General Meeting - Society of Petroleum Engineers - Denver Section - May 21, 2008

For more than 100 years the main challenge in oil and gas has been how to manage the industry's ability to produce more oil or gas than the market needed at any given moment. 

After 2001 this historic pattern evolved into a demand driven model leading to a new consensus that argued for a multiyear cycle of improving market conditions based on accelerating decline rates, smaller reserves from crummier rocks, colliding with rising consumer demand. 

In this environment the US land market attracted attention, as new technologies such as directional drilling, advanced technology rigs, and new well stimulation practices generated a remarkable transformation in business conditions. 

The industry has made important gains in its ability to extract resources from unconventional geology, leading to questions of whether we are in danger of creating too much gas for the market as the new frontier onshore bumps into the old industry challenge: more production than the market needs at any given moment.

His previous work experience includes 10 years as a field representative for the Texas Tech University archives, collecting historical materials on petroleum, agriculture, and irrigation development in the American Southwest.

He also spent a year in Midland, Texas as director for the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library, a privately held historical archive. Mr. Mason has worked in various capacities for several West Texas newspapers, including the Midland Reporter Telegram, and the San Angelo Standard.He is a 1974 graduate of Ohio University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in History.

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