Ernie Evans was born on the 3 January 1936, in Aberdare, South Wales. He died on the 5 May, 2005 after a relatively short and unexpected illness at home in Maidenhead.
He graduated from the University of Bristol with Honours in Geology in 1957 and then completed a DIC at Imperial College, London in Oil Technology (Reservoir Engineering). In 1958 he was appointed as a trainee petroleum geologist with Ultramar, on loan to SAP Las Mercedes, and Texaco, in Venezuela. He subsequently moved to Calgary, Canada, where he was in charge of licence applications, exploration and development programmes in Western Saskatchewan for Golden Eagle Oil & Gas.
With the increasing interest in hydrocarbon exploration in Western Europe, Ernie returned to the UK in 1969 and acted as an independent petroleum geologist consultant to various Canadian and USA companies. He lectured in Petroleum Geology at Imperial College and carried out research into aspects of the geology and geophysics of the Southern Irish Sea, before joining S&A Geophysical in 1974 as Chief Geologist. In 1976 he became the sole proprietor of Daran Petroleum, a petroleum exploration and development consultancy.
Through to 2000, when he retired, Ernie worked internationally as a consultant for many oil exploration companies. He was intimately involved in the exploration in the South Yellow Sea, China and was a member of the Dispute Tribunal in Holland. During the latter part of his career he established a company that evolved into Independent Energy UK, successfully taking advantage of deregulation of the gas and electricity industries.
He was an excellent geologist with an enquiring mind and many ideas. He was well liked and well known in the oil industry and will be remembered for his friendliness and cheerful sense of humour.
Outside of geology he was a keen golfer, although it must be said that his golf did not measure up to his geology! He also was a great follower of jazz. Recreationally, however, he could not get totally away from geology and invested heavily in archaeological investigations in his beloved South Wales.
He is survived by his wife Julie and his sons, Gareth and Mark.
John Lloyd with grateful acknowledgement to many contributors and the subject's family