Geophysical Service Inc. (often abbreviated GSI) was founded by John Clarence Karcher and

Eugene McDermott Eugene McDermott (February 12, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York - August 23, 1973 in Dallas, Texas) was an engineer and geophysicist who co-founded Geophysical Service Incorporated (GSI) in 1930 and later its parent company Texas Instruments in 1951. On ...

in 1930 for the purpose of using refraction and

reflection seismology Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflected seismic waves. The method requires a controlled seismi ...

explore Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

for petroleum deposits.

History

On December 6, 1941, the company was purchased by

, Cecil Howard Green,

J. Erik Jonsson John Erik Jonsson (6 September 1901 – 31 August 1995) was a co-founder and early president of Texas Instruments Incorporated. He became Mayor of Dallas, a major advocate of the creation of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and a philan ...

, and H.B. Peacock. During World War II, the company produced submarine detection devices. In 1951, the company was renamed Texas Instruments (TI) with GSI as a division. GSI was later sold by TI, repurchased, and finally sold again to Halliburton in 1988. Halliburton also acquired GeoSource, a competing geophysical contractor (formerly Petty-Ray Geophysical), and attempted to merge the two companies. Unfortunately the rivalry between the two entities endured and the merged entity known as Halliburton Geophysical Services (HGS) proved to be far from profitable. After several years of losses in 1994 Halliburton sold HGS to Western Atlas (formerly

Western Geophysical Western Geophysical was an international oil exploration company founded in California in 1933 by Henry Salvatori for the purpose of using reflection seismology to explore for petroleum. The company prospered and was sold by Salvatori to Litt ...

until its merger with Dresser Atlas in 1987). Western Atlas was bought by

Baker Hughes Baker Hughes Company, organized in Delaware and headquartered in Houston, is one of the world's largest oil field services companies. The company provides products and services for oil well drilling, formation evaluation, completion, productio ...

in 1998 and was then merged into WesternGeco in 2000 through a joint venture with

Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague. Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling compa ...

in which Schlumberger held the majority share (70%).

Present day operations

In 1992, Davey Einarsson, a longtime executive of the original GSI, purchased the proprietary rights to GSI’s speculative data in the Canadian offshore, launching the new GSI in Calgary. Paul Einarsson is the COO and Chairman of Geophysical Service Incorporated. He joined the company in 1997. GSI is the largest owner of marine seismic data in Canada, with its head office located in Calgary, Alberta. Recent developments: GSI is currently involved in several cases of litigation for damages over disclosure of its confidential seismic data. The court challenges include litigation with the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board and companies that have obtained GSI data from a third party or government.

External links

Geophysical Service Inc.
Oilfield services companies Seismological observatories, organisations and projects Petroleum in Texas American companies established in 1930 Energy companies established in 1930 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1930 1930 establishments in Texas Halliburton Texas Instruments

History

Present day operations

See also

External links