BACKGROUND
  • Active in the field of petroleum geochemistry since the 70's. Research positions in industry and academia were succeded in 1992 by the establishment of a consultancy, Petroleum/Geochemical Data, and in 1994, of Petrosurveys, Inc.

  • Holds the degrees of B.Sc. with Honours in Geology from the University of Manchester, and of Ph.D. in Geochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Pursued a career firstly in geology with Iraq Petroleum Company and BP Alaska, subsequently in petroleum geochemical research with Sinclair Research, ARCO, BP Research, and BP Exploration. Spent four years as Research Associate at Texas A&M University.

  • Work has focused on the behavior of light hydrocarbons in sediments, source rocks, and reservoired liquids. A milestone was attained in 1987 with the first description of "evaporative fractionation", the process by which migrating gas abstracts liquid from accumulated oil, generating non-thermal gas-condensates (see K. F. Thompson, 1987, "Fractionated Aromatic Petroleums and the Generation of Gas-Condensates"). The study employed a suite of light hydrocarbon ratios capable of distinguishing progressive stages of maturation in petroleum, and of indicating the occurence of evaporative fractionation. These parameters, commonly termed "Thompson's Ratios", were also employed in defining the characteristics of gasoline fractions developed in maturing sediments (1979), and in a suite of representative oils (1983). From the late 90's to the present the collection and study of reservoir fluid PVT data has been of primary interest, leading to the publication of "Aspects of Petroleum Basin Evolution in Terms of Evaporative Fractionation" in 2010.


  • Senior Fellow of the Geological Society of London, member of the European Association of Organic Geochemists, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Biographee, "Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology" (1985), and "Who's Who in America" (2008-2010). Awardee, Energy-Related Inventions Program, U.S. Dept. of Energy (1994). Granted U.S. Patent No. 5439800, "A System for Offshore Petroleum Exploration" (1995). Author of twenty-two journal papers and abstracts, 1979 - 2010.

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