Quiz answers (again, unedited, with typos possibly added by me ;)  for quiz of 22 September

A.  E. DeGolyer studied geology on a whim in college and ended up becoming one of the most recognizable names in oil discovery history.  His early discoveries came in parts of Texas and the made his grandest discovery in Mexico when finding the Portero de Llano 4 oil reserve.  He pioneered the use of geophysics in oil discovery and can be credited with the first use of a seismography in finding oil wells.  He traveled to Saudi Arabia for the US government and gave an estimation of 30 billion barrels in potential oil in these reserves in 1943, although he also believed there was most likely much more.  He founded the Amerada Petroleum Corporation and opened his consulting firm along with MacNaughton to meet the needs of the growing industry.  He was the most highly regarded geophysist and consultant in this field.  Betewen the private sector and the US government he was incredibly sought after and even after he left work was receiving nearly $2 million a year from his holdings.
D.S.

B. Everette DeGolyer is important for a few reasons.  His discovery of the largest oil reserve in Mexico signalled that country's oil rise and his reputation.  More significantly his geological expedition to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the mid-east on behalf of the U.S. government helped cement U.S. interest in mid-east oil.  Sent in 1943, he reported back that the reserves in the mid-east were in excess of 25 billion barrels and Saudi Arabia controlled 1/5 of that.  His private estimate was 300 billion barrels with the Saudis controlling a third.  His geological results fueled American government and private industry's attention to the mid-east and helped bring that area into what it is  today.
G.H.