. The Granite City Reception in Aberdeen will be held on the 4th December, PROSPEX is back in Islington, North London between the 12th and 13th December, and Presidents Evening will conclude a busy year on the 13th December.
It will be at the latter event that I hand this role on to Martin Durham, who I look forward to supporting in 2019. With that, I would like to thank Maria’s hard-working office team and the 2018 council for all their voluntary energy. There is always an avalanche of ideas at the council meetings, which require dedication if they are to become a reality and of benefit to the wider membership. A great example is from our very own geological “Monuments Man” – Henk Kombrink (Aberdeen Director) – who has been diligently rescuing unwanted North Sea core and repurposing it for education or award.
This neatly reinforces the role that the PESGB plays as a custodian of our rich E&P legacy, as well as being an active participant in its future. A future that I look forward to being part of.
Signing off.