- Birthdate
- 1911
- Birthplace
- Shawnee, OK, USA
- Associated organizations
- Big Chief Drilling Company
- Fields of study
- Petroleum
Biography
Born in 1911 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Jack H. Abernathy was a pioneer of drilling technology. He was Chairman of the Board and vice president at Big Chief Drilling Company, a leading contract drilling firm operating throughout the US and Latin America. Abernathy oversaw the discovery-well drilling of several major oil and gas fields in Oklahoma, including drilling the discovery wells for the Golden Trend, the Sooner Trend, and the Carter-Knox deep pool, as well as the Norge Field in Norway. Big Chief set numerous drilling-depth records during his time with the company and was the first to use several drilling technologies, including oil-based drilling fluid, packed-hole drillstring assembly, and controlled natural drift. Abernathy was a chairman of the National Petroleum Council and a director and chairman of the International Association of Drilling Contractors.
