Mitchell George (George Mitchell)

Mitchell George (George Mitchell)

George Mitchell - "the father of a shale gas revolution", he the first began commercial gas production from slates using layer hydraulic fracturing (this method is called still "fracking"). In 2013 it was expected that the production based by it will turn the USA from the importer of energy resources into the exporter.

Biography

George Mitchell was born in 1918 in family of the Greek emigrant Savaas Pareskevopulos (Savaas Pareskevopoulos) who in the homeland was a normal shepherd. Having moved to the USA in 1901, Pareskevopulos got a job on the railroad. The local cashier was tired to be mistaken in writing of a difficult name and asked the Greek to replace it with the American. So Savaas Pareskevopulos became Mike Mitchell.

The newly made American located in Galveston (Texas) where he married and began to be engaged in small business. Mitchell's wife died when the future to the pioneer of the slate industry George was 13 years old. In 17 years George went to work for the field together with the elder brother.

In 1939 he graduated from the University of Texas A&M as an engineer of oil industry. After military service George went to work to just educated company Oil Drilling where they with the brother shortly became minority shareholders. Over time Mitchella bought up shares at other owners, translated Oil Drilling under the control and renamed it into Mitchell Energy & Development.

In 1972 the company went public.

Improvement of technology of fracking

In the early eighties Mitchell began to drill a formation Barnett Shale in Northern Texas which was considered at oil industry workers of impenetrable. Engineers repeated that Mitchell in vain wastes time and money, but he persistently continued begun.

The company of the businessman used for drilling technology of hydraulic fracturing of layer ("fracking", or GRP) which for the first time was applied still in the late forties. Its essence is happy is simple: the well is drilled, then under the earth under huge pressure water with sand and chemicals is pumped; as a result layer "bursts" and^[1] releases the gas locked inside].

Idle time technology seems only in words, actually GRP — difficult and very expensive process. For these reasons "fracking" did not bring more than 30 years the American industry of essential dividends.

Everything was changed by George Mitchell. He began to experiment with composition of injected fluid and also applied technology of drilling of horizontal wells. The businessman spent ten years and six million dollars while he did not manage to pick up at last the drilling method doing extraction of fuel of slates of profitable. After that the field Barnett became one of the most productive in the USA.

Afterwards also other American companies began to apply innovative approach of Mitchell. Production of slate gas became profitable, and volumes of production increased repeatedly. The boom reduced fuel prices to a historic low.

Mitchell supported gain of the state supervision of the slate industry. According to him, the incidents connected with pollution of drain waters happen because of violations of the production technology which usually allow the small companies.

In the last years of life Mitchell the slate industry developed without his active participation. He continued to work till last days, helping the son Todd — the board member of Devon corporation. The last redeemed Mitchell Energy company in 2002 for 3.5 billion dollars; this amount became a basis of a status of Mitchell and allowed it to enter the list of the richest people of the world.

Innovations in construction

Mitchell always aimed to be engaged in construction of buildings. He first who began development of woody areas for construction. The first such projects were created in the neighborhood of the woods Harris and Montgomery, in the town of Vudlendz which is in 25 miles to the north from the center of Houston. Vudlendz is a bedroom community Houston, in it several campuses, shopping centers and variety platforms are located. Construction of houses in this area enough innovation project. George Mitchell decided to involve in him one of the most talented engineers, Ian Makharga in order that that rendered consultations concerning the project. As a result something original turned out and not having analogs in architecture. Also several tennis courts and golf courses were organized.

George and his wife Cynthia, played the major role in revival from the hometown of Galvestoun. It had a faultless taste, and its buildings built in Victorian to a stele are fine jewelry of the city. It turned the city into one of cultural cents in nearby neighborhoods. Also one of Mitchell's creations is the tennis center at the A&M University which was called further in his honor. Construction cost 4.2 million dollars.

According to the Forbes magazine for 2002 George Mitchell took the 139th place among the richest people of the United States, with a status in 1.4 billion dollars. And in 2006 it rose to the 117th place, with a status in 2.5 billion dollars.

On July 26, 2013 in an environment of ten children and numerous grandsons Mitchell died.

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