| Description | Tape 1 Side A: MATTHEW ROY SIMMONS born 7 April 1943 Salt Lake City Utah. Second of 6 children. Mother from large pioneer family from Lancashire/Yorkshire border, left 1840. Details. Reference John Adams. Father an orphan, became an important commercial banker. Own education at University of Utah, Harvard Business School. Recalls own career ambition, father's ideas. Became Research Associate at Harvard. Background to accidental entry into oil industry 1969. Recalls Santa Barbara oil spill, inappropriate remark about harm to seagulls of Unical chairman. Story of cleaning up of Santa Barbara beaches. Details re raising initial investment for Oceaneering International company. Origin of name. After leaving Harvard Business School, set up office. Feelings about idea of being commercial banker. Details re growth of Oceaneering, including merger with Worldwide Divers. Influence of father. Brothers also went to HBS. Recalls childhood home town. Describes mother. Close family. Established Simmons Associates 1969. Recalls evolution, significance of mixed-gas diving, university testing programmes. Details re Comex, Marseilles, David/Goliath situation, development of company to global status. Recognition of importance of North Sea. First UK involvement of Oceaneering through North Sea Assets. Recalls importance of IMEG report. By 1973 spent most time in UK on projects, finding North Sea operations partners. Significance of 1973 oil shock on North Sea. Details re OME (Offshore Marine & Engineering) personnel, working with them. Reference to Santa Fe, Axel Johnson. Formula for forming oil company: money and talent. Personalities involved, own situation. Recalls attending crucial weekend for oil industry with top oil people 1973. Reference to Yom Kippur war. Reference to Ananda Christian, builder of Petronas Towers, Malaysia; Colonel Stirling, KCA.
Tape 1 Side B: Crucial weekend for oil industry 1973 (cont'd). Reference Spiro Agnew. Oil price situation. Mentions anchor-handling tugs. Became interested in service/ equipment aspect of oil/gas industry. Explains oil price control from 1930, peaking of US oil, growth of Saudi Arabia oil production, Arab attitude. Impact of this on creation of Alaskan, North Sea oil industries, likely situation for oil companies if there had been no oil shock. No-one realised cost of development. Explains Q Factor in economics. Impossibility of stopping oil projects half way. Explains own anticipation of oil exploration boom, potential and importance of service industries. Background to development of new oil-related business as Bates America 1974. Impact of secondary bank crisis led to link with Bank of England. Details re purchase of company from Bank, subsequent growth, interface between oil, service companies, class structure. Company became Simmons & Company International. First 20 years focussed on companies providing services, products to oil/gas industry. 10 years ago changed to total energy. Explains change after 1981 crisis, realisation of pattern of oil prices, impact of higher prices related to other energy industries, importance of watching fundamentals and doing research on total energy. Details re growth of firm. All funding sources institutional. Comments on governmental involvement in North Sea industry. Compares with US approach, attitude to oil. UK, Norwegian governments today facing crisis because North Sea has peaked. Explains significance of peaking. Significance of North Sea province 1975-95. Situation today, peaking patterns of fields. Comments on poor quality of production forecasts, quality of Grampian Report, power of depletion, attitudes to depletion. Reference to Brown Book; 'Research' magazine; BP/Amoco.
Tape 2 Side A: Depletion issue (cont'd). Recalls discussions with oil companies re reserves etc, their attitudes. Years since North Sea industry had a production surprise. No easy fields left. Technology invented by companies in own client base, therefore familiar with it. Technology didn't make things easy but allowed more difficult approaches. Mentions percentage expectations from oilfields. US statistics of producing wells, their average age. Explains why they are still there. Technology has produced less efficient, more costly productivity. Question re fallow fields. Current situation. If fallow fields not addressed by major oil companies, North Sea has dim future. Mentions tax situation. North Sea needs to be unitised for efficiency. Explains. Norwegian sector will fail faster than UK sector. Need for prayer for exploration success. Current lifestyle. Mentions 5 daughters. Reaction of father to own career. Brother new Chairman of American Bankers' Association. Mentions his bank's record success. Details re children, wife. Mentions own papers written on energy in China, world's giant oilfields etc. Currently writing paper on oil challenges of Saudi Arabia. Details re problems with fields there. Saudi is peaking. Comments on attitudes to peaking. US has peaked in natural gas supply. Attitudes of analysts.
Tape 2 Side B: Blank |