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Gil Mull, Interview 1, Part 4

This is a continuation of the interview with Gil Mull on October 20, 2004 with Karen Brewster in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is part four of tape number Oral History 2002-27-22. The interview continues in parts one and two of tape number Oral History 2002-27-23. The interview began in parts one, two and three of tape number Oral History 2002-27-22. In this part of the interview, Gil talks about the various geologist jobs he has held and the types of projects he has worked on, and what he believes are his contributions to geological fieldwork.

Digital Asset Information

Archive #: Oral History 2002-27-22_PT.4

Project: Gates of the Arctic National Park
Date of Interview: Oct 20, 2004
Narrator(s): Gil Mull
Interviewer(s): Karen Brewster
Location of Interview:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.

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Sections

1) Geological fieldwork being very collaborative

2) Employment with the United States Geological Survey, geological exploration of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and background information on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska

3) Field geologists, drilling engineers, oil wells, oil exploration funding, limited access to information, and career change

4) Employment with Alaska State Geological Survey and background information on state land use for oil exploration in Alaska

5) Assessing and comparing areas for oil exploration in Alaska using past and present geological data

6) His employment history

7) The contributions of geological fieldwork

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After clicking play, click a section of the transcript to navigate the audio or video clip.

Transcript

Section 1: field partners -- rapport\ field partners -- trust\ employment -- collaborative\ career -- experiences with field partners\ industry -- description of field partners\ United States Geological Survey -- description of field partners\ field partners -- limited selection of\ team work\ field geologist -- solo observation\ geological field team work -- combining solo observations\ team work -- data collection\ field partner -- personality of\ mapping -- team effort\ geological scientists|

Section 2: United States Geological Survey (USGS) -- beginning of employment\ Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) -- interests in\ Fish and Wildlife -- numerous requests for exploration\ Fish and Wildlife -- funding from\ report -- outline interest in ANWR\ oil -- potential of\ mountains -- no oil potential\ coastal plain -- oil exploration\ coastal plain -- north of the foothills\ Arab oil embargo -- effects of\ Congress -- Naval Oil Reserve\ Navy -- reinstitution of Naval Petroleum Reserve 4 (NPR-4)\ NPR-4 -- transferring of\ Department of Interior -- managing NPR-4\ United States Geological Survey -- branch of Department of Interior\ Navy -- NPR-4 data transferred\ Tetra-Tech -- navy subcontractor\ Husky Oil -- contractor\ Husky Oil -- independent oil company\ Husky Oil -- responsible for\ NPR-4 -- renaming of\ National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)\ United States Geological Survey (USGS)\ NPRA -- oil exploration\ NPRA office -- location of\ contractors -- hired for seismic work\ USGS geologists -- assisting in\ contractors -- difficulty with\ NPRA -- seismic lines\ NPRA -- drilling wells\ employment -- frustration with\ project -- waste\ funding -- federal government\ funding -- seismic work|

Section 3: NPRA -- funding\ geologist -- sampling\ drilling engineers -- differences with\ geologist -- differences with\ drilling -- occupational differences\ well -- important factors\ geologists -- differences with operation\ drilling engineers -- cutting costs\ geologists -- additional field work\ field work -- needed time for\ drilling engineers -- differences with geologists\ sampling -- justification for\ database -- samples\ data -- availability of\ wells -- number of\ sampling -- public information\ industry wells -- limited access to information\ employment -- meeting\ meeting -- discussion of wells\ wells -- justification of\ wells -- oil potential\ wells -- for information only\ project -- excessive\ career -- changes in\ Alaska State Geological Survey -- location of\ career -- seeking satisfaction\ NPRA -- continuing of\ Anchorage -- employment|

Section 4: State Geological Survey -- employment \ basin -- evaluation\ oil -- potential\ NPRA\ Arctic National Wildlife Refuge\ field data -- accumulation of\ data collection -- for governor's office\ ANWR -- negotiation\ state land selection -- earlier completion of\ Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) -- D2 land selection\ State Federal Land Use Planning Commission -- resource evaluation\ State Federal Land Use Planning Commission -- overlooked\ Andrus, Cecil -- Secretary of Interior\ Secretary of Interior -- manipulation of geological data\ politicians -- ignoring geological data\ political -- failed process\ information -- limited access to\ geological science -- to prove facts \ statistics -- manipulation of\ Secretary of Interior -- limited public information|

Section 5: ANWR -- an assessment of\ assessment -- oil potential\ assessment -- economic\ assessment -- numerical\ economic -- results of\ statistical data -- results of\ numerical assessment -- results of\ ANWR -- comparing with NPRA\ NPRA and ANWR -- similar oil quantity\ ANWR and NPRA -- field size differences\ ANWR -- reporting of\ field size -- differences between\ people -- awareness of\ ANWR -- nondisclosure of oil potential\ ANWR -- potential field\ oil findings -- 5% potential\ oil exploration -- driven by low probability\ statistics -- interpretation of\ statistics of -- manipulation of\ probability -- interpretation of\ North Slope -- low probability\ North Slope -- largest oil field in North America\ ANWR -- favoring oil development\ ANWR -- potential of\ Prudhoe Bay\ drilling -- technological advancements\ drilling -- limited environmental impact\ Alpine field -- size of\ pad -- size of\ drilling -- methods\ land pad area-- disruption of\ roads -- limited construction of\ exploration -- needed\ ANWR -- encouraging oil exploration|

Section 6: career change\ Alaska State Geological Survey\ Division of Oil and Gas -- Department of Natural Resources\ retirement -- explanation of\ fieldwork -- contract\ technical guidance\ geological field -- interpretive\ bias -- personal\ Division of Oil and Gas -- similar duties\ Department of Geological Survey -- closure of\ jobs -- down-sizing\ employment -- leave without pay\ employment -- relocation\ employers -- cohesiveness\ employers -- willingness\ ARCO -- contract with\ fieldwork -- information\ public data|

Section 7: geological -- significant discoveries of\ Mount Doonerak -- geological treasure\ Brooks Range -- significant findings\ ANWR -- comparisons with\ continental drift -- concepts\ Brooks Range -- geological composition\ crust -- continental collision explanation\ Mount Doonerak -- sequence of rocks\ Mount Doonerak -- description of\ rock sequence -- differences\ mountain range -- movement of\ thrust faulting -- description of\ thrust faults -- mapping of\ thrust faults -- magnitude of\ outcrops -- discovery of\ Brooks Range -- exploration\ geological discoveries -- successes\ findings -- mostly unpublished\ industry -- disadvantages of\ geological fieldwork -- team work\ Richfield -- seismic work\ Prudhoe Bay -- discovery of\ oil sands -- discovery of\ oil sands -- results of\ archeological sites -- contributions to\ Tukuto Lake -- archeological sites\ chert types -- description of\ trade routes -- plotting of\ Patton, Bill -- site discovery\ Gal, Bob -- site discovery\ Anaktuvuk Pass -- archeological site|