Michael D. Burnaman has nearly four decades of experience in most geoscience and many engineering phases of the worldwide upstream petroleum industry in North America, Southeast Asia, the North Sea, West Africa, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.  He has a proven record of finding oil and gas in clastic/carbonate environments and in reservoir characterization, both onshore and offshore.  Before joining the Harding Company in 2001, for 25 years, he held management and technical leadership positions with Mobil Oil Corporation and its affiliates. He also worked for Gulf Technical Services and Exxon Production Research during his university period. 

    As a geoscientist, Burnaman specializes in interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic surveys, E&P (exploration and production) opportunity evaluation through economics, prospect development and integration of Geoscience and Engineering data for oil and gas E&P in onshore and offshore deepwater environments.

    Burnaman earned a Master of Science degree in geophysics from the University of Houston in 1974, with his thesis in potential fields. His Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in geology and a minor in chemistry, was also awarded by the University of Houston. A member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) since 1974, he is active on the Production and Development and Interpretation Committees. Burnaman has organized and chaired technical sessions at annual conventions of the SEG and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists as well as the Offshore Technology Conference.  He has held leadership posts in the Indonesian Petroleum Association, Dallas Geophysical Society and Azerbaijan Society of Petroleum Engineers.  He has authored and co-authored papers in SEG’s Leading Edge and Geophysics, AAPG Monographs, the Indonesian Petroleum Association and the Azerbaijen Geophysical Society.