Pierre Masson - Exploration Director of Petrofina

Exploration Director of Petrofina in 1972. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Petrofina Delaware, Director of American Petrofina Inc.

He began his career in AngolaTotal AngolaShow more, where he participated in the discovery of Benfica (1955), then was recalled to the design office at Group headquarters. He did not stay there long, as he was sent to Egypt, in the Sinai, where he played an important role in the discovery of a large field (Belayim).

In 1955, he was Deputy Director of IEOC (International Egyptian Oil Cy), which founded the National Petroleum Cy of Egypt and the Compagnie Orientale des Pétroles to operate in Egypt.

In 1961 he was appointed Director of Petrofina's E&P department. It was he who convinced L. Wolters and especially his rather reluctant entourage to join Ekofisk.

For many years he was a sort of "scientific" exploration boss alongside Georges Brognon. He thus supervised several developments, notably in CanadaPays CanadaShow more, Argentina and especially the United States, where he stayed for a long time and largely oversaw the acquisition of the mining estate.

He became a senior adviser for exploration, and left the Group in 1993 when the Group chose to focus on the development of the American petrochemical industry and to sell part of the upstream assets acquired by him and his team.

[Sources: Petrofina archives, Nicaise interview, various internet sites].