My 59 years at Gulf Publishing Company
Come December, it will be 59 years ago that I joined Gulf Publishing Company (GPC) as an editorial assistant on the staff of Pipe Line Industry magazine. I was privileged to work for a great editor, Mel Judah, who taught me both technical writing and the ins and outs of the oil industry.
I started just after our founder, Ray L. Dudley, died. A young Bill Dudley (32) had just taken over as president, so he and I were both learning new jobs. Although his was slightly more important than mine, I felt like I was treated with just as much care and respect by everybody in the company. I realized that GPC was truly a “family company.” It was a great place to work then, and still is today.
I was fortunate to work with a number of great editors and publishing executives over the years, who were responsible for making the company what it is today. First, Bob Scott, the renowned editor who led World Oil out of the “oil patch” and into the international petroleum theater, and who eventually became our CEO. My chief mentor was a distinguished gentleman named Sam Sorrell, who taught me how to sell advertising and expanded our sales globally. Then I learned a lot from George Skelton, who made GPC’s Hydrocarbon Processing the number one magazine in its field. George was the Vince Lombardi of publishing. We were most fortunate to have Bob Rust, as well, who produced The Composite Catalog, the company’s most successful advertising product. He was an inspiration to us all. Completing this austere group was our manager in Paris, Philippe Bonnet, who completely dominated the international media world. I called him the World’s Greatest Salesman. These giants were all at the helm, from the 1950s through the 1990s.
Although GPC was a family owned company from 1916 to 1999, we went through three ownership changes in the last 16 years; a sign of the times. We survived them all through good times and bad. Since 1957, I worked under 12 different publishers and 12 different editors on multiple magazines. The publishing industry had its own progression from the days of “hot metal” type and letterpress printing, to the offset printing method and, finally, to today’s digital world and computer-direct printing. It took about two weeks to produce a four-color ad in the 1950s, whereas today it can be done in 24 hours or less.
It all started in 1916 with the formation of The Oil Weekly. Then, GPC broke into the downstream market coverage in 1922, launching TheRefiner & Natural GasolineManufacturer magazine (now Hydrocarbon Processing). In 1927, the company added TheComposite Catalog of Oilfield Equipment and Services. In 1947, TheOil Weekly was changed to a monthly publication and renamed World Oil.
Then, in 1954, the company continued its midstream market coverage and started Pipe Line Industry magazine. Since then, World Oil has been strictly an upstream magazine.
The magazines distinguished themselves as market indicators and industry data providers. World Oil started its Annual Drilling Forecast issues in 1926. Hydrocarbon Processing initiated a service called the Construction Boxscore, which provides all construction details for HP projects. Pipe Line Industry provided a service called the Construction Scoreboard, which monitored all pipeline projects worldwide.
It was in the 1960s that we expanded our international coverage, and we also acquired Ocean Industry magazine to strengthen our presence in the offshore sector.
While the industry expanded its world in the 1960s by drilling offshore, the greatest development actually took place in the 1970s. That’s when the OPEC oil embargo took place, and the subsequent revolution in exploration and drilling followed. Drilling was successful in the North Sea, Southeast Asia and the Gulf of Mexico during this decade. Continued drilling/production successes in the early 1980s wiped out the worldwide oil shortages, and actually produced an oversupply of hydrocarbons that led to the price collapse of the mid-1980s.
Following worldwide economic development and demand for oil, the industry rebounded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as prices shot up. Again, new technology (4D seismic, horizontal drilling, and coiled tubing developments) brought drilling and production to new heights with an oversupply causing another downturn. The cycle continues. We are victims of our own success.
Finally, the shale revolution began in the early 2000s, causing another oversupply that we are suffering through now. So if history repeats itself, we will soon be enjoying high oil prices again.
GPC has always been known for its employees’ longevity. Nobody ever quits here. They all work till retirement (or beyond). It’s an old-fashioned discipline and work ethic, and a testimonial to the employees and the management of the company. I am proud to be in that group. For instance, there are several current employees who have been at the company for 20 to 40 years. These people are the backbone of the company.
Publishing is a people business. We have no assets, other than each other, and we all depend on one another for our success. The company is now entering into a new phase, with new ownership following completion of a management buyout just two months ago. We are starting another journey.
There is great pride in publishing the best magazine you can produce every month; that is what we have always done, and I hope that is what we will always continue to do.
As a final thought, I always like to kid about my career, saying that I joined GPC as an editor and after 11 years they found out I couldn’t spell, so they made me a salesman. Then after 7 years of sales, they found out I couldn’t sell, so they put me in management. And after 10 years, they found out I couldn’t manage. So they put me back in sales and I have been here, done that, for the last 31 years. I want to thank the management of the company for their thoughtfulness and kindness to me during all those years. 
