DR.KRISHNA PERSAD RESUME
SUMMARY
Dr. Persad has a B.Sc. (Special Honours) and a Ph.D. in Geology (1966 & 1970 resp.) and has over 41 years experience in the petroleum industry, during which time he has come to be recognized as an industry pioneer, a successful entrepreneur and the world’s leading expert on the geology of Trinidad and Tobago.
He is also the founder of both the first local onshore independent oil and gas company and the first offshore local independent company.
In addition he has contributed tremendously to the industry and to the wider society. As a result he is the recipient of numerous awards, including being named by the MOEEI/South Chamber of Industry and Commerce as one the 40 most influential persons in the Petroleum Industry in the last 100 years
PETROLEUM INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
He worked for various oil companies during the period 1970 and 1987, locally and internationally, rising rapidly from a trainee geologist, to:
Senior Exploration Geologist, Trinidad Tesoro in 1974
Chief Geologist Trintoc in 1976 and
Exploration and Production Manager Premier Trinidad in 1981.
During that time his work resulted in the first two commercial oil discoveries in the country since 1980, with over 3 billion barrels oil in place discovered at Trinmar.
As a consultant from 1987, he prepared six multi-client studies based on a vast amount of original work done by him and other consultants which have been sold to all the major international oil companies operating in Trinidad. He still actively consults and is regarded as the leading world expert on Trinidad’s geology.
At the end of 1990, he was awarded the first ever farmout (from Trintopec) and started the country’s first modern local independent exploration and production company, Krishna Persad and Associates Limited (KPAL). This farmout is Petrotrin’s most successful to date (in terms of barrels recovered per acre).
In 1994 he started the first local independent off-shore production at Mora and took the company to the stock market in Trinidad.
KPA was Operator of the Mora project from the inception to October 2002 and Dr. Persad was both KPA’s and Mora’s CEO during that time.
Between both fields cumulative production is well over 2 million barrels
He worked as Country Manager and Team Leader Exploration of Trinidad Exploration and Development Ltd., a company with a 50,000 acre license in the South West Peninsula for 2 ½ years starting February 2004 and is currently on retainer as Geological Advisor.
INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTIONS
In 1976 he was the prime mover in founding the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago and has been President three times and is currently President.
He was largely responsible for the start of the local independent oil movement, having lobbied extensively for it in ’87 and ’88.
He has served on the Council and as 1st Vice President of the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce (now the Energy Chamber) many times.
He has conceptualized, initiated and run numerous geological and petroleum conferences for the GSTT and the South Chamber, during the period 1979 to 2004
That conference is now held by the Energy Chamber early in each year and is the largest local conference on the industry.
He lectures to Final Year Geo-science students at UWI St. Augustine…course on how to find oil and gas.
He is the founder of the Southern Energy Research Center through which he publishes maps and reports on T&T Petroleum and Geology and conducts short courses and research conferences on T&T petroleum geology. He has just completed a landmark opus, a book entitled “The Petroleum Geology and Geochemistry of Trinidad and Tobago”, the first ever book on petroleum geology of T&T.
In recognition of these efforts he has received the following awards:
GSTT 1991-1992 Individual of the Year
South Chamber Nov 1992 Special Award for contribution to knowledge of the Petroleum Industry
SPE (Local Chapter) 1995 Distinguished Member
GSTT 1996 Honorary Membership conferred
Entrepreneur of the Year 1997 Award in Oil & Petrochemical Category
GSTT 2003 Long and Meritorious Service Award
South Chamber/Ministry of Energy 2009 Special Award in recognition of being one of the 40 most influential people in the Energy Industry of T&T in the last 100 years
CONTRIBUTIONS TO COUNTRY
Dr. Persad has served his country with distinction as follows:
Chairman T&T Bureau of Standards 4 years – during his tenure the Bureau’s dependency on the Treasury dropped from 93% to 40%.
Chairman CARIRI 1 year
Board Member Export Development Corporation of T&T 2 years
Board Member TIDCO 2 years
Board Member NIHERST 1 year
Member CO2 Task Force May 2010 to 2012
Head CO2 Reduction Business Opportunities
PERSONAL
Dr. Persad has been married for over 39 years and has four children. He was born on May 17 1943. He is a keen artist and specializes in portraits.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Currently he divides his time between preparing and writing oil industry publications, offering consultancy services to a limited number of selected clients and drawing portraits.