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Nutten
oil exploreur
The World's
His Oyster |
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|
 1960
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A TV documentary on exploring for oil and gas in the Sahara sparked Michel Nutten's enthusiasm
for geology and geophysics. That was back in the early-60s. He was enthralled by man's
capacity to turn a naturally sterile region into a treasure-trove. Black gold fever seized
hold of him, and never let go. |
1967
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On graduating from high school, he spent two years preparing for the competitive entrance examination to
France's elite engineering schools, gaining admission to the National Higher School for
Applied Geology and Mineral Prospecting. There, in addition to receiving a thorough
practical training in geology, he learned how to survive in harsh conditions. |
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Even before he had completed his studies,
Michel Nutten was lecturing on the oil industry to high schools in Eastern France for Esso
(Exxon's French subsidiary). During that time, he was hired by Pétroles d'Aquitaine,
which put him through a specialized training program in petroleum geophysics at the
Institut Français du Pétrole (the French Petroleum Institute). |
| During his national service,
from 1969 to 1970, he served as an overseas aid worker, the first of many stints as an
expatriate. He taught two academic years at the University of Belem in Brazil, taking the
opportunity to learn Portuguese and travel in Latin America. |
1971
Seismic prospection |
On his return in '71,
Société Nationale des Pétroles d'Aquitaine sent him to all four corners of the earth to
supervise seismic prospecting campaigns offshore. The boats were too small and too
sensitive to the swell for his taste. He decided he was a landlubber at heart, and
rejoiced each time he set foot back on terra firma to analyze the data he'd gathered in
the "field." |
1973
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In 1973, Michel Nutten left for
Gabon, where recent discoveries and the quadrupling of the price of oil
had sparked a fresh wave of exploration. There he breathed the heady air of adventure,
living in a world of light aircraft and tiny airstrips carved out of the equatorial
forest, bulldozers, dynamite and wild animals, and tropical diseases. |
1977
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In 1977/78 he was back exploring off the
coast of Ireland, where the legendary warmth and hospitality of the people
made up for the change of climate after Gabon. Then, it was back to Paris to catch up on
the latest technical developments. |
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At the end of the '70s, he was sent to
Rome to oversee geophysical aspects of oil and gas exploration, both
onshore and off, for a three-year spell. The work was interesting, to be sure, but he also
discovered what he calls "the world's most beautiful country," for its climate
and architecture, and the refinement of its people. |
1983
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In 1983 he was named to head
exploration in Congo. There, among eight other discoveries, he bagged what
was to be his finest trophy: the Nkossa deep offshore field, containing high grade
reserves of both gas and oil. Nkossa is expected to produce for thirty years. |
1989
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Back in Paris in 1989, to
run the Research and Synthesis Division at Elf's Exploration Division, Michel Nutten spent
his time selecting leasehold permits for acquisition. This entailed supervising a dozen
teams scouring the surface of the globe in search of new basins with oil potential –
the world was his oyster.... |
Today he is as busy as
ever, developments in deep offshore technology having sparked a fresh wave of exploration.
Yet Michel Nutten still finds time to teach petroleum geology at two engineering schools,
sharing his enthusiasm with the next generation of explorers.
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