We all knew him as “Kush.” He joined the staff at Swift Energy Company as chief geophysicist on August 1, 1990, and soon became known as a tireless worker, amazing everyone with how much he could accomplish. Despite his struggle during these past years, his passion for quality and excellence in his work never ended.

As a manager, Kush led by example. Known as a team player, he was always eager for input from others on his work projects and highly valued their opinions and advice. When asked, he reciprocated with his own counsel.

Although Kush was a geophysicist exemplar, he was very unassuming and exhibited great patience with those of us who knew far less about subsurface structures than he did. In fact, he delighted in giving detailed lectures to anyone who indicated the slightest interest in the subject, and no questions were too trivial for him to answer. At the same time, he remained at the forefront of his field, committed to bringing the best geophysical tools to bear on each project involving the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of seismic data.

Planning and personally overseeing Swift’s seismic surveys, Kush at various times waded through knee-high wheat fields in southwestern Oklahoma; rode with a boat crew laying geophones at the bottom of a 3,500-acre lake in Fayette County, Texas; and met with property owners in Arkansas to explain how a seismic shoot would or would not affect them. In advance of Swift’s first seismic surveys in the Taranaki Basin of New Zealand (in 1997), he visited the surrounding community armed with leaflets explaining how Swift viewed itself as New Zealand’s partner in securing that country’s energy future. During an offshore portion of one of the surveys, he spent time in a small boat braving the rough South Taranaki Bight (Tasman Sea) to obtain Swift-quality data. In another survey, he was seen climbing up, and sliding down, a steep slope as he followed a rope marking the survey path.

Upon completion of the surveys, Kush applied his unique expertise for processing, analyzing, and interpreting the data. Combining his innate artistry with methodologies he had developed or adapted, he frequently filled his computer screens with colorful graphic representations of deep underground structures that he could rotate and dissect for both external and internal examination. He also worked closely with our geologists to correlate the geophysical and geological data, thereby giving us as much information as possible on which to base our selections of drilling sites. In search of all possible information, he at times also enhanced our knowledge by reevaluating seismic data collected and made available by other companies.

We were most fortunate to have had Kush on our staff during the decade of the 1990s when advanced technologies began to impact the oil and gas industry so drastically. He understood the implications of the information age in all aspects of our operation and was among those who pushed Swift Energy to reap its benefits. He was one of the first to make wide-scale use of e-mail and the internet, and his multimegabyte attachments were legendary.

At all times he was a strong believer in the future of Swift Energy Company and viewed any setback as only a temporary bump that could be overcome. He maintained his enthusiasm under all circumstances and believed it was his duty to impart his knowledge to others. Thus the impact of his tenure at Swift Energy will remain with us for many years.

Even with his dedication to the job and the long hours he put in, Kush had a gift for balancing his work and other areas of his life. He felt that everyone should participate within and give to their communities, and in doing so himself he developed a huge circle of friends and contacts. He was a volunteer of PSI (Private Sector Initiatives), serving on teams that repaired homes for the elderly and poor. He was especially interested in children and supported Big Brothers Big Sisters and the March of Dimes. In addition, he was active in the Lions Club and was a member of the Volunteer Fire Department in the Woodlands, the Houston residential area in which he and his family lived.

These activities were an extension of his fervent patriotism and his devotion to the country he chose as his own. Natives of Lebanon, Kush and his wife Hanan first came to the United States in 1974 and became citizens in 1986. According to the family, he was a student of American history long before he arrived in this country and “he was an American before he was anything else.” He was so proud of his citizenship that in the early 1990s he helped the Woodlands carry out their own 4th of July parade by chairing the parade committee for five consecutive years.

Kush’s many friends included the families of his co-workers, and whenever possible, he and Hanan joined them to attend sports functions in which their various children participated. He also had a number of close friends he referred to as his “poker buddies” because of their regular Friday night poker games over a period of many years.

Of all of Kush’s passions, however, the greatest was the love and pride he felt for Hanan and their son Xerxes (better known as Zak) and daughter Tania. To him, their accomplishments were much more important than his own. He spoke of them often and displayed their pictures in his office.

Those of us at Swift Energy will have many reminders of Kush for a very long time, and others who knew him will also have their own memories of a person so frequently described as “a great guy.” It is with a deep sense of loss that all of us at Swift Energy extend to the family our condolences. We hope that they and all others who share their grief will find reassurance in remembering that during his life Kush contributed so much in so many ways to so many people.

POSTSCRIPT

Khushroo N. J. Patel was named vice president–geophysics of Swift Energy Company in 1995, previously serving as the company's chief geophysicist and manager of exploration services. Before joining the company, he worked as a consultant/contractor in oil and gas exploration, development, and production. Between 1984 and 1990, he was president of Patel Geophysical Inc. From 1970 to 1984, he held management and geophysical interpretation positions with various companies, including Geophysical Service International, Seismograph Service Corporation, and Geosource Inc. In addition to the United States, he worked on projects in Algeria, the Arabian Gulf, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, the Mexico Gulf of Campeche, Peru, the North Sea, the Beaufort Sea, Brazil, Egypt, and India.

Among Mr. Patel's areas of expertise were the design of seismic data acquisition projects for targeted formations, the processing of seismic data, and the interpretation and mapping of seismic attributes. He pioneered the development of computer-based methodologies for correlating geological and geophysical information, thereby reducing exploratory and development drilling risks.

Mr. Patel had a bachelor of science degree in geology with a minor in mathematics from the American University of Beirut, where he also did postgraduate work in geophysics. He also had a master's degree in earth sciences from the University of London, at the same time obtaining a minor in computer software development. He was an active member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the Geophysical Society of Houston, and the Houston Geological Society.