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Pinar Oya Yilmaz

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Education and Career

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Pinar Oya Yilmaz was born in Izmir, Turkey.[1] After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Geology from Kirkland/Hamilton College (1976), she got her master's degree at Bryn Mawr College, in which she chose the Taurus Mountains in Turkey as her field of work in 1977.[1] She then earned her Ph.D. at the University of Texas in 1978-1981. In her first year at UT, Mobil Oil offered her a job and a work permit due to her expertise in Mediterranean Geology. Dr. Yilmaz never once thought she would work in the oil and gas industry, but when offered the job, she sought advice from a man who worked for Aramco. He told her that she should accept the job but request a higher salary and more vacation days; which she later realized was a wise decision.[1] She began working for Mobil Oil in 1980 and completed her Ph.D. a year later, learning now what it took to be an exploration geologist.[1]

For Dr. Yilmaz’s first well site work with Mobil Oil, she was placed offshore of the Cook Inlet, Alaska, United States.[1] She then proceeded to production drilling located in Kansas, Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, where she helped drill 72 wells.[1] This led to her working on many sites internationally, including Saudi Arabia, the Amazon, Turkey, Tunisia, and Sinai.[1]

During the 1980s, Dr. Yilmaz was in Houston's Turkish Consulate's residence when she was asked to help with the arrival of the Turkish Prime Minister, Turgut Ozal.[1] The dinner guests were people that worked in the industry, which included her company president, who was surprised to see her there. It even surprised him when Dr. Yilmaz was asked to translate the conversation between him and the Prime Minister. This led to the Prime Minister asking her to be the future negotiator between him and Mobil Oil. Which caused Dr. Yilmaz to get an invitation to be a communicator for the in-progress work between Turkish Petroleum and her company.[1]

Her research activities spanned from global paleogeographic studies, to regional projects, and to fault seals in reservoirs.[2] While working with so many people around the world, Dr. Yilmaz has expanded her network in these geological communities; which she considers her greatest accomplishment.[2] She mentions an example where at the World Petroleum Congress in Beijing she met some individuals from Petrobras, which later on became useful in 1998 and 2009 while presiding as the Co-Chair of the AAPG international conference program put on by Petrobras.[3]

She worked for the same company for 35 years doing research, exploration, and production.[1] She has travelled worldwide alongside academicians and government organizations, with National Oil Companies (NOCs) throughout her career. Dr. Yilmaz has made friends and connections worldwide; she learns from them and grows with them. These friendships developed into a newfound position, as an external technology coordinator, for Dr. Yilmaz.[1]

Dr. Yilmaz joined Exxon Production Research Company in 1984 and transferred to Exxon Exploration company in 1995.[1] As of 2017, Dr. Yilmaz has worked up the corporate ladder and has taken on many roles, including becoming the coordinator of external technology to an advisor for external upstream projects at ExxonMobil Exploration Company, while also representing the U.S. National Committee as the President of Finance for the WPC.[1] She had a 40-year career with ExxonMobil, from which she has now retired. Dr. Yilmaz was given the ExxonMobil President's Award, and many colleagues in that company respect her.[4]

Volunteer Work and Committees

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Dr. Yilmaz credits a large amount of experience from her volunteer work in the Geological Society of America (GSA), which provided her with many benefits throughout her career.[1][4] She often worked behind the scenes of GSA to increase the opportunities for students, enlarge the GSA’s international footprint, and build up the connection between industry and academia.[4] Due to her work on GSA, she earned an award that recognizes all of her long term achievements for GSA and for geoscience.[4] She further volunteered with the Houston Geological Society (HGS), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), the Geological Society of London (GSL), the Houston Geological Society (HGS), Geophysical Society of Houston (GSH), the Association of Women Geologists (AWG), the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Geologists (NAPE), and the Association of Brazilian Petroleum Geologists (ABGP).[1][3] She also worked on the technical program committees of the National Science Foundation (NSF), European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), International Petroleum Technology Conferences (IPTC), and World Petroleum Council (WPC).[3]

Life Challenges

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In order to work in the Taurus Mountains, Dr. Yilmaz had to ask permission to work in that area.[1] With letters of recommendation and acknowledgment from the U.S. geologist, she went down to the Geological Director’s office but his secretary would not let her in due to the fact that she did not have an appointment and she “did not look important enough”. Eventually, the secretary came around and let her through. The Director (Sadrettin Alpan) was quickly impressed by her proposal that he approved of the project and granted her benefits such as a room in the base camp, a car, a driver, and topographic maps.[1]

During her work in Turkey, Dr. Yilmaz was faced with many difficulties.[1] After a couple of weeks, Dr. Yilmaz decided to rent a room in the closest town to the base camp, since she was having an unpleasant time as the only woman present at the base camp. With women often wearing full coverings and Dr. Yilmaz only having pants and field boots, she often got negative looks from people in this conservative part of town; even having men occasionally follow her home in the evenings.[1]

Once joining Mobil Oil, Dr. Yilmaz was placed on her first well site job, which was located offshore of Cook Inlet, Alaska, United States.[1] Being the only woman present on the rig, she was ensured her own suite with a separate bath and bed and thought not much else about the situation. When her helicopter landed, however, she was greeted by a large crowd of the crew; which persisted into her lunchtime breaks with the men “checking her out”. A male geologist who lost his room to Dr. Yilmaz attempted to embarrass her by offering her a tour of the rig’s facilities; conveniently at the same time all the crew were changing. Dr. Yilmaz caught on and declined his offer, which ended up getting her accepted by the crew and the male geologist moved above the diesel engines of the rig.[1]

Dr. Yilmaz recounts another experience on the rig in which she was in charge during an emergency.[1] When answering the radio, the male on the other line hung up indicating he must have the incorrect number, and then began questioning when the rig hired a receptionist. All it took was her explaining she was the geologist for him to understand.[1]

During her time working internationally, Dr. Yilmaz had various experiences related to her gender, from positive to negative.[1] While visiting the Shaybah field in Saudi Arabia, two female engineers and a geophysicist accompanied her; all while there were no female facilities present. In Tunisia, Sinai and Turkey, Dr. Yilmaz always had to be accompanied by a male escort in the field. However, while working with Petrobras in the Amazon at the Urucu operation she had the pleasant experience of working with female heads of operations and boss.[1]

In an interview, Dr. Yilmaz had a few words of wisdom to pass onto young professionals on how to succeed upon entering into the industry.[2] Dr. Yilmaz stated that one has to be focused and mindful once entering into the profession, and keep one's head held high when faced with rejection. To be kind and honest, even going as far as stating that in order to be successful in the industry, one has to be selective in the types of language one uses when speaking to other professionals and colleagues. She claimed that sometimes another professional may have very little time, so one must ensure that their words are clear and concise. Her last piece of advice for a young professional starting out is: "Do not be afraid to ask questions, as one will learn nothing if the question is never asked."[2]

Previous Positions

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At ExxonMobil Exploration Company

  • Mobil Exploration and Production Services International (Dallas, Texas) (1980-1982)[3]
  • Mobil Oil Production (Denver, Colorado) (1982-1984)[3]
  • Basin Analysis Division Member (1984-1995)[3]
  • The Coordinator of External Technology (1998-1999)[3]
  • Global Studies Group in the Technical Organization Member (1995-1998)[3]
  • Advisor for External Upstream Projects[1]

Geological Society of America

  • President of the GSA International Division (2004-2005)[3]
  • National Science Foundation Earthscope Science and Education Committee (2005-2007)[3]

Awards and Accolades

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  • AAPG Distinguished Service Award (2000)[3]
  • GSA International Distinguished Career Award (2020)[4]
  • ExxonMobil President’s Award[4]
  • Leadership Excellence for Women Awards & Symposium (LEWAS): LEWAS Energy Trailblazer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlWmD5i2DQQ[5]

Quotes

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“Tenacity was foundational to my success”. - Pinar Oya Yilmaz[6]

Selected Publications

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  • Yilmaz, P. O. (1982). GEOLOGY OF THE ANTALYA COMPLEX, SW TURKEY.[7]
  • Yilmaz, P. O. (1988). Tectonic Framework of Turkish Sedimentary Basins: ABSTRACT. AAPG Bulletin, 72. https://doi.org/10.1306/703C97A3-1707-11D7-8645000102C1865D[8]
  • Norton, I. O., Yilmaz, P. O. (1995).  Mesozoic to Cenozoic Paleogeography and Tectonics of the Apulian Platform: Abstract. AAPG Bulletin, 79. https://doi.org/10.1306/7834efed-1721-11d7-8645000102c1865d.[9]
  • Norton, I. O., Yilmaz, P. O. (1998). Abstract: Basin Analysis of Western China within Paleogeographic Framework of Evolution of Asia. AAPG Bulletin, 82. https://doi.org/10.1306/00aa9962-1730-11d7-8645000102c1865d.[10]
  • Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). International Awards Honor Three. AAPG Bulletin, 84(8).[11]
  • Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). Committee helps further communication. AAPG Bulletin.[12]
  • Al-Hussini, M., Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). Fifth Middle East Geoscience Conference and Exhibition. AAPG Bulletin.[13]
  • Al-Hussini, M., Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). Invitation to Annual Meeting in Houston. AAPG Bulletin.[14]
  • Yilmaz, P. O. (2004). Committee Plans More International Meetings. AAPG Bulletin.[15]
  • Mello, M. R., Yilmaz, P. O., & Katz, B. J. (2021). Front Matter: The Supergiant Lower Cretaceous Pre-Salt Petroleum Systems of the Santos Basin, Brazil: AAPG Memoir 124.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Gries, R. R. (2018). Pinar Oya Yilmaz. In Anomalies: Pioneering women in petroleum geology, 1917-2017 (pp. 363–635). essay, JeWel Publishing LLC.
  2. ^ a b c d Fedorova, O., Al Khateeb, Z., Al Zarafi, A., Kurchatov, I., & Seres, T. (n.d.). Pearls of Wisdom - Dr. Pinar Oya Yilmaz. Pearls of wisdom. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from http://www.world-petroleum.org/latest-news/506-pearl-of-wisdom
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Isaksen, G. H., & Yilmaz, P. O. (2007). Oil and gas of the Greater Caspian area. American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Advanced Solutions International, I. (2020). 2020 GSA International Distinguished Career Award. GSA International Distinguished Career Award - 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/GSA/Awards/2020/is_dca.aspx
  5. ^ LEWAS. (2020). YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlWmD5i2DQQ.
  6. ^ Capello, M. A., Hashim, H. S. (2018). Dr. Pinar Oya Yilmaz. In Learned in the Trenches (pp. 187-197). Springer, Cham.
  7. ^ Yilmaz, P. O. (1982). GEOLOGY OF THE ANTALYA COMPLEX, SW TURKEY.
  8. ^ Yilmaz, P. O. (1988). Tectonic Framework of Turkish Sedimentary Basins: ABSTRACT. AAPG Bulletin, 72. https://doi.org/10.1306/703C97A3-1707-11D7-8645000102C1865D
  9. ^ Norton, I. O., Yilmaz, P. O. (1995).  Mesozoic to Cenozoic Paleogeography and Tectonics of the Apulian Platform: Abstract. AAPG Bulletin, 79. https://doi.org/10.1306/7834efed-1721-11d7-8645000102c1865d.
  10. ^ Norton, I. O., Yilmaz, P. O. (1998). Abstract: Basin Analysis of Western China within Paleogeographic Framework of Evolution of Asia. AAPG Bulletin, 82. https://doi.org/10.1306/00aa9962-1730-11d7-8645000102c1865d.
  11. ^ Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). International Awards Honor Three. AAPG Bulletin, 84(8).
  12. ^ Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). Committee helps further communication. AAPG Bulletin.
  13. ^ Al-Hussini, M., Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). Fifth Middle East Geoscience Conference and Exhibition. AAPG Bulletin.
  14. ^ Al-Hussini, M., Yilmaz, P. O. (2001). Invitation to Annual Meeting in Houston. AAPG Bulletin.
  15. ^ Yilmaz, P. O. (2004). Committee Plans More International Meetings. AAPG Bulletin.
  16. ^ Mello, M. R., Yilmaz, P. O., & Katz, B. J. (2021). Front Matter: The Supergiant Lower Cretaceous Pre-Salt Petroleum Systems of the Santos Basin, Brazil: AAPG Memoir 124.
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