The History of Petroleum Geology Committee will again hold its annual forum in a special session where we are commemorating the centennial of the AAPG with a series of high quality papers that run the gamut from the scientific foundations of petroleum geology before the founding of the AAPG, through the development of technologies and discoveries in our first century, with biographical sketches of key founding members, and the status and future of key scientific disciplines.

First in our planned agenda, Ray Sorenson will set the stage by outlining the exploration potential of North America in the middle of the century leading up to the founding of the AAPG. Then Jim McDonald will discuss the practical tools and beginnings of professional practice as the AAPG was formed. Next Bob Merrill will highlight the discovery of giant fields through the AAPG century.

Continuing, Dana Jurick will showcase the amazing professional career of AAPG co-founder Wallace Pratt, and Rasoul Sorkhabi will discuss Lewis G. Weeks and the “Oil Habitat” paradigm in petroleum geology. Also on a biographical note, Robbie Gries will honor three early AAPG women pioneers and how they contributed breakthroughs in the early 1920’s.

Returning to a focus on science and technology, Steve Tedesco will discuss the role of seeps in exploration since the start of the petroleum age, and finally Malcolm Ross will present his views on plate tectonics and paleoclimate modeling in exploration in the past, present, and into the future. It should be a great session, with time for questions and discussion!