I have so many stories about Ted, I really don’t know where to start. I joined Numar in March 1992, and my first introduction to Ted (and Cindy) was in a hospital in Houston. He was suffering from a bad bout of pancreatitis and for a few of days I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. I spent a number of hours at the hospital with Cindy trying to be supportive. How little I knew Ted in those days! Within a couple of weeks he was home and feeling on top of the world. Only a year later I asked him to travel to Nigeria (that’s right where all the kidnapping is taking place at the moment) to help us log some wells for Shell. He stepped up right away.
We had managed to get our equipment set up in the Schlumberger yard in Port Harcourt, and I found Ted (and Isaac, his operator) accommodation at one of the Sperry Sun staff houses. That’s the way we operated at NUMAR; never afraid to ask a favor of old friends! However, despite being there for a long time, Ted and Isaac had not managed to log a single well. Later I traveled to Nigeria and arrived to discover that on the very day of my arrival we had finally been given a callout. I went to the yard – no sign of Ted – then took a taxi to the staff house to discover Ted and Isaac lounging around the staff house. “What the blazes?” I screamed. Ted (very calmly and casually) informed me that they could not go to the rig because there had been a strike at the yard where the equipment was being staged. They had been turned away by the strikers. After much deliberation, and with the help of the Schlumberger manager, we hatched a plan that in the dead of night we would break into the yard and liberate the equipment. We must have been nuts! 3AM found us in a car idling with its lights off near the yard. At a prearranged time, a second car, also with no lights drew up to the gates. Out jumped four men, two carrying automatic rifles and one a set of bolt cutters. In no time we were inside the yard and shortly thereafter a crane and truck showed up to load the equipment. An hour later we were done – high fives all around. Boy, weren’t we smart (and brave)!
The truck took off and we headed back to the staff house. And that’s were the fun really started. Our driver suddenly accelerated. “Bad men, Mr. Ted,” shouted the driver, and there began a wild ride around the industrial estate, our beaten up old Peugeot being pursued by a truckload of heavily armed individuals. After some long and terrifying minutes our driver spotted a police car and pulled up beside it. But wait, the bandits pulled up right beside us! And out stepped a number of very angry cops demanding to know why we were racing through the estate with no lights on – they thought we were robbers. Much discussion, apologies and arm waving later and we were allowed to go (as the sun was starting to come up). And I have to hand it to Ted, he seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. He walked into the house, showered changed and left with Isaac about an hour later to follow the truck to the rigsite. The result? We got a fabulous log which justified all the excitement of the night before, not to mention the $1 million Shell would eventually pay us? Not on your life. Remember, this was Nigeria. About 10 hours later Ted and Isaac were back in Port Harcourt - couldn’t get the tool in the hole!
Me? I was a basket case. Ted? Took it all in his stride and didn’t miss a beat – a true commando.
Ted was a great bloke, and I mean that sincerely. He was a steadfast employee and a good friend, although I regret to say I had not seen much of him since he moved to Lafayette after the purchase. I was stunned when Ron contacted me last week. Unfortunately I was in Dubai and unable to get back. Cindy (and family) please accept my heartfelt condolences for your sad loss. Ted, though sorely missed, will be there with us in our conversations for many years to come.
Paddy Keenan
Patrick G. Keenan
President
GeoMechanics International Inc.
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