Donald W. Blancher, Ph.D.
Certified Petroleum Geologist Donald W. Blancher holds geology degrees from the University of Kentucky and California State University and a doctorate in geology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He is a member of the following organizations: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Sigma XI (The Scientific Research Society of North America), Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Southeastern Geology Society, Dallas Geological Society, South Texas Geological Society, and the American Geological Institute.
Over a 32-year period, Dr. Blancher was employed in progressively responsible geology evaluation positions by Texaco, Amoco, and Centex Oil & Gas. From 1982 to 2002, he served as Vice President and Chief Geologist for Netherland, Sewell & Associates. During this phase of his career, Dr. Blancher evaluated numerous hydrocarbon fields, including the Bay of Campeche, Quatar, the Gulf Coast, and West Texas. Now an independent geologist, Dr. Blancher focuses primarily on the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast fields.
Publications
Blancher, D.W., "Origin of the Hazel Patch Sandstone (Pennsylvanian)," Abs., Southeastern Section of the Geologic Society of America Journal, 1969.
Blancher, D.W., "Petrology of the Hillsdale Limestone (Mississippian)," Abs., Virginia Academy of Science Journal, 1971.
Samir K. Dey-Sarkar, Ph.D.
Board-Certified Professional Geoscientist Samir K. Dey-Sarkar holds a doctorate in physics, specializing in seismology, from the University of Toronto. With over 30 years experience, Dr. Dey-Sarkar serves Lone Star Securities and its affiliate Riley James Development Corporation as an independent consultant and integral part of the companies' project selection team.
Dr. Dey-Sarkar is president and founder of Lotic Group, Inc., which provides geophysical consulting services to select oil companies. Prior to forming Lotic Group, he served Mobil Oil's Strategic Research Center on their hydrocarbon detection and fluid imaging projects over a period of three years. Before Mobil, Dr. Dey-Sarkar served Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) for nearly 17 years in various roles, including Director of Geophysical Interpretation Research as well as manager and senior geophysicist for their Geoscience Operations Group. During his tenure at ARCO, Dr. Dey-Sarkar pioneered advanced multi-disciplinary technology for direct detection of hydrocarbons, giving the company a competitive edge in exploration strategies and ultimately earning a patent in AVO technology (Amplitude Variation with Offset). Early on in his career, Dr. Dey-Sarkar also served Mobil Research as a research geophysicist studying non-linear optimization, migration algorithms and inversion techniques.
James A. Whitson, Jr.
James A.Whitson, Jr. served Stanolind Oil & Gas/Pan American Pet/Amoco as a Petroleum Engineer for over seven years, handling all phase of drilling, completion and production operations. During the past 24 years he has been an independent and contract operator, drilling and operating more than 250 wells in the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast from the Louisiana coastal marshes to Matagorda Bay, Texas as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Whitson is experienced in drilling deep, high pressure, multiple liner wells in South Louisiana. He personally handles all phases of the operation including location permitting, stake and preparation, drilling prognosis and supervision, completion operations, as well as production and accounting.
Mr. Whitson is currently operating 15 producing wells, seven in Louisiana state waters, three in Galveston Bay, and five land wells in Louisiana. Mr. Whitson holds a bachelor of arts and science from Rice University.