Geophysical Service Incorporated
Geophysical Service Inc. (often abbreviated GSI) was founded by John Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott in 1930 for the purpose of using refraction and reflection seismology to explore for petroleum deposits. It became one of the most successful seismic exploration contractors in the industry for many years. On December 6, 1941, the company was purchased by McDermott, Cecil Howard Green, J. Erik Jonsson, 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 until its merger with Dresser Atlas in 1987). Western Atlas was bought by Baker Hughes in 1998 and was then merged into WesternGeco in 2000 through a joint venture with Schlumberger 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. GSI currently has offices in Houston TX, Calgary AB, and Windsor, Nova Scotia. GSI also has associates and agents in several other countries including Italy, China, Turkey, England and Argentina.
The current GSI's capabilities are in four general categories:
- Speculative Data Land & Marine,
- Marine 2D and 3D Data Acquisition,
- Marine and Land Data Processing, and
- Seismic Recording and Source Equipment Leasing
See also
External links
