Robert D. Gunn, founder and chairman of Gunn Oil Co. in Wichita Falls, Texas, is a nationally recognized geologist who served as president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1978-1979, as well as president of the North Texas Geological Society. His company has historically been an active generator of drilling prospects, with operations in the Texas Panhandle and eastern shelf of the Permian Basin, in conventional plays. It also has interests in Colorado, New Mexico and other parts of Texas.

In May 2013, he received the Col. Edwin Drake Award from the University of Pittsburgh, the latest in a series of awards he's been given. In 1997, he received the AAPG's highest honor, the Sidney Powers Medal. In 2011 he was honored with the Tom Haywood Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, which happens to be based in Wichita Falls. In addition, he and his wife, Carol, were honored as Wichitans of the Year for 2012.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Gunn served as an Army pilot in World War II. Upon his return to the US, he entered the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1949. He immediately began his career at Texaco. He formed Gunn Oil in 1976 after having been an independent geologist since 1953. Gunn still comes into the Gunn Oil office a couple of days a week.

The AAPG Foundation gave him its Austin L. Weeks Memorial Medal for extraordinary philanthropy in 2013. Indeed, in his current hometown of Wichita Falls, he and his wife have served on numerous community and nonprofit boards. He is a chairman of the Boys and Girls Club and was a director of the United Regional Healthcare System, among others.

Investor With the drilling success in resource plays today, do we still need geologists that much?

Gunn Yes, very much so. We need them for understanding the rock mechanics, which requires geological study. That's where we're headed.

Investor Do you still practice geology every day?

Gunn Yes. I live at a lake about 80 miles from the office in Wichita Falls, so I work there doing my own geology, and I go into the office a couple days a week. I'm working mostly on carbonate reservoirs in reefs, mainly in the Palo Duro Basin, where we have worked for a long time. We have a very limited source-bed situation there, so it's a tricky study. I spend eight hours a day doing it the old way, working with a lot of seismic. I love it, whether it works out or not. I'm a happy geologist.

Investor You loved international exploration too.

Gunn A group of us formed Globex Energy in 1990, and we found production offshore Australia in the Carnarvon Basin and offshore Equatorial Guinea in Africa. We sold it to Marathon in 2002 for $155 million. I pounded the table not to sell it, but was outvoted—I still saw a great deal of potential in Africa. We were in Equatorial Guinea before Triton was, in Alba Field. A group of friends from Texas and Michigan had decided to form an international exploration company and that became Globex. It was a very exciting experience and I learned a lot from it, although I never went over there myself. I served in an advisory role on the geology and business side, on the Globex board of directors.

Investor Alba was a big field, but what was the real find of your career?

Gunn The 6666 Ranch in King County, Texas, which we discovered in 1970 or 1971. Right now, it's being CO-flooded by Hunt Oil and we still own an interest. I would guess it has produced more than 100 million barrels of oil. For me, a struggling geologist at the time, it was just a storybook thing. The lease was in my name!

Investor Where is Gunn active today?

Gunn The Permian Eastern Shelf. We were involved in the initial phase of the Cline shale and we're drilling some Cline wells now, but I'd say we are disappointed at this stage. It's still a matter of figuring out the best way to drill and complete the Cline. Right now we're drilling some vertical wells out there. We have many different zones that are prospective in this area, so when we have a prospect that is shallower or deeper, we drill for that but usually complete in the Cline with moderate success.

Recently, with Cogent Exploration of Oklahoma City, we discovered Paint Ridge Field in Oldham County. We have sold one-half interest to Apache, which is presently developing the field. It is quite impressive.

Investor What makes a good geologist?

Gunn I think it's a difficult question. In my day, creativity was the issue. Today I think it's become more technological, a mathematical effort.

An old geologist once told me, “I'd rather be a trout swimming in a fast mountain stream than a turtle in still water.” That is the difference between being an independent or not, and I've been in the fast stream ever since. That's also kind of the difference between conventional and unconventional wells. —Leslie Haines

For archives of interviews with industry legends, see OilandGasInvestor.com.

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