One of the characters the local business community that make Houston a special place — Michel T. Halbouty — died on Saturday in Houston after a long battle with cancer. He was 95 at the time of his death. His obituary is here.
As founder, president and chairman of Michel T. Halbouty Energy Co. in Houston, Mr. Halbouty was one of Houston’s famed wildcatters who made and lost millions in the wild and wooly Texas oil and gas business over the past 70 years.
With his trademark bushy mustache, Mr. Halbouty cut quite a swath in business circles. An expert in Gulf Coast salt dome prospecting, Mr. Halbouty was inducted into the Texas Science Hall of Fame in 2002 for his contributions to geoscience. He authored four books and more than 300 articles on geology and petroleum engineering, and among the well-known oil and gas fields that Mr. Halbouty either discovered or developed were the South Boling Field in Wharton County, the South Liberty Field in Liberty County, the West Saratoga Field in Hardin County, the Pheasant Field in Matagorda County, and the Fostoria Field in Montgomery County.
Mr. Halbouty was also an important figure in the development of Texas A&M University over the past two generations. After graduating from A&M in 1930 with a degree in petroleum engineering, Mr. Halbouty earned masters’ degrees in geology and petroleum engineering the following year, and, in 1956, was the first recipient of Texas A&M?s professional degree in geological engineering. Mr. Halbouty was also a recipient of distinguished alumni awards from the A&M Association of Former Students and A&M?s Dwight Look College of Engineering. He was a an A&M Visiting Centennial Professor and a founding member of the President?s Endowed Scholars Program. For his service and contributions to the university, the building that houses the A&M’s department of geology and geophysics is named for him.
Finally, Mr. Halbouty is widely credited with persuading former president George H.W. Bush to locate his presidential library on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station.
Mr. Halbouty was also widely involved in civic affairs in the Houston area. Mr. Halbouty also served on the boards of the Houston Symphony Society, Houston Grand Opera, Greater Houston Council of Camp Fire Girls, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
Funeral services for Mr. Halbouty are pending.