Private: Publications

PESGB November 2011

Tue 01 November 2011

Category: Magazines

  • Book Review
  • Africa 2011 Review
  • exploHUB Launch Review
  • October London Lecture Review
  • Sedimentology Course Review

Plus much more inside

President’s Page- Steve Garrett

The Society is in good financial health as demonstrated at the 2011 Annual General Meeting. This includes the retention of significant financial reserves, which has led some members to question if we are doing enough with our money. The Society is a charity which runs on a not-for-profit basis, and so our courses and events are designed to break even on an annual basis, with the exception of PETEX which operates as a company. One reflection of this policy are the membership, course and event fees which remain at a very competitive level relative to those offered by comparable professional societies.
Our cyclical industry has experienced some dramatic downturns. To ensure the long-term health of the society, the Council have for many years agreed to hold back sufficient funds from the reserves, to ensure that the society can function effectively over a two year period of severely reduced income. This requirement will remain so that PESGB can continue to maintain continuity of service to membership through any difficult economic conditions that may lie ahead.
PESGB Council’s clear intention is to continue to increase our level of support for MSc scholarships, other university projects such as exploHUB (see pages 39-41), and earth science education
in schools, while maintaining the low cost of member benefits. To enable this, the PESGB Treasurer and Executive Director are taking financial advice on more effective investments. PESGB are also consulting with course directors at various UK universities on a fund to allow service companies and smaller UK-based operators, which do not currently sponsor MSc students, to be able to contribute towards a central ‘pot’ for funding future students.
Taking a more focused approach to investments and funds will allow us to separate long-term strategic disbursement decisions from shorter-term fluctuations and uncertainties in PESGB
operational cash flow. We are also continuing to strengthen PESGB’s routine financial management. We are fortunate to have in Gavin Ward a society Treasurer who is an earth scientist (first) and qualified accountant (second) – an unrivalled combination of attributes. PESGB have also employed Sue Brodie as bookkeeper to ensure that accounts are kept current and accurate in ‘real time’.
The continuing emphasis of strengthening the financial management of PESGB will allow us to continue to strengthen the society’s contribution to supporting education in scientific and technical aspects of petroleum exploration, with continuity of priorities as we move from 2011 into 2012.