GSTT 1989 ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY
Dr. Trevor Farrell, Senior Lecturer in Economics at U. W.l. and Chairman of the Board of
Directors of Trintopec, was the guest speaker at the GSTT's Annual Dinner/Dance and Awards Ceremony held at the
Gulf City Auditorium on Saturday 21st October, 1989. Dr. Farrell's Feature Address focused on the challenges facing
the petroleum industry in the years ahead. These he outlined as follows: Exploration offshore in very deep water;
Finding finance for the exploration program and the subsequent development ofany oil finds; Upgrading production
technology; Reduction of onshore costs ofproduction;lntegration of foreign capital without decreasing local independence;
Human resource development, Getting intodownstream activities in other countries.
Dr. Kirton Rodrigues, outgoing GSTT President, reviewed the performance of the society over the past year:
"The executive year that has just ended was a reasonably successful one for the GSTT. A total of 12 executive
meetings were held at monthly intervals. In the continuing effort to increase the level of geological knowledge
among its members the Society put on 8 Technical Sessions covering topics as diverse as paleontology,hydrogeology,geophysics,
engineering geology and geochemistry. In addition 2 Field Trips were conducted one to look at the mud volanoes
at Los Iros Bay and Palo Seco and the other to examine slope instability problems along the Moruga Road.
Apart from these regular activities the GSTT was called upon by the leader of the Opposition in December 1988 to
issue a clear statement in the press on the then topical 'Oil in Tobago' issue. A month earlier the Society issued
a report in the print media on the significance and origin of an oil seep in downtown San Fernando which was causing
some uncertainty and needed explanation.
One of the major goals of the 1988-1989 executive was the incorporation of the GSTT by petition to the Parliament
of Trinidad and Tobago. I am happy to report that the GSTT is now officially an incorporated society of Trinidad
and Tobago with non-profit status.
Over the last year the GSTT continued to establish affiliation with fellow International Geological Societies
and we have exchanged periodicals with Great Britain, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Canadian
Society of Petroleum Geologists, the
Columbian Geological Society, the Venezuelan Geological Society and them Geological Society of Jamaica.
The GSTT was represented by appointed delegate at the 1989 Annual Convention of the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists in San Antonio in April and at the 12th Caribbean Geological Conference in St. Croix in August. At the
latter Conference the president of the GSTT was appointed Trinidad's representative to the permanent standing Committee
of the Carubbean Geological Conferences.
The Society registered with the United Nations Development Program in June as part of the UNDP's drive to establish
a directory of non-Governmental Organizations in order to promote greater cooperation between the United Nations,
NGO's and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
The GSTT assisted financially the Geological Society of Jamaica in the Recent Advances in Caribbean Geology Conference
in November 1988 to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the University of the West Indies. The GSTT also contributed
financially to the printing and publication of a new geological map of Tobago, the first since 1948.
Last month the Society delivered a lecture on Plate Tectonics to 150 A level Geography and Geology students in
San Fernando in an effort to supplement the A level syllabus. The lecture was given by Mr. Winston Ali, incoming
President, and was very well received by students from Naparima Boys and Girls Colleges, St. Joseph's Convent
and Presentation College. Additional lectures on Plate Tectonics and other topics relevant to the syllabus
are planned at venues in the north and south.
We have begun preparing in earnest to host the second Geological Conference of the GSTT and Symposium on the Cretaceous
scheduled for April 1990. The Conference is being held in conjunction with the International Geological Correlation
Program and to date more than 30 local and international scientists have indicated a commitment to present tneir
work at this Confference. In addition 4 postconference field trips are planned, including a 2-day Field Trip
to Tobago to look at the new geological map of the island.
The 1988-1989 year has not been all work and no play, however. The Society put on a highly entertaining Bar-b-Que
and social evening in July at the Trintoc Pointe-a-Pierre Yacht Club where more than 100 members and guests enjoyed
a warm, though wet, evening.
Current membership in the GSTT stands at 90 and now includes 10 corporate members. On behalf of the GSTT I would
like to welcome our 3 new corporate members, Unocal Oil Company and Chevron Oil Company, USA. and Carib Glass Works.
But enough has been said of the past. Tonight is a time to look to the future, to the decade of the 90s, to the
brave new world that awaits us in terms of exploration opportunities and the oil potential of Trinidad and Tobago.
Our guest speaker this evening is Dr. Trevor Farrell, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West
Indies and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trintopec. In addition over the last couple of years, Dr. Farrell
has been actively involved in several committees to look at ways of effectively and efficiently exploiting
our hydrocarbon resources and is in an excellent position to give us a peek into the future.
In closing I would like to thank members of the past Executive and Society members for their support over the last
year. In particular, I would like to single out Mr. Victor Young On who has served on the executive of the GSTT
either as Secretary or Treasurer for 5 years, a tremendous display of service, considering the Society is just
13 years in existence, and Mr. Deo Maraj, who has just begun his 3rd consecutive year as Treasurer. Both these
gentlemen give new meaning to the words service, commitment and dedication and are worthy of emulation.
I would like to wish the new president and the executive every success in their term of office as we look
forward to an active and enlightening year ahead."
The incoming President of the GSTT, Mr. Winston All, addressed the gathering as follows:
It is indeed an honour and pleasure to address you briefly this evening. Allow me to begin with a comment from
our outgoing President, Dr. Rodrigues. In his address to you last year, it was noted "that the Geological
Society of Trinidad and Tobago is not its President, or its executive, but each and every one of you." As
such ladies and gentlemen, the success of this society is largely the responsibility of its members.
In this regard, it will be the objective of the new executive to establish working groups comprising geologists
and geophysicists from the membership who will share common interests and who will communicate their findings to
the wider geological community, both regionally and internationally.
It is envisaged that through involvement on a working group members would improve their knowledge base and would
therefore be better equipped to introduce or set higher standards in industry; to fully utilize any scientific
facility which may become available and to meet the challenging and exciting times ahead.
What about management and policy? Would such a free exchange of knowledge and experience between members
from different companies be allowed? Well, this society has been plugging for a release of confidential data from
its inception in 1976 by its then executive. Several of these (then junior professionals) are today Chief Geologists,
Exploration Managers, General Managers, even Politicians. I see very few hurdles in gaining the full support
of management for this programme.
Entering the 1990s, we see there is a new beginning or second coming in the Petroleum Industry which promises to
be very different from the earlier days of exploration in the 30s and 40s. We are no longer confined to exploration
of the land and nearshore continental shelf but must face the challenges of the outer continental shelf and continental
slope areas as well where water depths in excess of 1000 ft. exist. Investigation of this greatly expanded exploration
arena could therefore reveal a truer picture of the hydrocarbon potential of Trinidad and Tobago.
This second coming is a national effort; individuals from among our membership will be called upon to participate
at all levels. They must be prepared to deal with the changing face of the science and to employ state of the art
technology. New theories and techniques such as fractal geometry; tomography; the use of balanced cross-sections
in structural geology; the nueral network method in seismic interpretation and real time VSP should become second
nature.
It is with this in mind that the GSTT must revive its programme of continuing education and should expand it
to include the secondary schools as well and to involve itself in the National Junior Achievement Programme.
Before we enter the 21st century, ladies and gentlemen, the Geological Society must assume its righiful place as
a professional society in Trinidad and Tobago.
I thank you for the confidence you have shown by electing me to be your president once again and I look forward
to a very stimulating year."
HONOUR ROLL AT GSTT 1989 ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY
Best Technical Paper: Significance of Geothermal Gradients
in Petroleum Exploration in
Trinidad and Tobago - K. Rodrigues (TRINTOC).
Best Field Trip: Slope instability along the Moruga
Road and the Sedimentology of outcrops in the Marac area - K. Dyer-Williams (U.W.I.) and W. Rajpaulsingh
(U.W.I.).
Best Corporate Member: Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company
Limited (TRINTOC).
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