Barry Goldstein (c. 1952, New York - 15 July 2022) was an American-born Australian geologist, civil servant, and regulator who served as the Executive Director of Energy Resources for Southern Australia's Primary Industries and Regions department for 20 years.[1] Former employers include Phillips Petroleum, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Corporation, and Santos Limited.[2]
Barry Goldstein | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Barry Goldstein in 2015 | |
| Born | Barry Alan Goldstein c. 1952 New York, USA |
| Died | 15 July 2022 (aged 68–69) |
Early life and education edit
Goldstein was born in New York in the United States. He graduated with a degree in geology from SUNY at Binghamton in 1975 and with a Masters in geology at the University of Missouri in 1977.[3]
Career edit
Goldstein began his career as a geologist after finishing school, beginning in Bartlesville, Oklahoma at Phillips Petroleum. He traveled extensively before settling in Australia in the 1980s. He worked for Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Corporation in Perth (1982-1985); and Bridge Oil and Parker & Parsley Petroleum Company in Sydney (1986-1995) before joining Santos Limited in Adelaide as Chief Geologist (1996-2001). In 2002, he started working for the Government of South Australia as the Executive Director of Energy Resources, a role he held until his death in 2022.[4][3][2]
Goldstein made discoveries[clarification needed] in the North Sea, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and South America.[2][5] He encouraged the early engagement of communities unfamiliar with petroleum operations, especially those in proximity to proposed fracking sites, to dispel misunderstandings about the work. He criticised past engagement efforts for only reaching out to communities affected by the petroleum work after the work had already started. He claimed that in South Australia, "no operations are approved unless statements of environmental objectives are established to assure that regulatory requirements equal or exceed community expectations for net outcomes, and operators can demonstrate capabilities to meet or exceed those regulatory requirements."[6] He also said that South Australia created "precisely the sort of retention licenses industry needs" with bi-partisan support through the passage of the Petroleum & Geothermal Energy Act in September 2000.[6]
He believed that problems in developing coal seam gas resources in New South Wales and Queensland are due to oil wells with low gas extraction rates. These are typically found on agricultural land. He proposed South Australian wells as deep shale gas and tight gas wells between 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) - 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) below the surface.[6][7] Goldstein was the lead author of the Roadmap for Unconventional Gas Projects in South Australia, one of the state's key planning documents,[8] and was involved with the subsequent development of the industry.
Goldstein was awarded the Public Service Medal[9][10] in 2014 for his contributions to the development of South Australia's unconventional gas resources, geothermal energy and carbon sequestration potential.[11] He was also inducted to the Australian Institute of Energy (South Australia branch) Hall of Fame in 2017.[citation needed]
Personal life edit
Goldstein died on 15 July 2022.
References edit
- ^ "Petroleum". Department of State Development. Government of South Australia. 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Thomas, Colin (30 April 2003). "Interview with Barry Goldstein" (PDF). MESA Journal (29). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Oil and gas industry mourns passing of trailblazer and regulator Barry Goldstein". Mirage News. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Vale Barry Goldstein". Government of South Australia. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Barry Goldstein". LinkedIn. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ a b c "A South Australian serviceman: Barry Goldstein". The Australian Pipeliner. 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 September 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm (6 June 2013). "Target South Australia: Farmers ready?". West Coast Sentinel. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ Goldstein, Barry (1 December 2012). "Roadmap for unconventional gas projects in South Australia" (PDF). Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources & Energy. Government of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Barry Goldstein awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM)". Petroleum News Review. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Barry Goldstein". It's an honour. Australian Government. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ "Awarded for Australia Day 2014". Department of Premier & Cabinet. Government of South Australia. 2014. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.