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Interview with Mike Forrest, "father of bright spots" and "oil finder" at Shell Oil

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Michael C. Forrest, commonly known as "the father of bright spots," was interviewed by Dolores Proubasta during Calgary 2000 as part of a continuing "Mentoring" series of articles. Forrest started work with Shell in 1955 as a geophysicist, followed by assignments as seismic party chief and offshore Gulf of Mexico geophysical project leader. In the Gulf's Louisiana shelf, Forrest played a major role in several 100-million-barrel Shell discoveries in the early to mid-1970s using "bright spot" seismic technology. In the mid 1980s he was part of the management team that leased many Gulf deepwater (2000 to 6000 ft) prospects now in production. He completed his Shell career as president of Pecten International Company (a Shell USA subsidiary).

On his retirement from Shell in 1992, Forrest joined Maxus Energy Corporation as vice chairman/chief operating officer. He was in a leadership role in Maxus' Venezuela and Bolivia exploration operations where large discoveries have been made. He retired from Maxus/YPF International in 1997 as senior vice president of Business Development and Technology.

Forrest serves on the Board of Trustees for the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University, the American Geological Institute, and is an SEG Trustee Associate. He is a director of Matador Petroleum, a private oil company with U.S. operations, and Tierra Nueva Resources, a private oil company with South American interests. Forrest is corporate advisor for Alliant Geophysical, a seismic data processing company, and a member of the Advisory Board of Chroma Energy, a seismic service company.

How did you get to be known as "father of bright spots" at Shell Oil Company?

My coworkers in Shell like to say that I discovered "bright spots" when I was a seismic interpreter during 1968–69 in the New Orleans office. Improved seismic data quality using digital signal . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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