Sinclair Oil chief geologist Joe Gifford discovered the Rhourde el Baguel Field in Algeria. The one billion barrel oil field produced from a Cambro-Ordovician fractured quartzite sandstone reservoir. After returning to the U.S. with Sinclair, Joe’s first well (ultimately the discovery well of the Crittendon Field) was drilled in the Delaware Basin and resulted in the largest blowout and fire in the history of Texas, according to Red Adair. Subsequently, with Sinclair and later as a successful independent oil producer, Joe found many oil and gas fields including the Crittendon, ROC, Cheyenne, Rhoda Walker, Sand Dunes and Ingle Wells fields. More recently, Joe’s remarkable career in the Permian Basin continues with horizontal drilling in southeastern New Mexico.

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Dietrich Welte: Geologist and Chemist, Leader in Organic Geochemistry, and Father of Modern Petroleum System and Basin Modeling, Part 3
Joe Gifford - My International and West Texas Exploration Career, Part 1