Ronald Goodman Nelson

In his book, Hydrocarbon Man: Memoirs of a 20th Century Oil Business Executive, Ronald Goodman Nelson brings the energy industry to life in the “Hydrocarbon Age.” 

Experience the Age of Energy from an oil executive’s view—one who has witnessed the trials, triumphs, and transitions of the industry fueling our lives.

In the vast history of mankind, homo sapiens made huge leaps in innovation and ingenuity. We advanced through the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and the Dark Ages. We made discoveries, created great works of art, and evolved our understanding of the world in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. We advanced machinery, philosophies, and socio-economic efficiencies in the Industrial Age and the Age of Enlightenment. Today, we talk about “Industry 4.0” as digital technologies push exponential advancements in every aspect of our lives. What is the unsung factor that has made all this possible?

The Hydrocarbon Age is an era characterized by man’s use of fossil fuels for energy. Hydrocarbon molecules make up the fossil fuels that we have lifted from the earth’s crust to fuel our lives and livelihoods.

During this era, humankind has achieved massive growth in economic development, social advances and industrial progress. We have leveraged hydrocarbons to energize our existence, advance our knowledge, build our cities and industries, and travel faster and further than ever before.

Hydrocarbon Man is a book that chronicles the tide of history through one man’s eyes. Nelson shares his observations from his humble beginnings on a depression-era dairy farm, to a fascinating life as an international petroleum engineer, and taking his family along for the ride.

This is the story of a small-town farm boy whose unique perception, foresight, and ingenuity propelled his unimaginably rewarding career, culminating in the professional achievement of an industry-wide innovation known as the Tension Leg Platform (TLP). The TLP first launched in the late 1970s in the North Sea. It was a complex offshore engineering feat that allowed safer and more stable drilling of oil and gas in even the deepest, most remote, and challenging locations. This technology is still widely used in offshore drilling to produce oil and gas around the globe.

In its heyday, the hydrocarbon industry drove worldwide economic development and brought enormous everyday improvements to life as we know it. To a Minnesota farm boy and his young family, however, the Hydrocarbon Age was a ticket to success, to a life well-lived and a world well-traveled.

About the Author

Meet Ronald (Ron) Goodman Nelson, a Petroleum Engineer born on a rocky dairy farm in central Minnesota in the mid-1930s. It was about as unlikely a place to launch a global career in energy, yet Ron found inspiration in his early surroundings. He made it his life’s mission to go beyond Brainerd, Minnesota, to enter the intriguing world of energy advancement that was so rapidly unfolding in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. By the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Ron sees the energy business undergoing a digital transformation, with greater emphasis on renewable fuels and related investments. In his book Hydrocarbon Man, he recounts firsthand some of the phenomenal advances brought by the energy industry during the fossil fuels era.

Hydrocarbon Man

Learn more about the Nelson family. Read Edward A. Nelson’s Memories, a book of his writings collected and produced by his son, Ronald Goodman Nelson.

Memories

By Edward A. Nelson and produced by Ronald Goodman Nelson

Get in touch.

Ronald G. Nelson is a retired petroleum engineer in the Houston, Texas, area. If you would like to play chess, chat about the future of energy, or learn more about the oil and gas business, feel free to get in touch.