Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

Harold R. Inman

Distinguished Engineer

2007

Degree

Petroleum Engineering – 1950

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 2007

Harold Inman was born in 1927 in Amarillo, TX. Following a short tour in the U.S. Navy, he enrolled in Amarillo Junior College in 1946 and in 1948 enrolled in Texas Technological College. After graduation in 1950, he joined Magnolia Petroleum Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobil Oil Corporation, and he spent his career employed by Mobil, its predecessors or affiliates, until his retirement in September 1982.

Harold held various field engineering and supervisory positions with Mobil until 1959. For the next seven years, he worked in managing Mobil’s joint interest properties in the Southwestern United States and in 1966 was appointed division producing manager for properties located onshore and offshore Louisiana. In 1969, he was appointed senior planning associate for the North American Division in New York and in 1971, manager of gas development and evaluation in Houston.

During 1973 he was named vice president and liquefied natural gas (LNG) venture manager, Mobil Oil Indonesia, Inc., to assist in exploring the large Arun gas field Mobil discovered in North Sumatra. This task included working with representatives of the Indonesian government and its national oil company, Pertamina, in negotiating numerous contacts providing for the sale and transportation of liquefied natural gas to Japan and for the construction of a gas treating and liquefaction plant. He coordinated technical assistance by Mobil in constructing the plant and was appointed vice president and director of P. T. Arun, an Indonesian company formed to build and operate LNG plants, with responsibilities for recruiting and training a grassroots organization to start up, operate, maintain, and administer the plant.

In 1979 Harold was appointed president and general manager of Mobil Exploration Norway, Inc. (MENI). MENI is the operator of the giant Statfjord Field located in the North Sea on the median line boundary between the Norwegian and U.K. jurisdiction of the Continental Shelf. Development plans for the unitized field included three gravity base platforms integrated to provide for drilling, processing of production, gas injection, oil storage, and living quarters. Oil from storage in the base of the platforms is loaded onto tankers through a single point mooring buoy. The water depth is slightly more than 450 feet.

Production from the first platform was initiated in November 1979 and by May 1981 it was averaging 270 TBD and 96 percent of the available gas was being injected. The second platform was installed in the field in 1981 and the third in 1984.

Gloria and Harold will celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary in May. Both are thankful for the many interesting assignments they have had over the years. They are enjoying their retirement in Alto, New Mexico.

It is a privilege and an honor for Texas Tech University’s College of Engineering to select this outstanding alumnus for recognition. Harold R. Inman is declared a DISTINGUISHED ENGINEER.

Return to the Past Winners page.