值得等待的认可
For Saint Louis University alumnus Al Hrubetz, waiting nearly 60 years to be publicly recognized for one of the most effectual discoveries of his career – detecting major oil reserves off the coast of Dubai – was well worth the wait.
This January, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists magazine, Explorer, published an article outlining the contributions of Al Hrubetz(53届) and others 对于石油的发现. Happy to be acknowledged, Hrubetz said the six-decade delay 没有打扰到他. He considered his role in the process as “just another job.”
Having grown up poor during the Great Depression in the coal-mining town of Maryville, Illinois, Hrubetz was used to working from the bottom up, he said. 生活在贫困之中 meant enduring times of significant hardships, which presented him with two options: Either let the circumstances win or let adversity build strength through the moral 他母亲灌输给他的准则. 他选择了后者.
从海军陆战队到康菲石油公司
赫鲁贝兹曾在美国服役.S. 海军陆战队，获得地质学学士学位 从博彩网址大全工程学到G.I. 比尔，结婚了，开始了事业 his family and was in his early 20s when Continental Oil Co. 康菲石油公司雇佣了他 1953年成为地球物理学家. 他被提升为首席地球物理学家，在公司工作 headquarters in New York City, was responsible for Conoco’s worldwide geophysical 勘探活动. 当时，该行业正从煤炭向煤炭转型 石油作为主要能源. Hrubetz’s acumen in the petroleum field and his leadership prowess landed him a new position with Conoco in London as head geophysicist charged with exploring the sea floor for oil reserves off the coast of Dubai, an impoverished Middle Eastern city at that time, in what is now the United Arab Emirates.
Void of roads, electricity, plumbing and sanitation for the people living in mud huts on the sand terrain, Dubai and the untapped offshore oil field located just 60 miles 它的海岸对世界来说仍然是看不见的. 赫鲁贝兹正准备帮助发起一个 全球比例的新轨迹.
A new method for wavefield sampling and oil detection called common-depth point (CDP) recording, also known as “horizontal stacking” or “six-fold stacking,” was gaining 整个行业的知名度. 康菲石油公司是地震早期阶段的先驱 exploration, designed and manufactured most of its state-of-the-art equipment to utilize Hrubetz说，传统的技术. 他和他的船员接到命令单独行动 使用公司的仪器进行测试.
在做了一些计算之后，它像锤子一样击中了我."
Al Hrubetz(53届)
谱写新的篇章
As head geophysicist, Hrubetz knew that a prevailing northeast regional dip existed in the area, which meant that the seismic data the crew was collecting using the Conoco equipment didn’t reveal the full picture of what was hidden beneath the seafloor. While test after test detected a hard, flat sea bottom that reflected energy to the surface — a strong indicator that oil did not exist in the area — Hrubetz said he 我就知道那些评估有问题.
“在做了一些计算之后，它像锤子一样击中了我,” Hrubetz said. 他的结论是 that multiple reflections were reverberating back and forth between the sea floor and the surface of the gulf, which meant a calcareous layer covered the floor and 防止地震能量穿透它. 他需要一种压制强者的方法 multiple reflections and enhance the weak reflections to represent the true subsurface 图片，他说.
Hrubetz’s instinct could only be proven using empirical data from the newer CDP seismic 记录方法. 和
这就产生了一个问题. He would have to hire another crew outside the oil company that used new equipment with a mile-long geophone cable — a rare cable length then -可以到达地表以下. 这是唯一能确定的方法 石油滞留在海底. 只有一个地球物理小组能帮忙.
Hrubetz was proceeding with his plan to hire the crew when he got a call from one of the leaders at Conoco, who strongly suggested that he call off his project. 震惊了 and disappointed, he faced a major career conundrum: Should he follow through with what he knew was correct, or should he use the findings that Conoco’s equipment produced, which by all indications eliminated the possibility of finding oil? 他决定 go home to New Jersey to discern his decision with his wife Rose. 他们谈了很久 about it, he said, she told him to do what he thought was best.
Hrubetz signed the contract with the other crew to search for the petroleum field. Once he secured all the necessary approvals, protocols and crew members, the team 去上班了. It took a year to drill for the oil, the gush of petroleum off the coast of Dubai confirmed the empirical data his crew had collected. Hrubetz写道 历史新篇章. Dubai pivoted from a city of extreme poverty to the “City of Gold” and evolved into one of the wealthiest metropolises in the world today.
企业家和作家
As a lifelong learner – a quality that Hrubetz credits 博彩网址大全 for fostering – he continued his education, earning a master’s in advanced management from Harvard University. His career in the oil industry flourished as he served in leadership roles that included 德克萨斯太平洋石油公司首席执行官. 当公司卖给Sun公司时 Oil, Hrubetz left to form his own enterprise, Hrubetz Oil Co.，在达拉斯. 年后, he tested the professional waters again, this time trying his hand at publishing. 2006年，他撰写了 Maryville Illinois: Growing Up During the Great Depression，其次是 A Geophysicist’s Memoir: 搜索ing for Oil on Six Continents in 2017.
Now, in his 90s, the retired Marine, geophysicist and business owner is enjoying the 他的劳动成果. He recalls how his favorite book he read in a theology class, 与上帝接触 by the Jesuit priest Bakewell Morrison, left a lasting impression on his life and 巩固了他小时候学到的道德准则. 今天，他继续设置 aside time to enjoy all those things in life that have been worth waiting for.
Learn more about Hrubetz’s oil reserve discoveries in his book, A Geophysicist’s Memoir: 搜索ing for Oil on Six Continents (第一版). (2017). 达拉斯:MSBS出版社.