"This is a career that demands on-the-job training and continuing education on a daily basis in order to keep pace with the needs and developing technology."

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Debora Hallford

Born in Graham, Texas USA, 1954

Graduate Women’s Business College, Self-educated in Pressure Transient Test Interpretation
Field of work

Pressure Transient Testing Interpretation, Production Logging Interpretation

Areas of interest outside work

Volunteer coordinator for Rocky Mountain Wildlife Conservation Center, Keenesburg, Colorado; Seven years as a Whiz Kids tutor for Denver inner-city children; Piano, listening to music—Celtic, rock, and international; Animals, particularly exotic cats; The outdoors, strong believer in earth conservation and preservation

I was employed as a Receivables Clerk by Macco Schlumberger in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1979, and later became Region Secretary. As my supervisor Joe Mach was out of town often, I began typing the engineers’ reports for them. One day Joe overheard me correcting an engineer’s skin equation and afterwards asked how I’d known it was wrong. When I told him that I’d learned the equation just from typing it over and over, he asked if I’d like to go to a formation evaluation training school in Houston. I did, and I finished 7th in a class of 28 Junior Field Engineers. Afterwards, I was transferred into the data services group. I’ve been doing pressure transient test interpretation and reservoir analysis ever since.

All along the way, the most influential and helpful person to me has been my personal mentor, Peter S. Hegeman, of the Houston Product Center—an incredible teacher to me over the years and my biggest source of encouragement and support.

I have to admit that I enjoy most the power that comes from knowing there are CEOs (chief executive officers) waiting to hear what Debora Hallford thinks about this zone or that well. It’s very satisfying to know that I’ve made a CEO’s day by telling him he’s got a great well, or have saved him a lot of money by advising him not to continue with a poor candidate.

I also love to do seminars for clients on pressure transient test interpretation. I get so psyched by their enthusiasm when they grasp the concepts of our interpretation methodology and begin to see the applications of pressure transient testing to their problems with their wells.

This is a career that demands on-the-job training and continuing education on a daily basis in order to keep pace with the needs and developing technology. I’ve considered myself incredibly fortunate and lucky all these years to be so happy.

I've now been working with the Whiz Kids inner-city tutoring program for about 12 years, and am currently serving as a Site Coordinator and Whiz Kids Club Leader, with 10 grade-school children and 10 volunteer tutors from Denver's metro area suburban churches at my site. We also have a liaison teacher working with us from the children's neighborhood school. The Denver Public School system has been hugely supportive of the Whiz Kids program, as they've seen continual and progressive improvements in the scholastic scores of every child who participates in the Whiz Kids program over the years. DPS reported to us that this past year alone, they witnessed a 23% improvement in academic testing of their students who were enrolled in the Whiz Kids program!