Petroleum Technology Transfer Council


EASTERN Region

About The Region

PTTC’s Eastern Region serves the domestic E&P industry in the Appalachian, Illinois and Michigan basins, including the states of Indiana, Illinois, western Kentucky and Michigan. A university/geological survey leads outreach in each area. There are also volunteers who serve on Producer Advisory Groups (PAGs). Responsibilities of the PAG volunteers are to listen to industry in their sphere of influence, focusing on what industry is interested in and wants to learn more about. Members then use this insight to guide regional activities—what topics for workshops, where workshops should be held, potential partners for cooperative efforts, etc.

West Virginia University through the Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium (AONGRC) serves the Appalachian Basin. Doug Patchen currently serves as the Regional Director. Richard (Rick) Goings, Dominion E&P, Inc., Jane Lew, WV, currently serves as Chairman of the Appalachian Basin PAG Volunteers.

Regional Director Doug Patchen Ph 304.293.2867 x 5443 Doug.Patchen@mail.wvu.edu

Appalachian Basin PAG Chairman Rick Goings Ph 304.884.2091

DR. DOUGLAS PATCHEN  Douglas Patchen holds dual appointments as Chief Geologist of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey and Director of the Resource Extraction Division of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy (NRCCE) at West Virginia University (WVU). One of his prime responsibilities at NRCCE is to direct the activities of the Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium (AONGRC), a partnership among the geological surveys of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the departments of Geology & Geography and Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering at WVU. This consortium serves as the Regional Lead Organization charged with implementation of the PTTC program in the 7-state Appalachian region.

The AONGRC was formed in 1989 to develop a comprehensive research program to address the immediate and long-range needs of the petroleum industry in the Appalachian basin. Since its formation, Patchen has directed research programs in reservoir characterization and heterogeneity, secondary gas recovery, coal-mine and coal-bed methane, creating an Appalachian basin gas atlas, and enhancing DOE’s Total Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS) data base for the basin. Current projects include the PTTC program and the newer Preferred Upstream Management Practices (PUMP) program for DOE.

Patchen is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and served five years on the Advisory Council for that international group, as well as serving four years as an officer in the Eastern Section of AAPG. He currently serves in the House of Delegates and as Eastern Section Councilor for the Energy Minerals Division. He was the General Chairman of the 1996 Eastern Section Technical meeting, and will serve in that same capacity for the 2003 meeting in Pittsburgh, which will be a combined meeting with the Eastern Region of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He also is a member of the Potential Gas Committee, and has served on various task forces and committees for agencies such as DOE, the Federal Power Commission and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, dealing with enhanced recovery, coal-bed methane, Devonian shale and tight formations.

RICHARD E. (RICK) GOINGS is Manager of Geology, Northeast Gas Basins, for Dominion Exploration and Production, Inc. He is currently based in Jane Lew, WV where his responsibilities include geological oversight of the exploration and development drilling programs in the Michigan Basin and Appalachian Basin for Dominion E & P. Rick has 26 years experience in the oil and gas industry in various technical and supervisory positions beginning in 1979 with Consolidated Natural Gas, which was acquired by Dominion Resources, Inc. in 2000. Mr. Goings began his career in Clarksburg, WV in 1979 with Consolidated Gas Supply Corp. He then spent 5 years in Pittsburgh with CNG Development Co. and 10 years in New Orleans with CNG Producing Co. prior to returning to the Clarksburg area in 1997. Mr. Goings has work experience in the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Coast in addition to his experience in the Northeast.   

Mr. Goings has a B.S. in Geology from Hanover College (1979) and an M.S. in Geology from West Virginia University (1991). Mr. Goings is a Certified Petroleum Geologist with AAPG and is currently serving as Chairman of the Appalachian Region Producer’s Advisory Group of the PTTC. Rick is a member of several other professional and industry organizations including AGS, PGS, PAPG, IOGA-WV, IOGA-PA, and AAPG.

The Illinois State Geological Survey serves the Illinois Basin. Doug Patchen currently serves as the Regional Director. Beverly Seyler leads the Illinois Basin effort. Richard Straeter, Continental Resources of Illinois, Inc., Mt. Vernon, IL, currently serves as Chairman of the Illinois Basin PAG Volunteers.

Illinois Basin Outreach Beverly Seyler Ph 217.244.2389 seyler@isgs.uiuc.edu

Illinois PAG Chairman Richard Straeter Ph 618.242.1717

BEVERLY SEYLER bio...

RICHARD STRAETER is President of Continental Resources of Illinois, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Resources, Inc.  The company is the fourth largest oil and gas producer in Illinois and currently operates over 850 wells in Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana, with an area focus of the Mississippi River eastward.  Following graduation Mr. Straeter worked in Africa and France for Flopetrol Johnston Schlumberger, then spent  eighteen years as an engineer and vice-president for Barger Engineering in Evansville, Indiana doing consulting engineering.

Mr. Straeter received a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1983.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

He serves as current chairman of the Producers Advisors Group of the Midwest Region of the PTTC.  On a local level, he serves as a board member of Illinois Oil and Gas Association.  He is a member of  Independent Oil Producers Association as well member of  Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio Oil and Gas Associations.

Western Michigan University’s Core Research Laboratory serves the Michigan Basin. William B. Harrison III and Linda Harrison lead activities in Michigan.   

WILLIAM HARRISON III bio...  

LINDA HARRISON bio...