Dr. Joseph W. Ault

Former Head of Corporate Reserves, Chevron

Dr. Ault recently retired from Chevron after 35 years. During his career with Chevron he held several production/engineering upstream assignments. These include numerous technology positions with Chevron’s Upstream Research Company and several Production and Reservoir Management assignments in Canada, California, and Louisiana. These include Chief Petroleum Engineer for Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico operations, Area Superintendent (Venice, Louisiana), Reservoir Engineering Manager of Chevron’s San Joaquin Valley fields, and a Production/Drilling Engineering assignment in Canada. He held assignments as Division Manager in Bakersfield (in the San Joaquin Valley) and Petroleum Engineering Manager for Chevron’s California operations. In these assignments he was responsible for Chevron’s E&P operations in the Company’s steam flood properties and West Coast fields.

From 1992 until his retirement from Chevron, Dr. Ault served as Chevron Corporation’s Reserves Manager. In this assignment he was responsible for furnishing guidance, counsel, and recommendations to Chevron’s worldwide operating companies on activities related to reserves determination, reserves reporting, and reservoir management work processes. During this assignment he carried the responsibility for ensuring that Chevron’s proved and unproved reserves were determined on a sound and supportable basis for reporting to government agencies (including the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission) and for use in reservoir management planning activities. Dr. Ault chaired Chevron’s Reserves Advisory Committee and had the leadership role for ensuring that Chevron’s worldwide upstream teams followed “best in class” engineering and geological technologies in estimating reserves. He annually visited all of Chevron’s worldwide production offices and consulted with the Company’s upstream management, geologists, and petroleum engineers concerning reserves estimates and reservoir management plans. Dr. Ault’s leadership with Chevron’s Corporate Reserves Advisory Committee was instrumental in helping Chevron be recognized as one of the premier companies in reserves governance.

Dr. Ault has considerable experience in reserves estimation and reservoir management practices covering many worldwide locations (Gulf of Mexico, California, Texas, Alaska, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, South America, Europe, Africa, and Kazakhstan). He was the Principal Team Leader in Chevron’s acquisition of Tenneco’s Gulf of Mexico properties and provided leadership for the consolidation of reserves and reserves governance processes during Chevron’s mergers of Texaco and Unocal.

Dr. Ault holds a B.S. degree from the University of Arizona, a M. S. Degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara. All degrees are in the chemical engineering field of study.

Dr. Ault has participated in a number of SPE committees and forums dealing with reserves estimation and reporting. He has been member of Society of Petroleum Engineering’s (SPE) Subcommittee on Supply and Demand, the Society’s Education and Professionalism Committee and served as its Chairman. He participated on the Program Committee for the 1999 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.